The term that was eventually slapped onto this phenomenon is “anemoia”, and it goes some way into explaining why people are obsessing over old Japanese pop tunes that capitalized on Walkmans and cars with built-in FM stereos. Or… well, more specifically, the 80s in this case. As the vaporwave, future funk, and modern city pop trends from the 2010s onward have proven, there seems to be a longing to experience an idyllic version of some foregone age. After all, our nostalgia usually paints such times with rose-colored glasses, even if they were also plagued by hardships.īut let’s zoom in on that first question that I posed, as it presents a much more curious case. After all, one listen to Ariana Grande’s 2018 tune “Successful” immediately made me think of the Spyro franchise was Grande actually inspired by those games, or was it all a coincidence? Probably the latter, but the point is that the song still triggered old memories – or, more importantly, idyllic memories. How can we be nostalgic for things we’ve never experienced? How can a song make us nostalgic if we never heard it growing up? These questions have been looming over pop culture for the last decade or so, and I can’t say I’ve been immune myself. Review Summary: A monument to lost nostalgia and idyllic daydreams
