Every morning I wake up with music playing in my head. It never fails. It could be any song, from any time period in any genre. I always know the song, but I don't always like it and I've always wondered why a song I don't like is playing in my head. When I've told other people this or asked if they wake up to their own personal juke box pounding out tunes in their cranium they look at me like, "yeah right, crazy lady. Is it warm on your planet?"
I found out I'm not crazy (be careful some of you!) There's actually a term for what I have and other people hear music in their heads when they wake up too. What a relief. I'm not the only one on this music filled planet.
An article in The Atlantic Magazine quotes Josh Foer, author of Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything stating "There's an actual scientific term for lyrics getting lodged in your brain. Earworms." Why call it earworms? Because the harder you try to make the lyrics stop the further they burrow. He also quotes a study that showed earworms appear to be more annoying to women than men. Why doesn't this surprise me some how? Women - bugs go figure.
Now that I know I have earworms maybe it will explain why I might not be able to remember what I had for breakfast, but I can name almost any tune in under five seconds. The only thing filling the useless fact file in my brain is song lyrics. Sad, but true.
Tell us. What songs do you hear when the radio isn't playing?
What an interesting topic :) Let's see: Depends on the day I suppose. As fun as The Police ("Every Little Thing She Does is Magic") and as ridiculous as Shari Lewis and Lambchop's "This is the Song that doesn't End..."
ReplyDeleteNow those earworms will be burrowing in my head all day...
Joanna Aislinn
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NO MATTER WHY
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I didn't know that there was a medical term for this. I hear music in my head all the time. Totally wake up to it, and sometime even dream about it. Most songs lately have been teen songs as my daughter sings them all day long and I can't get them out of my head. I always thought I missed my calling. The way I remember lyrics, I should have been a singer. Except I can't carry a tune. :(
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