# What song would you want to forget and hear again for the first time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600 "2009-01-23T06:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/21 "2009-01-23T18:21:44Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Pachelbel’s Canon I second this one. My mom used to play an album with this on it, every Sunday morning, so I don’t have a memory of when I heard it first. Matter of fact, I used to know it by “Tran tran tran” (what my older sibs called it). Beautiful piece. I’ll submit _Roundabout_ by Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/22 "2009-01-23T18:38:32Z")
All of _Darkside of the Moon_ by Pink Floyd. I remember enjoying it rather deeply when I first gave it a listen. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/23 "2009-01-24T08:07:08Z")
Just one? Yikes, a very tough choice. Symphony #6 by Beethoven. But if I could, I’d also like to include Symphony #9 by Beethoven _Daphnis and Chloe_ by Ravel _Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun_ by Debussy and a number of others. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/24 "2009-01-24T09:10:01Z")
Oh wow. That would absolutely have to be Bittersweet Symphony. Hearing that song for the first time was just pure transcendant bliss. I wish I could forget it and then hear it for the first time on some sort of psychedelic drug. Same goes for Unchained Melody. I remember hearing that song for the first time as a kid. It had such a hauntingly _complete_ instrumental texture to it. It had a way of just wrapping me up, completely enveloping me in its pleasantly dark misery. Actually, the song sounds like the quintessential great drug trip feels to me. I also wish I could forget John Coltrane’s “Acknowledgement” (the first track of A Love Supreme) and hear it for the first time again. The way he strains the highest notes of his saxophone, blowing all the way through the ceiling, reaching toward God, is mind-blowing. If that doesn’t just send you into space, you have no soul. I also have to second Peter, Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks”. Something about that song can just transfix you. I can’t believe it’s been forgotten so quickly. And I’ll second “Roundabout”. And along the lines of **cgg419** ’s post, I’d like to forget the Sneaker Pimps’ “Six Underground” because of the bittersweet memories. Hostile Dialect, Hostile Dialect, Narcissist ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/25 "2009-01-24T10:33:23Z")
Closer by Nine Inch Nails (in concurrence with **Shamozzle** ) ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/26 "2009-01-24T10:42:20Z")
**Radiohead** - _Fake Plastic Trees_ (still a powerful song, but I want to relive the breath-taking first time) **Benny Goodman** - _Sing Sing Sing_ (don’t even remember the first time, but it’d be nice going into this without knowing all of the cool transitions in advance) ---
**Author:** ![Wiltshire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea5d25/32.png) [@Wiltshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wiltshire)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/27 "2009-01-24T11:50:01Z")
I would not want to forget any of my favourite songs. For this to really work, all memories of what I associate these songs _with_ would have to be gone forever too. Unless, you promise that these memories come back after my second ‘first time’. But when you listen to a song, only afterwards to remember again where and when you heard it before, the ‘first time’ experience wouldn’t have been quite the same, would it? It’s already possible in reality, sort of. Basically, it would be like listening to music while under a bad anesthesia. There are sedatives that induce temporary retrograde amnesia. No memory of who you are, what happened, why you’re here, only aware of the here and now. The grogginess after an electroshock might be very similar too. I think I’ll pass. Well, here’s one: Peter Frampton - _Do You Feel Like We Do_. Not particularly for the re-listening value of a favourite song, but specifically because you can experience the full surprise effect of the guitar/scream transition and the reaction of the crowd really only once and then never again. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/28 "2009-01-24T12:45:50Z")
**Pink Floyd** - _Comfortably Numb_ There was something incredibly uplifting and emotionally overwhelming about the transition from the verse to the first chorus that I’ve never quite captured on subsequent plays. I’d also like to scrub my memory of _The Wall_ film and watch _Comfy Numb_ on that too, similar reason but with the added effect of the expansive shot of the field with little Pink running. Forgetting and having another first listen to _The Dark Side of the Moon_ would be interesting because I first heard that as a young 10-11 year old boy on my Mum’s record player, and the only Pink Floyd I’d heard before was _Another Brick in the Wall_, and for some reason I thought PF were a hard rock verging on heavy metal band. So my expectations of Dark Side were a little off, and I didn’t immediately appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/29 "2009-01-24T13:31:11Z")
Houston’s International Festival concentrates on a particular country every year. But international, national, regional & local acts round out the entertainment schedule for two weekends in the spring. Long ago, admission was free; it’s still a great bargain. Some years back, Joe Ely was scheduled for the closing show. We were told he couldn’t bring his band, but I was among those who arrived early for a seat on the grass, anyway. As a solo act, he’s still kickass. We watched the stage setup–hmm, they were setting up more than a mikestand for one. Seems as though he’d convinced a few of his pals to make the trip down from Austin, after all. The band came out, the lights went on & Joe Ely kicked off the show with Robert Earl Keen’s epic story song “[The Road Goes On Forever](http://www.ely.com/LoveAndDanger.html#The%20Road%20Goes%20on%20Forever)”–which was brand new to most of us. (Joe’s a fine songwriter but is glad to take friends’ tunes & make them his own.) The combination of that song, that performer & that band was better than a jolt of tequila & a few rails. (Without the after-effects of nausea, headache & “where’s all my money?”) Seriously–if Joe comes to your town, [check him out.](http://www.ely.com/ElyBandGigs2009.htm) Hey, he’s on this weekend’s Prairie Home Companion, broadcasting from Duluth. Followed by trip to Clear Lake, Iowa for [50 Winters Later.](http://www.50winterslater.com/index.html) (Like Buddy Holly, Joe came from Lubbock.) Then again, I remember a very young Townes Van Zandt at Sand Mountain Coffee House in the 60’s. He shyly introduced his first “serious” song: “Waitin’ Round To Die.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/30 "2009-01-25T00:23:02Z")
Nina Simone’s “Feelin’ Good.” The first few hundred times I heard it, it was a real pick-me-up. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/31 "2009-01-25T00:55:04Z")
The one song that I’d like to forget and hear again. Everybody Dance Now! C and C Music Factory. For better, for worse. This is the song that started me liking dance music for…ugh…over 20 years now. I never thought I’d be sitting here think about the early 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/32 "2009-01-25T01:01:54Z")
Coldplay - Fix You Keane - A Bad Dream Evanescence - Bring Me To Life Damian Rice - 9 Crimes Roxette - It Must Have Been Love I could actually make a huge list, but each of those songs have made me feel better in hard times when I first heard them. ---
**Author:** ![MrK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrK)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/33 "2009-01-25T01:52:33Z")
I hadn’t heard Cake until I heard ‘Short Skirt/Long Jacket’ while on a ski trip. Cake quickly became our family’s favorite band. I would love to recreate that feeling of discovery and joy I got from hearing that song for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/34 "2009-01-25T03:50:27Z")
_Windy_ by The Association ---
**Author:** ![MisterPeabody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@MisterPeabody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterPeabody)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/35 "2009-01-25T03:57:58Z")
Being a child of the '80s there is several from then. New Years’s Day - U2 Overkill - Men at Work Fall On Me - REM Wanna Be Startin Something - Michael Jackson Panama - Van Halen Love Shack - B52s Straight to Hell - Drivin N Cryin 911 is a Joke - Public Enemy Plus a couple from the 70s Wish Your Were Here album - Pink Floyd which to me is better than Dark Side or the Wall and the best dance song ever - Stayin Alive - Bee Gees ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/36 "2009-01-25T04:12:19Z")
_My Generation_, “Live At Leeds” version ( **with** crackling noises!) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/37 "2009-01-25T04:17:33Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I’ll submit _Roundabout_ by Yes. On a really good system, and very loud. The second note will cut you in two. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/38 "2009-01-25T04:22:59Z")
_Green Mountain Hop_ - Reno & Smiley In fact, I’m going to listen to it now. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/39 "2009-01-25T04:25:31Z")
This sorta happened to me. A few years back I was listening to Billy Joe Royal’s “I Knew You When,” which came out in that awkward period in 1965 when I was out of 9V batteries and couldn’t listen to the radio, so I hadn’t heard it before. I loved it and said to my wife, “I guess it isn’t that I like particular songs. I like their style.” ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600/40 "2009-01-25T04:48:25Z")
I’m not really sure—I didn’t particularly like a lot of my favorite songs the very first time I heard them. Maybe Bohemian Rhapsody? That’s always a good choice, and it was definitely an interesting experience the first time I heard it on the radio. Valete, Vox Imperatoris [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-to-forget-and-hear-again-for-the-first-time/482600.md?page=3)