The grip of a tune

There is such a thing as being contaminated by a tune. Everyone knows it. Someone hums past you, and one minute later, you're humming a song. You're not quite sure where it came from, and sometimes the initiator cheekily gets you by pointing out that you caught theirs.

There is another thing as being gripped by a melody. When you've been even slightly exposed to playing music, this grip can last really long. If you have no access to an instrument, a piano melody can haunt your fingers for years. Every time you sit down to "play" a tune in your mind, your fingers "see" the ivory keys.

And when I finally sat down in front of a keyboard after 3 years, it felt like I had already played it several times. We are not talking about proper piano-playing here. I have never been trained. But the feeling of release is undescribable. I can only imagine what it is for real musicians. It was as if suddenly a long-suppressed sigh was allowed to leave and stroll through the air.

It felt like a part of myself had come back home.