Archive for September, 2011

Have you ever had a day (or week or month) where you just cannot get a particular song out of your head? Do you ever wonder if it means something to have that particular song or that particular line of lyrics running through your head over and over?

Moore

I listen to a lot of music and therefore I get a lot of it stuck in my head. I would guess that probably 50 percent of my brain space is used up with random melodies and lyrics from songs that I’ve heard enough times to remember them forever. Most of the time, this doesn’t bother me. Occasionally, however, I have a day where I just can’t get a song out of my head. It always seems like it’s the most random song most of the time; something I haven’t heard in years or something I don’t particularly like. Today is was Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.” Yesterday, it was the Doug cartoon theme song. (Anyone who’s ever watched the show knows exactly how catchy that theme song is.) Last week, it was “Popular” from the famous Broadway musical, “Wicked.”

I haven’t heard any of the three of these songs in months, if not years, so I’m not really sure why they came to the surface when they did. All I know is that it’s a blessing and a curse to have a random song come to your head that you just cannot seem to get rid of. On the one hand, it’s obnoxious to be singing the same song or line over and over but on the other hand, a particular song can bring back a lot of memories and feelings that you may not have remembered without the song coming to mind. Whenever I hear a song that I’ve been neglecting, I instantly remember the very first time I heard it. Even just the first few notes can bring back a rush of thoughts — Where I was when I first heard it, what I was doing, who I was with, what else was happening.

So, does it mean anything to have a particular song glued in your noggin? I don’t believe so. I think maybe you just listened to a song that’s very catchy and now you’re suffering the consequences. A catchy song is a song that everyone knows. It’s easily remembered. It goes in one ear and gets caught, unable to go out the other ear. I’ve heard that a catchy song is a good song. That’s not to say that all good songs are catchy or all catchy songs are good … it’s just a saying after all. I think the only meaning of having a song (good or bad) lodged in your brain is just that: it’s caught.

Getting a song caught in your thinker isn’t necessarily a bad thing. My trick to getting a song out of my head once it seems to be stuck is the last thing you’d think: I listen to it. Sometimes I listen to it two or three times, singing along, and then I listen to something completely different and it works almost every time. However, there are still a couple songs that I just can’t get rid of …

Esther’s list of Hole-in-the-Head Songs:

• The Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Jurassic Park theme songs. (John Williams, the composer, is a true musical genius to have multiple pieces that are so memorable.) Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFNN_ADpYJ0
• “Evil Woman” by Electric Light Orchestra. (The whiney and yet somewhat humorous chorus gets me every time.) Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R20f-TPKjzc
• The Doug cartoon theme song. (This one always brings back childhood memories.) Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdmURW0Go9Q&feature=related
• “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. (A great example of a song I loathe that I can’t get rid of.) Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M11SvDtPBhA&ob=av3e

And last, but not least:

• The Christmas carol, “Pinecones and Holly Berries (with “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas),” from The Osmond’s Christmas album. (This one is thanks to years of singing it relentlessly in school chorus.) Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P793pPmJ6TU

What are your unforgettable tunes?

Esther Moore

King Omowale & the Majestic Lions (reggae)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Music Under the Stars, Mark Twain Boyhood Home, 120 N. Main St., Hannibal, Mo.

Quincy Musicfest featuring the Cheeseburgers and Smokin’ Mojo Kings (classic rock/blues)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Oakley-Lindsay Center, 300 Civic Center Plaza

Vessels: Pop’s Pizza Art Show featuring Esther Moore, Nalani Proctor and Katie Clair (acoustic)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Upstairs of Pop’s Pizza, 938 Maine

Nauvoo Grape Festival featuring No Outlet (cover band)
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Nauvoo State Park

Ketcham Louden Live (acoustic)
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Johnny Bang Bang’s, 138 N. Front

David Greathouse (folk)
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Riverfront Park, Clarksville, Mo.

Second Time Around (classic rock)
WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: O’Shea’s, 339 Cedar

Quincy Musicfest featuring Grand Marquis and Lil’ Brian and the Zydeco Travelers (blues)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Oakley-Lindsay Center, 300 Civic Center Plaza

Nauvoo Grape Festival featuring Moneyshot (cover band)
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Nauvoo State Park

Christopher Walken Orchestra (cover band)
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Johnny Bang Bang’s, 138 N. Front

Sally Weisenberg & the Famous Sidemen (acoustic)
WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Ridge View Winery, Mount Sterling

Quincy Musicfest featuring Blackdog and the Rainmakers and Dr. Duke Tumatoe and the Power Trio (blues)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Oakley-Lindsay Center, 300 Civic Center Plaza

Nauvoo Grape Festival featuring the Gibbs Brothers
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Nauvoo State Park

More details on shows are available on the calendar page.

For information on bands and concert venues, go to the music page.

Submit details for upcoming shows at www.thelocalq.com/node/1767.