Does anyone else have music playing in their head all the time?

[WoIsMe]

I was chatting to a friend just now and I mentioned in passing that the music in my head was particularly loud today. She was really taken aback and told me that this isn't normal. It's got me wondering how many other people constantly have music playing in their head, apart from when there's external music playing. It's usually something I've listened to recently but random songs do pop in occasionally as well. I just had Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth which I don't think I've heard for years. Music is just always there in the background and it's complete songs or sometimes albums; it isn't like earworms where you get 20 seconds of something annoying playing over and over again. It also isn't mistakable for externally-played music so it isn't a condition such as MES where you get auditory hallucinations.

I know my DH has exactly the same thing and I'm pretty sure my dad did as well because he was always walking around singing random stuff like Gilbert and Sullivan songs but he never listened to anything like that. Does anyone else experience something similar or is it as unusual as my friend says?

Yes I do.
It's better than the other thing I do which is rehearse conversations I want to have but can't have (because I'd be fired).
No ADHD necessarily but I recognise many ADHD behaviours in myself so I wouldn't be surprised if I had it.

Is it just universal though?

Sorry you what now. When you're reading how do you know what voices they use if it's not in your head?

Only when really depressed, then everything has a soundtrack

All the time. Today I’ve had

*theme tune to Charlie and Lola

• birdhouse in your soul by they might be giants
• stay another day by east 17

not ND, to my knowledge, but always considering the possibility as I have two DC with ASD

Yes- I have music in my head most of the time- drives me mad. I am a musician and compose and arrange lots of stuff so I often have ideas for this sort of thing in my head ( usually in the middle of the night when I can't write them down!) along with all sorts of musical ear worms.

Actually also have lots of conversations and imagined scenarios which I play out. My mind is never quiet- the main reason I don't sleep well- I just can't shut it up!!!

Odd people mention ADHD. My DD was diagnosed as an adult- wonder if there is some connection?

Yes me! Music and random conversations...often both at the same time! It's like my bloody mind is some sort of busy cafe with a jukebox playing in the background (good job the jukebox has a great mix of tracks otherwise I'd go mad! Current track is Just Like Heaven by The Cure 👌🏻)

Yes,I do. And sometimes it drives me mad! It's not always a song that I particularly like either! I thought that everyone had this,but apparently not!

This was my 'mind track' last week...I was at Young Voices with my school choir and one of the tracks was a Mathilda Medley. My lot were OBSESSED with this one and were singing it on a loop all the way back on our three hour coach trip...stayed in my head for days after 🤣

Yep, all the time. And also yes to internal monologue, rehashing of conversations, playing out situations that haven’t even happened etc.

No adhd or other diagnosis, I thought it was something everyone had.

Today’s earworm has been Raye ‘escapism’ which has been a welcome change from ‘Murder on the dance floor’ which has been driving me crazy for weeks.

And running alongside it all is that advert that starts with ‘I wonder, I wonder. What would you do, if you had the power to dream…’ etc etc.

@ThinkingAgainAndAgain Birdhouse In Your Soul popped into my head the other day 😂
Really random song from the early 90s.
I wonder if we were in the same shop or something and they were playing it? Because otherwise.....where did it come from 🤔

Yes I get this most days. Sometimes the soundtrack is music I’ve never heard in real life, so must be creating it in the fly! I had no idea most people didn’t have a soundtrack !

also have regular catchphrases that go off internally sometimes, either from films or made up ones.

Not only do I have constant music in my head but it's on random shuffle.

I can wake up to any old random shit. And it will stay in my head until some other random shit replaces it.

Curiously my coping mechanism is to make up nonsense diddly dee songs as I go about my day. They are silly but they block the random shuffle.

I have the most random songs in my head. I’ve now got the theme tune to Friends and love changes everything by Climie Fisher. There’s no consistency.

I used the internal jukebox to help with my exams, by mentally linking certain study topics to certain music. In the exam I'd play songs in my head to remember my revision topics in great detail. I hope none of the music escaped from my mouth though, I was never "shushed" mid-exam and I did a lot of exams.

As long as I remember, I've had an internal juke box which I have no control of. Mainly I don't mind. I've found a song that can override the psychotic dj in my head. Sweet caroline.

I do recall walking into work humming the Lilly Allen song Fuck You. A bit embarrassing.

I thought it was a kind of tinnitus- I've had it for years.

Oh dear god no. I'd be looking for the highest bridge!!

I am thinking/talking to myself all the time. I also count a lot, usually from corner to corner on imaginary squares. I make endless lists, think about work that needs doing in a h room.

its mad enough in here without music too.

not diagnosed, but considering it. Just not sure where to start

I hate it when embarrassing snippets of mind music escape.
My worst musical faux pas was an accidental "young, gifted and black" that escaped on a busy street. I am none of those things, and got tutted at by a stranger.

I thought everyone could! Now going to ask friends if they can.

yes, All the time.

Yes, perpetual earworms. I sing a lot as well.

I’m the same. It switches off when I’m concentrating on something but the rest of the time I’m singing or have tune in my head. I’m not ADHD

Yes nonstop & sometimes it can be 2, 3 or more songs on the go (I have a mash up of Alesso's 'Heroes', Bee Gees 'Staying Alive' & Taylor Swift's 'Cruel Summer' on a permanent loop in my head today)
And internal monologue non stop.
I also have the mind's eye thing too.

Sometimes I'd just like to take my brain out for a rest.

I've been referred for an ADHD assessment too.

You may have watched the same thing on tv/seen the same news story/read the same MN thread and something in it triggered a train of thought back to that song.

My hyperactive mind goes off on wild tangents triggered by something, anything, I’ve seen or read.

For example, a story in the news about how more people are gardening > hmm maybe I should start gardening > maybe a birdhouse would look nice in my garden > brain is now singing “birdhouse in your soul” and will be for the next 2 days, but I’ll forget why that is within 2 minutes.

Yes this is me. Always have different songs or dialogue. Doesnt bother me.