I remember once my family took a trip to Syracuse. We happened to stop at this mall that had fallen on hard times...basically 3/4 of the shops had been shuttered. We had been to this same mall a couple of years earlier, and it was thriving. This was the early 90s recession time.

Anyway, I remember the state of the mall was depressing me, and then God Only Knows by the Beach Boys started playing on the loudspeakers. It's such a haunting song and the sound of it coupled with this depressing mall struck me so hard that I was in a funk for the rest of the day.

That image, with the music playing, has stayed with me 14+ years later.

I tend to think of this as a bit of a blessing as well as a curse...keep in mind that most people in the world can't feel things so deeply. Of course it doesn't seem so great when you can't get some stupid new jingle out of your head!