WORDS: Leith Forrest, FIVEaa
I don’t know if you feel the same, but I find the older I’m getting, the more nostalgic I’m getting.
Whether that’s because of the current state of the world – both globally and as individuals, I’m not sure – but I do enjoy that feeling of more happiness when we remember back on “the good old days”.
When I took over the evenings show at FIVEaa, the radio show made so famous by the late great Bob Francis, I spoke with Radio Godfather / Oracle Paul Thompson about how I can make the show a success – after all, being in my mid forties, I’m decades younger than many of my listeners – and he gave me sage advice – he said “lean into nostalgia as much as you can.”
This recommendation proved to be true from the very start of last year, when just weeks into the show I uttered the phrase “more front than John Martins” only to then be corrected by a number of callers who said the phrase should be – “more front than Cox Foys” or “more front than Foy and Gibsons.”
What then evolved was shows and days and weeks where callers would continue to, with such fondness, recall memories of their earlier lives and times spent at any or all of these three Adelaide icons.
We introduced a segment titled ‘Late Night Nostalgia’ where again, so much joy was to be found reminiscing about old Adelaide movie theatres that no longer exist – think the Rex or the Savoy, extinct dance venues like Regines, and the number attractions for the youth of South Australia in their day – like Downtown, Tilt and the much loved Magic Mountain, which, by the way, creator Frank Sebastyan assures me the urban legend of there being razor blades on the water slide was not true.
So where does the concept of nostalgia originate from?
Nostalgia comes from the Greek term ’nóstos’ meaning homecoming – coined by a medical student named Johannes Hofer in the 17th century to describe the anxieties of Swiss mercenaries who were fighting, away from their home.
It wasn’t the positive reflection we see it as today. Journals during the time of Captain Cook, soldiers in the American Civil War and some who fought in both the first and second world wars – were diagnosed with ‘Nostalgia and homesick’ – so serious troops would leave in droves or often be discharged and sent home. Treatment of such a sickness was considered an insult. Certainly it wasn’t looked up as the notion of comfort that we embrace today.
I’m wondering if Nostalgia is hereditary. My mother, from New Zealand, moved to Australia in her late teens, early twenties, and still has a pull towards the land of the long white cloud as though she lived there yesterday. I grew up in Gods Country – Millicent, in the state’s South East. I lived there until I was 19 before I moved to Adelaide for University. Now I’ve lived in Adelaide for 27 years – got an amazing wife, two wonderful children, house, dogs, 23 years at FIVEaa, and yet it doesn’t feel like home. Not sure if it ever will. My children, even at the ages of 14 and 12, recall fondly their times and friends and teachers in Primary School or Kindergarten. Is that me rubbing off on them, or can Nostalgia strike so early in life?
My longing for times past occurs every single time I drive now into my home town of Millicent. By simply seeing people I remember, places I remember, memories that were made – my heart literally (and possibly physically) swells with joy. It’s hard to describe to some, for others I’m sure those of you reading who consider somewhere you don’t live now to be your home – both spiritually and or emotionally – feel the same way.
I do a health segment each Tuesday night on my radio show with Tracey Yeend from the Green Dispensary – who introduced the audience and I to a lady named Wendy Hall from Dementia Doulas. Wendy has the greatest analogy I’ve ever heard when it comes to recalling memories – in this case for dementia but it’s applicable to nostalgia too. Our brain is like a filing cabinet. Often the first memories that we forget, are the memories more recent, the files at the front if you will, “What was that person’s name? Why did I come into this room? What did we have for dinner yesterday?”.
Yet it’s the long lasting memories, those that you hang on to often with great affection that are the files at the back of the filing cabinet, those tucked away securely.
How often do you find yourself remembering, word perfect, the lyrics to a song you loved but haven’t heard in years and years (in my case Garth Brook’s classic She’s Every Woman) or the name of your grade 2 teacher (Miss Langeluddecke, my all time favourite), or even something obscure like your favourite childhood confectionary (Big Charlie bubble gum)?
So during these times of uncertainty and hardship for many people, please take the advice that the great Paul Thompson passed on to me. Lean in to nostalgia as much as you can. Embrace the past. Reconnect with old friends. Visit old places that bring you joy. Watch an old movie or listen to an old record. Bake or cook that dish that you enjoyed as a child (cream sago). Make your heart swell. Best of all, I think it’s contagious, so feel free to pass it on.
Then, feel free to call into my show between 8 and midnight when undoubtedly another wonderful memory will arise courtesy of one of the many great listeners to the show – and you can add to the conversation. Did you drink Green Death? Remember the jingle to Cunningham’s Warehouse? What TV shows did you watch as a family? Whose posters were on your wall as a teenager? What was the first concert you ever went to? Who was your childhood crush (Tricia Carthew. We were both 6).
Happy remembering.
Leith Forrest is the host of FIVEaa’s Evenings Programme, 8pm – Midnight, Weekdays
