15 May, 2004

Another self-referential observation about memory

In 1992 I bought a tape of R.E.M.'s 'Automatic For The People'.  I listened to it quite a lot, and associate it with a fairly happy period of my life.
For various reasons, I didn't listen to it often from mid-1993 onwards; once per year until ~1999, if that.
Recently, I took advantage of a '3-for-2' offer to upgrade to a CD copy of the album.  The odd thing is that it is instantly familiar; I can remember most of the lyrics, and as one track ends, I can anticipate the beginning of the next track before a note is played - it's as if I last heard it yesterday, not five years ago, and it wasn't even a favourite then.

I have a poor memory for text: I can't quote lyrics, poetry, or lines from films or books. If I understand something, I can assimilate it properly, but if I need to simply memorise abstract information, especially as text, it's a problem. This might partially explain my (apparent) inability to learn languages, and my near-failure at 'A'-Level Chemistry.
In Polish, Saturday is 'Sobota', but dlaczego? It just is; it's not debatable or something to understand, it can only be memorised. Or not.
Usage helps, by setting a context; I don't struggle with "Dobranoc". It's the abstraction that's the problem. If I was working with organic chemistry on a daily basis, I'm sure I'd soon learn the structural differences between an aldehyde and a ketone, but as a frankly uninterested 17-year-old, it just wasn't going to happen.

Oddly, I am able to recall lyrics in the context of their song, just not in isolation. As I write, this sentence I'm listening to something familiar ('Easter', by Marillion) as a test, and can remember the lyrics word-perfectly, about a line ahead of h singing them. At this precise moment, the guitar solo is drawing to a close, and I don't have a clue about the next line... yes; I got it, but not until h was drawing breath for the first word.