Go, Chicken Fat, Go!

Do you ever hear a song in an ad or something and your brain twitches because you know it, but you’re aren’t sure from where?

When I first heard the “Chicken Fat” song during an iPhone commercial (to promote a health app), I think my brain flinched. I kind of frowned and thought, I know that song, but from where?

I kind of shrugged it off, assuming that it had been one of those weird pop hits back in the day, until the song came on while my daughter was visiting. She mentioned she’d looked it up and that it dated back to JFK and a fitness program. 

Oh my goodness.

The memory gates opened and out it flooded. 

Elementary School. Morning. Rows of little kids standing next to their desks trying to keep up with the directions. Morning. And more of it during P.E.  O.O

No way to scrub that memory out of my brain again.

At the time, I didn’t know who to blame for it or the whys and wherefores. But it is a rather interesting—if painful-to-my-brain—story. As the Washington Times story points out, the creator of Music Man, Meredith Willson, wrote the song and it was sung by Robert Preston. You can also find it in the JFK Library online.

Just be aware if you do listen to it, it’s got all the qualities of a mind worm song. Put it in there and you’ll have a tough time getting it out. Okay, you’ve been warned. Here’s the YouTube video of the song:

And now it’s stuck in my head, too. Do you have any “blasts from the past” that blast into the present and get stuck in your head? Do you embrace them or try to shove them back into the past? 

For mind worms? I’m always trying to shove them back into the past!

Perilously yours,

Pauline