Like most people, my brain is constantly on the go. Blessed with a much better than average memory and an almost uncanny trigger mechanism (someone will say one word and suddenly an entire song or exchange of dialogue from a movie will immediately begin playing in my head for 20 minutes), I relish in my introversion by simply enjoying the “performance” that runs inside my own mind.

Now I’m no singer…not by any stretch of the imagination. However, when left alone, I’ll vocalize a song that has been playing in my head while driving, getting ready for work, cooking or taking a shower. Melissa and Scoot, because I am so comfortable around them, have heard me sing a multitude of songs – with the lyrics comically changed on the fly – over the years.

When I came up with the idea for this top ten, I took a week and truly listened to the songs that would float through the transom of my mind rather than just letting them play. In the end, I kept encountering these tens songs more often than any others. Why, though, will probably remain an eternal mystery.

There’s no real criteria for this top ten…it’s just simply my brain doing whatever the hell it wants to when I’m not focused on something in particular.

So, here we go…

10. “Arms Wide Open” – Creed
I heard this song for the first time in late 2000 and immediately found myself blurting out Scott Stapp’s intro line “Well, I just heard…the news today…” at random times and in random places, most often when getting into the shower. No clue why, but the song has played continually in my head for almost a decade as of this writing.

9. “The Boss Theme (from Final Fantasy VII)” – Nobuo Uematsu
When I purchased Final Fantasy VII in 1997 for my PlayStation to take on with my then 6-year old son (multi-player, are you kidding me?!? YES!), who knew that the intensely wild music that would play during the big boss battles would dig itself permanently into my inner DJ playlist like it did. Alex and I both grew to love this song so much that we would pause the game when we’d enter a boss battle simply to hook the console into a stereo so that we could crank the music.

8. “Depression” – Elmer Bernstein
You may not know the piece by name or composer but if you’re a fan of the movie “Stripes” like I am, you’ll know this piece. It’s the sad sack piano piece that plays when Bill Murray’s character comes home after a bad day, culminating with him saying the line “And then, depression set in.” Growing up I wasn’t allowed to watch the first half of “Stripes” (don’t ask) but finally got to see the full thing in the mid-’80s. So, this piece has been playing off and on for the better part of the past three decades.

7. Peace Sells – Megadeth
During the latter part of my favorite decade I had all but abandoned Casey Kasem and his Top 40 in favor of hip hop and heavy metal. One group that really got me going was Megadeth. One song that has remained lodged in my head since I first heard it on heavy rotation on MTV is “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”. The opening of the song is primarily the main thing that plays over and over inside my head…there’s just something extremely addictive to me about that screeching guitar and I’ll belt it out quite often. Adding to the song is the repetitive bass line that I hear looped in my head for hours upon end.

6. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
Another great song in the realm of hard hitting guitar riffs is Survivor’s 1982 #1 Billboard hit, “Eye of the Tiger”. As I mentioned in my top ten of my favorite #1 hits of the 1980s, this song energizes me to the point where I feel I could put my fist through a brick wall. Needless to say, it runs through my head quite a bit and has since I was first introduced to it in Rocky III. Having a nearly perfect record of starting up in my head when I’m in a competitive situation, Survivor’s hit has survived the test of time with my inner DJ.

5. Eine kleine Nachtmusik – Mozart
Of any song on this list, this one surely has the most longevity of them all. Compliments of the musical genius of Mozart, this piece will repeat itself over and over inside my mind and almost always forces me to move my feet or tap my fingers along with the opening measures of this easily remembered sonata. For fun, the music is often used as my backdrop for a song parody I’ll create on the fly to pick on whomever I am around at the time. A typical example would be along the lines of “Scoot…is late…and wouldn’t you just know?…That…the food…we had will now be cold.” Thank you, Amadeus.

4. Morning Train – Sheena Easton
Little did Melissa know that she took the morning train as often as she does. Easily crossing the realm into the songs that I will just blurt out randomly whenever around her, Sheena Easton’s biggest hit of her career has somehow managed to set up a permanent home in my noggin since 1980. It’s not the song in its entirety that plays…it’s simply the lines “My baby takes the morning train / he works from 9 to 5 and then / he takes another home again / to find me waiting for him” that I have changed to work for me singing it to her. Without me realizing that I had again sung my version aloud for her, Melissa recently pointed out that she has never taken a train in the morning making me realize just how often this song churns away inside my head.

3. Mr. Sandman – The Andrews Sisters
I’ve always loved the sound of LaVerne, Maxine and Patty Andrews since first discovering their music on a random Sunday afternoon during my early childhood while helping Dad shine his shoes. While “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B” remains my favorite song by the trio, their version of “Mr. Sandman” – particularly the harmonizing at the beginning – will randomly start itself up in my head and stick for hours upon end. The entire song will eventually make its way in and out of my mind but it’s that opening that dominates my brain when it feels that it’s its turn to play.

2. Barber of Seville – Rossini
Growing up, I learned early on that I could make others laugh by employing a multitude of voices. My father’s voice had a very deeply resonating tone to it and I always envisioned growing up to have one just like his. Unfortunately, I did not. However, I can find traces of it now and then…when I fake sing opera. Using a gibberish language I made up with some friends in high school, I will belt out Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” with all the intensity and volume of a legendary baritone opera god. The song most often appears when I am preparing myself something in the kitchen, getting into the shower or driving…basically any place that I can truly belt it out without bugging the world. Just writing about this song makes me want to bust it out.

1. Windy – The Association
I don’t know all the words to this song. Outside of the chorus, I really don’t. I don’t know when it first entered my subconscious. I don’t know why it will not stop…but everyone knows it’s Windy. This song, more than ANY other in the entire history of music, absolutely owns my inner DJ. When Windy feels that she needs to take a rest (which is rare) then – and only then – can the rest of the songs on this top ten make their way into my internal entertainment center. It’s almost creepy how much this song plays in my head. I’ll find myself singing it, humming it, tapping my fingers to it, walking in step with it, you name it…the rhythm of this song consumes me. I recently discovered that the song wasn’t even on my iPod because I don’t need it. It apparently needs me, though. Damn.

Ten songs. One over-worked inner DJ. What’s on your playlist?