The other night I was very early to a date with friends, so I decided to do a little Christmas shopping before heading to the bar. As I browsed through the store, the shopkeeper asked me what I was singing.
“Singing,” I asked?
“Yes,” she said. “You were singing something, but I didn’t recognize the song.”
“I hope I was on key.”
“It was nice. You are the second singer we’ve had in today. The rain must bring it out in people.”
“The song is called the Book of Love. I’ve been singing that a lot today. I thought I was only singing it to myself in my head. I am trying to memorize the words.”
“No. You were definitely singing out loud. It was very pretty.”
“I hope I wasn’t singing it out loud at work, too.”
“You sing at work?”
“People keep mentioning my singing voice who shouldn’t ever have heard it, so I guess it must leak out.”
“Well you can sing that song again any time.”
“Thanks,” I replied.
So. Yeah. Apparently I have become the sort of insane person who sings in public and doesn’t even realize it. Don’t get me wrong–I have sung in public a lot. A friend and I used to ride the bus at night and sing. I sang with a quartet all over the town I grew up in. Civic events. Nursing homes. School shows. We used to sing Christmas carols instead of trick or treating.
Singing subconciously is new. I think it is new. I have always hummed. Is it going to progress, do you think?
There are far worse forms of insanity than that, I suppose.