The Structure of Songs as Meme Packages

[faendryl]

We examine the idea that songs exist as packages for short memes. Somewhat analogously to the structure of DNA, a given song is likely to contain a primary meme, or "chorus", which is repeated, and a significant amount of surrounding junk DNA, or "verses". The repetition serves to fix and ensure the reliable propagation of the meme, making it

Comments

[stolen_tea]

That sounds like it's discounting the content of the verses, which to me usually contain the most interesting part of the song.

Perhaps instead of characterizing the verses as "junk", they would be better described as "information"? In that view, the chorus exists as a meme which is designed to propagate the information...

[fionnidhke]

Hmm. That makes more sense, and also helps with the difference in methods of mutation. A single mutation in a strand of DNA might change one base pair, but rather than simply changing one word in one instance of the chorus, any change in wording would usually apply to every time the chorus is sung (unless it's just a slip of the tongue -- hmm, which would be like a mutation in a body-cell rather than reproductive-cell DNA strand, which isn't propagated to the next singing of the song...). So I have trouble seeing choruses as a form of mutation protection, but I could see them functioning as a sort of carrier that helps the verses of a song spread -- they tend to be catchy and easier to remember, after all. And a mutation that changed the chorus would then simply create a slightly different meme, and different versions of the same song might compete with each other for the resource of people's attention, and evolve via natural selection... until only the catchiest songs remained (i.e. no one ever sung anything but bubblegum pop and

[faendryl]

Luring lurking linguists - success!
Interesting. Yeah, I buy that. Choruses as more like promoter sequences, and the catchier the (mutated) chorus the more effectively the verses (information/genes) are propagated. What's happening when choruses get stuck in your head and you can't remember any of the verses? Information cancer? Also, are there choruses that attack each other, in the information warfare sense?