# Mental health situation of a person who plays the same damed 7 or 8 songs over and over daily? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 1, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644 "2012-12-01T03:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/21 "2012-12-01T13:15:10Z")
This past summer I was staining the back deck and I didn’t take the good radio out there (lest it get splattered with deck stain) so I instead took out the cheap-o shower radio that doesn’t offer much in the way of reception. The only station it would get was the local Today’s Mix Music station that kept me company for the four-day work period. I swear the playlist consists of about a dozen songs set on a permanent loop, with the exact same commercials thrown to boot. For that matter the local classic rock stations aren’t much better. You have artists with extensive playlists of songs whittled down to two or three of the most well-known offered up ad nauseum. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/22 "2012-12-01T13:24:09Z")
In a depressed state of mind, I once pumped 20 quarters into a bar jukebox and hit the buttons for _Bellbottom Blues_ 20 times. Lucky I didn’t get the shit kicked outa me that night. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/23 "2012-12-01T13:34:24Z")
The girl who lived below us in the dorms our sophomore year played “Any Man of Mine” and “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” back to back to back to back for approximately 3 hours a day, every single day, for _months_. So loud that we couldn’t hear our own tv. I still get a little twitch in my eyelid when I hear Shania Twain’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/24 "2012-12-01T13:38:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > In a depressed state of mind, I once pumped 20 quarters into a bar jukebox and hit the buttons for _Bellbottom Blues_ 20 times. Lucky I didn’t get the shit kicked outa me that night. Well, at least you have good taste. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/25 "2012-12-01T13:45:28Z")
I know some perfectly sane people who just happen to prefer to consume their music in that way - the same song (or small playlist) over, and over, and over. I’ve only ever done that when I was rehearsing a song for performance, but different people like different things. Shrug. It’s not necessarily a sign of mental problems (although it may be). ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/26 "2012-12-01T14:17:28Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > How did you count? Once I moved in and realized that she was obsessed with the song, I started counting whenever I heard her first put it on. She usually stopped at ten or eleven times, but twenty-nine was the most I ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/27 "2012-12-01T14:18:55Z")
I think the OP is obsessed with the number 8. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/28 "2012-12-01T15:16:37Z")
I have \ an mp3 cd playlist I made up for in my new momvan with 119 songs on it that are the topmost played in the household according to my itunes. It is roughly the exact same playlist that is on my ancient 1st gen ipod that we listened to on the drive across country, so that is played repeatedly for 16 days of driving, about 8 or 9 hours a day … twitch ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/29 "2012-12-01T15:20:31Z")
maybe the person was wanting to get the tunes down for doing karaoke. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/30 "2012-12-01T17:17:23Z")
I tend to listen to the same music over and over again for a few months then listen to something else. Mind you it’s larger than eight songs, eg. I’m currently listening to the whole SOAD catalog over and over again for the past month or so. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/31 "2012-12-01T17:59:18Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Some additional context is that we’re getting [divorced](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=670692), but still… Breakups make some people play songs on repeat. I had a flatmate like that (at least I like the Cowboy Junkies). Someday someone will do a study and find out why, but till then, just accept it as a fact of life. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/32 "2012-12-01T18:53:04Z")
One of our lab workers used to play the same Celine Dion songs over and over on a daily basis. She also (without regard for our sanity) pulls long strips of elastic tape off a dispenser for wrapping cartons, which makes a lovely rrrrrip, rrrrrrip rrrrrip noise for many minutes on end. I prefer the tape ripping noises. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/33 "2012-12-01T18:59:53Z")
I can listen to things on repeat and it won’t bother me, so long as I like the song or there’s some other reason to be listening. I have a piano again and I will replay certain passages upwards of 100 times in a row to get it right. I understand how annoying this might be to others, so I try to do it when no one is around! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/34 "2012-12-01T19:18:46Z")
That’s the way I’ve heard the most music in my life. On AM radio, or someone playing side 3 of the Bangladesh album repeatedly. It’s just background noise to me. And familiar background noise isn’t distracting. So possibly in the case of the OP’s soon to be ex, it’s just a way of putting up a wall of sound around her to block out the reality. Sorry to hear about the divorce Leaffan, good luck on the road ahead. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/35 "2012-12-01T19:57:20Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > She plays the same 7 or 8 songs over, and over, and over, every day, every night. > > She’s 48 years old, and it’s all recent pop shit that you hear on teeny-bopper stations. I’m at my wits end with it. > > I think it’s a sign of mental instability, perhaps depression or worse. Even if I pulled out my favourite 7 or 8 songs of all time, I could \*“never, ever, ever” listen to them every goddamned spare minute for months in a row. Hmm, there was a recent “This American Life” story about some guy’s mentally retarded sister who listened to the same audio cassette on near infinite loop. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/36 "2012-12-01T20:09:09Z")
This is why you shouldn’t continue to share a house with someone you’re divorcing. Soon, _everything_ she does will drive you insane. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/37 "2012-12-01T20:20:24Z")
Some days either out of sheer laziness or because I’m having a hard time choosing my music I’ll listen to one particular artist both ways when I’m commuting but I pretty much always keep my ipod on shuffle at work. I don’t think I could listen to the same small number of songs though even from my favorite artist. I would have to know far more about the individual playing the same songs again and again to know whether or not they are mentally ill or simply have very limited taste in music. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/38 "2012-12-01T20:35:56Z")
I’ve done this before with new albums that really grabbed me. “Centerfield,” or “Scarecrow,” or “Born In the U.S.A.” Back in my cassette listening days, I’d listen to the same tape over and over on auto reverse. I once bought a Royal Guardsmen greatest hits CD and played it over and over for at least a solid month. Now, not so much. I’ll play an album once or twice, then move on. And my iPod playlists all have way more than eight songs on them. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/39 "2012-12-01T21:23:31Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > This is why you shouldn’t continue to share a house with someone you’re divorcing. Soon, _everything_ she does will drive you insane. OMG. Today she’s breathing: in out, in out, in out, over and over and over… ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644/40 "2012-12-01T22:13:53Z")
Sometimes I will need to listen to a song until I internalize whatever message it has for me. When my father died, I needed to listen to Bob Seger’s “Like A Rock” and Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt”. I love Bob Seger, but I’ve never been much of a Cash fan…but I really, really needed to internalize the message that I was hearing. Now it’s one of my favorite songs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mental-health-situation-of-a-person-who-plays-the-same-damed-7-or-8-songs-over-and-over-daily/642644.md?page=3)