Why Pop Music Stations are like a Hospital Activities Time for Alzheimer's Patients

One example of a song you've heard way too many times.

My grandmother passed of Alzheimer's complications a few years.  It's a terrifying disease, and not just because you watch someone you love become a shell of themselves - sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly - to the point where they no longer recognize you or even themselves.  But it's equally terrifying to know that can happen to you, when you're currently of clear mind and can rationalize it.  When she saw the early stages approaching, she took a calculated and rational approach, signing over life rights and estate pieces to her younger relatives, so it would be protected and she would be cared for properly.

Me?  I can't wrap my head around doing that now.  Even making a will scares me - "Hey, so whenever I might, you know, get hit by a bus... my sister gets my computer, OK?"  I know I have to do it once I have assets worth passing along.  But for now, I don't like having evidence to my eventual demise out there.

But once the disease hits hard enough, you need constant care.  Otherwise, basic functions get forgotten - eating, bathing, using the bathroom properly... all needs to be scheduled and monitored.  The one plus I suppose is that entertainment opportunities are infinite.  Did you like The Sixth Sense because it had a fun twist?  Guess what - you can watch it again and be equally surprised when it turns out Bruce Willis was DEAD THE WHOLE TIME.  You forgot Soylent Green was MADE OUT OF PEOPLE?  Nice, that shock will be fun every time!  Heck, I bet you've never heard this song...


My favorite part is when they say they'll make me "lose my mind."


Good, right? That hook is catchy... At the very least, I know that I can go back and be blown away by things like the Hatch in Lost or whether or not Michelle comes out of that coma after the horse-jumping accident on Full House.  I'm easy to please with TV and movies as is, so Alzheimer's overall would be horrible, but I know I'd probably at least find something entertaining.

However, I can't help but think pop music DJs are either (1) stricken with this horrific disease, to (2) their advertisers demographic is exclusively Alzheimer's patients.  I mean, yes, I get that Top 40 stations have to play the #1 song a lot because people want to hear it, but every hour?  Wow...

I went to the gym nearly daily over the summer, and I never made it through an hour workout without hearing two songs:
(1) Katy Perry's TGIF
(2) This song...




...Shake that!

Add in the bonus Gaga song I usually caught and it made me work out really hard to get the hell out of there ASAP.  Yes, I'll admit it publicly - that Katy Perry song is freakin' catchy, and anyone who works Kenny G into their video gets 5 nostalgia points.  And the Party Rock Anthem* is definitely listenable and gets stuck in your head.  Heck, the video is a funny idea too.  Have you seen it?







Not bad considering. But do people actually enjoy hearing the same song over and over?  I'll play a full album multiple times a week, but not daily on repeat.  There are people who listen to the radio while they work and I have no idea how they do it.  Do you FORGET you just heard this?



No, at this point, I'd be able to hit you in the face with a shovel if you didn't get what I was doing.  Not that I would of course, that's awful.  How dare you think I'd do that?!



Anyway, if you honestly enjoy hearing 8 songs on repeat daily, let me know in the comments.  I want to be sure I play to my demographic, so if there are a couple of you, I'll start posting direct links to I Can Haz Cheezburger and put in crazy pop up ads about the one diet secret the GOVERNMENT doesn't want you to know, then sit back and watch the Internet Dollarz roll in!



* Party Rock Anthem is a song by LMFAO, video below: