Why do we remember the lyrics for years?

You may not remember this song for years, perhaps you heard it for the last time as a teenager. But when you hear it on the radio, in a bar, or you see a clip on TV, you can remember each single word.

But what if you were asked to remember what you were studying for the exam the same year, when you first heard this song? Or what clothes were worn the next day after receiving its results? Do you remember what the instructor told you about at least a month ago? There is a great chance that you will not be able to remember anything, or at least very little.

Why did even those events that occurred relatively recently, remember much more difficult than the words of your favorite song, heard ten years ago? Why do the lyrics remain in our memory? Perhaps the whole point is how our brain processes sound information and where it stores it. Leading theory suggests that the lyrics take their own section to store information in the brain, and the same is true for the melody.

Multiple repetitions

There are at least three reasons why we can so well remember the lyrics that we heard earlier. The first is a simple exposition. Music accompanies us everywhere: in shops, bars, cars, sports halls and restaurants. Most people do not have the faintest idea how often they listen to their favorite songs, but this figure comes to hundreds or even thousands of times.

Repeatedly repeating any stimulus increases the likelihood of its remembering, especially if the information is identical each time, as it happens with songs. Consequently, the first reason why a text so easily comes to mind is that we bombard our memory with them.

Emotional Triggers

The second reason that the lyrics of a song is so easily remembered is that it can be associated with strong emotions. Music can call them again, and we begin to connect it with emotional events that have strongly influenced us. In general, emotional memories are easy to trigger even without repeated exposure. Nevertheless, people often listen to songs related to emotions as a psychological reward, which they experience, and it can be both positive and negative.

Motor Memory

And, finally, the lyrics can come to mind without much effort, because it is part of the motor memory. The usual reaction to the songs is to start singing along, even if we do it out loud only in the shower.

Memories related to movement become a habit, and they can be called up on a subconscious level without any special effort. Examples include the memory of how we walk, ride or swim. For this reason, it would be fair to say that remembering lyrics is as easy as riding a bicycle.