On Monday, I found myself walking down the hall…wait, no, that’s not quite right. I was walking down the hall for some reason, and, whilst walking, discovered that I was.
Ok, not humming, really. What is it when you’re making “doot-de-doot-de-doo” noises in your head? Whatever it was, that’s what I was doing. Unconsciously, which I suppose means that my brain had shifted into some sort of cruising gear, just aware enough to keep me from running into obstacles. So it had put on some sort of lo-fi soundtrack.
Now, the point is that I when I started paying attention again, I realized that I was doot-doo-ing the theme from Starflight. A PC game released in 1986 that I played the hell out of. Actually, I played it twice, since I failed to save the galaxy the first time. I have no idea how many hours I poured into that game. But back then, I had an 8086, two games, and friends who lived an inconvenient distance away.
So, anyway, almost twenty years later…whoa. I hadn’t realized that until now. Damn. Twenty years.
Excuse me while I go chase some kids off my lawn.
Ok, so, eighteen years later, and the song pops into my head. It’s fairly simple, true. The only clip I could find plays when you load this page.
Given that I spent many, many hours playing that game, it’s not entirely surprising that the theme music would be pretty deeply engraved in my synapses. I’m slightly surprised that it’s my subconscious default music, but it is a simple tune, without lyrics, so I have to admit that it’s well suited to the task. The task of keeping my brain occupied while I’m walking, evidently.
I’m hoping that this isn’t a symptom of decaying neurons. Maybe a cosmic ray smacked the memory loose. That’s a somewhat more pleasant idea. Certainly more pleasant than the possibility that some sub-sector of my brain is surreptitiously playing random bits of half-remembered music in an attempt to…something. I’m not sure about that last part. It didn’t annoy me, it’s not likely to destroy my sense of self and allow a duplicitous sub-personality to take over, and the thought of capricious stealth entertaining, while amusing, seems unlikely.
Plus, the song didn’t even get stuck in my head. So, not an obvious attempt to drive me insane. An attempt by myself, launched against myself. I’ll assume that I’m just overthinking that one.
Or am I? [DUH-DUH-DUHHHH!]
Yes, I do think that I am.