When good sounds go bad.

The sound of a cell phone ringing. Visit me http://www.radiodenver.org/

Circus-y type noises because they evoke images of clowns. Clowns are creepy creatures. The theme tune of casualty gives me the creeps because it hasn't changed much in 20 years. It was one of the few things my psychotic-contol-freak father allowed me to watch, probably because it was on a Friday night after he'd picked me up from Guides and he was too tired at the end of the week to be deranged. jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

Crikey, Jude, is that true? That's so sad...your father, I meant, not the clowns, which are almost universally considered to be creepy! I used to stay the night at my friend Michelle's house; she had a HUGE portrait of a clown hanging over her bed. We used to stare at it in the half-light with the curtains drawn and scare ourselves shitless. The sound of an ice-cream van makes me want to pull out an Uzi and riddle the van with bullets; the same guy comes by at the same time every day in my neighbourhood and plays this godawful rendition of O Sole Mio, which drives me round the twist. Smells have more of an effect on me than sounds, and can evoke entire episodes from my 'past' lives, or memories of people who are now gone. Most of these are happy evocations, luckily.

Songs associated with ex’s, especially if the break-up was a bad one (and they usually were).

Long after most people had commited them to the tip, we had an ancient black and white TV and we would huddle around it listening for the sound of the door going which heralded my Father's return from work. If we didn't hear and he caught us watching it he'd scream maniacally with his eyes bulging out of his head. When we got older we resisted ...he always came in during the early evening episode of 'Neighbours' and developed a pathological loathing of Kylie Minogue's character 'Charlene', which he still has to this day even though Charlene has long been shelved. Strangely, I would have tired of watching brain dead soaps long before I actually did had it not been such a battle, so it actually had the opposite of the desired effect. The only programs permitted were, for some reason, Dr Who and Blue Peter. The only ones encouraged were David Attenborough documenteries. My father was an amateur naturalist and had copies of every single one of Gerald Durrell's, and Attenboroughs books (which were impressed upon us) and yet not a single volume of poetry which he just doesn't get...at all. I suppose I could be considered a zoologist and a poet so who knows what effect having mentally ill parents has on kids. I consider myself lucky; my sister is a professional musician and has never really been interested in much else and my father is tone -deaf. I had a better childhood than she! jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

Well, there's always a silver lining somewhere in those clouds, eh? Heaven knows we can't help who our parents are/were...still, there are people who had horrible childhoods who turn out to be warm, decent, talented human beings; and there are those with apparently normal childhoods who turn out to be serial killers and such. Doesn't make much sense, how this happens, but I know which one of the above two I'd rather have. And no, it isn't the serial killer one!! :-D

I've heard a lot worse than mine, you tend to in the places I hang out these days! Back to good gone bad memories; 'Shenandoah' fills me with a real sense of sadness. Not because of the song but the associated memories. I remember learning it in school choir aged 10 around the time my sisters friend had died aged 15. It was the first time I realised that young death happened to real people. I think we all have a moment when the bubble bursts. I will always associate that with the song. jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

The muppet show theme and the song 'save all your kisses for me', by someone There's nothing worse than a neighbour with crap wind chimes

I am struck with guilt by the sound of female orgasm - ever since I inadvertantly killed a woman with pleasure....

Nice. I used to love "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers but I now cringe with guilt whenever I hear it, since an ex-boyfriend (one I didn't particularly want to be with at the time) told me he thought it was "our song". I really really hate the tune for "Balamory" (CBeebies). Every time I hear it I feel like I might explode. I have a toddler and the risk of hearing this tune in our house is high. Also a local "kids' music" guy sings it occasionally and because he is good looking, the mums in the group try to sing the chorus in harmony to impress him, while I wince.

Anyone know Worcester at all? In the Crowngate Shopping Centre, there is one of those coin-op car thingies that kids can ride in (only they don't actually go anywhere), and it's got Rosie'n'Jim in the back or somesuch, and every now and then it emits a horrible little childish laughing sound, which is all well and good when the area is full of shoppers and suchlike, but when I have to walk past it at 10-past-7 in the morning on my way to work and it goes off.. sends tingly little bowel-trembling shivers up my spine, so it does! And clowns. ~PEPS~ “There is no spoon.”