I remember the broadcast vividly ... I was driving through the Hill Country, my radio tuned to NPR, the car winding down Ranch Road 170 in Driftwood, listening to the story of a man who heard music in his head and thought he was going crazy.
I hear music in my head all the time ... not always the words, since lyrics usually escape me unless I make a concerted effort to learn them by rote ... but music, always, almost every minute of every day ... music.
So I listened to the story of the man and of others who have "musical hallucinations" and the talking heads on the radio said, "They're not crazy ... there's nothing wrong with them ... there is a pathway between the ears and the brain that can run both ways ... [and someone theorized] if the sound from the outside stopped, there would be a backflow ... most of the people who have musical hallucinations have one thing in common ... "
And as I drove past La Ventana (the window) I shouted out loud, "They're deaf!"
"They're deaf," echoed the radio.
As am I ... at least virtually so, since I now wear hearing aids that go a long way toward remedying my genetically-inherited deafness.
It makes for an interesting life ... all we are saying, is give peace a chance ...
Liz, how cool is that? I love this 21st C world, when I get a line from a song playing in a continuous loop in my head and can't remember who it was by, I can just google it & within seconds the lyrics are all there, who it was written by who played it & then I can go and listen to it on You Tube ie right now I will go and listen to "all we are saying, is give peace a chance" now that the sun has come up and I won't be disturbing the sleep of Old Man Crow and the Cat
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh ... I just finished drafting this yesterday when your comment about John Lennon's Imagine came through
Deleteit would be. Interesting. I am sure it is also all kinds of Other things, through a lifetime, but
ReplyDeletewould also allow you to cultivate all manner of Ways that the hearing would not bother to?
And a personal soundtrack...yes. i like that.
It is what it is ... loss of hearing is only Debilitating if you let it be ... most of the time I love the silence and the music that fills it ... but I'm also glad that I live in a time when hearing aids enable me to hear my grandchildren, too.
DeleteWhat a fascinating thing this is! I will have to listen to the whole program when I have more time. I have songs or parts of songs pop into my head out of nowhere, often the same ones over and over.
ReplyDelete"Good morning, good morning its great to stay up late..."
"He's got spurs that jingle jangle jingle..."
...and so on...
If some one sings two notes of "All about the base..." it will be in my head forever! Even typing this, I have to concentrate to not hear the melody in my head...or else!
Of course, this is a lot different than what you've described.
Can't wait to learn more.
As a side note, I will either think of a song or make one up on a dime upon hearing certain words or phrases...or having a subject of any kind whisper past! I can name that tune in...haha
Thanks for this post.
My husband pointed out that I'm not the only one with music in my head, but what the NPR program revealed to me was the idea that it might be more pervasive when one is hearing impaired. It certainly raised my awareness (and right now, in Dec. 2016 it is the Moana music that is running on a loop in my head)
ReplyDeleteDo you 'choose' which music?
ReplyDeleteI wish ... what usually gets stuck is something I hear repeatedly, like the bridge music between segments of the PBS News Hour. Other times it's a song that comes to mind that matches what I'm thinking or feeling. All very unpredictable ... sort of like dreaming.
ReplyDeleteFascinating, but I could see how it could invoke an array of feelings!
ReplyDelete