Have you ever heard a song that with each time you hear it, the tune and words become etched in your mind to the point you are playing it over and over again all day long? Of course you have, for every one of us has to deal with this “problem” at least a few times in life. I say “problem” because it can be both aggravating as well as embarrassing at times to be playing the drums on your leg or whispering the words when you are supposed to be listening or concentrating.
Well, I heard a song about a month ago that was nice but it went in one ear and out the other. Over the past month I have heard this song numerous times and now because the tune is catchy, the words communicate a nice simple message and the performer has a unique and wonderful voice—I can’t get this song out of my mind.
We were driving somewhere the other day and my wife asked if I had a nervous twitch or was playing a song in my head because I was playing the guitar, drums and keyboard all at once on my leg. It was the latter. Just when I think I have driven the song from my mind I turn on the radio and THERE IT IS. It is uncanny how it just happens to be playing every time I am trying to replace it in my mind with something else.
Many years ago Mr. “one hit wonder” himself, Don McLean recorded the song “American Pie”. To this day, when I hear that song in a restaurant or store, I curse the establishment for I know I will be running that stupid song through my mind for the next few days. Even now, just writing about it, I hear it in my mind. Grrr.
A few years ago we attended a production of “Oklahoma” by a group of Christian Home Schoolers. It was an excellent production except that for the next three weeks neither my wife nor I could get certain tunes out of our minds. One thing about those old musicals, they knew how to produce songs that would stick around for awhile in a person’s mind.
Whether it be music, words or images; the mind responds to repetition. The more we hear or see information, the more we tend to remember it. Studies have shown that very few people remember much of anything they only hear or see once. But, with repetition, more and more of the information is stored in the memory.
This is why we diligently keep reading the Bible. This is why we seek to listen to sermons, messages, songs and teachings. The more we hear and see God’s Word, the more it will live in our hearts and minds.
Here is the song that I referred to earlier. Listen to it at your own risk. I take no responsibility for it doing to you what it did to me. Enjoy.
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