Carry a Tune

I wonder if I'm particularly vulnerable to getting music stuck in my head. We all know what that's like, but I'd swear it happens to me more often than not. Sometimes I can wake up in the morning and hear the last song on play list of the previous day. Almost like 8 hours of sleep and dreams had never happened.
On days like today when I help baby sit for a few hours, I'm stuffed with all sorts of wonderful tunes. "Hello everybody, it's so nice to see you...Hello John it's so nice to see you...Hello Mary, it's so nice to see you...Hello Uncle Jerry, it's so nice to see you. I don't have an Uncle Jerry, never have had an Uncle Jerry, and don't intend to at this point, but I damn sure have him in my head.
Now this being the Holiday season, we are all very susceptible to having chestnuts roasting in our heads for the next few weeks. Things could always be worse, but here are a few ideas to try before you go for the pain relief, illegal substances or, God forbid, sing that toxic song out loud in public places.
First thing that helps is simply replace the unwanted cranial resident with something more appropriate, more soothing, more your style. Either ear phones or a good car radio/CD player will do the trick. If the intruder is still in residence, up the ante and get on the phone. Call everyone you know, if you have to. Anything that involves talking that you've been putting off, get to it. It's possible that some unexpected piece of knowledge, some unwanted request, or some lovely compliment will take over your thought processes and you're off the hook.
If either of those don't work, there is a way that's guaranteed. I'm not sure why, though I have an idea or two, but I do know it works. Here it is: simply sing or hum aloud or in your head The Girl from Ipanema. You know...Tall and tan and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking, and when she passes, each guy she passes go ahhh.
There is another use for this tune I should mention. In my days on the backstretch, I'd often walk through the shedrows tracking down interviews or taking photos in the barn area of the racetrack. When you walk by thoroughbred horses, best to walk softly and carry a tune. Beautiful as they are, they are quick, sometimes bite, kick or knock you down. Music does soothe the savage beast, and whistling something from Astrud and Joao Gilberto has saved my skin.
The girl from Ipanema is magical realism.