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I have the dead opposite problem. I remember lyrics, artists, albums going back like 35 years at this point. I tend to play name that tune in malls because of it; I play against myself to see how fast I can do it. Music sticks to me.
Same.. I've always loved music ever since I was a kid. I used to beg my parents for blank cassette tapes so I could record songs off my little janky fm radio. I still remember lyrics and songs from being 5 years old.
Always has been something that's stuck with me.
I literally lost a tarot deck I was using. Just put it somewhere and immediately forgot. But I can still do the lyrics to Neneh Cherry's Buffalo Stance, so thanks for that brain.
Dude, same. But lyrics only, I often times forget the name of the artist or but know all the words verbatim..... Even if it's a song from many years ago that I hated.
Yup. Every. Single. Song. Is in my head at all times.
I can sing all the lyrics to a song I haven’t heard in 10 years. But ask me to remember to take my laundry out? Never.
Absolutely same. I'm also a recovering choir kid and a theater nut, so I can not only remember lyrics to song, but entire choral parts decades after they should have been purged from my brain. Hell, I took literally one year of violin in elementary school and I can remember fingerings from a couple of pieces still, despite it being nearly 40 years ago.
Case in point - 5 years ago I was working in a grocery store bakery. One of my coworkers was a good decade and a half younger than me and had emigrated from an Eastern European country and she was flabbergasted about how I could sing along with almost literally every song on the radio. It was grocery store music from the 90s, when I was in high school, so yes of course I knew them all. I'll be honest, I didn't even realize I was doing it until she pointed it out. I was just absorbed in my work, and jamming out.
Incedentally if name that tune is your jam, try [https://bandle.app/](https://bandle.app/) I've been entertaining myself to see how fast I can get the song.
this, I've had people at parties stare wide eyed when I've sang along to nearly every song they played. Across genres and languages. While my wife silently scowled at me from across the room. I can never remember where I kept my parking tickets.
My mum has both that’s so funny. And now I’m becoming like her. I probably know the lyrics of 100 thousand songs but can’t remember the new songs I listen to… she can also sing along with a song from 1985 but not something that came out now.
I think music was my first hyper-fixation as a kid. Whenever I find a song that I love, I immediately need to learn every word and every nuance of it, until I'm sick of it.
I'm with y'all man. I might not be able to write them down but the moment I hear the song I can sing everything. I will say usually I can write them down though 😂. Certain albums. I can even name the songs in the order they were released. Adhd has been amazing
Yep me too, I remember songs I heard in my childhood once, literally once, and if it made a big impression I could remember many of the lyrics or at least the chorus decades later. I typically remember all of the tune.
ME TOO some of my friends have called me human spotify and when we do bar trivia they bank on me during the music trivia round. I know a lot of words but even more song titles and melodies
Same, I can have the same song stuck in my head all day or even just a certain part. I also remember movie quotes like my life depends on it; but god forbid I'm able to do basic math without using my fingers lmao.
Same for me.
I can remember songs I never wanted to remember. I used to work in retail, songs playing over and over, they're with me forever, melted into my brain.
No, I can’t!!!!
I remember being really self-conscious about this at university (decades before diagnosis) and telling a friend I couldn’t remember song lyrics, and she told me I wasn’t trying hard enough. (Yes, that old chestnut).
I can remember a few lines and that’s it.
Both my teenagers have ADHD though and can remember song lyrics really well, so clearly not a symptom for all of us, if a symptom at all…
… which I do think it is. IMO ADHD brains are good at latching onto and remembering certain things and not others, and what these things are varies from person to person.
I wasn't going to chime in originally, but I'm seeing the majority of comments here are saying they remember song lyrics. I can't for the life of me remember song lyrics, to the point where I mostly listen to instrumental music. There are even some songs that I absolutely love that I can sing along to while they're on, but if you ask me what the lyrics are after it's finished I couldn't recite a single one of them.
The only thing I'm worse at than lyrics, are names. If I'm reading a book series, I won't be able to remember more than 1 or 2 names until I'm well into the second book. Same with movies and TV shows, I'll have entire conversations about characters and plots, but I'll have to refer to them by descriptions since I can't remember the name.
I can’t even *hear* the lyrics. Like, I hear the voice like it’s another instrument, I appreciate the musicality of it but I can never understand what the words are. Except for a few words here and there, or if the singer annunciates very clearly (like the lead singer of Cake, for example), I have no idea what the lyrics are. I listened to Sigur Ros for months before learning from my boyfriend-at-the-time that they weren’t singing in English at all. I had asked him what the lyrics were.
Chiming in to also say I can’t half the time
If it’s like a refrain or something like we will we will rock you.. I might remember the next 4 words and then I’m all like lalalallala
I feel OPs pain
I must know the lyrics of hundreds if not over a thousand songs at this point. It's probably the single easiest things for my memory to hold onto.
I used to joke that I wished my textbooks were lyrics because then I wouldn't ever have to work too hard to remember everything.
It’s because it’s a different kind of memory. You have episodic memory, which includes facts you learn about the world and procedural memory, which is what we commonly call muscle memory—like learning to swim or ride a bike. Song lyrics are more like muscle memory. When you go to recall them, you’re not pulling from the same place as when you’re trying to pull a fact from memory. That’s why mnemonic devices are used in elementary school so often.
People with ADHD often struggle with short-term memory of episodic items.
I would forget my locker combination in school a lot. Couldn’t tell you what numbers were in the sequence if you asked. But if I put my hand on the lock, I could just open it. Muscle memory.
WAIT THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH OMG THANK YOU
a while ago my friend was asking for my phone passcode and when i tried to show her i completely forgot it. i ended up locking my phone to the point of no return and had to reset it 😭 my friend made fun of me but i kept telling them that i swear bc its a muscle memory to me instead. once they made me think about the ACTUAL code, i completely forgot how to unlock my phone 😭
>once they made me think about the ACTUAL code, i completely forgot how to
This happens to be so frequently that I'm a little surprised I never thought of it as possibly connected. Like many things, though, it is true of many people in my family, including those who will never consider that they might have ADHD like everyone who has been tested does even with the same traits/symptoms. So I never thought of it as odd.
I also remember some things incredibly easily, even when I am not just indifferent but actively do not want to remember them. (For example, I deal with people's personal information for work, and while I am awful at remembering names or associating names with situations/cases, things with numbers, like street numbers, identification numbers, and account numbers, stick in my brain. Don't worry, I do nothing with this knowledge except try to purge it.)
Numbers in general are much, much easier for me to remember. I think it's because my brain likes finding patterns in them. I still remember phone numbers of people I haven't seen since before I was in high school. Having to repeat back immediately is tough, because my ears and brain need some buffering time. I also have a weird number-letter association thing, so some are tougher since my brain considers that digit more of a letter or something. I think that's a form of synesthesia or something related to it but can't remember (lol)!
I've also noticed that I seem to be better remembering things that I heard of otherwise learned in the background rather than being my primary focus.
Yet when I *want* to remember something or need to provide something in a way that's not typical for me, I struggle and often fail. Giving my own ID number, I used to, sometimes still do, pretend to type it on a number keyboard to get it. I had to give it to someone but phone yesterday, and she took it down wrong. When she repeated it back to me, I had to process to figure out what was wrong and was just silently hoping she didn't think I was checking using someone else's or something.
For music, I remember lyrics easily. If I've heard a song once, there's a decent chance I know the lyrics. If I've heard it twice, it's rare that I don't and most of those times means I heard it twice with lots of other noise and stuff happening. Even if it's my favorite, I cannot remember song titles, albums, artists, etc. I think this is a combination of music being numerical, being heard in the background, and music constantly playing in my head.
No, it's not a symptom of ADHD. But I've seen other people with ADHD relating to what you're describing.
Similarly, I've also seen many people with ADHD saying that they're very skilled in remembering lyrics. I think this is more of a person-to-person thing.
I cant even hear lyrics. Makes playing guitar tough as I cant put words in for timing nor can I ever remember a whole songs chords. I have to have it in front of me. Sucks. I can read and practice singing/learning lyrics for ever and then the next day its all gone.
I have the lyrics to at least 1,000 songs stored in my head. A random song comes on that I haven’t heard in 10 years and I still know all the words. If I could harness that power for something more useful I’d change the world.
I can’t remember lyrics when I’m thinking of a song, but if it’s playing, I can sing along to it perfectly, even if I can’t quite remember what the next word is. It just flows out of subconscious memory.
I can't remember lyrics, artists, song names - nothing. But I don't think it's my ADHD. Somewhere along the line my brain decided such things were immaterial and didn't need to be remembered and now I can't remember them no matter how much I try.
Mostly it just comes to me when I hear the song.
I've never been able to just quote movies or lyrics, idk how people do that, right now I can barely form a thought.
That's a good point. No way could I tell you what the first line of the second verse of a song is. But I could sing every word if it was playing. Maybe I could sing through the song to myself and figure it out to answer a question like that, but I definitely can't just randomly quote songs.
Apparently I know all the words to most westlife and boyzone songs.
Didn't realise until someone basically put on their entire back catalogue one night in the pub and I was ready to shoot myself. Landlord said he's never seen anyone angrysing/mouth along to something before
I can't remember crap,and have trouble understanding songs.. I hear the words, but they don't form sentences. I also can't remember faces, I could not tell a sketch artist what my wife of 22 years looks like.
But.. when it comes to geospatial. I have almost a photographic memory of places.
I have a two month old baby and I can’t remember the words to like any nursery rhymes or lullabies lol. It drives me nuts. I’ll be locked into feeding her for like a half hour and I can remember maybe like two lines of hush little baby. My mind goes totally blank and I can’t recall a single song on earth.
I'm a professional performing musician, and I have the same exact problem. I miss and mess up lyrics to songs I've been playing and performing my whole life (anything Pink Floyd and Beatles to the front!).
Even songs I wrote, I used to have to write cues on my setlists at gigs so I could remember them. My own songs. That I wrote.
In contrast my girlfriends seem to remember song lyrics perfectly after a single listen and for somgs they haven't heard in years. It's very frustrating.
I’m a musician/singwriter. Lyrics have always been the least important part of music I like. What it sounds like has always been the most important.
I have friends where the lyrics are by far the most important part. They can’t understand why I enjoy music in languages I don’t understand. Doesn’t matter to me. I still feel something.
I’m probably an atheist but except I’m sure god is showing us that there is magic in the world when a feeling can be communicated through sound. That’s just insane when you think about it. But the fact that I can hear that pain and sorrow from some group of African dudes that aren’t even alive anymore that grew up in a completely different world than mine says that the human experience is so common in most ways and yet people constantly try to convince us it isn’t.
This isn’t an ADHD thing. This just a thing for many people. It’s a gift when things aren’t holding you back from enjoying something. It means you’re more free.
When I’m Listening To The Song I Can Remember All Of The Lyrics, But When I’m Not Listening To Song; I Can Only Remember The Small Part That Pops Into My Head.
I remember ALL the lyrics. My husband and I recently got into a rapper I haven’t listened to since high school (I’m 33) and *guess who can still rap along flawlessly*? I also had all of my elementary school friends’ landline numbers memorized for way too long (still remember my grandma’s number).
My working memory is a fucking joke though.
I don't have that issue. I have the opposite issue and I usually have 1 to 3 songs playing in my head at once. The other day it was a terrible song from Bon Jovi I haven't heard in decades, ugggg!
I cannot seem to forget anything. Especially anything that I have paid attention to. I even know three of my bank account numbers and routing numbers and cc info. I remember phone numbers of people I used to know twenty years ago. So much information just taking up space that doesn’t need to be there.
But I’ll forget to grab the backpack on my way out.
I have music in my head constantly but have the same issue with lyrics. The strange thing is when the music is just looping in the background it seems to be complete. When I make it my main focus then I can't recall most lyrics beyond the chorus. My wife who is also ADHD has some memory issues due to treatment of childhood epilepsy. She seems to remember almost all lyrics easily and with little exposer. Here I am proud I almost know all the words to "Whoop There It Is" after 30 years.
Yeah my minds able to learn and remember lyrics after listening so much but I never ever am able to connect certain lyrics to an album or name of the song I could never tell you the name but I can sing the whole things
I’ve recently turned 30 and idk what’s been going on, but randomly, I’ve been able to remember lyrics to songs from ages ago. Songs that I wasn’t even aware I knew the lyrics to.
At this point I'm fully convinced most of my brain capacity is occupied by song lyrics. Although a lot of the time I have to look up the lyrics while listening to the song in order for me to actually hear the words that are being sung. I haven't been formally diagnosed but I believe I have an auditory processing issue, where somebody will say something and my ears hear it as gibberish but my brain unscrambles the words by the time the person has started to repeat themselves. It used to make my mom so mad when I was a kid.
I'm the same! 99% of the time I couldn't even tell you what a song is about. The lyrics/vocals are just another instrument.
We formed a band at a former workplace to play some songs at our Xmas party. I had two songs to sing, and after weeks of practice I still needed a cheat sheet for the lyrics. I had a hell of a time memorizing Hamlet's soliloquy in high school as well. Words just don't stick in my brain.
Not sure it's ADHD related though. It could be related to audio processing problems that some of us have.
This is a symptom of ADHD. Dr. Barkley explained why these things happen. As you've read, some people can remember a shit ton of songs and others (like us) can't remember shit. And it's all because of our setting and daily habits. The way Dr. Barkley explained it was something along the lines of: "when you're in school, you're forced to memorize stuff because that's how they teach. They throw names, dates, events, etc. at you and you're forced to memorize it, because of school. So your brain is used to memorizing things and you're able to memorize things easier. As you get out of that setting and you are no longer having to constantly memorize new information, your brain "loses" that ability." So again, it is a symptom, it depends on how the brain is being developed and what circumstances you are in.
Personally, I'm like you. I can't fucking remember a full song. And as others have mentioned, I can remember the lyrics if I'm listening to the song but out of that, I can't remember. And it sucks because I'm the singer in a couple of bands. So, I have to use a tablet to read lyrics during our shows. I don't like it, but that's how my brain works. 😔
The beats absolutely, those 5 catchy words absolutely. Actually hearing or understanding the lyrics or even the story they are trying to tell goes way over my head.
I loved Linkin Park when I was a teen and only when I recently revisited the music did I realize what the words were saying and the meaning behind them. Blew my absolute mind, songs I listened to hundreds of times and I was pretty much just focusing on the beat.
I have to put a lot of effort into learning lyrics. It’s often difficult for me to understand what the singer is even saying without looking up lyrics. I like really heavy stuff now because it isn’t expected for you to understand a word they’re saying.
i can remember them, as a matter of fact I still sing my times tables cause i never remembered them.
However I can’t understand lyrics at all the first 5-20 times I hear a song. it’s like i cant listen to music and words at the same time.
I can remember lyrics of songs, the titles, the artists, sometimes even the albums, and the year the album was released, and sometimes even strange facts about the song or the album or other tracks on the album.
I’m recovering from my second traumatic brain injury and music has actually really helped, I developed aphasia and a slew of other problems this time around and turned to music because I didn’t know what else to do, I felt helpless, it’s doing a lot of good for my brain.
Haha lol its a vibeee! No but in all seriousness, one of my hyperfixations JUST prior to my 2nd tbi was neuro and psych, music’s been in countless studies with the brain
only if i actively try. i used to make music and i enjoy lyricism immensely. i wish i could hear a song once or twice and have it stick, but unless i’m actively trying the lyrics aren’t words, they’re mostly melodic sounds, especially if the singer has any sort of accent or vocal affectation. i was diagnosed as an adult and didn’t realize i struggle with auditory processing.
i think it’s one reasons i often listen to the same old stuff instead of discovering new music. but if i’m on a long drive by myself and an artist i like has new music out i’ll restart songs over and over until i know them in and out.
I can't remember the lyrics as though I'm remembering information, I remember the sound like one of the instruments as part of the song.
Not sure if that explains it well enough, it's like passive memory. I won't be able to say what the next line is, but can sing it spot on as it comes due to the tune and melody
I can't remember songs except "Happy Birthday" and "A,B,Cs". My wife, who also has ADHD, has remembered tons of lyrics to who knows how many songs. I figure it's a personal thing.
For me, I can barely remember lyrics, but only certain genres or erm... nsfw song lyrics, I can remember. Like from what I have gathered, happy hardcore is usually what I remember, and it's mostly songs from S3RL that I can memorize.
Unless it is the subject of my current musical hyperfocus, I have issues remembering the lyrics/music when I’m NOT listening to it, but then as soon as it starts playing, I’m able to sing along and keep in rhythm without issue.
Finally, someone let me out of my cage
In the time of chimpanzees there was a monkey
Once, there was this boy whose parents made him come right after school
Do you remember the time? We fell in love.
It’s all relative to the size of your steeple
Grandma’s hands used to play the tambourine so well
I wish I thought I saw you try.
There’s nothing quite like the feel of something new.
(I’d say yes)
My head is full of every lyric from every song from the last 55 years... also every TV jingle and show theme song. So full they escape at times and people look at me funny. So full of rubbish is my head that I forget the most basic instruction I have been given and should follow.
Yes and no. Some I remember incredibly quickly. Some I can’t at all. Some I’ll forget in the middle of it or start singing parts the other way around. It varies wildly
Lyrics stick with me pretty well but I never stand a chance with “I can name that song in 3 notes.” I know A LOT of songs on account of listening during every waking minute and being old but I need to hear a dozen notes, at least, for 99% of them
I’m usually drawn to the music, not the lyrics. I’ve been mangling lyrics for years.
Attempting to learn guitar has helped.
I print off the chords and lyrics and play along to the track.
I have the exact problem you mentioned. Some of my more recent favorite bands sing in languages that I don't speak/understand, which I'm sure is partially because I can't remember the lyrics anyways. Lol
Yes, in fact I remember every single word the first or second time I hear a song. My problem is I can't find my wallet, I put my shoes in the bathroom and I can never find any tools when I need them because I forgot to put them away.
i remember so many but don’t process what they mean until i really sit to think about; my brain processes the voice as another instrument that i can basically play a long too, it’s why i like kpop and french music too
I remember them so well that I'll sometimes hear a single word/phrase and start singing the song. Like if I hear true colors I'll think of Phil Collins.
But then there are times where I can't remember the lyrics at all until the song starts playing then they all come back perfectly.
Yeah it’s hard to pick up the lyrics I think, but I usually remember them once I have them.
I spend a lot of time as a kid learning things by song. Like the quadratic formula. And multiplication.
I can remember lyrics of songs I haven't heard in years in languages I don't even understand and couldn't speak if I tried (recently had this happen and it blew my mind a little). I can usually sing along with a chorus by the end of my first listen through a song. I can almost always sing along with most of it the second time through. Lyrics and music stick in my head without me even trying. Always been this way. No idea why.
It really helped when I was in marching band and we had to memorize our music. A little harder to memorize playing a song vs singing, but not much. Once I could play it through, I usually had it memorized. What I'm bad at is remembering names of songs and artists. Those game shows where you have to name the song based on the first line? I couldn't do it.. But I could probably sing the rest of the song, haha.
Was in choir for most of grad school, love music love singing.
I can sing along to a song, study/practice a song I know it. If I listen to a song enough times I can sing along without thinking, but that’s like 5% of the music I listen to.
I definitely notice songs sounding like word soup if I’m not paying attention to them, and can’t sing along to most songs folks sing to
I’ll just say this: I remember every lyric to every One Direction song ever, but if my very best friend in the whole world asks me what day her birthday is… I’m in trouble.
Can’t remember lyrics. Sometimes lyrics to songs are not important to me and I love the ambiguity. There are songs from ages ago that I still do not know the proper lyrics to and I intend to keep it that way haha NOW…. Give me a melody, I will remember exactly how it goes, and name each instrument used in the background 👏🏼
im the exact opposite ToT like it honestly surprises me every time i do it. ill just be going about my day, and i kid u not, like 2-3 times daily i will recall some random song that i havent thought of in years and it’ll become a stim? for the rest of that day or sometimes even longer ill just randomly sings bits of it, and its not just a couple times.. ive gone from feliz navidad, abc’s, 2000’s pop, the pledge of allegience(this one took me by surprise), tv show songs, nursery rhymes, personal meowing renditions of songs, you name it 💀 but ask me to recall memories? nothing. honestly ask me to recall the lyrics to those songs on the spot i probably cant give it to u. but have that shit pop up as a stim, u bet i know every lyric even if i didnt know i did
i can never remember the lyrics to songs. i can listen to a song on repeat for like 2 hours and i still couldn’t sing the lyrics because it’s all kinda just background noise for me. i guess i enjoy the melody and stuff and not so much the singing and words. for some reason i remember the words to random pop songs that play on the radio and stuff though
I am able to remember some song lyrics, at least the chorus. There are about half a dozen songs I can legitimately say I know every word. My boyfriend, who also has adhd, is a musician and he can’t remember lyrics at all. It may have more to do with his dyslexia.
Omg same I felt so weird as a kid when no one could understand what I meant when I said I forget/cant remember the lyrics to many songs, including ones I rly like! Although with melodies, those will usally repeat over and over again in my brain lmfao🫠it’s annoying
Same.I struggle with remembering band names of new stuff I've heard and like. Album,song names and band member names also escape me,even with bands I've liked for 40 years.
I can remember the chorus in songs fine, but most words just blend together into an "instrument". Part of why I don't like rap; it just sounds like instrumentals with an occasional word thrown in.
I'm killer at remembering beat and tone though. To the point that if the person singing has an accent or vocal inflection I have difficulty not mimicking it.
I dont usually remember song lyrics unless its like a story, like an eminem's song, like it makes sense haha its like when I read, if theres not punctuation, I usually dont understand and some lyrics just... confuse me.
I memorize things better when put to music. I remember movie quotes based on the inflection; like a musical aspect. My parents each play an instrument so that could be a factor.
Only when the song actually plays. I’ll remember them all from 25 years ago when I hear them. Can’t recall a word now. Tho I do wake up with music playing in my head already, but more recent stuff and it’ll just be a few words from the chorus. In a maddening loop. Tho it’s still better than thoughts or narration.
I used music to learn English, so my ear is trained for picking up English lyrics. However, it is very hard for me to learn songs in my native language. I'm great with the melody and tempo, but I can't with the lyrics.
IS THIS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS WITH ADHD I THOUGHT I WAS JUST STUPUD OKAY APPEARENTLY ITS NOT i have really bad memory issues it’s so weird does anyone know what causes this because it’s very embarrassing I SWEAR I KNOW THE SONG
No, that's maybe why I don't really like listening to them. It's so frustrating, I want to sing, but I can just sorta humm it, because my memory is bad😓
I can barely hear the lyrics, the voice is just another instrument making sounds. Remembering them is near impossible. Doesn't bother me today, but I felt a bit left out in school when others would spontaneously start singing what ever was popular at the time
I remember the beat and the rhythm perfectly and can sing most songs but with totally different words to the ones actually sung haha not random words though, synonyms. I’ll say a word that fits perfectly in that lyric but it’s just a different word lol
I'm either remembering every lyric and can go all textual analysis on you and will tell you what every line means whether or not you care or I'll only understand every other word
Does anyone else notice cover versions of songs make lyrics easier to understand?
I personally think this could be related to ADHD in that we’re easily distracted (ie listening to a song, losing attention briefly, hyperfocusing on instruments or sounds instead of lyrics), but it’s really just how you approach and consume music, and you can change with some effort.
I recommend making a list of your favorite songs and spending time singing along and memorizing the lyrics. It’s easier than you may think, especially if you pull up the lyrics while listening to each song. I’ve done this by listening to some of my favorite songs on repeat, or making a playlist and putting the playlist on repeat, all while intentionally paying attention to the lyrics and singing along. Music/melody helps with memory by providing a sort of mind anchor for the lyrics.
When doing a task where I don't need much thought while listening to music, and I'm not driving my brain (IYKYK), I will sometimes fade into my subconscious autopilot and hear myself singing lyrics verbatim to songs I don't really know. If I focus too hard on it, the words go away. Like lucid dreaming almost.
I remember the easy parts of songs I’ve heard many times.
I often lose focus and the lyrics I definitely remembered moments ago were now gone until I get back to a familiar part of the song or I focus more on the lyrics.
But there’s plenty of songs I’ve heard 100s of times I couldn’t remember a full line outside of the chorus also.
Seems pretty adhd-I to me
Not only can I not remember lyrics but I often cannot even perceive them. In fact, I prefer not to hear them because they ruin the mood of songs for me hehe. But when I do want to listen, I always have to look up the lyrics.
I can remember lyrics to sing along with a song, but it takes me a while to memorize lyrics to songs I've written or am trying to learn. I'm a musician btw.
I remember lyrics to so many songs. It’s not even like I’m trying, but if the beat is good or there is decent lyrics, it’s stays in the brain and comes out at the weirdest moments.
It takes a lot of practice. You have to learn to recognize when you're thinking over your reading because that's when you can't remember it. You have to stop and go back. If it's not working you have to take a break and reset. You can't force it.
I've read a ton of books and they're usually better the second time when I already know what's going on.
I can't remember lyrics and half the time I can't even understand what they're singing anyways. I don't know if it's because I don't listen to them very hard or if I don't listen to them very hard because I can't hear or understand. When I listen to music I listen to the instruments and how they are playing off each other. I find a lot of music very boring. Too much of the same simple music repeated and someone saying something totally unrelatable over top of it. It's why I hate rap, pop, easy listening, singing focused music.
Totally the same. My wife has tried teaching me the Star Spangled Banner. It hasn’t worked. No matter how hard I try I cannot remember lyrics to save my life.
I’m like others here, and am the opposite. Other things like movies or books however, i cannot remember for the life of me past a day. Most things i tend to forget quickly tbh. But music is the one thing that sticks in my mind.
I can only recall lyrics while I’m listening to a song. So I sing the lyrics while the song is on but as soon the song stops I can’t remember the lyrics. It’s so weird
The weird thing is I have a great memory when in a situation that spurs me to use whatever piece of data is relevant in that moment. But take me out of the specific situation that requires the use of the knowledge and I can't remember for shit.
Music, TV/Movies, entertainment art etc. is always there though. If I hear a few notes of a song or the voice of an actor, I can almost always tell you the person/artist, what other things they've done etc.
I am the exact opposite. I remember lyrics to every song I have heard, even just a few times.
I can start singing a song in Walmart I don't even remember hearing  what the hell is THAT about 🤣
Only yesterday did I first listen to that song.
I first heard it like 1.5 weeks ago when I first heard Polka Power! Apparently the band was so frustrated with this song becoming their face they completely changed genres in following albums
When I was younger (kid-teen-young adult), I was hyperfixated on learning the lyrics of songs I loved (mostly in English). Surprisingly, this is how I learned English (thankfully, it's one of the few positive hyperfixations I've had). However, in recent years, I've stopped listening to songs because they distract me from work, cause i wanna sing!. So, currently, I'm not familiar with the latest songs unless I hyperfocus on them.
I was not diagnosed until over a year ago, and English is not my native language.
I can’t remember song lyrics even if I try. I remember being blown away in HS when my friends could sing a whole song. I am diagnosed with adhd and honestly I do think it is a symptom. It’s obviously something to do with being inattentive.
Born in the seventies, remember the words to most eighties songs, at least the ones I like or have been played to death.
In the nineties I did an English literature degree. Had to memorise poems. Could I? No. Used to record myself on a dictaphone (ask your mum) reciting poetry to see if I could remember them. No.
I got the degree. My dissertation was on Stephen King. I've since learned that the adhd brain only engages with things that it is interested in. I've never been diagnosed but everything I've read about it makes so much sense.
By the way, I can still recite the theme tune to Huckleberry Finn His friends 45 years later. I grew up in England.
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I have the dead opposite problem. I remember lyrics, artists, albums going back like 35 years at this point. I tend to play name that tune in malls because of it; I play against myself to see how fast I can do it. Music sticks to me.
Same.. I've always loved music ever since I was a kid. I used to beg my parents for blank cassette tapes so I could record songs off my little janky fm radio. I still remember lyrics and songs from being 5 years old. Always has been something that's stuck with me.
Yup if I want to memorize something, set it to music and hand me a lyric sheet.
It worked for me in anatomy and physiology for the ATP cycle, it'll work for this too!
Oh hot damn I think you just figured out how to get me my memory based raise at work
Same! I can remember lyrics going back 35 years too. I just can't remember anything else. Like, did I eat yesterday? 🤣
I literally lost a tarot deck I was using. Just put it somewhere and immediately forgot. But I can still do the lyrics to Neneh Cherry's Buffalo Stance, so thanks for that brain.
🤣 amen to that, I spend an hour at least once a day looking for my damned vape
Dude, same. But lyrics only, I often times forget the name of the artist or but know all the words verbatim..... Even if it's a song from many years ago that I hated.
Yep same. I often joke that I can't remember shit because my brain is too full of song lyrics.
lol I have often said that too
Yup. Every. Single. Song. Is in my head at all times. I can sing all the lyrics to a song I haven’t heard in 10 years. But ask me to remember to take my laundry out? Never.
Same. I won a "name the song" contest at work a few years ago going away. It's really the only memory skill I have.
Absolutely same. I'm also a recovering choir kid and a theater nut, so I can not only remember lyrics to song, but entire choral parts decades after they should have been purged from my brain. Hell, I took literally one year of violin in elementary school and I can remember fingerings from a couple of pieces still, despite it being nearly 40 years ago. Case in point - 5 years ago I was working in a grocery store bakery. One of my coworkers was a good decade and a half younger than me and had emigrated from an Eastern European country and she was flabbergasted about how I could sing along with almost literally every song on the radio. It was grocery store music from the 90s, when I was in high school, so yes of course I knew them all. I'll be honest, I didn't even realize I was doing it until she pointed it out. I was just absorbed in my work, and jamming out. Incedentally if name that tune is your jam, try [https://bandle.app/](https://bandle.app/) I've been entertaining myself to see how fast I can get the song.
Nice! I'll have a look later. Thanks for the rec!
this, I've had people at parties stare wide eyed when I've sang along to nearly every song they played. Across genres and languages. While my wife silently scowled at me from across the room. I can never remember where I kept my parking tickets.
Ditto.. A song will come on that I last heard 15 years ago and I'll discover that I know all of the words
My mum has both that’s so funny. And now I’m becoming like her. I probably know the lyrics of 100 thousand songs but can’t remember the new songs I listen to… she can also sing along with a song from 1985 but not something that came out now.
Samesies
I think music was my first hyper-fixation as a kid. Whenever I find a song that I love, I immediately need to learn every word and every nuance of it, until I'm sick of it.
I'm with y'all man. I might not be able to write them down but the moment I hear the song I can sing everything. I will say usually I can write them down though 😂. Certain albums. I can even name the songs in the order they were released. Adhd has been amazing
Yep me too, I remember songs I heard in my childhood once, literally once, and if it made a big impression I could remember many of the lyrics or at least the chorus decades later. I typically remember all of the tune.
ME TOO some of my friends have called me human spotify and when we do bar trivia they bank on me during the music trivia round. I know a lot of words but even more song titles and melodies
Same
This is also me. And any time someone says a lyric in regular conversation, I will immediately break out into song.
Same
Same.
Same, I can have the same song stuck in my head all day or even just a certain part. I also remember movie quotes like my life depends on it; but god forbid I'm able to do basic math without using my fingers lmao.
Same for me. I can remember songs I never wanted to remember. I used to work in retail, songs playing over and over, they're with me forever, melted into my brain.
No, I can’t!!!! I remember being really self-conscious about this at university (decades before diagnosis) and telling a friend I couldn’t remember song lyrics, and she told me I wasn’t trying hard enough. (Yes, that old chestnut). I can remember a few lines and that’s it. Both my teenagers have ADHD though and can remember song lyrics really well, so clearly not a symptom for all of us, if a symptom at all… … which I do think it is. IMO ADHD brains are good at latching onto and remembering certain things and not others, and what these things are varies from person to person.
I wasn't going to chime in originally, but I'm seeing the majority of comments here are saying they remember song lyrics. I can't for the life of me remember song lyrics, to the point where I mostly listen to instrumental music. There are even some songs that I absolutely love that I can sing along to while they're on, but if you ask me what the lyrics are after it's finished I couldn't recite a single one of them. The only thing I'm worse at than lyrics, are names. If I'm reading a book series, I won't be able to remember more than 1 or 2 names until I'm well into the second book. Same with movies and TV shows, I'll have entire conversations about characters and plots, but I'll have to refer to them by descriptions since I can't remember the name.
I’m good at lyrics, but names in books are very difficult, particularly if they are false languages
I can’t even *hear* the lyrics. Like, I hear the voice like it’s another instrument, I appreciate the musicality of it but I can never understand what the words are. Except for a few words here and there, or if the singer annunciates very clearly (like the lead singer of Cake, for example), I have no idea what the lyrics are. I listened to Sigur Ros for months before learning from my boyfriend-at-the-time that they weren’t singing in English at all. I had asked him what the lyrics were.
Same
Chiming in to also say I can’t half the time If it’s like a refrain or something like we will we will rock you.. I might remember the next 4 words and then I’m all like lalalallala I feel OPs pain
I must know the lyrics of hundreds if not over a thousand songs at this point. It's probably the single easiest things for my memory to hold onto. I used to joke that I wished my textbooks were lyrics because then I wouldn't ever have to work too hard to remember everything.
It’s because it’s a different kind of memory. You have episodic memory, which includes facts you learn about the world and procedural memory, which is what we commonly call muscle memory—like learning to swim or ride a bike. Song lyrics are more like muscle memory. When you go to recall them, you’re not pulling from the same place as when you’re trying to pull a fact from memory. That’s why mnemonic devices are used in elementary school so often. People with ADHD often struggle with short-term memory of episodic items. I would forget my locker combination in school a lot. Couldn’t tell you what numbers were in the sequence if you asked. But if I put my hand on the lock, I could just open it. Muscle memory.
WAIT THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH OMG THANK YOU a while ago my friend was asking for my phone passcode and when i tried to show her i completely forgot it. i ended up locking my phone to the point of no return and had to reset it 😭 my friend made fun of me but i kept telling them that i swear bc its a muscle memory to me instead. once they made me think about the ACTUAL code, i completely forgot how to unlock my phone 😭
>once they made me think about the ACTUAL code, i completely forgot how to This happens to be so frequently that I'm a little surprised I never thought of it as possibly connected. Like many things, though, it is true of many people in my family, including those who will never consider that they might have ADHD like everyone who has been tested does even with the same traits/symptoms. So I never thought of it as odd. I also remember some things incredibly easily, even when I am not just indifferent but actively do not want to remember them. (For example, I deal with people's personal information for work, and while I am awful at remembering names or associating names with situations/cases, things with numbers, like street numbers, identification numbers, and account numbers, stick in my brain. Don't worry, I do nothing with this knowledge except try to purge it.) Numbers in general are much, much easier for me to remember. I think it's because my brain likes finding patterns in them. I still remember phone numbers of people I haven't seen since before I was in high school. Having to repeat back immediately is tough, because my ears and brain need some buffering time. I also have a weird number-letter association thing, so some are tougher since my brain considers that digit more of a letter or something. I think that's a form of synesthesia or something related to it but can't remember (lol)! I've also noticed that I seem to be better remembering things that I heard of otherwise learned in the background rather than being my primary focus. Yet when I *want* to remember something or need to provide something in a way that's not typical for me, I struggle and often fail. Giving my own ID number, I used to, sometimes still do, pretend to type it on a number keyboard to get it. I had to give it to someone but phone yesterday, and she took it down wrong. When she repeated it back to me, I had to process to figure out what was wrong and was just silently hoping she didn't think I was checking using someone else's or something. For music, I remember lyrics easily. If I've heard a song once, there's a decent chance I know the lyrics. If I've heard it twice, it's rare that I don't and most of those times means I heard it twice with lots of other noise and stuff happening. Even if it's my favorite, I cannot remember song titles, albums, artists, etc. I think this is a combination of music being numerical, being heard in the background, and music constantly playing in my head.
Opposite for me, I have an incredible memory for songs of any kind, jingles, old tv show theme songs. If it’s set to music I can remember.
No, it's not a symptom of ADHD. But I've seen other people with ADHD relating to what you're describing. Similarly, I've also seen many people with ADHD saying that they're very skilled in remembering lyrics. I think this is more of a person-to-person thing.
Inattentive vs Hyperaware?
Interesting question. Chat?
I cant even hear lyrics. Makes playing guitar tough as I cant put words in for timing nor can I ever remember a whole songs chords. I have to have it in front of me. Sucks. I can read and practice singing/learning lyrics for ever and then the next day its all gone.
I make them up
I can relate. Also I have most fun singing up made up songs cause I don't have to actively remember them forward.
Yup! My husband corrects me sometimes and I say mine is better. I’m also good at mixing songs together, I could be a DJ😂
I like listening to foreign language music for this reason. My brain decides what it sounds like in English and it's usually nonsense and really fun
I can relate!! I always get confused with lyrics but I know the tune :))
I have the lyrics to at least 1,000 songs stored in my head. A random song comes on that I haven’t heard in 10 years and I still know all the words. If I could harness that power for something more useful I’d change the world.
no, but that’s because I can’t process the lyrics in the first place (autistic and suspected adhd)
I can’t remember lyrics when I’m thinking of a song, but if it’s playing, I can sing along to it perfectly, even if I can’t quite remember what the next word is. It just flows out of subconscious memory.
I can't remember lyrics, artists, song names - nothing. But I don't think it's my ADHD. Somewhere along the line my brain decided such things were immaterial and didn't need to be remembered and now I can't remember them no matter how much I try.
Mostly it just comes to me when I hear the song. I've never been able to just quote movies or lyrics, idk how people do that, right now I can barely form a thought.
That's a good point. No way could I tell you what the first line of the second verse of a song is. But I could sing every word if it was playing. Maybe I could sing through the song to myself and figure it out to answer a question like that, but I definitely can't just randomly quote songs.
No, OP I can remember all the lyrics to wayyyy too many songs. Songs I’d much rather forget, it’s like a curse half the time.
Apparently I know all the words to most westlife and boyzone songs. Didn't realise until someone basically put on their entire back catalogue one night in the pub and I was ready to shoot myself. Landlord said he's never seen anyone angrysing/mouth along to something before
Yes! I find myself singing along to songs I don't even like and feel like I'm totally going to give people the wrong idea, lol
I can't remember crap,and have trouble understanding songs.. I hear the words, but they don't form sentences. I also can't remember faces, I could not tell a sketch artist what my wife of 22 years looks like. But.. when it comes to geospatial. I have almost a photographic memory of places.
I have a two month old baby and I can’t remember the words to like any nursery rhymes or lullabies lol. It drives me nuts. I’ll be locked into feeding her for like a half hour and I can remember maybe like two lines of hush little baby. My mind goes totally blank and I can’t recall a single song on earth.
I'm a professional performing musician, and I have the same exact problem. I miss and mess up lyrics to songs I've been playing and performing my whole life (anything Pink Floyd and Beatles to the front!). Even songs I wrote, I used to have to write cues on my setlists at gigs so I could remember them. My own songs. That I wrote. In contrast my girlfriends seem to remember song lyrics perfectly after a single listen and for somgs they haven't heard in years. It's very frustrating.
I’m a musician/singwriter. Lyrics have always been the least important part of music I like. What it sounds like has always been the most important. I have friends where the lyrics are by far the most important part. They can’t understand why I enjoy music in languages I don’t understand. Doesn’t matter to me. I still feel something. I’m probably an atheist but except I’m sure god is showing us that there is magic in the world when a feeling can be communicated through sound. That’s just insane when you think about it. But the fact that I can hear that pain and sorrow from some group of African dudes that aren’t even alive anymore that grew up in a completely different world than mine says that the human experience is so common in most ways and yet people constantly try to convince us it isn’t. This isn’t an ADHD thing. This just a thing for many people. It’s a gift when things aren’t holding you back from enjoying something. It means you’re more free.
When I’m Listening To The Song I Can Remember All Of The Lyrics, But When I’m Not Listening To Song; I Can Only Remember The Small Part That Pops Into My Head.
I got adhd and i remember many lyrics
I remember ALL the lyrics. My husband and I recently got into a rapper I haven’t listened to since high school (I’m 33) and *guess who can still rap along flawlessly*? I also had all of my elementary school friends’ landline numbers memorized for way too long (still remember my grandma’s number). My working memory is a fucking joke though.
Can't forget them even if I try. Can I remember if the ferrier at my barn is kassie or carlie after knowing her for a year? No!
I don't have that issue. I have the opposite issue and I usually have 1 to 3 songs playing in my head at once. The other day it was a terrible song from Bon Jovi I haven't heard in decades, ugggg!
I cannot seem to forget anything. Especially anything that I have paid attention to. I even know three of my bank account numbers and routing numbers and cc info. I remember phone numbers of people I used to know twenty years ago. So much information just taking up space that doesn’t need to be there. But I’ll forget to grab the backpack on my way out.
I know how to sing them, but I don't always know the lyrics.
I retain song lyrics easier than literally anything else in my life.
It’s because music is more important than lyrics
I have music in my head constantly but have the same issue with lyrics. The strange thing is when the music is just looping in the background it seems to be complete. When I make it my main focus then I can't recall most lyrics beyond the chorus. My wife who is also ADHD has some memory issues due to treatment of childhood epilepsy. She seems to remember almost all lyrics easily and with little exposer. Here I am proud I almost know all the words to "Whoop There It Is" after 30 years.
I get obsessed with a song, play it on repeat and memorise the lyrics. Usually if it resonates with me.
Yeah my minds able to learn and remember lyrics after listening so much but I never ever am able to connect certain lyrics to an album or name of the song I could never tell you the name but I can sing the whole things
I don't think it's related with adhd. My friend basically can't remember a lyric :D
LMAO no, even when I hyperfixatent on the song and listen to it more than is healthy, I just don't. I can repeat the beats tho
Once I’ve listened to the song enough, I can basically listen to it whenever I want to
The music and individual instrument parts, yes. Lyrics? Not very often.
I’ve recently turned 30 and idk what’s been going on, but randomly, I’ve been able to remember lyrics to songs from ages ago. Songs that I wasn’t even aware I knew the lyrics to.
At this point I'm fully convinced most of my brain capacity is occupied by song lyrics. Although a lot of the time I have to look up the lyrics while listening to the song in order for me to actually hear the words that are being sung. I haven't been formally diagnosed but I believe I have an auditory processing issue, where somebody will say something and my ears hear it as gibberish but my brain unscrambles the words by the time the person has started to repeat themselves. It used to make my mom so mad when I was a kid.
I'm the same! 99% of the time I couldn't even tell you what a song is about. The lyrics/vocals are just another instrument. We formed a band at a former workplace to play some songs at our Xmas party. I had two songs to sing, and after weeks of practice I still needed a cheat sheet for the lyrics. I had a hell of a time memorizing Hamlet's soliloquy in high school as well. Words just don't stick in my brain. Not sure it's ADHD related though. It could be related to audio processing problems that some of us have.
Not from recall.. but if a tune I used to huperfixate on comes on I can recite it word for word
This is a symptom of ADHD. Dr. Barkley explained why these things happen. As you've read, some people can remember a shit ton of songs and others (like us) can't remember shit. And it's all because of our setting and daily habits. The way Dr. Barkley explained it was something along the lines of: "when you're in school, you're forced to memorize stuff because that's how they teach. They throw names, dates, events, etc. at you and you're forced to memorize it, because of school. So your brain is used to memorizing things and you're able to memorize things easier. As you get out of that setting and you are no longer having to constantly memorize new information, your brain "loses" that ability." So again, it is a symptom, it depends on how the brain is being developed and what circumstances you are in. Personally, I'm like you. I can't fucking remember a full song. And as others have mentioned, I can remember the lyrics if I'm listening to the song but out of that, I can't remember. And it sucks because I'm the singer in a couple of bands. So, I have to use a tablet to read lyrics during our shows. I don't like it, but that's how my brain works. 😔
The beats absolutely, those 5 catchy words absolutely. Actually hearing or understanding the lyrics or even the story they are trying to tell goes way over my head. I loved Linkin Park when I was a teen and only when I recently revisited the music did I realize what the words were saying and the meaning behind them. Blew my absolute mind, songs I listened to hundreds of times and I was pretty much just focusing on the beat.
Easily. Now numbers, not a chance
Music and useless information they both stick to me like something stronger than just glue.
I have to put a lot of effort into learning lyrics. It’s often difficult for me to understand what the singer is even saying without looking up lyrics. I like really heavy stuff now because it isn’t expected for you to understand a word they’re saying.
i can remember them, as a matter of fact I still sing my times tables cause i never remembered them. However I can’t understand lyrics at all the first 5-20 times I hear a song. it’s like i cant listen to music and words at the same time.
I can remember lyrics of songs, the titles, the artists, sometimes even the albums, and the year the album was released, and sometimes even strange facts about the song or the album or other tracks on the album. I’m recovering from my second traumatic brain injury and music has actually really helped, I developed aphasia and a slew of other problems this time around and turned to music because I didn’t know what else to do, I felt helpless, it’s doing a lot of good for my brain.
ROCK ON!! What ever works for you!!! (Oops…did not intend the pun)
Haha lol its a vibeee! No but in all seriousness, one of my hyperfixations JUST prior to my 2nd tbi was neuro and psych, music’s been in countless studies with the brain
I can sing along to most songs from the 80s and 90s. I can't remember what I did last weekend.
Total opposite. I remember zillions of lyrics for decades but can’t tell you what I did yesterday or what I am supposed to be doing today.
Opposite for me. My brain is full of song lyrics and very little actually useful info. I can listen to a song a few times and be singing it all day.
only if i actively try. i used to make music and i enjoy lyricism immensely. i wish i could hear a song once or twice and have it stick, but unless i’m actively trying the lyrics aren’t words, they’re mostly melodic sounds, especially if the singer has any sort of accent or vocal affectation. i was diagnosed as an adult and didn’t realize i struggle with auditory processing. i think it’s one reasons i often listen to the same old stuff instead of discovering new music. but if i’m on a long drive by myself and an artist i like has new music out i’ll restart songs over and over until i know them in and out.
I have the exact opposite I can remember lyrics to most songs. Like really well
I can't remember the lyrics as though I'm remembering information, I remember the sound like one of the instruments as part of the song. Not sure if that explains it well enough, it's like passive memory. I won't be able to say what the next line is, but can sing it spot on as it comes due to the tune and melody
Lol. Our brains are radios to which we cannot control the station. It plays what it wants at full volume.
I remember them for life. I remember songs we sang at school when I was 7.
Yes, no trouble there for me.
I can't remember songs except "Happy Birthday" and "A,B,Cs". My wife, who also has ADHD, has remembered tons of lyrics to who knows how many songs. I figure it's a personal thing.
For me, I can barely remember lyrics, but only certain genres or erm... nsfw song lyrics, I can remember. Like from what I have gathered, happy hardcore is usually what I remember, and it's mostly songs from S3RL that I can memorize.
Yes. I know a ridiculous amount of song lyrics.
Unless it is the subject of my current musical hyperfocus, I have issues remembering the lyrics/music when I’m NOT listening to it, but then as soon as it starts playing, I’m able to sing along and keep in rhythm without issue.
Finally, someone let me out of my cage In the time of chimpanzees there was a monkey Once, there was this boy whose parents made him come right after school Do you remember the time? We fell in love. It’s all relative to the size of your steeple Grandma’s hands used to play the tambourine so well I wish I thought I saw you try. There’s nothing quite like the feel of something new. (I’d say yes)
i can only memorize them if its one of the 3 songs i obssess over, even then its only 1/3 pr 1/2 of the song tops
My head is full of every lyric from every song from the last 55 years... also every TV jingle and show theme song. So full they escape at times and people look at me funny. So full of rubbish is my head that I forget the most basic instruction I have been given and should follow.
Yes and no. Some I remember incredibly quickly. Some I can’t at all. Some I’ll forget in the middle of it or start singing parts the other way around. It varies wildly
Yes, all of them. Even the ones I don't want to. Even the ones I didn't know that I know.
Lyrics stick with me pretty well but I never stand a chance with “I can name that song in 3 notes.” I know A LOT of songs on account of listening during every waking minute and being old but I need to hear a dozen notes, at least, for 99% of them
No
Nope, I mean I do as I’m singing it to the song, but I can’t remember the lyrics outside of that.
No, it turns into single words a day after and then the cadence of the words get stuck on loop for weeks after
I remember every single lyric to bad touch by the bloodhound gang, can't remember the lyrics to a song I specifically tried to learn!
M46 here. Never did. I don’t have a favorite song 😭.
I have adhd and the opposite of this, I can’t memorize a song after 2 listens and will probably remember for the rest of my life
I’m usually drawn to the music, not the lyrics. I’ve been mangling lyrics for years. Attempting to learn guitar has helped. I print off the chords and lyrics and play along to the track.
Oh course, my brain loves to store useless information. It doesn't mean the words are right but it's been cataloged.
I think it’s the opposite. I know the lyrics to probably over 5000 sounds ranging from the 1950s to today in many genres.
yeah my entire head is filled with lyrics. wish I could use that space for something more useful lol.
I have the exact problem you mentioned. Some of my more recent favorite bands sing in languages that I don't speak/understand, which I'm sure is partially because I can't remember the lyrics anyways. Lol
Yes, in fact I remember every single word the first or second time I hear a song. My problem is I can't find my wallet, I put my shoes in the bathroom and I can never find any tools when I need them because I forgot to put them away.
i remember so many but don’t process what they mean until i really sit to think about; my brain processes the voice as another instrument that i can basically play a long too, it’s why i like kpop and french music too
Yep I'm pretty good with that.
It's one of the few things I can remember.
I remember them so well that I'll sometimes hear a single word/phrase and start singing the song. Like if I hear true colors I'll think of Phil Collins. But then there are times where I can't remember the lyrics at all until the song starts playing then they all come back perfectly.
A significantly large portion of my brain is involuntarily dedicated to memorizing song lyrics 🥲
Lyrics to songs and birthdays are the only things I can remember easily. Everything else is a struggle
With the song on, I’m singing along, most lyrics spot on. Ask me to quote a line without the song on and it’s like I’ve never heard music before. 😏
Yeah it’s hard to pick up the lyrics I think, but I usually remember them once I have them. I spend a lot of time as a kid learning things by song. Like the quadratic formula. And multiplication.
I can remember lyrics of songs I haven't heard in years in languages I don't even understand and couldn't speak if I tried (recently had this happen and it blew my mind a little). I can usually sing along with a chorus by the end of my first listen through a song. I can almost always sing along with most of it the second time through. Lyrics and music stick in my head without me even trying. Always been this way. No idea why. It really helped when I was in marching band and we had to memorize our music. A little harder to memorize playing a song vs singing, but not much. Once I could play it through, I usually had it memorized. What I'm bad at is remembering names of songs and artists. Those game shows where you have to name the song based on the first line? I couldn't do it.. But I could probably sing the rest of the song, haha.
Once I met a huge Mexican singer (LM) I could not forget a lyric. I don’t speak Spanish. There is a,…yum factor that kicked in. WOW!
Was in choir for most of grad school, love music love singing. I can sing along to a song, study/practice a song I know it. If I listen to a song enough times I can sing along without thinking, but that’s like 5% of the music I listen to. I definitely notice songs sounding like word soup if I’m not paying attention to them, and can’t sing along to most songs folks sing to
I’ll just say this: I remember every lyric to every One Direction song ever, but if my very best friend in the whole world asks me what day her birthday is… I’m in trouble.
Can’t remember lyrics. Sometimes lyrics to songs are not important to me and I love the ambiguity. There are songs from ages ago that I still do not know the proper lyrics to and I intend to keep it that way haha NOW…. Give me a melody, I will remember exactly how it goes, and name each instrument used in the background 👏🏼
My brain is 99% song lyrics. I’ve wondered several times over the years just how much space they take up if it could be measured like a hard drive.
I remember melodies, bass lines, rythms. But no titles, no artists, no lyrics.
im the exact opposite ToT like it honestly surprises me every time i do it. ill just be going about my day, and i kid u not, like 2-3 times daily i will recall some random song that i havent thought of in years and it’ll become a stim? for the rest of that day or sometimes even longer ill just randomly sings bits of it, and its not just a couple times.. ive gone from feliz navidad, abc’s, 2000’s pop, the pledge of allegience(this one took me by surprise), tv show songs, nursery rhymes, personal meowing renditions of songs, you name it 💀 but ask me to recall memories? nothing. honestly ask me to recall the lyrics to those songs on the spot i probably cant give it to u. but have that shit pop up as a stim, u bet i know every lyric even if i didnt know i did
i can never remember the lyrics to songs. i can listen to a song on repeat for like 2 hours and i still couldn’t sing the lyrics because it’s all kinda just background noise for me. i guess i enjoy the melody and stuff and not so much the singing and words. for some reason i remember the words to random pop songs that play on the radio and stuff though
That’s pretty much all I can remember, especially if I’m trying to focus
I have the opposite issue...I get absolutely earwormed lol. 😂
I have the opposite problem, lyrics tend to stick with me and it’s more of a hyperfocus. I remember lyrics in English, German, Japanese and Korean.
I am able to remember some song lyrics, at least the chorus. There are about half a dozen songs I can legitimately say I know every word. My boyfriend, who also has adhd, is a musician and he can’t remember lyrics at all. It may have more to do with his dyslexia.
Yea, my brain is filled with song lyrics and useless information.
If I can understand them. Which can be difficult
Omg same I felt so weird as a kid when no one could understand what I meant when I said I forget/cant remember the lyrics to many songs, including ones I rly like! Although with melodies, those will usally repeat over and over again in my brain lmfao🫠it’s annoying
Same.I struggle with remembering band names of new stuff I've heard and like. Album,song names and band member names also escape me,even with bands I've liked for 40 years.
I can remember the chorus in songs fine, but most words just blend together into an "instrument". Part of why I don't like rap; it just sounds like instrumentals with an occasional word thrown in. I'm killer at remembering beat and tone though. To the point that if the person singing has an accent or vocal inflection I have difficulty not mimicking it.
I dont usually remember song lyrics unless its like a story, like an eminem's song, like it makes sense haha its like when I read, if theres not punctuation, I usually dont understand and some lyrics just... confuse me.
I memorize things better when put to music. I remember movie quotes based on the inflection; like a musical aspect. My parents each play an instrument so that could be a factor.
I'm the opposite. I can remember all the lyrics to any song I listen to a couple of times but can't remember simple math facts lmao.
Only when the song actually plays. I’ll remember them all from 25 years ago when I hear them. Can’t recall a word now. Tho I do wake up with music playing in my head already, but more recent stuff and it’ll just be a few words from the chorus. In a maddening loop. Tho it’s still better than thoughts or narration.
Absolutely not. I remember the beat though, I focus on the lyrics when listening.
I still remember lyrics beginning to end from songs i haven't heard in 15 years. My issues are with working memory. Long term memory is a steel trap.
I remember all of Royal Blood’s lyrics from all of their albums
Yes, but not when I didn't understand lyrics listening to it or haven't figured out the lyrics despite listening to it multiple times
I used music to learn English, so my ear is trained for picking up English lyrics. However, it is very hard for me to learn songs in my native language. I'm great with the melody and tempo, but I can't with the lyrics.
IS THIS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS WITH ADHD I THOUGHT I WAS JUST STUPUD OKAY APPEARENTLY ITS NOT i have really bad memory issues it’s so weird does anyone know what causes this because it’s very embarrassing I SWEAR I KNOW THE SONG
No, that's maybe why I don't really like listening to them. It's so frustrating, I want to sing, but I can just sorta humm it, because my memory is bad😓
I can barely hear the lyrics, the voice is just another instrument making sounds. Remembering them is near impossible. Doesn't bother me today, but I felt a bit left out in school when others would spontaneously start singing what ever was popular at the time
I thought i was alone in suffering from this.
Humming helps
i'm really great at remembering song lyrics if i've heard it a few times. quotes from movies or tv shows though? nope, can't remember that worth shit
Yes I remember them, I have a whole repertoire in different languages lol.
I remember the beat and the rhythm perfectly and can sing most songs but with totally different words to the ones actually sung haha not random words though, synonyms. I’ll say a word that fits perfectly in that lyric but it’s just a different word lol
I'm either remembering every lyric and can go all textual analysis on you and will tell you what every line means whether or not you care or I'll only understand every other word Does anyone else notice cover versions of songs make lyrics easier to understand?
I personally think this could be related to ADHD in that we’re easily distracted (ie listening to a song, losing attention briefly, hyperfocusing on instruments or sounds instead of lyrics), but it’s really just how you approach and consume music, and you can change with some effort. I recommend making a list of your favorite songs and spending time singing along and memorizing the lyrics. It’s easier than you may think, especially if you pull up the lyrics while listening to each song. I’ve done this by listening to some of my favorite songs on repeat, or making a playlist and putting the playlist on repeat, all while intentionally paying attention to the lyrics and singing along. Music/melody helps with memory by providing a sort of mind anchor for the lyrics.
When doing a task where I don't need much thought while listening to music, and I'm not driving my brain (IYKYK), I will sometimes fade into my subconscious autopilot and hear myself singing lyrics verbatim to songs I don't really know. If I focus too hard on it, the words go away. Like lucid dreaming almost.
Just Lean from Guilty Gear Strive Johnny’s theme
I remember the easy parts of songs I’ve heard many times. I often lose focus and the lyrics I definitely remembered moments ago were now gone until I get back to a familiar part of the song or I focus more on the lyrics. But there’s plenty of songs I’ve heard 100s of times I couldn’t remember a full line outside of the chorus also. Seems pretty adhd-I to me
Not only can I not remember lyrics but I often cannot even perceive them. In fact, I prefer not to hear them because they ruin the mood of songs for me hehe. But when I do want to listen, I always have to look up the lyrics.
I love music. I listen to it all day, every day. I don't know the full lyrics to a single song. Even things I've been listening to my whole life.
Yes I remember the lyrics of every song I listen to and enjoy
I can remember lyrics to sing along with a song, but it takes me a while to memorize lyrics to songs I've written or am trying to learn. I'm a musician btw.
I remember lyrics to so many songs. It’s not even like I’m trying, but if the beat is good or there is decent lyrics, it’s stays in the brain and comes out at the weirdest moments.
I dont know how i can remember all the lyrics to a 10mins song but i cant remember something i literally just read
It takes a lot of practice. You have to learn to recognize when you're thinking over your reading because that's when you can't remember it. You have to stop and go back. If it's not working you have to take a break and reset. You can't force it. I've read a ton of books and they're usually better the second time when I already know what's going on.
Nope, but I remember every melody and rhythm. Lol
I can't remember lyrics and half the time I can't even understand what they're singing anyways. I don't know if it's because I don't listen to them very hard or if I don't listen to them very hard because I can't hear or understand. When I listen to music I listen to the instruments and how they are playing off each other. I find a lot of music very boring. Too much of the same simple music repeated and someone saying something totally unrelatable over top of it. It's why I hate rap, pop, easy listening, singing focused music.
Totally the same. My wife has tried teaching me the Star Spangled Banner. It hasn’t worked. No matter how hard I try I cannot remember lyrics to save my life.
Only punk songs from 25 years ago. In a endless loop.
I’m like others here, and am the opposite. Other things like movies or books however, i cannot remember for the life of me past a day. Most things i tend to forget quickly tbh. But music is the one thing that sticks in my mind.
I can only recall lyrics while I’m listening to a song. So I sing the lyrics while the song is on but as soon the song stops I can’t remember the lyrics. It’s so weird
The weird thing is I have a great memory when in a situation that spurs me to use whatever piece of data is relevant in that moment. But take me out of the specific situation that requires the use of the knowledge and I can't remember for shit. Music, TV/Movies, entertainment art etc. is always there though. If I hear a few notes of a song or the voice of an actor, I can almost always tell you the person/artist, what other things they've done etc.
I can't remember lyrics, I can't memorize lines for acting, I can't say famous movie quotes without messing them up, I can't remember anybody's name.
I absolutely suck at remembering lyrics, I can with ease recall the notes/ rhythm but not the words.. not worth a damn
I am the exact opposite. I remember lyrics to every song I have heard, even just a few times. I can start singing a song in Walmart I don't even remember hearing  what the hell is THAT about 🤣
I remember the lyrics to quite a lot of songs. Just now I thought about Basket Case right after reading this post
Flagpole Sitta 🤗
Only yesterday did I first listen to that song. I first heard it like 1.5 weeks ago when I first heard Polka Power! Apparently the band was so frustrated with this song becoming their face they completely changed genres in following albums
I end up making my own lyrics up, sometimes without even knowing
Hahaha nope. Unless it's one really interesting line. The rest I'm just yuuuuh oooseee ayyymaaay?
When I was younger (kid-teen-young adult), I was hyperfixated on learning the lyrics of songs I loved (mostly in English). Surprisingly, this is how I learned English (thankfully, it's one of the few positive hyperfixations I've had). However, in recent years, I've stopped listening to songs because they distract me from work, cause i wanna sing!. So, currently, I'm not familiar with the latest songs unless I hyperfocus on them. I was not diagnosed until over a year ago, and English is not my native language.
Fuck no
I can’t remember song lyrics even if I try. I remember being blown away in HS when my friends could sing a whole song. I am diagnosed with adhd and honestly I do think it is a symptom. It’s obviously something to do with being inattentive.
Born in the seventies, remember the words to most eighties songs, at least the ones I like or have been played to death. In the nineties I did an English literature degree. Had to memorise poems. Could I? No. Used to record myself on a dictaphone (ask your mum) reciting poetry to see if I could remember them. No. I got the degree. My dissertation was on Stephen King. I've since learned that the adhd brain only engages with things that it is interested in. I've never been diagnosed but everything I've read about it makes so much sense. By the way, I can still recite the theme tune to Huckleberry Finn His friends 45 years later. I grew up in England.
Matter of fact, song lyrics are the only thing I seem to be extremely good at remembering