Repeating songs over and over again

Absolutely. I think it is an autistic thing - wanting repetition and habit. I watch the same TV shows over and over and eat the same things every week and I get distressed if I have to change.

But when it comes to music I think it goes even beyond that. There is a great pleasure in hearing the same song repeatedly. When you are susceptible to overstimulation, hearing the same thing repeatedly, where you know what you are about to hear, can be a great comfort. It can even calm the mind or put you in a trance-like state. This is the reason for mantras and chants, which I have also listened to.

I often listen to the same songs over and over again on repeat. And the music that I like tends to involve repetition, often mathematical repetition.

One of my biggest comfort songs is the full 20 minute version of Autobahn by Kraftwerk. It's just four simple notes, but it heals me. I feel safe when I'm listening to it, and will just listen to it over and over again. It reminds me of very long car journeys as a kid in the 90s, when my parents would drive across the motorways of Europe, and I would fall asleep in the car with the perfectly-spaced street lights strobing overhead.

It was somewhat inevitable that I would end up liking trance music, so I listen to a lot of that kind of music, and any electronic music which repeats itself - music which builds up and plays the same basic structure with different instruments and sounds.

One of the songs I've probably played more than any other is When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin. I don't know what it is about this song. The repetitive twang of the guitar really pleases me and I just want to keep listening to it. Apparently it's a song they never played live because it was recorded at a different tempo and then slowed down, which is what gives it the sludgy feel. Spotify told me I was in the top 1% of Led Zeppelin listeners in the world, and it's probably because of that song.

Sometimes I get a random urge to hear a song. A few months ago I really felt like I had to hear the Grange Hill theme tune from the 90s that I hadn't heard since being a kid. And then I listened to it on repeat for about 6 hours. That's the kind of thing that drives normal people crazy, but I couldn't stop. I think it is just stimming. It's an auditory version of when I shake my fingers or hand back and forth rapidly.

I love trance and electronic music too. I probably drive everyone else mad listening to it. One of the best things I've ever bought was a pair of Mackie active speakers which let me play music so loud but so beautifully crisp  and clear that you can feel it all over your body. It's like you can pick it up; see and then feel sound waves coming towards you. Adding lasers and a smoke machine makes it even more amazing. Unfortunately it's not really socially acceptable to do this too often. 

I love trance and electronic music too. I probably drive everyone else mad listening to it. One of the best things I've ever bought was a pair of Mackie active speakers which let me play music so loud but so beautifully crisp  and clear that you can feel it all over your body. It's like you can pick it up; see and then feel sound waves coming towards you. Adding lasers and a smoke machine makes it even more amazing. Unfortunately it's not really socially acceptable to do this too often.