Some people like to ride with a music player plugged into their ears. I don't really see the point for a short burst to work—I much prefer to listen to the 'music' of my city as I ride. On the other hand, I can see the point out on a randonnee, helping to fight sleepiness in the middle of the night, but I still prefer to leave my earholes open.
That doesn't stop the 'virtual iPod' in my head from going into shuffle mode when I ride. This internal—or maybe infernal—iPod has been giving me some trouble lately: it seems to be repeating "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits a little more often than I'd like (i.e. not at all). When I lamented this on Twitter, RandoRay responded saying:
Could be worse. Guitar riff from In The Gallery on endless brain loop got me through a hard 200k brevet once.
Which reminded me that last year I rode a 200k permanent solo, during which the internal iPod shuffled me the following playlist:
- "Creep" (Radiohead)
- "Roxanne" (The Police)
- "When that I was and a little tiny boy" (from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night—I kid you not…)
- "Anarchy in the UK" (Sex Pistols)
- "Going Down" (from the musical Hair)
- "Throw it away" (Joe Jackson)
Eclectic to say the least. And, other than Radiohead, none of it is music that would be found on my real playlist (feel free to psychoanalyse). Later in the day, probably due to the onset of fatigue, some abomination by Dire Straits tried to make an appearance but rest assured that I put a quick stop to that. If only I could keep bloody "Sultans of Swing" out of my head on my ride to work!*
* I'm finding the Spiderbait cure very effective here: play "Black Betty" loudly and repeatedly until Mark Knopfler and his mates get the f—k out of my head.
I'm so glad I'm not the only nutter whose subconscious has weird taste in music.
It must be said the good ol' Henkie could put just about any other annoying tune out of mind for quite some time. Of course, then shifting Henkie himself would be another problem—damn you, John the Monkey…
You guys have got it good. I always seem to have Hi-5 or similar running on my internal iPod. It's one of the hazards of having children I guess.
I am able to reset it once I get to work, by making sure my password reminds me of a song I would like on my playlist.
James - when my two were younger I'd quite often find myself walking along whistling the theme to "Fireman Sam" or other childrens' Tv programmes.
Today's Suedepod loop was this number;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_v468ptuXw (Lesley Gore - Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows)
(Chief Wiggum's car chase music, Simpsons Fans)
It tends to pop up when I'm having a good ride...
TMBG's Birdhouse in my soul is a good panacea :)
Comments
Recurrent for me;
Jean Narcy - Bravo Eddy! (Merckx) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUD2fqpBWJY
Henkie - De Fiets van Piet Van Pa - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=manapbdPFdE
The Harry Reisman Orchestra - Happy Days are Here Again - http://www.archive.org/details/HarryReismanOrch-HappyDays1929
Mars Forevermore (a blood curdling sea shanty that I can't find a link for) pops up now and then too.