Rational or irrational sound associations

You know what I’m talking about: when you hear a tuba, it often makes one think of a heavy person in action, or perhaps an elephant… or hippo - something or someone heavy. It’s used commonly enough on television that I’m sure many people make this association. Tuba noises = impossibly large person/animal performing mundane tasks, from walking to dancing.

I’ve been listening to a song by Feist called “Mushaboom”, and perhaps there’s a bit of a subconcious effect going on here… but for whatever reason, there’s a short bit after the first chorus where there is what sounds - to my uneducated ear - like a short, lazy few trumpet (or trombone? Sounds brass to me) notes - not loud, just a little snake of sound. This sound, not too unlike when my husband blows air slowly into the crook of his arm to make a high-pitched fart noise, makes me think of…

mushrooms.

It is the perfect noise for mushrooms. In my mind I can picture it: either one of those nature-show time-lapse picture of mushrooms growing in a damp patch of leaves under a tree… or something utterly ridiculous, like dancing mushroms. I don’t know why this is; I’ve never heard a mushroom make much of a noise, not while eating them, handling them, or even stepping on them. They haven’t even given me gas that would cause me to make that type of noise. They don’t make a peep. Even on my worst day, they certainly don’t dance. And yet, that lazy trumpet sound seems like the perfect noise for a mushroom to make.

What sounds do you associate with things that are seemingly unrelated, and why do you think that is?

The William Tell Overture always reminds me of horsies, but that’s not exactly irrational.