“All in all you’re just another brick in the wall” Pink Floyd
I saw “brick” and an earworm formed. It’s faded in an out for about two hours now, but I know how earworms go and that it will probably hang around most of the day.
I woke up with Pearl Jam’s Just Breathe echoing in my head, which it has been on and off for about two weeks, so I’m almost happy to have another musical theme.
Have you ever heard a song and had an almost instant feeling of recognition although you’re pretty sure you’ve never heard the song before? It’s kind of like musical déjà vu. I felt that with Just Breathe. I’ve googled both the PJ version and Willie Nelson’s and nada. The tv shows and movies it’s been in I haven’t seen. There’s absolutely no reason why this song strikes a familiar chord (hehe, pun) in me. It’s a simple song and the chorus is haunting and it sticks with me like mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy–pure musical comfort food.
Now Brick in the Wall, today’s earworm thanks to the daily prompt, is haunting in a far different way. It’s purposefully militaristic sounding. The voices are low like a chant. The message is, in part, about not turning out cookie-cutter students, allowing creativity to flourish. While it’s a good message (we’ve all had at least one teacher who wanted to tamp down our creativity), it’s also a narrow message (we’ve all had at least one teacher who encouraged and bolstered our creativity). And now that I’ve revisited the video, which rightly or wrongly makes me think of an urban version of Stephen King’s “Children of the Corn,” I’m going to try plugging in another earworm so I don’t have those images bouncing around in my brain.
Ah, here’s a good replacement: Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. Happy Friday!
FYI: Thanks to wikipedia, I discovered that earworm comes from the German word Ohrwurm. Women are more often affected. About 90% of the population “suffers” from them. For a quickie NPR bit on earworms, go here. And, if you have an earworm you can’t get rid of, here are some solutions. Personally I’m going to have some tea…for two…and two for tea, me for you and you for me…darn.
To explain the music déjà vu, you should watch a movie called Frequencies. It’s an extremely interesting sci-fi film.
I’ll have to listen to Just Breathe and see if I feel the same strange recognition that you do.
One song that I felt that with is Starlight by Muse.
I haven’t seen Frequencies, but I’ll check it out. Starlight has one of those choruses, too. I mean it doesn’t sound like Just Breathe, but there’s something there, something almost plaintive–vulnerable? Thanks!
we use the spin doctors’ “two princes” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsdy_rct6uo) to erase earworms… for some reason it erases the other song but doesn’t linger itself… at least for us.
That’s interesting. I wonder if it’s because the song has a more complex set-up? Thanks!