Musing on Music

[anarchist_nomad]

I have been thinking about earworms recently. In particular, I have been wondering two things:

1. Why does a particular song sometimes get stuck in my head? Sometimes I wake up and find that an earworm has taken hold overnight, with no apparent rhyme[*] or reason.
   
2. Why do I get recurring earworms? There are several songs that just come back to me from time to time. For instance, I frequently find Suddenly Seymour, from Little Shop of Horrors, floating through my brain.

Does anyone else find themselves vulnerable to these things? Or is it just me?

While I am on the topic of music, here is another "Is it just me?" question: It seems that, for every romantic relationship of significance that has ended in a break-up, I have a song that conveys the spirit of the relationship ending[**]. Is this normal? Or is this just me being weird?

---

[*] Besides one that might be in the song itself.

[**] And, no, I am not going to share the details of the relationships, or the songs, on LiveJournal. Though I might spill the beans if you strike up a conversation about it in person.

Comments

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

*gasp* "Suddenly Seymour" has been a reliable if sporadic earworm for me for *years* in spite, probably because of, how horrible it is.

HOW DID YOU KNOW??

(The breakup song thing sounds quite normal, though)

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

Okay, I am duly impressed. You're a fellow Anarchist and you also have Suddenly Seymour as a recurring earworm. We may be the only two humans on the planet who satisfy both criteria! :-) Clearly we need to hang out at some point...

And, of course, this conversation puts said song right back into my head!

Lift up your head,
Take off your mascara.
Here take my Kleenex,
Wipe that lipstick away...

Here we go again! *grin*

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

*grins* And a Pagan (of sorts, very lazy; plus I think of myself as mostly an anarcho-syndicalist, if I'm being picky about affiliations - but hey, CLOSE ENOUGH!).

Clearly we need to hang out at some point...

Well, let me know when you're likely to be in town. I would say the same to you too, but I'm not really in your neck of the woods often since my last local friend upped and left.

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

And a Pagan, huh? Okay, that clinches it -- you definitely sound like cool people!

I must confess that I owe you an apology. You said that we have met... but I must [embarrassedly] admit that I do not recall meeting you. It must have been a Polyday, back in September, yes? I might remember you quite quickly if I saw you again, but I met so many nifty people that day and [I would guess] that your icon does not look like you, so.... In any case, we should definitely meet again. I next plan to be in London for the Poly meetup on Feb 5th. Any chance you will be there?

Oh, and as for flavours of Anarchy, I consider Anarcho-Syndicalism to be one of the many stripes that Anarchy comes in. I personally consider myself to be an Anarchist without adjectives, rather than sort through Anarcho-Communism, Anarcho-Collectivism, Anarcho-Syndicalism, et cetera. But there are definitely part of @-Syndicalism that appeal to me. And the red-and-black @-syndicalist flag is much cooler than the all black Anarchy flag! :-)

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's OK! It's that kind of event. (If it helps, I realised who you were because I used to date morgynuk...)

I am flattered by being called 'cool people', though you do realise that there aren't many people who would find comparative discussions of the merits of anarchist flags to be cool. I, however, am indeed one of those people.

(I like to express a slight context to my views as there's, thankfully, a great deal of anarchist diversity. I also don't align myself with most of the divisive Class War stuff. And I don't automatically disbelieve in the value of legal systems per se. A few reasons for the syndicalist inclusion!)

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

OKAY! I think I remember who are you now -- thanks! Correct me if I am wrong, but we were chatting in the side room for some time during the dance. Waiting out the less danceworthy songs, if I recall. Nice to finally have a face to put with your LJ name!

As for what constitutes cool... well, I do things like memorize the history of the English monarchy and photograph postboxes and ring church bells for fun. So I am probably not the best arbiter. S'okay, though. I prefer spending my time with people who would agree that some (or all) of these things are cool.

Definitely need to hang out at some point and discuss Anarchism, in all its wonderful flavours and stripes... possibly in-between games of Fluxx and Settlers. :-)

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

I do things like memorize the history of the English monarchy and photograph postboxes and ring church bells for fun.

Wow. You are going to *have* to hang out with alextiefling! You guys might have even more in common - just as an example, one of his hobby projects was creating a database of the entire European nobility... I also seem to recall that he met you at Polyday and said you were a pretty cool dude too.

Correct me if I am wrong, but we were chatting in the side room for some time during the dance. Waiting out the less danceworthy songs, if I recall.

That's it! :¬) Indeedy.

Definitely need to hang out at some point

Well, we do a semi-regular Mah-Jongg (+ other games) afternoon at our house, it's usually the last Sunday of the month although thats variable. If you & cheshcat are free some time, you'd be more than welcome.

And that's only one of many excellent hanging-out suggestions!

Are you thinking of attending Picocon this year?

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

You are going to *have* to hang out with alextiefling! You guys might have even more in common - just as an example, one of his hobby projects was creating a database of the entire European nobility

Heh. Yup, definitely sounds like he and I might just get along.

(Actually, he is way ahead of me, seeing as I am only familiar with the English monarchy!)

I also seem to recall that he met you at Polyday and said you were a pretty cool dude too.

Uh-oh! I just remembered who you were -- now you mean to say that there is somebody else who I need to recall? :-)

Well, we do a semi-regular Mah-Jongg (+ other games) afternoon at our house, it's usually the last Sunday of the month although thats variable.

Send me an e-mail at my LJ username (at) livejournal (dot) com and it will be forwarded to me. Then I can reply and you will have my actual e-mail address. This way you can ping me before gaming is happening and I can RSVP and all that.

Are you thinking of attending Picocon this year?

A definite maybe at this point. Many things are up in the air until we get Chesh to the surgeon tomorrow to have her injury looked at.

Have fun at Conception!!

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Uh-oh! I just remembered who you were -- now you mean to say that there is somebody else who I need to recall? :-)

:¬P

Send me an e-mail at my LJ username (at) livejournal (dot) com and it will be forwarded to me. Then I can reply and you will have my actual e-mail address. This way you can ping me before gaming is happening and I can RSVP and all that.

Cool. I will always post on my LJ with some advance notice of the event, so the best thing to do - and to remind my overstuffed brane, cos I *will* forget - is to comment on that post and poke me to send you an email, if I haven't already.

Many things are up in the air until we get Chesh to the surgeon tomorrow to have her injury looked at.

I hope she's OK. My best wishes to you both, and I am thinking positive thoughts right now for her general and specific health - this is mostly altruistic but does also mean you'd be available to get out and Have Fun :¬)