I am a child of the 80’s, a proud member of Generation X and super-fan of Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Men at Work, Sting, Duran Duran, Prince, and Simple Minds. The music I listened to as a teenager evokes a strong sense of nostalgia, despite the emotional upheavals and dumpster fires I experienced in adolescence. I cannot help dancing in the street on my run when I hear the words: “Risin’ up, back on the street / Did my time, took my chances /Went the distance, now I’m back on my feet / Just a man and his will to survive” (Survivor: “Eye of the Tiger).

When either Men at Work or Blondie pop up on my playlist, one can hear me singing out loud (not always the correct lyrics!) Mark Joseph Stern explored why the songs of our teen years evoke such strong feelings of nostalgia in his article “Neural Nostalgia” on Slate. Stern writes: “Between the ages of 12 and 22, our brains undergo rapid neurological development—and the music we love during that decade seems to get wired into our lobes for good. When we make neural connections to a song, we also create a strong memory trace that becomes laden with heightened emotion, thanks partly to a surfeit of pubertal growth hormones. These hormones tell our brains that everything is incredibly important—especially the songs that form the soundtrack to our teenage dreams (and embarrassments).” So I am stuck with this eclectic amalgam of sounds circulating in my auditory pathway and amygdala, from electronic, to new wave, glam metal and pop. Bon Jovi told me to “Take my hand, we’ll make it, I swear /Whoa oh, livin’ on a prayer” (Bon Jovi: Livin’ on a Prayer) while Cyndi Lauper crooned that “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” Over the course of my journey into adulthood I played Laura Brannigan’s hit song “Gloria” on my record player, listened to Michael Jackson’s Thriller album on cassette tape, and heard George Michael croon that “I gotta have faith” on CD. Not only were our bodies changing from the onset of puberty, but the vehicle for listening to our beloved music changed over the course of our generation. Now I have an Amazon Music playlist of these sentimental tunes and I take them out for long training runs. My body remembers the times when it moved more freely, it danced in the living room, and wrote my own sappy lyrical prose. This music evokes those untroubled carefree moments when I was not ruminating on my oh so dramatic teenage life. So if you see me dancing in the streets, or busting up an difficult incline on my daily run, just know that I am probably listening to the genre diverse, innovative music of the 80’s.