Jerusalem Streeet Musicians
A science reporter for Public Radio International recently became interested in how many of us experience songs that suddenly pop into our heads and then play over and over until we wish we could get them out of our minds.
We’ve talked here before about why we sometimes wake up with a song running through our mind– that in some ways we wish we could never forget.
Rhitu Chatterjee of PRI took her question to a music psychologist who told her that science refers to this experience as stuck-music syndrome, sticky music, cognitive itch, or “earworm”.
The psychologist went on to describe one study that documented 1000 examples of people who’d had the exeperience. She said she was surprised to find that out of the 1000 there were only a dozen or so who listed “involuntary recall” of the same song. Such findings seemed to indicate that the songs that we can’t get out of our minds may be a fairly personal experience. It’s different than concluding that a large group of people or even a whole generation is walking around with the same song in their heads. (If there is more truth to that, this article didn’t reflect that).
The article went on to suggest that songs may be more likely than plain words to stick in our minds because of the multi-sensory combination of rhythm, rhyme, and melody of music.
As the article wound down Chatterjee notes that one of the most common questions people have is “how to turn off the songs that we can’t get out of our mind.” One answer is to try to think of another song—realizing that the one that cures us might be the one that gets stuck next.
In thinking back on the article, the examples it used seemed to show that at times there may be undesirable characteristics in lyrics that become “earworms.” (i.e. sexual obsession).
So as an antidote to the songs that “drag us down” rather than “pulling us up” am wondering whether there’s something about “sticky music” has anything to do with why the songs of Israel make up the largest book of the Bible (Psalms 1-150); and why Paul urged the people of God to speak to one another in songs, hymns and spiritual songs (Eph 5:19) (Col 3:16). The article did mention that rhythm, rhyme, and structure of music can make it easier to remember than just words and that that was one reason songs were used in pre-literate times to help people remember information.
What surprised me is that when I went to the last book of the Bible for what I assumed to be the ultimate sticky song, I found it said that living creatures were repeatedly saying rather than repeatedly singing, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8).
Don’t know what to make of these words that are repeatedly said– rather than sung– in the presence of God. But at the very least, it does seem showcase a God who deserves our consuming, repeated attention.
Am also wondering whether we might even be in a better place than the angels to see that “holy, holy, holy” doesn’t just refer to an absence of evil. Am thinking those repeated words may describe, above all, the absolute perfection of the love by which our God used a Roman execution to “become sin for us”… to bring us (through his resurrected life) into right relationship with Himself, His Spirit, and His Father. (2Cor 5:21).
Whether sung or spoken, the truth that our God loves us that much is the thought that deserves everlasting replay in all of us….
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