I suspect a lot of us have a lot of music in our heads. Sometimes we start to hum a tune or sing a song and only after we’ve started do we become aware that we’re doing it. Then we might pause to wonder “why did that particular song, or tune, come into my head just now?”
I find that when I look at some images something similar happens. Take this for example. I took this photo of an old couple sitting in a public park in Limoges a few weeks ago. They are both engrossed in their books. Their body positions and their physical closeness tell us they are close, that they are connected, as well as the fact that they are both enjoying reading in the park.
As I saw them, and as I looked at this image again just now, certain songs popped into my head and I could hear them as clearly as if I was playing them on a stereo.
This because of the line “You read your Emily Dickinson and I my Robert Frost. We mark our page with bookmarkers which measure what we’ve lost”
And, by the same musicians….
“sat on a park bench like bookends”
OK, so that example was a pretty obvious one, but sometimes the music which starts to play in our heads is not so easy to nail down. Sometimes we just enjoy that it’s there without even wondering “why this music?” “why now?”
I know I can use music to match or create mood, but this phenomenon of the music just seeming to appear has all the quality of somebody else hitting the “play” button. Even if that somebody else is also me!
What music started to play in your head today, and do you know why?
Heroes Not Zombies 
I love the lead photo of the couple. That is how I want to grow old with my husband, slowly and serenely, only he would be watching a movie while I read alongside. This is the song on my mind:
Picture a young man calling the love of his life, Bella, from a phone booth in Calcutta. After this song went live, people in Calcutta kept calling the number that the singer, Anjan Dutt, had used in it – and I pity the poor fellow who had it. The song is on my mind because I am missing my parents and my childhood home. Nostalgia often hits hard in the middle of the day.
Thank you. I really appreciate your sharing your personal take on this and the video of the song that’s in your head. Thanks for the explanation too!
I always think nostalgia can be an opportunity to connect too, both to distant friends or relatives and to our heart where our values lie.
That is a lovely photo and I can definitely relate, I often find myself whistling tunes without even realising where it came from or why.