(Megan S. asks where specific songs fit into your personal narrative.)
Remember that episode of M*A*S*H where a scent triggers Hawkeye to fall down the rabbit hole of unresolved pain from earlier in his life? Sound can do that too, especially songs.
Sometimes hearing a song can bring you back to a period in your life, a scene or even a specific incident. Often, the two are so intertwined it is impossible to revisit a memory without its soundtrack, or hear a song without your embedded storyboard. Lots of times, we have no control over the music or the situation; they all come together, merging, in the making of a memory.