Posted by EscherDementian on November 1, 2003, at 4:23:30
In reply to Musical Hallucinations, posted by Lou Pilder on February 11, 2000, at 7:28:28
Lou,
Just tonight i happened to send this article (below) to a friend with same complaint. Don't know if it will help you, but i surely understand your maddening frustration. At the least, i hope it brings a chuckle.Also~ i am one who hears colors/sees musical notes. i also 'hear' instrumental compositions visually. (Have since childhood.) But both senses are present simultaneously. Sometimes will see the music a moment before i hear it, and only once heard the color (blue) before i saw it. When a person says their own name, i see a lettering style (font), always unique and with texture. Often with a color also. And i've noticed a difference between what (spoken) sentences look like that are true, from lies. But all that's another post, when i have more time, if you're still interested. (I've got to go right now~~)
Here's that article:
According to University of Cincinnati marketing professor James Kellaris,
The Top 3 Songs That Get Stuck In Your Head are:
# "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
# "Baby Back Ribs" jingle from Chili's Restaurant
# "Who Let the Dogs Out?"Kellaris calls it the playlist from hell. But that the real #1 song that gets stuck in our heads is different for each of us.(duh!) Kellaris has done so much research on this odd and annoying phenomenon that he's coined a term for it: "Earworm".
He told The Associated Press that Earworm is insidious; it might be the first song you hear on the clock radio that wakes you up, it could come from out of your distant childhood or teen years, could come from an elevator or the CD playing in the cubicle next to yours. "There are certain tunes that we would describe as catchy that are more likely to become one, but just about anything can become an Earworm," he told AP. His personal Earworm is Byzantine chants, which he suspects has something to do with his wife's job as a church choir director.
Stuck songs have these traits in common:
* They are relatively simple.
* They are repetitive.
* They contain an element that surprises the listener, such as an interrupted pattern or something that violates expectations of what comes next.
* The most common culprits are songs with lyrics.
* They stay stuck in our heads for a few hours on average, and can "hang around" for a couple days.There is no cure, but these treatments sometimes will work to rid your brain of the repetitive Earworm:
* Don't worry about it. (Take this advice, but DON'T think of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy") ;-)
* Listen to different music.
* Try singing the entire song--and not just the snippet that's stuck in your head--even if you can't quite remember all the lyrics.
* If that doesn't work, go find the forgotten lyrics. Kellaris theorizes that Earworm is the brain's attempt to resolve missing information. By finding out the complete lyrics to a song, you might be able to "unstick" it.
* Erase the offending song by singing the theme from "Gilligan's Island." (LOL)
* Erase "Gilligan's Island" with another song that you like better.
* There's a folklore cure: Chew on cinnamon sticks. (Loudly, i'd imagine)(...My own personal solution that works 100% every time, has been to "give" the song to somebody else. Get it stuck in THEIR head. Preferably someone you're close enough with to hear them hum it and then groan "Aaargh!" when they realize they've "got it" in their head now. By the time we're done laughing, i'll notice it's no longer stuck in mine. My sister and husband have begun to do the same to ME, and it works for them, too. Aaargh!)
Kellaris' More Facts about Earworm:
* Women experience more irritation and frustration than men do from Earworms.
* People who are constantly exposed to music suffer from it more frequently.
* There may be a connection between Earworms and a person's level of neurosis. (Uh oh.)The research was presented at the Society for Consumer Psychology.
alright everyone sing along:
"WHAT'S NEW, Pussycat...Whoah whoah whoa-ho.."
;-)
(....sorry!)
poster:EscherDementian
thread:21117
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031030/msgs/275452.html