Overthinking

[Stuart9726]

Good morning everyone, hope we are doing ok. 

I’m wondering if anyone else who tends to overthink deals with this too. I can’t seem to get proper quiet in my brain, there’s nearly always a song playing in the background. It’s like I’m constantly singing along in my head, even when I’m not trying to.

At the moment it’s Cover Me in Sunshine by Pink, and it’s been looping since I woke up this morning. It’s not a bad song, but after hours of it on repeat, it does my head in.

Does anyone else experience this? And if so, how do you cope with it? Do you just let it run its course, or have you found ways to switch it off and get some real quiet?

Thanks in advance for any tips or even just knowing I’m not the only one.

[MissinTooth]

I can relate. @Stuart9726 

But I often see those songs as trying to tell me something, especially if they come up randomly. 

For example...Cover Me in Sunshine - maybe you need to get outside and get some sun, or maybe metaphorically, you need to do something that brings you joy. 

[DownMoreThanUp]

@Stuart9726 Hi warrior 

Yes i find that songs can get badly stuck in my head, but usually they are songs with repetitive, and often rather meaningless/cheap lines, as if our minds stuck on the simple, playing the same words over and over again in our minds, without saying/sharing anything to us feeling crappy.

i found that playing deeper seeking music can help here. Music that is not so repetitive but has meaningful contents that i relate to, or alternatively music without any words, just gentle music, and so break the monotonous place i'm stuck with my mind in.

i'll give you an example of such a song, where the story kind of unfolds, rather than hammers the same lines without saying any more than a few repetitive lines, though such songs are hard to find nowadays. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4fkL5rH8-U&list=RDH4fkL5rH8-U&start_radio=1

[Stuart9726]

Hi @MissinTooth 

I like that thought. I think for me with this I'm stuck in the loop of the words 'tomorrow everything will be alright' 

I just don't know when tomorrow will come. Days just feel really hard at the moment and I find myself crying for no reason. I try to keep myself busy, through myself into my work. 

I don't remember hearing the song before yesterday. But yesterday I was at my son's school assembly, I'm the groundskeeper at his school also, and the Auslan choir got up and did that song, I immediately broke down when it came to the chorus. 

I've been trying to use it as an uplifting positive song, but it's just stuck in my head and ruining my day/night. 

[Stuart9726]

Hi, @DownMoreThanUp 

Thanks for the reply, I will give that song a go. 

It sounds like you've done a bit of research into it. 😁

[DownMoreThanUp]

@Stuart9726 Yes indeed i have done a bit of research, for like you i had this problem with songs being stuck in my head driving me mad. Abba & BeeGee songs used to do that when i was young, and although i liked their easy going tunes, their songs literately drove me nuts at times.

So i began investigating how to escape those repetitive lines that bring little meaning but lots annoyance.

Story type songs, songs with deeper meaning, with less repetitive lines, or repetitive lines that speak my reality, so i would identify with the lines, rather than be snowed under by the meaningless of them

For my mind will ponder and investigate, if i like it or not. So it seems best to give myself something to dine on, rather than feed it what i call lines bringing more emptiness or annoyance.

i share you one of the best songs of the days that helped me to see my mind could get badly stuck with the meaninglessness of popular songs, but that there were songs that would not have such an effect on me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S815CEDawOw&list=RDS815CEDawOw&start_radio=1

[Jynx]

@Stuart9726 I think I read somewhere that it can be related to a sense of it being 'incomplete' - like, a song is far more likely to get stuck in my head if I turn it off halfway through. So sometimes, listening to the song in its entirety can help wiggle it free of the ol' noggin 😉

[Stuart9726]

@DownMoreThanUp 

Thanks for the music suggestions.

Definitely love me a bit of Pink Floyd. 😁

I've been sat here thinking about it, and you're right, it's always the popular songs that get stuck in my head. 

When I listen to Spotify playlist, a bit heavier stuff, they don't seem to keep repeating. Guess I will turn the radio off for a while and just listen to my own playlist at work for a while. 

Thank you once again. 

[Stuart9726]

@Jynx 

I think I read that somewhere also. Unfortunately I tried listening to it on repeat, to see if I can clear it from the noggin, still stuck on that bloody chorus. 

[Jynx]

@Stuart9726 maybe instead of on repeat, you put a different song on after? Wow how long has this particular tune been spinning your head for? Sounds awful 😵