poptimists | Pop Idealism

I was talking to my mum the other day and the conversation turned to music. Mum happened to mention that there were certain records, songs, albums, that she enjoyed very much but which she hadn't consciously heard in many years. (One example was Lexicon of Love, reason being she doesn't have a record player anymore.) This was subsequently extended to include records which reminded her of earlier times, before I was born, when she was younger, of my Dad etc etc, but which she had not consciously set out to hear for ages.

I pressed her a bit on this, as to whether she'd avoided listening to these recently in case she "spoiled" them (or perhaps more accurately the memories associated with them?) but I think her conclusion was a purely matter of fact: she just didn't have access to them.

So, a few points from this discussion:

1. Are there any songs/albums etc which you enjoy but which only exist as "ideas" in the mind for you? Why is this? Are they bound up with any kind of memories or moments?

2. (More technical): How would a song exist only as an idea? I tried, as an experiment to imagine a complete song in my head, vocal, instrumentation, all of that: but it always comes out fragmented? When you have a song stuck in your head, what happens!