Smell the song.

I cannot decide which of the two instantly transports me back across time.

I only have to get a faint whiff of new car interior and I am immediately a small boy again sitting next my dad in either his new Morris Minor or Austin van. The smell of tar reminds me of a house I lived in as a kid when the road was being laid. The fact is that most aromas remind me immediately of some event or other in the past.

It's the same with music. "Concrete and Clay" by Unit four plus two is a double whammy as it immediately puts me on a coach going on an outing when I was in a choir ( I could sing in tune, not necessarily the tune playing) and it also reminds me of Cadbury's Bar Six. I don't know why. If I hear "Sunshine of your Love" by Cream I am sliding off the window sill of my parents kitchen and catching my foot on a flex joined with insulating tape causing all the lights in the house to fuse. "Snoopy versus the Red Baron" reminds me of my ex wife and "Bonnie and Clyde" immediately reminds me of my cousin George. I can't hear it without thinking of him.

I know the words to 100's of songs I haven't heard for years and have no difficulty repeating them but I cannot remember where I put my keys ten minutes ago. Perhaps I should sing a song every time I do something. I'll have to make sure I don't use public toilets.