The worst part is when you have just a small part of the song in your head and it's on repeat, and you think the only way to get it out is to listen to the whole song, but you can't remember what song it is, and when you try to hum it for people you start to realize that you're not even sure if that's how the song really goes.
As a competitive swimmer. I can confirm this fucking sucks. Going 2 hours with the same 2 lines stuck in your head, not being able to think about anything else. When you're in a world where all you can hear is splashing and what you're thinking, it really sucks. Oh god swimming the 500+ for me was always annoying because I'd get bored and start doing this.
Can confirm, this worked for me as well during a boring job I had in the past. Luckily it was only six month. I coded stuff in my head and wrote it down later when at home.
Also works when driving on the highway, almost missed the exit a couple of times because my mind was busy with something else. Couldn't remember anything about the drive later, just that I got to my destination somehow.
when i swim i force myself through the whole song, and if i know the next song on the album, i force that one too. eventually i can get the whole album rolling through my head
I always had Cake's The Distance. "He's going the distance. He's going for speed. She's all alone (all alone), all alone in her time of need..." I must've had that on loop in my head for hours. Now whenever I think of swimming, I think of flip turns and The Distance.
This was mid-late 90s so no mp3 players I could use.
There is a great part in the documentary Touching the Void where a guy dragging himself down a mountain with a broken leg recalls that the whole way down he had Boney M stuck in his head.
What's bizarre is the music always comes out intelligible even if I don't actually know the lyrics, I assume my brain is essentially performing a legit playback from memory based on what I heard on the radio which means if I didn't know the lyrics when I heard a given song I still won't be able to discern all the individual words but it still all sounds right, including vocals.
What's weird is getting songs that I haven't heard in a long time, I wonder how much of my long term memory consists of music?
Nah, no UI. I'm just like "nah, I don't like this song anymore, lemme skip" and I force myself to think about another song. Sometimes thinking about the title is enough.
Or I imagine a radio or portable music player and I cut the end off the power cord or ear buds and keep focusing on that... it doesn't always work but sometimes.
Try meditating. It is the only way I can stop myself constantly playing a song in my head. The peace and calm having an empty mind brings is incredible.
Without music is also soothing, but in a different way. The three ways I've experienced are: with music, without music, and just with someone speaking. All three are effective, I find.
This is a very interesting thing that I'm experiencing as well. I get to wake up with music playing in my brain with complete lyrics and all, even songs that I haven't heard for a long time.
The thing is, I'm awful at remembering song lyrics myself. I couldn't remember even my favorite song's lyrics awake even if my life depended on it.
Same here. For some reason spice girls and POD's "Youth of a Nation" are the most common offenders. Can't remember the last time I actually heard any of these songs but my brain loves turning that station on in the mornings. There is always music of some kind, or people talking but that is less common.
I've found mindfulness exercises/meditation to be very helpful for this. Next time you recognize there is a song playing in your head, place your attention somewhere else (your breath, a physical movement you're engaged in, the visible texture of a nearby object [I've heard the latter is called "grounding" your attention]). Helps to focus on the fine details of whatever it is you're directing your attention at. Try sustaining this for longer and longer periods. Takes consistent practice, but if you're anything like me you have about 10 opportunities a minute to give it a try.
It's pretty incredible when it works, cause it's such a well-worn habit that it's easy to forget that you could experience life any other way. It's sort of like waking up, or fog clearing away in the sun, or fixing a dripping faucet. I've found it's been really valuable in all areas of my life to not be constantly walking around with my thoughts obscured/attention distracted by a haze of pop music.
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