Songs and Memory

Having a song stuck in your head is a completely normal thing. There are times when I have songs stuck in my head for weeks and weeks, but normally they're songs that I like and that I listen to a lot. So, it's quite understandable that they'd be stuck in my head.

I've just read an article on bbc all about why music gets stuck in our heads. The article was not only about songs that we've recently heard being stuck in our heads, but also why we suddenly remember songs we haven't heard in a long time which then become stuck in our head. It said that normally something we see or experience reminds us of that song.

So, for example, if, as a kid, you always used to listen to a certain song when you did your math homework, maybe when you have kids and are helping them with their math homework, you'll remember that song. And then that song will get stuck in your head.

But we are always making associations like this with other things, like food. Normally when I come home, I make a cheese sandwich and watch Merlin as I eat this sandwich. Now, no matter what time it is, if I start to watch Merlin I start to imagine a cheese sandwich. I can even smell it sometimes.

I'm not really going to get into food associations though; for now, I'll stick with music. I don't think many people really realise what has triggered their memory to remember the songs that are stuck in their heads, but it really is interesting. Next time a song that I haven't listened to is playing over and over again in my head, I'll be sure to try to remember what made me remember that particular song.

The way our memory works is very strange. We can remember experiences to trigger songs, and yet we can't remember the things we want to remember like the dates of the historical events we're being tested on and what not. I think if our memory didn't work the way it do though, life wouldn't be as interesting, would it?