Random iPod 'Shuffle'

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk and I was on my computer. I was in the middle of doing some work for summer classes, surfing around the internet, staring out the window - Basically, a whole lot of nothing was being accomplished while I was doing a million things at once lol. I was also listening to my iPod, which I often do, as I am a music junkie.

My iPod was sitting on my desk, to my left, beside my laptop (it wasn't connected to my computer). I was listening to Eminem (guilty pleasure) and was half way through a song when suddenly, out of nowhere, a new song from a new artist began playing... not even the same genre (not even close). I was kind of baffled as I had not touched my iPod at all. I picked it up to check if 'shuffle' was on (it wasn't), but even if it was, it would not explain abruptly switching to another song while a song was only half way through playing.

iPods shuffle when you shake them, but I had not touched mine, nor were there any 'ground tremors,' or anything like that, that would shake my iPod (you have to give it a fairly good shake to get it to shuffle). It was just sitting on my desk. The 'shuffle sound' (iPod owners will know what I'm referring to) did not play either - Basically, there was no way it was on shuffle. From the 'now playing' page, I went back and it brought me to the album of the song playing, then back to the artist. If it had truly been a 'shuffle' and I hit the 'back' button, I would have been taken to a list of every song from every artist on my iPod (and that list is MASSIVE), not the a single artist's section. I would have had to have manually gone in and selected the specific artist, then the specific album, and finally the song - All of which I had not done.

I had turned off my auto lock the day before, so my iPod wasn't locked, so in theory, it was possible for something to hit all of these buttons to get to that song... however, I know it wasn't me and there was no one else in my room. That's an awful lot of things to select to get to that particular song.

Anyways, long-winded explanation aside, I'll get back to the song. It's by an artist that I truly adore, but the song itself was one I never really cared for. Actually, I can't even really say that because I had listened to it maybe once years ago, and never listened to it again. I had pretty much forgotten about its existence until it randomly started playing yesterday. It took me a minute, or so, to even figure out what song was playing. I can't make a connection to my life, either. It is just so random.

Normally, when 'coincidences' occur in my life, I can take a step back and 'connect the dots,' so to say, and put it all together so it can be explained away as just that - A coincidence. But this honestly has me baffled. It might sound silly for me to still be dwelling on it, but I just can't find an explanation, no matter how hard I look, and it just stands out as 'odd' to me. Odd enough (to me, at least) to keep dwelling on it.

My iPod has never once acted up (I guess I am one of the lucky few). Nothing like this has ever happened and it is in perfect working condition... I payed a lot of money for the darn thing, and continue to invest a lot in it, so I make sure to keep it as pristine as possible.

Am I being silly, or does this sound like a 'synchronous' situation, where I have just yet to figure out any 'message' behind it?

Not that it matters much, as it is a personal experience, but here's the song...

...Off By Heart (by City and Colour)

The stars are aligned, but they don't align for us
Excuse me for I am the ocean, and I will starve for you
Will you know how to stay brave?
Such fragile moments we share
You are my everything
Even with nothing to say

Like I said, I can make no connection between this and my life, but, still, the whole thing just strikes me as 'odd.'

[Emmalevine]

Absolutely you're not being silly - this sounds very symbolic to me. I wake up with random songs in my head quite often and they are always relevant so it sounds like your experience was a message as well. If you're not sure of the meaning, note down the song and go back to it when you can see the context of your life more clearly.

[Sarian]

I used shuffle mode on my Ipod all the time. When unlocked, it would slip to another song easily, but locked it doesn't.

Your story reminded me of my daughter though. When her boyfriend was killed, she was devastated of course. A day or two later, she was online and youtube came up and she wasn't even on youtube, but a song came on and it was an old 80s tune, before her time, but she cried out to me and we sat there and listened. I got goosebumps to be honest. I had no doubt in my mind that Greg sent her the song. Just as he made her room smell of rain the day he died (something he loved) and all the fish in my pond began leaping and splashing.

Wow, I didn't know it shuffles when you shake it... I gotta try that :)

About that song, hmmm yes I am not a big fan of coincidences either... I think that may have happened for good reason...

[Deusdrum]

I would pay attention to the title of the song, that usually seems important to me in ipod shuffle synchronicities (Which i have had quite a few of).

@Sybilline
Lol yeah, I'm not entirely sure of all of the models that do it, but I know for sure that the touches, the later shuffles, the iPhone and Pad all do it. It's a pretty neat function. I don't use it often though... actually, pretty rarely. I'm more of an 'album' person (yeah, one of those people lol)... once the album starts, no one stops it... for any reason, or endure my wrath!

Originally Posted by Sarian

Your story reminded me of my daughter though. When her boyfriend was killed, she was devastated of course. A day or two later, she was online and youtube came up and she wasn't even on youtube, but a song came on and it was an old 80s tune, before her time, but she cried out to me and we sat there and listened. I got goosebumps to be honest. I had no doubt in my mind that Greg sent her the song. Just as he made her room smell of rain the day he died (something he loved) and all the fish in my pond began leaping and splashing.

Thanks for sharing your story, Sarian... I'm so sorry to hear of your daughter's boyfriend... but what an amazing experience after the fact. It brought a smile to my face... thanks again for sharing :)

Thanks everyone for your input... I was just so caught off guard by it because nothing like that has ever happened. I am starting to think that maybe the song itself wasn't the 'message,' per se... more like the entire situation was... maybe something just to get my attention - To see if I'm paying attention? I don't know. But, if I ever find out, I'll come back and share.

I wish this happened more often lol.

[Adrienne]

hi Lulu,

Very cool on your Ipod Shuffle song !

Now that you know it is possible for something like this to happen, keep your eyes and ears open to see what other messages are possible, in the creative line of thinking. I love it when something musical happens like that !

Dream Angel xx