Joe Willmann of Concordia Publishing House demonstrates the power that music has on our memory, and the way it helps us to internalize words:
For a minute, let me engage in a little thought experiment with you. Complete the following phrases from some popular songs from yesteryear:
Don’t go chasing __________________.
I heard it through the __________________.
Bye, bye Miss _____________________.
And I would walk __________________, and I would walk ____________________.
I’ll give you a moment . . .
Are you done yet?
Now the point of this experiment wasn’t to see if you would know the words waterfalls, grapevine, American Pie, 500 miles, or 500 more. No, the point of the experiment was to show you the power that music has on our memory, and they way it helps us to internalize words. You know those phrases by heart, and if you didn’t immediately remember them, now that you see the words, you can immediately hear the song in your head as you read the phrase. And how long have these songs stuck with you? Here is when they first came out…
