Have You Got That Thing in Your Head?

[Peg Herring]

My worst one is songs. If there's even a vague reference in conversation or on TV to something that is (or reminds me of) a song lyric, the words play in my head for hours afterward, even if I hate, hate, HATE the song itself. Please don't mention low places or Garth Brooks (my least favorite) starts singing to me. And please don't say anything about roller skates, spirits, or flowers in your hair, because certain sixties songs just dominate when you do. I don't even have to hear it aloud. I'm reading Rhys Bowen's IN DUBLIN'S FAIR CITY (which so far is very good) but I hear "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive-o" constantly. I may even hum it aloud, which I try really hard not to do. It's so old lady.

It gets worse. I'm just as prone to "unsuitable" songs and may catch myself singing aloud if I'm not careful, "I want your sex" or "Daddy goes to work and mama gets the pay and the man comes to our house ev'ry single day." I can't help it. They get stuck.

Writers often get stuck on a plot and can't think of anything else until they've got it written down. This is particularly bad for those who have day jobs, but even without that, you're not much fun until that brain fixation is over. I won't even notice it, but my husband, who is very tolerant, sometimes mentions when I've finished a rough draft that I haven't really communicated for days. My back tries to let me know about sitting in the same position for too long, but at the time I don't get it. The world disappears and only the characters I've created are real. Why did Jenna not tell Lucas that she has a twin sister? How did Aldis get from England to Scotland by herself? The answers become more important to me than "When will the kitchen floor get swept again?" or "Why are we out of milk already?"

If it sounds a little compulsive, I guess it is. I can't speak for others, but I have to write down the story that's in my head, good or bad, sellable or not, or it won't go away. Like the songs that I hum it dominates, and I don't seem to be able to forget it. I have to admit, though, I don't think it's so terrible. The songs I hum are harmless fixations; the stories I write are probably equally so. And to tell the truth, it would be much, much worse to have no music -- and no story-- in my head at all.