Do you ever remember having a song stuck in your head?  Boy!  I do!  And I even have experience in sharing this phenomenon with others, especially my poor mother.  

When I was in high school, I tried out for all the musicals we were going to perform at school.  So, I sang the songs while I was in my room, or while cleaning, wherever I was in the house, all the while memorizing them for the auditions.  But the most unfortunate thing that happened was when I was going to try out for The Sound of Music.

I sang all of the songs of course.  They were great songs.  But what I really wanted was the role of Liesl.  Her solo was “I am 16, going on 17.”  And I sang my heart out with that song in particular.  My mother, who was really a good singer, and I sang songs together all the time.  She taught me harmony that way too.  She never sang in front of people, but she should have, because she really had a wonderful voice.  That’s why I used to say that she was a closet singer.  But I digress.

Because I wanted that role, I sang “I am 16, going on 17” the most.  I must have sounded like a broken record.  But that song was memorized in “no time.”  My sweet mother had to suffer having that song stuck in her head.  It drove her crazy.  Not to mention the fact that she was 41 at the time.

I tried not to sing it when she was around, but that didn’t matter.  The damage had been done.  And my mom, who never got mad at me, was rather perturbed.  It was really stuck, like glue.  I was so sorry it happened.  But I couldn’t help myself.  I sang it without even realizing it.  We sang all the time together and that was probably the only time she didn’t sing along with me.  And she could have even added a harmony part.  Of course that would have been way too much to ask, and  besides, it was a solo.

Even though that was not the only time a song got stuck in my head, it sure was the most memorable, because I wanted it to be stuck and my poor mom most surely did not!

I guess having a song stuck in my head that time had residual damage.  But usually I don’t mind, except sometimes.