# What songs will always be recursive for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2008, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808 "2008-09-23T08:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/1 "2008-09-23T08:12:26Z")
Meaning, they both got so much radio play at the same time that one will always remind you of the other. “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls just came on the radio, and it reminded me that for me, that song is recursive with “Roll to Me” by Del Amitri. Because I remember a span of a few months or weeks during which they were both constantly on the radio, often being both played within the same set. More recently, the same thing happened with “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt and “Bad Day” by whoever. And back in the day, “Every Breath You Take” and “Sweet Dreams are Made of This.” Anyone else ever notice this? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/2 "2008-09-23T08:23:35Z")
Ok, yeah, I could see the “Every Breath You Take”/“Sweet Dreams” connexion, but I don’t automatically associate them. I probably will now, though. Thanks.☹ ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/3 "2008-09-23T11:45:24Z")
I can’t think of any examples, but I would always get this from those Sounds of the 60s/70s/whatever commercials where they’d play a little snippet of each song. They’d all start to meld together so that when I heard the chorus for one, I expected the chorus from the next song from an old commercial to come right after it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/4 "2008-09-23T11:53:49Z")
I associate albums with computer games - from when I would listen to an album in heavy rotation while working to finish a game (this was before games had actual soundtracks). This mainly applies to the mid-90’s. The connections can get pretty weird. For instance, Nirvana’s _Unplugged in New York_makes me think of Doom 2, \*the Best of Bryan Ferry \*makes me think of Speedball, and Tori Amos in general makes me think of Lemmings. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/5 "2008-09-23T11:56:46Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Meaning, they both got so much radio play at the same time that one will always remind you of the other. > > “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls just came on the radio, and it reminded me that for me, that song is recursive with “Roll to Me” by Del Amitri. Because I remember a span of a few months or weeks during which they were both constantly on the radio, often being both played within the same set. More recently, the same thing happened with “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt and “Bad Day” by whoever. And back in the day, “Every Breath You Take” and “Sweet Dreams are Made of This.” > > Anyone else ever notice this? "Notice? Not exactly. But in the summer of 1979, it seemed as if there were exactly 2 non-disco songs that got played on the radio constantly, so even though they sound nothing alike, I always expect to hear one after I’ve heard the other: Meat Loaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/6 "2008-09-23T12:46:41Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > But in the summer of 1979, Same approximate time period, different pair: “Heartache Tonight,” The Eagles “Don’t Bring Me Down,” ELO ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/7 "2008-09-23T15:50:18Z")
I don’t know if “recursive” is the right word—maybe “mutually referential”? I dunno. Anyway, the two that I can think of are “Come Dancing” by the Kinks and “Our House” by Madness. Both were popular at about the same time; both are nostalgic (looking back at the singer’s youth); both videos feature an air guitar solo on a tennis racket; and both are great songs that more-or-less introduced me to what were to become favorite bands. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/8 "2008-09-23T16:21:49Z")
Heh. Back in the summer of '96, I was working in an ice cream shop and we had the radio tuned to an all-hits station that seemed to play the same 10 songs over and over and over again. All. Day. Long. The following all kinda blur into a single song in my memory: Whitetown - _Your Woman_ Spice Girls - _Say You’ll Be There_ Savage Garden - \*I Want You \*(as an aside, they also qualify for most misleading band name ever) Donna Lewis - _I Love You Always Forever_ ---
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/9 "2008-09-23T16:47:04Z")
[How Bizarre by OMC](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/howbizarrelyrics.html) and [Tubthumping by Chumbawumba](http://www.anysonglyrics.com/lyrics/c/chumbawamba/tubthumping.htm) make me think of each other. Also linked in there is Your Woman (mentioned already by **Mahna Mahna** ), but not as strongly. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/10 "2008-09-23T16:51:22Z")
We were running a field survey in '89 that had a lot of road access and we’d leave the windows down and music cranked as we collected samples. Seemingly almost every hour on AM radio that year we heard the same two songs; Tears For Fears _Sowing The Seeds Of Love_ and The Fine Young Cannibal’s _She Drives Me Crazy_. Again and again… and again. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/11 "2008-09-23T17:59:15Z")
Another entry from 1979, which was apparently The Year Of The Recursive Songs: **Bram Tchaikovsky** ’s _Girl Of My Dreams_ and **The Records** ’ _Starry Eyes_. They were both perfect pop songs with jangly guitars and a triplet hook. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/12 "2008-09-23T18:24:36Z")
All those songs remind me of [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=484601)thread ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/13 "2008-09-23T18:26:51Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > I can’t think of any examples, but I would always get this from those Sounds of the 60s/70s/whatever commercials where they’d play a little snippet of each song. They’d all start to meld together so that when I heard the chorus for one, I expected the chorus from the next song from an old commercial to come right after it. I do that with Freedom Rock. Smoke on the water, fire in the sky… Hot blooded, check it and see.. Whoa oh…oh oh china grove…American Woman! ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/14 "2008-09-23T18:32:43Z")
“Only the Lonely” by the Motels and “Don’t You Want Me?” by Human League. “Words” by Missing Persons and “The Metro” by Berlin. “Fascination” by Human League and “Obsession” by Animotion. The 80s are very recursive for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/15 "2008-09-23T19:23:23Z")
Speaking of “Don’t You Want Me,” that song played alternately on the jukebox in my college student union with 'Werewolves of London." Ah-oooooh! ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/16 "2008-09-23T20:12:04Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > All those songs remind me of [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=484601)thread I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/17 "2008-09-23T20:27:11Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Smoke on the water, fire in the sky… > Hot blooded, check it and see.. haha if I had to have thought of an example, that would have been it. It took _years_ to be able to pry those two songs apart in my head! ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/18 "2008-09-23T20:34:07Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNTxr2NJHa0) was the first song I thought of when I read the thread title. You can thank me later for having it stuck in your head. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/19 "2008-09-23T23:42:07Z")
Coolio’s _Gangsta’s Paradise_ and Seal’s _Kissed By A Rose_. Dangerous Minds and whichever Batman movie that was in both came out the same summer. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808/20 "2008-09-24T03:30:54Z")
The Verve Pipe’s “The Freshman” and Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life.” They came out at around the same time. I also associate those two songs with “Pole Sitter” by Harvey Danger. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-will-always-be-recursive-for-you/464808.md?page=2)