Over
the past five days, I’ve been getting hammered by two songs…
Sylvester – “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”
KC and the Sunshine Band – “Keep It Comin’ Love”
(I’m
going to do you a favor and not link to the songs in any way.
You’re welcome.)
Both
songs have a lot in common. Disco… about forty years old… hits.
And… more to my current pain and suffering…
They’ve
been on television recently. Commercials. And, the results are
overwhelming.
The
problem is that they only play for a few seconds thanks to these
commercials, which for me is usually the way to trigger the wonderful
phenomenon of the earworm.
I’ve
been lucky. Haven’t been infected by earworms for many years.
And, I think I know why.
As
I mentioned, I can trace most of my earworm suffering back to
a fairly specific cause… not hearing the complete song. It’s not
a result of some overwhelming difficulty with closure for me.
Instead, it’s that at the right moment, with the right song, hearing
just a little bit allows it to sink its hooks in.
More
often than not, suffering over the years came about because I’d
be driving along, hear the first thirty or so seconds of a tune
on the radio, find myself having arrived at my destination and
shutting the car off. In essence… a catchy tune as the last song
on the radio before I got out.
I
don’t listen to the radio as much anymore. A mix of sports radio
and compact discs were tilting the balance for a bit, and ultimately
changed things for good some twenty years ago. Now, unless Terry
and I are off on a long road trip, or the holiday season is in
full swing, I actually think the radio is off far more than it’s
ever on.
Still…
the earworms have opportunity…
I
remember “Rubberband Man” nailing me thanks to the OfficeMax commercials
years ago… of course, this is a tremendous song, so I suppose
I shouldn’t be complaining considering the run of music rattling
around unstoppably in my head at times. Instead…
Mind
chatter.
The
songs keep flaring up again in the middle of the night. As I’m
first trying to get to sleep. If I wake up. And when it comes
to Sylvester and KC… both fascinating performers with interesting
careers… that means the songs aren’t letting me peacefully drift
off to dreamland.
Which
brings us to that closure part.
See…
I’m not obsessive about things when it comes to beginning and
ending. It happens at times, where I feel the need to finish something
I’ve started. But not often. With an earworm though, the answer
for me is usually a simple one. Just to hear the entire song.
Start to finish. And then *poof* earworm
gone. Vanishes.
I
don’t listen to Sylvester or KC and the Sunshine Band all that
often. I don’t have any music by either. Which means lately, I’ll
just be sitting there… not thinking about the songs… and then
one of the commercials comes on. Or… I’ll be settled in for the
night… and in some way that defy description, I realize I’m not
thinking about the songs which of course results in my mind wondering
what songs I could possibly not be thinking about and… yeah, there
they are.
So
today I pulled up YouTube, listened to both songs, and it seems
to be going better. I think we’ve moved beyond the worst of it,
and tonight should be a good night for sleep.
(Except
– “…Hand me down my walkin’ cane, hand me down my hat…” – (Dammit!))