Barbara J. Hamby

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With a Song In My Head

If I have written about this anomaly of memory before and am repeating myself, I apologize. Today I read about a woman who remembers almost everything that ever occurred in her life and thought what a horrible prospect that would be. She can’t force herself to forget anything that she’d rather not remember.

As my general memory deteriorates, my specialized memory continues to tantalize me every day. Most mornings I wake up with the words to an old song running through my head. Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night humming a melody. Various occurrences during the day will trigger a hymn (from my days of singing in the choir) or a top ten tune from the forties. Heaven help me if I hear on the radio a catchy tune such as Yellow Ribbon, Goodnight Irene, or Delta Dawn, I won’t be able to lose it for days.

I probably know the words to hundreds of songs. Nothing that’s been written recently, however, floats around in my head. Most are oldies, not all goodies. I’m the idiot savant of old time pop tunes.

When my son was a teenager playing drums in a local jazz venue, they held a “Name that Tune” contest. He was amazed when I, in the audience, won tickets to a concert by naming the tune. Naturally, it was an old song.

Sometimes I wonder how many others are out there humming in their heads.

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