Only my railgun (fripSide)

I frequently become gripped with a somewhat pathological compulsion to listen to a specific song; luckily, thanks to the wonders of the digitally augmented world in which we live, I can usually access that song in a reasonably short period of time. Once I do, I tend to thrash it repeatedly for an hour or two before I finally feel satiated.

Although I have not really analysed this behaviour, I can report with certainty that it is good for my mind. It probably has something to do with a self-reinforcing biofeedback loop that optimises my metabolism, or perhaps it is related to a specific waveform of neural oscillation. Fortunately, the instances when I am unable to devour the song I crave (in much the same way as a junkie craves a hit) are few and far between -- although it is worth noting that when this does happen, it only takes me a few seconds to get over it. Aerodynamic stability ftw.

But I digress. Sometimes this fixation is a reminder of how remarkably specific the recollective ability of the human mind can be. This afternoon, my addiction-song was something Japanese I hadn’t listened to in close to a year, and other than a few vague seconds of melody, I didn’t have the faintest clue as to what the title or artist might be.

Then I realised the melody was associated with a picture of Kagamine Rin, which quickly led to my realisation that it was ‘Only My Railgun’, originally by fripSide. I had a similar moment of surprisingly non-linear recall a few days ago, when I was trying to remember the title of a film from which I was quoting some dialogue: I hadn’t seen this film in years, but the keyword magically surfaced in my mind when bidden, instantly and without resistance.

Please note that the only reason there is no iTunes link to this song is because I could not find it for sale there, or anywhere else. I have already been in touch with Apple to remedy this situation, but if you come across an alternative way of supporting the artists, please contact me and I shall post it. As an aside, I strongly recommend watching the original PV of this song; in my opinion, it is fresh, imaginative, and visually captivating.

Check it out on YouTube (unless you have already watched the original PV)