As I may have mentioned before, the proposed title for my next book of poetry is “Earworms & Emotions”.
I thought I’d dig into why “earworms’. Come with me on a journey through time…
Long before I enjoyed reading and writing, I was immersed in music. My mother played piano, and taught me well enough that when I started having ‘proper’ lessons, I was put straight into Grade 4.
The Radio was always on in the kitchen, usually tuned to BBC Radio 2. I grew up listening to the Jimmy Young show (showing my age, now). And through the power of osmosis I am now able to sing along to most hits from the 50s and 60s, much to the annoyance of anyone in earshot. (And thanks to JY’s ‘recipe of the week’, I have a near constant urge for ‘Hungarian Walnut Slice’, which my mum baked on a near-monthly basis, because I couldn’t get enough of them.)
Then, one day, I fell in love with the sound of the saxophone, and so ended up in a classroom in the Sidney Stringer School in Hillfields, Coventry on a rainy Saturday morning, trying to get a noise out of one. This proved to be frustratingly difficult for a 10-year-old. Somewhat deflated (both metaphorically and literally), I was encouraged to take up the clarinet until I had grown a bit. So I took classical clarinet lessons and, when able, modern/jazz saxophone.
I think the immersion in music of all sorts must have contributed to my ‘earworms’. Unless I’m really concentrating on something, music starts playing in my head. I don’t get to choose what music; even if I put some music on to drown it out, once that music stops, I’ll be back with the earworm. Some days it’s the same song all day, some days I get a couple of different songs. Very rarely (but more frustratingly) I’ll get two songs trying to compete or complement each other, in some bizarre mash-up.
I have mixed feelings about the earworms. On one hand, I welcome them - they mean that I’m never lonely no matter how alone I am. On the other, I find them annoying - particularly if the song is not one I would care to listen to on repeat for a day.
Whether frustrating or comforting, one thing’s for sure - it’s a source of random creativity. Whether it’s: the song’s title; a particular line from the song, or; the name of the band/musician - that’s a pipeline of ideas; seeds that can be used to generate ideas and poems. Half of the completed poems for the book were inspired by earworms.
Earworms are one of the many ways that I get my writing done. I’ll be writing about some of the other ways I spark creativity, and move from an idea to a poem, in other posts.
Thanks for reading!
Ady