What is it with people that sing out loud in seemingly random places? Buskers notwithstanding, what causes someone to burst into song? I’m not upset about this as most of the singing is mildly amusing or worst mildly annoying. I’m just curious about which circuits must be tripped in one’s brain to sing in the bus stop, on the bus, while walking down the street, etc. Especially if one is not that good at singing.
Inquiring minds and all that.
cj finn
I wonder about this too. Sometimes when I’m alone in the car, I will crank the stereo and sing along. Even then, I’m self conscious about other drivers seeing me even though they can’t hear me.
It would be nice to be so self confident that I could break into song anywhere and the world be damned.
THat reminds me, one day I was singing along loudly in our car… i didn;t realize the wife’s window was open. We were at a stoplight. When we got to the end of the song some people in the next car started clapping and cheering… I felt like such a tool.
Okay, I am one of those people! I always break out in song. I’m not sure why, I just enjoy singing. I do it in a car , probably because I’m not one that can sit still well, singing burns off some of that energy until I get to where I am going. Plus it makes the time go by faster. It’s equivilent to someone daydreaming to pass the time. That’s my 2 cents.
For me it is because I always have something going in my head. There is never a waking moment when I don’t have some tune or other swirling around. That tends to lead to me humming or quietly singing a verse or chorus out loud.
I sing in the car too. always.
I sing in the car, loudly, off-key and with an invisible microphone in my hand, making soulful eyes at the road ahead of me.
I sing in the mall too, but only to embarrass my daughter.
From a first-time poster, enjoying this amusing thread: what light-hearted folks you who sing out loud must be, especially if you do it to embarrass your daughter! My tunes seem to stay inside my head, but it will be the same one for a whole day, and drive me nuts. The worst is some silly thing like “Turkey in the Straw” after the ice cream truck goes by, or some stupid rendition from a TV commercial.
And how about whistlers? If you’ve ever worked with a whistler, did it seem he or she kept whistling the same few notes incessantly?
MizQuirk
I do sing quietly sometimes when doing other things, even in public. It enhances a good mood, and I don’t much care if it makes other people think I’m nuts.
We had someone in our office who constantly sang or whistled a succession of totally inane tunes all day. Damn, he was hard to work with.
‘Theme tune from the Adams Family’ was one of his favourites.
He’s moved on now.
I sing in the car, sway from side to side as well sometimes. Must look pretty strange for the following car when me and the missus are both swaying together.:o
Well, I often sing softly to myself when working at some repetitive task (like making chainmail), particularly if the the task involves a regular rhythm. I find it has a soothing, self-hypnotic effect. I sing quite loudly while driving–along with the stereo or a capella–if I don’t have any passengers who would be bothered by it. I also sing whenever I feel like it when I’m LARPing as my bardic mage character. I just like to sing–it feels good, and it keeps me awake on long drives. Fortunately, I’m not a really terrible singer, so it seldom causes problems.
MizQuirk, I whistle, but not at work, and I usually whistle whole pieces of music. You should hear me do The Barber of Seville. 
As long as there’s music (radio, Discman) I’m singing. As a matter of fact, I sang all the way from Chambers Street to 34th this afternoon!
Man, does that bring back bad memories. There used to be a guy on the other side of my cubicle wall who not only sang, he made weird animal noises and stuff when he was concentrating on things. He was apparently completely oblivious to the fact that he was doing it. I almost lost it one day when he started in on the Rice-a-Roni song. Off key.
I sing, therefore I am.
I don’t get many complaints either. I love to sing. It fills empty moments. Plus, I am a person who makes weird analogies in my head all the time. The slightest hint of a lyric will put a song in my head. It cries to get out.
I also whistle. I don’t whistle often, as it can get annoying. However, I implement a heavy vibrato in my whistling which tends to be pleasing to the ear (at least it is to my ear).
FInally, I always have a diatonic harmonica in the key of G in my pocket. Sometimes, a quick little harmonica ditty is simply appropriate.
I love singing loudly and off-key along with the radio in the car while my boyfriend gives me funny looks
I always sing aloud, especially on long car trips. I often have people point, laugh or cheer at me. I give them a huge grin and a big wave, which usually makes them laugh, so everyone is that little bit happier
Three days ago, as I sat getting my hair cut, an older lady under a nearby dryer began singing “Hello Dolly.” My hairdresser said that she is crazy. Maybe so. But I kind of envied her for her lack of inhibition.
Twenty years ago the teacher in the room next to me would stand in the hallway between classes, stretch out her arms and sing “God Bless America.” That wasn’t so pleasant. (And she kept trying to get me to quit taking my meds!)
I whistle sometimes around the house. I think that was the first thing that impressed my husband-to-be at the time.
For those of you who can sing, do continue to sing often. Your voice and control can be lost without practice.
Croak, croak…
Try alcohol.
Well, not when you’re driving, of course.
When I was in college, I passed a guy walking across campus loudly whistling “When I was a lad I served a term…” I was jealous. I can’t whistle worth beans. But I remember being impressed that he would do it so confidently and jauntily in public like that.
Much later (still at college) I was walking with some friends down the hillside south of campus. We saw a couple sitting on a bench on the hill (it’s a romantic spot, under the trees, and it was getting dark). I thought, “Oh, what the heck” and launched into my best rendition of “That’s Amore.” Wheeeeeeen the moon hits your eye… my companions did not look at me strangely, but immediately joined in. It was a brief moment, but memorable.
Kills time. 
I’ve been waiting for a friend on a park bench, singing to pass the minutes, and had people think I was a busker and give me money. 
I hear songs in my head all the time, and I usually start humming them. When I’m on my own, I sing a lot.
I can’t help it, it’s just in my head and needs to get out.