eli5: Despite both just being “sounds”, why does a melody of a foreign songs is so much easier to remember/recall than the foreign lyrics?
In: Biology
Speech is *much* more complex than a simple (or even not-so-simple) musical melody. Remembering words when you can’t speak the language involves just memorizing the phonemes that it’s composed of. You might be able to do that for a couple of words, but not for multitudes of full sentences.
I agree with u/MultiFazed, and wanted to add that music/melodies activate a different part of the brain than words, even when listening to singing in a foreign language.
I am very good at picking up languages and can sing along with a song in a language I absolutely cannot speak (I am even able to correctly pronounce the words), but once the song is over I cannot sing it without the music.
Adding to u/MultiFazed and u/PsychoGeisha (or at least making more sounds in a similar vein), the ‘cued recall’ will work much better for lyrics in your own language – once a familiar verse begins, you often know it well enough to finish the whole verse, even if you did need those first few words to remind you. And context will help more in a comfortable language – most lyrics are longish phrases or full sentences, so if you don’t KNOW the next word or two, it can be enough to know the general tone of the verse or the line, to figure out what’s probably coming next. In contrast, music – particularly a single line of melody – is pretty much a universal thing (even if the selection, speed, or source-instrument of the tones gives it a ‘foreign accent’).
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