The soundtrack to my life

I always have a song in my head.  Always.  It can be a song I love, like, or hate, but I always have a song stuck in my head.  Take right now, for instance.  The Beatles "Day Tripper" keeps playing over and over in my mind.  I don't know how it got there — I don't think I've heard that song in at least a year — but there it is.  "She was a daaaaay tripper, one way ticket, yeah."

Now, "Day Tripper" hasn't been the only song in my head today.  I wake up with a song in my head every single morning.  And this morning was no exception.  I started my day out with some distinctive '90s electric guitar strains, and then:  "Free your mind, and the rest will follow.  Be colorblind, don't be so shallow."  I have no idea how En Vogue permeated my subconscious — I don't think I was dreaming about '90s pop — but they were there the moment my alarm went off , and they proceeded to stay stuck in my head for the duration of my morning.  All in all, it made this morning's paper-writing session a little difficult.  There I was, trying to formulate intelligent arguments about the U.S.'s human rights interventions in South Africa, the Soviet Union, and El Salvador, and all the while, I'm singing "I wear tight clothing, high heel shoes; it doesn't mean that I'm a prostitute (no, no-oh, no) ..."  Let's not even get into how I remember these lyrics.  I'm still trying to figure out how this song got into my head in the first place.

But then again, I can't figure out how any song gets into my head while I'm sleeping, but every single morning — without fail — I wake up with a song playing in my mind.  Today, obviously, was "Free Your Mind."  Yesterday, inexplicably, was Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire."  You know the one:  "I fell into a burning ring of fire.  I went down, down, down, and the flames went higher."  The day before that?  Danity Kane's "Damaged."  And I freaking HATE that song!  I change the station every time it comes on the radio.  And yet somehow, the song gets stuck in my head, and somehow, I know the lyrics to the chorus:  "My heart is damaged, damaged, damaged, damaged, I thought that I should let you know ...."  Then again, I guess there's not too much to that chorus.  That's probably one of the reasons I hate it.  Still, as bad as Danity Kane was, it was an improvement from the day before.  I awoke with — and I apologize for this in advance in case this song gets stuck in your head — "The Song That Doesn't End," from Lamb Chop's.  Are you freaking kidding me?!?!?  "The Song That Doesn't End?!?!?"  How on earth did that get in my head?!?!?  I sure wasn't dreaming about Lamb Chop's Play-Along, or anything to do with it, so I was really confused about that one.  The only way I could get rid of it was to turn on my iPod for a good 30 minutes!  Still, I guess it could've been worse.  It could've been "Mmm Bop."  (Again, my apologies).

I kind of lose track of what random song helped me to greet my day before that, although I do know that "Morning Train" (my baby takes the morning train, he works from 9 till 5 and then ...) has made repeat appearances, as has Coldplay's "Viva la Vida."  But at least that one makes sense.  I mean, I actually listen to that one on a regular basis.  The others seem to come out of nowhere.

At least they don't stay in my mind forever.  Whatever my waking up anthem is, it usually only stays with me through breakfast, or maybe through a shower.  Then it moves on, goes back from whence it came, and some other random song comes along to help me get on with my day.  Who knows what'll be next.  It's still "Day Tripper" for now.

I honestly don't know if this phenomenon is a blessing or a curse.  But at least I have an interesting soundtrack to my life.