So after a perfectly normal busy day in urgent care Sunday, I got in my car and even before I hooked up my iPhone to play music, I could already hear music playing. I fiddled with the radio volume and double checked that my phone was indeed not plugged into the aux jack, did that head cocked eyes rolled brow scrunched thing, listening intently. Sure enough, a familiar tune (or maybe two) was playing, with kind of a DJ talking over it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what song it was. While I couldn't exactly sing along, I could anticipate every beat of the song and syllable from the DJ. It was somewhere between "remembering" it and "hearing" it, and I couldn't make it stop no matter what I did. It was at once as if it was blaring full blast in both ears, but also as if I was trying to identify this song playing on a transistor radio from down the hall.
Tried thinking of another song ("Sweet Caroline" for some reason) and also started playing music through my iPhone. Now I had 3 songs playing simultaneously, melding into a pretty wicked mash-up, but eventually the mystery tune pushed itself to the front, while "Sweet Caroline" became drowned out in the background. The remainder of the drive, familiar songs I know well shuffled up on the iPhone one by one and they all sounded weird, like a new producer had remixed them or dug some previously unreleased versions out of the vault. Piano riffs I had never noticed were pushed to the front of the mix, while the vocal tracks were barely audible in some cases. Reminded me of being high, though it's been 30+ years since I've done that. I seriously wondered if I'd been drugged or if the salad I had for dinner was loaded with some potent MSG or something.
When I arrived home I told Amy about the mystery song and asked her to listen to "Don't Come Around Here No More" by Tom Petty - "does that sound strange to you?" She didn't know, not a big Tom Petty fan. Who is this woman I married? Went to bed without further incident. In the morning I went to 8am departmental morning report and felt perfectly fine. Returned home to work on a powerpoint (well actually a Keynote for everyone who expects me to be an Apple evangelist) for a 1pm introductory lecture to the 1st year med students on their 1st day of school. At about noon or so I heard the music again...could tell it was the same super recognizable and familiar song (or was it songs?), but still couldn't identify it. Kept playing that same ~30sec snippet over and over, louder and louder from inside my head. I actually yelled at it, "STOP IT!!" and amusingly thought how I was one step away from getting in an argument with the musical voice in my head. Told Amy, "I'm hearing that song and DJ again." Also told her she looked like she was in HD, or maybe a cartoon. I don't really know what that means. She told me I didn't look right and made me promise I'd call one of my doctor friends once my lecture was over, and that she was going to drive me to campus for my lecture. She planned to come pick me up between 1:45 and 2pm.
Upon arrival to the lecture hall, I texted a couple of my trusted colleagues that I was having some weird neuro symptoms and wanted to talk to them after my lecture was over at 2pm. Got immediate replies to call them whenever convenient, and fully expected them to tell me I was crazy lol. The lecture hall filled with eager 1st year medical students on their 1st day of medical school, and I began my lecture. Immediately I found myself tripping over, searching for, and mispronouncing words. I even made a comment something like, "Sorry, my brain isn't working right today, hopefully I can make it through this lecture before I have a complete stroke..." One of my course coordinators said "Yeah, you don't sound like yourself" and my course co-director approached the podium and said "Hey buddy, you want me to take over for you?"
I registered his question but could not respond, and just kept on talking...
-kpb 8/28/13
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