Is it normal to remember absolutely nothing productive but be able to recall every word of a song you haven't heard since 2004?

Posted by Gingeintheuk@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 22 comments

I cannot tell you what I had for lunch on Tuesday. I have forgotten the names of people I've met multiple times. I once walked into a room and stood there for a full minute with absolutely no idea why. But the second the first three notes of Mr Brightside starts and I know it word for word

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PipBin@reddit

Yep. 7 times table, nope. A song I didn’t even like from the 80s, every single word.

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Ill-Appointment6494@reddit

I can remember the lyrics to the Um Bongo commercial. That was from the 80s.

Can’t remember what I did last week. But I can recite commercials from 40 years ago.

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BINGGBONGGBINGGBONGG@reddit

oh god this is one of my brain tics. every so often i sing this in my head! it’s still so satisfying even after all these years.

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MadJen1979@reddit

I've had the Gino Ginelli ice cream advert song stuck in my head for the last week!

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Silent_Ad4870@reddit

So I'm literally the opposite of you. There are songs I've heard 100s of times I couldn't get past the first word or two of the lyrics. But I do tend to remember useful things which benefit me.

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pineappleshampoo@reddit

Yes, absolutely normal. This happens to everyone I think. I listen to entire albums start to finish in my dreams.

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yorkspirate@reddit

I still know the first 3 Eminem albums word for word (key changes included) and even the gaps between tracks. I can have them on over a weekend while doing chores and go take my rubbish out from my 2nd floor flat and come back in exactly right. Lately I'm able to forget simple words and messages I mean to rely to people

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YouSayWotNow@reddit

Same but in my case those song lyrics are from the 1980s! 🤣

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sameoldkit@reddit

Music is brutal, it's a global brain process than we don't fully understand. People with advanced dementia often remember songs from their youth and it lights their brains up.

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CharlemagneKidding@reddit

Why "brutal", odd choice of words..?

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sameoldkit@reddit

When your demented relatives remember their childhood songs but not your face it's brutal. That's brains for you (neuroscientist and my grandma)

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EyeAware3519@reddit

I can remember all of the MC Lyrics from old Fantazia tapes last listened to in the mid 90s. I can remember all of the Ford Escort trim levels for every version since the Mk3 and which engines they came with. I can list off every player from the 1990 England World Cup squad.

I can't remember what is being discussed in a work meeting during the meeting!

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Kris0r@reddit

Enjoyed learning and recalling Vs being forced to.

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

Yeah i retain song lyrics easy. Anything of any use, no

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MattWillGrant@reddit

I can't remember anything that happened between 1995 and 2003, except movie quotes and song lyrics.

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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

I picked my child up from school yesterday. Spotify played a Bollywood song that came out in 1997.

I instinctively started singing along with 100% accurate lyrics.

I was born in India, so slightly less impressive. But impressive none the same.

And slightly scary that 1997 was 29 years ago.

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