Due to being both a musician and completely obsessive, I sometimes get rhythms stuck in my head for weeks. It’s a little different from hearing a catchy song on the radio and having it stuck there all day. This is far more consuming. It starts with humming or tapping and eventually affects my breathing patterns and the way I walk. It rarely effects my sleep but sometimes the way I chew my food. I didn’t realize how crazy this was going to sound typed out.
Prior to beginning my second stint as a stay at home dad, I was working in a woodshop. I really enjoyed working with the different woods and coming home everyday smelling like sawdust. We milled a lot of different lumber but primarily we made custom door parts and veneers. I don’t know if it was the sound of a specific saw, a combination of machines, or just a random event, but I do remember the precise second that “boom boom tick-a tick-a boom boom” got stuck in my head.
My wife is beautiful, patient, and tolerant of most of my crazy. However, repetitive noises drive her nuts. After gentle conditioning for the first three days of incessant “booming,” she finally boiled over and outlawed all “tick-a booms” and other related sounds.
I had to wait until she went back to work. Left alone to my own devices, I was able to determine a purpose for this all-consuming rhythm.
All of my kids love this song. I used this video of my babies rocking out to enter NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest.
Be careful, this song might get stuck in your head for days. I think I even caught my wife humming “boom boom tick-a tick-a boom boom” over and over and over.
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