Why Donkey Kong's Stickerbush Symphony Triggers Instant Nostalgia

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[@CharlesCornellStudios]

What are some songs that have made you feel nostalgia even though you've never heard it? I'm absolutely fascinated by this idea. Do you think it's inherent in the music or just triggering our own memories? Is it possible to feel nostalgia for something we have no experience with? Would that make it something fundamentally different from nostalgia? I HAVE TO KNOW PLEASE HELP.

[@marcusyates3044]

Charles, did you cover the theme song from Dexter's Laboratory?

[@caramelized_lobster]

The Piranha Plant Lullaby from Mario 64

[@TheMusicalPotato2]

Passing Through.

[@Mayonnaise_Masterson]

Jungle 1 - Drilling Billy

[@KyleRDent]

Queensryche - Silent Lucidity made me feel nostalgic the first time I heard it, and I was sure I hadn't before. It wasn't the sort of thing my parents listened to, and I don't think it was used in any media.

[@victorolaya7925]

You picked this song Wisely.

[@mathieuhoulee]

I see what you did there.

[@Zageron]

kekw

[@daniellaster9154]

That’s a rare pun you made there

[@Kuhleb12]

ha funny pun

[@fatmario8244]

Hehe

[@friedpicklezzz]

It’s not just nostalgia. It’s also melancholy. There’s also sadness of time that passed. That feeling is incredibly strong and to me music cuts right into that emotion.

[@doeyjetiege2274]

Melancholy is a part of nostalgia.

[@cooldebt]

There's a wistfulness which is amplified in The Consouls' gorgeous cover which is what I heard first (never played the game)

[@guzzy620]

Mono no aware

[@BlakeAustin2011]

Does it have to be sad? Can it be celebratory if fun memories? I’m watching Jomboy Media as they watch through every episode of Nick Guts. It doesn’t bring about nostalgia, but does make me appreciate my childhood memories.

[@terenceosorio6680]

​@@doeyjetiege2274that's his point bruh

[@Peepimus]

That song’s truly the *_checkpoint_* of our times…!

[@JaysonT1]

I don't get it

[@darkviking7135]

Reading the checkpoints every now and then is just..... something. Not fun, not sad, it's a feeling I can't describe.

[@Kuhleb12]

[@XxguaxinimxX.]

@@JaysonT1 Search for "internet checkpoints", they are usually associated with the stickerbrush symphony

[@spacenexo5654]

@@JaysonT1 Theres a video floating around on the internet that people find themselves finding from time to time called the internet checkpoint that often comes with donkey kong country music

[@Scruffytuba]

Stickerbush Symphony is one of the greatest video game songs of all time. It evokes memories in me that make me wanna cry, but its a happy cry. Like a "you had a great childhood" cry.

[@josephthomas5673]

This couldn't have been described any better than this.

[@Goofball61]

More than that, it’s a theme for a beautiful struggle in adulthood

[@kurtg5405]

I had such a shit childhood in a lot of ways, but DKC was something that wasn't shit.

[@TheSinlessAssassin]

This song really DOES take me back to my childhood because it's the very first song I became conscious of actually loving. I paused the game for what felt like an hour to just sit there and listen instead of playing the level right away. It was one of the most serene moments in my life, probably the first of few truly zen moments where I felt at peace and everything was perfect. I was in the moment and dialed in.

[@Mrsleepy93]

Why do I feel like Minecraft have this feeling as well

[@rogue_114]

if you played it in your childhood then you can't really consider it to be anemoia, but nostalgia absolutely

[@Ryquard1]

The minecraft soundtrack for certain has that nostalgia / melancholy for days past vibes without me having it played as a child, as the game came out when i had like 20

[@johndoh1000]

I immediately thought of minecraft's sweden

[@matthewpeever8166]

Dungeon Synth is a entire genre based on this feeling

[@victorcanesin8978]

Because it’s a escape game. It’s real life!!!

[@AOpsyche]

i think FM synthesis, in general, is really nostalgia inducing for a lot of people. it has a timbral quality that reminds us of both video game music, and pop from the early 80's through the 90's, which is why it is commonly used in "nostalgic" genres like vaprowave.

[@d34thby1337]

Agreed, though I don't think this music used FM synthesis since the SNES sound hardware was sample based

[@AOpsyche]

@d34thby1337 if I recall correctly, I believe the SPC700 sound chip in the SNES is capable of FM synthesis, but I think you're right that most sounds on the console we're produced using samples. Either way, I believe the soundtrack to the SNES DK games were composed on a DX-7, and presumably this is also how the samples were generated.

[@AOpsyche]

@d34thby1337 ah nevermind, just did some more research and i don't think the DX-7 was primarily used, although many other games did use it.

[@NiDeCo]

Stickerbush Symphony is something F-ing magical. I can still remember playing DKC2 being almost a teenager and getting through almost all of the game, just enjoying my time playing Diddy and Dixie Kong... to then start up the level called Bramble Scramble, thinking "Ok, next level", to then be hit by this masterpiece. It felt like doing the ice bucket challenge, but the icy water was a warm blanket. It stopped me dead in my tracks having walked left for like a second, making me literally put down my controller after a few seconds staring slack-jawed at the screen, taking in all the harmonies and sounds Stickerbush Symphony threw at me. It might be one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

[@plebcrabslayer]

There might also be an element of _saudade_ to this. That's a combination of a sadness for what you had and no longer have (usually a lived experience with someone who is no longer alive), mixed with not just happiness [for having had those experiences with that person], but also punctuated with the realization that you'll never again experience those feelings [with that person]. I don't know if any of the branches of the study of human history will ever be able to explain what exactly are the elements of both music and our brain chemistry that make it so that music (out of all other branches of art) tugs the most at our heartstrings, but I doubt that we'll ever stop trying to solve this most profound, intriguing and exclusively human puzzle!

[@ElTequilla]

The explanation/theory might be weirdly straightforward 🙂 Music is sound, vibration and frequency. These things are by all means, physics. Water is a very modular substance Human bodies contain an awful lot of water in all major areas Our cells are literally being pushed around in our body, when the music has resonance for us

[@bryanquick3349]

ahh yes, the life-changing experience of discovering Stickerbush Symphony for yourself

[@mr.floofles3100]

Internet checkpoint song! For the uninitiated, there was a video on youtube a while ago with a japanese(?) title that was recommended to a lot of people, and it became the “internet checkpoint”. Nintendo eventually took it down (of course), and since it has been reuploaded by others. I miss the original, but i’m glad that there’s new videos keeping up the memory.

[@NueThunderKing]

Do you have a link to those other videos?

[@bitter-bit]

Just search internet checkpoint ​@@NueThunderKing

[@Tyranitar.]

There’s a sequel.

[@noonehere0987]

Smashing Pumpkins' 1979 is nostalgia encapsulated in music, making me feel nostalgic about something that I don't even know what.

[@rogue_114]

along with today for sure

[@__redacted__]

It's the part when the guitar riff reverbs in a way that sounds like street traffic, where it almost sounds out of tune. Makes the song seem dreamy or ephemeral.

[@moonbun690]

Yes finally someone else feels the same

[@Parkerdeal]

Great song! Check out the contortionist cover of it too - it's super faithful but really beautiful and special

[@FitPatton]

SP's 1979 always the America's (the band) Venture spiritual succesor song for me.

[@Jedi554]

My wife and I both grew up liking different things. She LOVED (and still loves) Pokémon and Legend of Zelda games. I was more into Star Wars and old-school Disney movies and MGM musicals. I also played loads of Nintendo, but not a whole lot of Legend of Zelda or Pokémon. We have a playlist that we compiled and play whenever we have a chill day at home or cooking dinner together, and it's full of orchestral renditions of our childhoods. Like I said, I didn't play a whole lot of Pokémon or Legend of Zelda - but any time selections from those games come on, I'm transported to when I would sit in my room and play Super Mario 64, or when I would take summer trips to Disneyland with my family. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing.

[@rogue_114]

i'm in my house but i want to go home -not mine nostalgia and anemoia have to be the some of the best feelings and the latter is one of my favorite words, so glad you talked about it because as soon as you started talking about nostalgia from games and music that we haven't experienced, i immediately remembered that word, so rare yet so beautiful

[@Just_Sara]

The home I want to go to was in 1992, with my siblings annoying me, and my dad was still alive, though grumpy. That was a really good year for me. I do still go visit my Mom who lives in that same house, but it's awfully empty now, even though my little sister is back there for a bit.

[@britty23]

Im so glad you covered this song! It felt nostalgic in the 90s too! Its always been my favorite in the game. Such a classic

[@LutzAlbrecht-Mylenium]

The Super Nintendo was the first console to have a dedicated sound DSP back then and it was truly a revelation compared to the Genesis/ MegaDrive, many arcade machines and even home computers like the Amiga or the first Macs. I remember letting my characters idle in many games just to listen to the music and the DK titles were particularly good. As a 3D artist I also couldn't get enough of the rich CG backgrounds and characters.

[@JaysonT1]

Not exactly the same but for GTA VICE CITY I would steal cars are just drive around to listen to the radio.

[@firebert123]

Amazing timing, I had this SAME experience with Stickerbrush Symphony just two days ago, and have been listening to it over and over and over since then.

[@jamminkeys]

the track "Silent Light" from Chrono Trigger hits my nostalgia button too even though I never played it

[@TonyTheTGR]

"To Far Away Times" is still a chilling/touching bop, too!"

[@Zory13]

I think nostalgic feelings are associated with something from your own past. For example, I went to a Queen + Adam Lambert concert because queen songs make me super nostalgic for my childhood, and I sat next to am older lady who said she went to all the best concerts in the 80s and 90s and was here reliving that expirience. I wasn't alive in the 80s or 90s, and my nostalgia comes from listening in the early 2000s on roadtrips with my parents. But despite our completely different age groups and nostalgic connections, we were both there singing all the words to the same songs.

[@cooldebt]

That's so heart-warming - music unites across tine, space and culture 💖

[@Sesomi3601]

The comment about playing this game before going off to their grandmother's for Christmas almost put me to tears... that comment really brought me back because the Donkey Kong series was a beloved series that my stepmom and I played a lot... and it was mostly special around Christmas-time. Upon hearing this, I got some serious literal goosebumps. It's special music like this that will continue to captivate for generations to come.

[@Lameeeen]

any of the minecraft music makes me want to cry 😭 it’s definitely my own nostalgia but some of the minecraft music definitely has that melancholic sound that would make most people feel nostalgic i think

[@Fr0st_Tea]

Sound waves have the ability to move matter. To assume that sound doesn't move matter in a way in our body that affects our mood would be bold. I think if studied enough, you'd find sound will make certain elements/molecules behave in different ways due to changing shape alone, not to mention undiscovered phenomena. Our ears are right next to all of these neurotransmitters, I would like to think they have a certain interaction on some level.

[@decked2199]

as someone from just before y2k, a lot of stuff: film cameras, old tracker music, cassettes, etc. gives me "anemoia" as they are things from a past that i feel like i missed out on. or something that was still around, but i was too young to really experience before it faded away.

[@WhatamIPlaying]

Checkpoints pop up even when you’re not expecting them. It feels heavy a lot of days, but the durability of this song and what it represents keeps me hopeful and content. Great song, great video!

[@zhaoli4608]

I was able to look up Stickerbrush Symphony on Chordify and noticed that it has a hidden Royal Road chord movement. (F>G>Em>Am on C Major). Here, the G major chord is resolving onto a chord that is different from either C or Am. The second thing that I noticed is that the C tonic chord is hardly touched. As David Bennett pointed out, the Royal Road progression is supposed to add a touch of wistfulness to the major scale.

[@skaven2100]

Stickerbrush symphony is hands down the best music in all of videogames.

[@bitter-bit]

You say that when all of Chrono Trigger is right there

[@SubduedRadical]

@@bitter-bit Honestly, I'd place DKC2 ~= CT in terms of music. Both of them had fantastic tracks. FF9 (Bermecia, for example), and Chrono Cross are definitely up there as well. Cross is basically a glorified sidequest, but other than the "clown car exiting" main battle theme, all the rest of the music in that game is insanely good, and "Dream of a Shore Bordering Another World" is probably THE most enchanting overworld theme in all of gaming history.

[@earthboundmother205]

Stickerbrush Symphony is easily one of the best pieces of music ever written. Chills EVERY time

[@natecoolidge5440]

Thanks for covering this song and Aquatic Ambience in your previous video. Both these songs have so much meaning to me and inspire me. I'm so happy to see you explaining the deep reasons both of these songs are so beautiful!

[@Itzsportsy]

just found this channel. I swear listening to when you cover video game tracks, and you blend them in gives me goosebumps. I love the passion

[@remyvegamedia]

"Nostalgia for something that never took place at all." This is and has been Boards Of Canada for me. It has the nostalgia factor from hearing it in my youth, but it always felt like it was nostalgia for a parallel life too. Very weird feeling but it's some of my favorite music of all time. Turquoise Hexagon Sun is a good example of that feeling in their music. I'd love to hear your take on their album Music Has The Right To Children.

[@merakinoon8487]

The Bon Iver shoutout was not expected but definitely welcomed. He’s the goat.

[@redsoxu571]

Probably two effects at play here: 1) Over time, cultural exposure has led us to associate certain sounds with certain environments (e.g. the desert, space), actions, and even feelings. Those sound associations are not inherent across time and space, but they are ubiquitous within a culture group. The DKC soundtracks do a fine job of utilizing this...a track like Aquatic Ambiance will have the same associations now as it did when it was first released. That means any sound generally connected to sadness that is used in a track like this will have its typical (for us) effect. And since nostalgia is a subset of sadness in general, any "sad" sound will have the capacity to create the impression of nostalgia despite not been specifically connected to it. 2) Any media is a product in part of its time, and thus a sound track created in the 1990s will often include aspects (often subtle) that reflect the soundscape of that time. For example, the bops from the SNES Jurassic Park game have some pretty distinct 1990s influences that will lead me to feel a memory-based connection to some similar pop music, even if it's music I never heard at the time. My nostalgia may not be for that given piece of music, but it is for some aspects of it, e.g. tempo of chord use or instrument use or all sorts of other things. Throw in that the specific sound of the SNES itself will reflect wider electronically-produced sounds from the era, and any given person who never heard a note from an actual SNES likely still at some point in the 90s heard a similar sound from a different source...sounds that, if not so common today, will draw a strong connection. So one could easily be nostalgic for aspects of a piece of music despite one never having heard that specific piece itself, and naturally any piece of music that we culturally associate with general sadness can be taken for nostalgia specifically. Put the two together - a sad piece of music from a past era - and you have easy nostalgia for something that to a listener is technically "new".

[@IvoryMadness.]

Great comment!

[@Alfonso162008]

I think you've put into words pretty much what I was thinking while watching this video and afterwards and didn't know how to express. I think you're right, it's not that the music is making us feel nostalgia per se for something that never happened, but there are different associations between the music and other things from our past, even if they're more subtle or invisible.

[@lasagnahog7695]

Hah! I knew it was going to be this song immediately. It's a nostalgia bomb to be sure. I enjoyed the game as a kid but it wasn't one of my top titles but the song brings me back a ton. I'd love to see some Bomberman 64 songs talked about as they have a similar feel for me. The songs impact me so much more than from games that I played much more like Mario or Pokemon.

[@kozmobluemusic]

it doesn’t have to be the arrangement that you recognize - you recognize certain elements of the arrangement, from the timbre to common motifs to any sonic references bramble blast takes me back to when things were simpler, brings me to tears

[@Kyzore]

It's the music, it's our sixth sense, this feeling of melancholy or nostalgia comes from the chord progression, people listen to certain things to rage, cry, smile. As long as you listen, not just hear it, it will make you feel.

[@FSAPOJake]

This is one of the best videos you ever put out.

[@IvoryMadness.]

Indeed! Maybe it just the topic, but I can cleary see he was invested to make this video. Not that he wasn't in previous videos, but this one was special, y'know?

[@Sonicz0]

That song was perfect for those stages, it calmed you down for those frustrating stages.

[@toddbernstein3407]

For me, Boards of Canada definitely hits a nostalgic chord. It has a lot to do with the particular sounds they use and how they treat them. It always takes me back to my early childhood in the 70's.

[@FalconDonkyPunch]

Japanese city pop makes you nostalgic for a time and a place you never experienced.

[@cherryl225]

stickerbush symphony sounds so good because it was made with love.

[@alfredogomezluna9368]

Nostalgia is "thinking" that the old days were better and that today we are closer from our Dead certificate and that happiness from the past will never happen again.

[@jackatk]

Woah. I put on Stickerbrush Symphony and was listening to it in my car right when he uploaded the video. Now I see this video in my recommended the next day, lol, that’s crazy I’ve never played DKC nor do I listen to its music; but the song was just stuck in my head all day

[@FloRiLLAZ]

I didn't play the dkc games back then and also have this nostalgic feeling. I can almost smell, taste and feel the memories i had in the 90s when i especially hear the dkc 2 OST.

[@TheJocatus]

Regarding your closing question, it's probably...a bit of both honestly. Music has so much power to set and influence mood intrinsically, and combined with the tendency of melancholia to make people dwell on the past, it's no surprise that tunes like Stickerbush Symphony evoke such strong feelings of nostalgia. The song Thirteen by Big Star still makes me feel super emotional to this day, even though it has been a long time since I was anywhere close to my teens. Please keep the video game music analysis content coming

[@fugithegreat]

I was there... I remember being awed by this game. The graphics were amazing for its time, and the music was enchanting as well.

[@felipemp93]

One music that always gives me this vibe is Lady, by Modjo.

[@Cyx318830]

An absolute banger!!

[@buhshmuh]

This song felt nostalgic back when i first played dkc2. Most of the songs on both dkc1 and 2 osts have a melancholy feel but 2 was particularly strong

[@LaDeCR]

Ohhhhhh that Bon Iver comparison.... The self titled album cuts me to my core, even though I can't fully remember the lyrics each time. Thank you, Charles - love your videos

[@Xeranxies]

I didn't realise that the word anemoia existed and I was just calling it nostalgia. The difference being, anemoia describes the feeling better. The feeling of nastalgia of a future that never came to be, the idea of what the 70's 80's and 90's thought the future would look like. I feel like I've been there, I've lived in those worlds. I suppose that is the power of music, especially when paired with appropriate themed imagery.

[@hmwr0h]

The thing about all of this is: the past is nothing but memories.. Our memories are the only trace of what we've experienced in life.. And that's beautifully sad, just because we can no longer access that feeling.. We're unable to live those memories again because we only live in today's time, that's all we have, and they cannot be in today's time.. And Stickerbush Symphony triggers this sensation very much, as well as Aquatic Ambiance, Life in The Mines (both from DKC, the first title), and many others..

[@hahaheslop]

I'm a guitarist, but I found this page whilst looking for videos on games from my childhood. I absolutely love the channel, maybe I'll start learning piano! 😊

[@michaelbouschet5634]

This song brings back memories because a version of it is featured in a certain level of the SSB Brawl story mode

[@foro921f4]

I was born in 1992. I happened to listen to some synthwave music from 2020 and that made some specific childhood memories automatically pop up in my mind. And that's wild because it's 80's like music, and I wasn't even there in the 80s!!

[@Christine.Baraka]

Sometimes I get nostalgic for times I never lived, and it feels almost like a grief of never being able to experience all that world history had to offer. Like imagine being on set for the filming of a Hollywood classic? Or seeing Ancient Rome in its heyday? Or seeing the pyramids being built? We may have photographs and ruins, but it's just not the same.

[@adril_wfk3680]

The fact that I heard Mario Kart 64 Credits music for the absolute first time yesterday and I felt exactly that is crazy. If you never heard it I highly recommend you do, I got instant nostalgia for a game I never actually played

[@inteligentidiot7233]

I remember back in '95 in middle school playing DKC2 for about an hour when I came across Stickerbrush Symphony, and after dying a couple times because the level is actually difficult, I just let it play for a good 10 minutes. Since then, it's been one of my favorite songs that I come back to a few times a year, pulling out my SNES and game cartridge just to hear it. I was overjoyed when I found out the internet loved it so much, and it is uncanny how so many of us are transported to a time from before, even when some of us never lived it.

[@FellshardYT]

A very subtle component to songs I've recognized as 'nostalgic' - slight detuning in harmony.

[@adamdesanti6713]

Sooooo much meat-on-the-bone in Charles' music analysis videos. They're long and they're in depth. Dude deserves everyone one of his subscribers and views.

[@nigelatkins1]

Thank you for your review of this. I am so honoured to be able to play this every night on Dave's World shows. best wishes, Nige. Dave Wise's drummer...

[@HeadmostCantaloupe]

Last summer, one of my childhood best friends came from the city he lived in to the city I lived in and basically stayed in our home for about a month. We were friends since birth, when I was 5, we went to their city (now the city I live in and have for 8 years but we're moving into the city that the rest of the family lives in poggers!!), about a year later they moved out which hurt me very much. But when he came to our house, I watched Nitrorad's video on Star Fox Adventure where he mentioned the PPF cover of the theme (very good cover check it out) and we listened to the cover together and it became our favorite piece of music. I never playerd DKC2, it was already 17 years old when I was born but because I listened to it with my friend for the first time, it just reminds me of last summer where I was with my friend for more than 2 or 3 days since 8 years ago and had fun doing it.

[@fatmario8244]

I've been wanting you to make a video on the music of Donkey Kong for so long. Most things by the great composer David Wise are absolutely brilliant. This is probably already my most nostalgic music I know and I hold this series near and dear to my heart.

[@Robikscube]

I feel hopefulness as a constant underlying energy. So what I miss in this discussion here is that ALL nostalgic songs have Hope. Something we might lose throughout the years.

[@gjhoward]

As an 80s baby, the resurgence of synthwave has given me major moments of anemoia in recent years. First time I heard Midnight City by M83, and Resonance by Home, they made me long for memories of a life I hadn't lived, yet knew intimately.

[@marco_rigoni_]

I'm so happy to see this channel keep on spreading love for video game music

[@clariens1385]

I think you should make a video about tom brier and how he improvised all the video game music when he was sight-reading it

[@lorenzoadamo1557]

Hi! First of all thank you for the wonderful video, I really love your content! I’m a classical musician and I wanted to share an alternative thought regarding how does this music provoke nostalgia. I am a harmony aficionado and I agree with the remarks on the A minor chord. By the way I think the second species minor seventh and the repeating 9th (b in the melody) on that chord really makes the difference in adding the nostalgia factor. This being said, isn’t all of our musical understanding being constantly shaped by the time we live in? I think that listening and learning about the 80/90s sounds while growing up as children then creates a sense of nostalgia that is referred to actual experiences. As kids we are struck by the awe of a story in the past that, especially in the case of this kind of music, corresponds to an era that is very often romanticized and longed for in general (it happens with the 50/60s as well of course). On the other hand, if we listen to classical music, we experience nostalgia only from the musical elements that were much later used to create the nostalgia feeling: we then learn it from movies, blurred (thus mysterious) interviews and videos, stories and people from that time. Therefore, I don’t think that the nostalgia element is inherent to the music, but that it derives from a series of complex shared memories: our only way to be interested in what came before us is to empathize with the stories that we hear. Additionally, I find that this theory is helped by the current evolution of music in general. In the last 30 years, as knowledge and education became (relatively) more accessible, it feels like we now have a huge palette of colors and emotions that we can pick and immerge ourselves in. I’m sure this process will never end as we are going to be that nostalgia for generations to come. If you don’t mind and you happen to have time, I’d love to know your opinion on this! Thank you

[@JacobDillon-ef8oe]

I love how you gave the actual video nostalgic background music. Very meta. And also a very soothing video to watch. To answer your question though, I don't think music can really be inherently nostalgic. Like you said, it draws us towards thinking about memories and feelings of nostalgia. There are songs with completely different vibes than Stickerbrush or Bon Iver that give me nostalgia based on my own experience. However, hearing that plagal cadence always hits me deep. It's just such an emotionally stirring sound.

[@GamingWithSpoons]

What's even more crazy is the level itself is annoyingly hard but the song somehow soothes you so it's almost impossible to get mad

[@tsuzu2316]

Yes! I'm glad that you picked this song! Apparently, it was supposed to be underwater theme. I feel nostalgia from the music.

[@brandoncarey541]

The song (and to a greater extent, the artist) that instantly evokes nostalgia to me is Roygbiv by Boards of Canada. It has this wistful longing that really makes it sound like Saturday morning cartoons. Once the lead synth starts playing (45s in) the phrases begin with playfulness but end on this melancholy call that only gets its response from the start of the next phrase - the song is stuck in a time loop of kid-like wonder through the lens of adult lived experiences.

[@arcyarcanine]

Melancholy is what you feel, if you're not truly nostalgic about something.

[@KenNakajima07]

This game´s entire soundtrack is golden, My favorite is aquatic ambiance even on top of this one, the song even makes me feel cool temperature on a hot day... nostalgia plus synesthesia.

[@twannifufu]

This is my favorite of the entire franchise.

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

0:11 correction DKC2 is from 1995 🤓 So glad you’re doing DKC!!! All 3 original trilogy scores are earthshattering!!! Literally the reason I wanted to become a composer myself, those scores meant everything to me as a kid, and still do!

[@sb792079]

A lot of movie trailers use this type of music, both quiet and bombastic. And similarly to what you mentioned in the video about our real life memories, i feel that that music reminds us of PAST media we have consumed, evokes and lets us construct a story in our head. It puts us in a state where we construct stories that don’t exist yet, but we have seen before, and felt things for. For some people like me, that imagination might be so clear that it makes us intensely excited or sad to the point of tears. I don’t think this is too dissimilar to what’s described in the video.

[@zehel368]

Trance 009 sound system dreamscape gives me KZbin nostalgia. The "you wouldn't steal a car" psa music gives me early 2000s cinema nostalgia

[@TheOneRioji]

Japanese City Pop does this for me. It reminds of days and late nights with friends, watching anime and playing games, without a care in the world. Man… those were better days.

[@UFPharmacy]

I just recently described a song the exact same way. "Nostalgic even though I'd never heard it before." The song is Chilly Gonzalez's piano composition "Kenaston". It's also very moody and melancholic. Definitely one worth checking out. After analyzing it a bit further, I realized it's kind of like an adult version of "Heart and Soul". It has the same basic harmonic structure but is simultaneously much more complex. The fact that this song (Heart and Soul) featured so prominently amongst my earliest childhood memories makes perfect sense as to why the Chilly Gonzalez song felt so nostalgic upon first listen.

[@JessiNaka]

Thanks for explaining how this music made me feel even *during the time* I was playing the game as a kid. It already felt nostalgic and I was experiencing it in real time!

[@SamLovesMovies25]

It's interesting hearing someone's different perspective on it (I did grow up playing this game when I was a kid, so this song is nostalgic to me in that way). But it's so interesting to hear how even though you didn't grow up with it, some of your experiences with the song still kind of intersect in some ways with mine.

[@nickd3359]

@CharlesCornellStudios I'm 41 now and continue to still hang in there! Thanks for such a great vid, DKC music hits the nostalgia hard, really transports back to those fun childhood days., it's a real stress reliever when the strains of adulthood get their claws in. Keep up the great work mate :)

[@futureperfectmusic7746]

Maybe there's something to be said of the 1-chord (C major) being the "home" of the key, and how the music never neatly resolves back to C major without first passing through the minor chord (A minor) within the progression. You could view this as a sort of analogy of nostalgia. The C chord represents our foundation, or home, or that thing in the past we're trying to get back to. But when we try to revisit that thing in the past, we cannot fully experience it again as it truly was when we first experienced it. We can only remember it through the context of our other memories, which carries a small bit of sadness within it.

[@LivingGuy484]

The checkpoint has reached the mainstream once again!

[@JaysonsVideoGameSecrets]

One of the best soundtracks of all time. Stickerbrush and Snow-Bound Land are two of the best SNES themes of all time.

[@maestrozephyr]

I am so excited for this song! This song became like the library of Alexandria on KZbin, known as the Internet Checkpoint. A place of tranquility and where everyone gave support to everyone else as they poured out their life struggles and successes. Until Nintendo took down the OG video, causing so much internet history to be instantly lost. It still has life in the hearts of so many people worldwide! I’m so glad to see it being covered!

[@metaldave08096]

I love how you where able to make such a heartwarming video on nostalgia and the power music has on us, from a game with monkeys throwing barrels. 😂

[@hadesvlogaming8920]

Yeah, this song is beautiful

[@thecritters8933]

remember playing this game when i was 6 years old. almost 35 now. brutal nostalgia with this.

[@marcosamartinso]

Played the game in my childhood. I think that is the only game that I share a feeling of nostalgia with my siblings. They, although loved the game, were not much into games in general, but it is not rare that we remember this music together. I have a strong memory of playing a level with Stickerbush Symphony with all my family getting ready for a family party and my mom saying that this music is beautiful and apreciating my playthrough when brushing my sister's hair. That nostalgic feeling is powerful, and felt quite beyond my remembrance of my family and specially my mom being much younger, it speaks about our family ties beautifully. Something I would like to rescue.

[@SimonJwar]

Ooooh man that Bramble Blast soundtrack bring back so many memories. You haven't played the song yet, I just saw the image and I've already sang it my head as if I heard it yesterday. That was more than 20 years ago. Amazing song.

[@CRIDIC]

In this particular sense the combined sense of the Nintendo square synth really adds to this compatibility. Older systems were required to have video games essentially preform music live on the cartridge so using 4 different instruments Nintendo cracked down and helped support the phrase. Limited resources equals infinite creativity. So happy you did a video on DKC aquatic ambiance would be another hard hitter that’s used in pop hear recently too.

[@DaneBryantFrazier]

14:40 The normal piano sounds like a normal piano. The mellow version sounds like distant echoes of the past.

[@CoversIncorporated]

The song that started my love of music to begin with

[@snivys]

love that the dictionary of obscure sorrows is getting some spotlight. it’s been my go to for just about everything for the past 4 years.

[@vap1dw817]

The way I immediately knew it would be Stickerbrush Symphony. Just, immediately. I actually DID grow up hearing this song all the time. I know that whole soundtrack, and it lives rent-free in my head forever. But Stickerbrush Symphony has a particularly reflective quality. I attribute it to the expansive, escape-tone-heavy melodic patterns over a progression that includes a few inversions. And yeah, the loop is short, but it's also eventful and seamless, opening into that concluding phrase walking up from D minor. Also, the song is totally coherent regardless of whether you consider the key to be C major or A minor...neither really fells more correct than the other. And that lends a fuzzy ambiguity that feels like a desired clarity is JUST out of reach. But it's okay, because the feeling is still pleasant enough to stay in it for a long time. It's brilliant.

[@AznPhatty]

I'm not crying. Just something in my eye.

[@vinny985]

the peak of videogame nostalgic music for me has to be the ocarina of time title screen theme, i still remember how strong the feelings hit even when i launched it for the first time, and now enough time has passed for it to start feeling like real nostalgia…

[@anthonybreaux2119]

Sting has been able to evoke nostalgia in me through many of his songs: "Ghost Story," "The Book of My Life," "Why Should I Cry for You," and several others. Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" is another great one (such a perfectly composed song). But the most moving nostalgic musical pieces, to me, are: Maurice Ravel's "Pavanne pour une Infante Defunte" and "La Vallée des Cloches." And here's another profoundly nostalgic work: Richard Strauss "Vier letze Lieder" (Four Last Songs, about the end of his life--so profound and deeply meaningful, and SO BEAUTIFUL)!

[@Spazmonkeyorange]

I've listened to this whole soundtrack many times, it's all good and this one's my favorite.