Composition Drugs?

Tuesday I read this LA Times article about a possible side effect of new drugs for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. It told how patients taking this drug were reporting strange new compulsive behaviors - like gambling, or collecting Hot Wheels.

One section caught my eye:

After starting on Requip and levodopa, Mary Moody, 62, launched into a binge of composing religious hymns.

A former classroom aide in Augusta, Ga., she used to grab paper from the trash so she could scribble down lyrics when the urge hit. At home, bits of paper with phrases inspired by the psalms littered her house. Although she can't read music, Moody plucked out melodies on an old family piano."I'd rather do this than anything else in the world," she said

It made me wonder if the urge to be write music was somehow related to a body chemical or maybe to an imbalance of chemicals. If that were the case, "being a composer" could be induced by the proper drug regimen. Maybe it could also be "cured".

I expect nearly every composer has tried "enhancing" their compositional skills with some sort of drug. For example, this anonymous fellow. Raise your hand if he reminds you of a younger you.

Another possible conclusion of the story might be that only religious music would come of a drug-induced side effect. Could it be that the difference between Christian rockers and garden variety "Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n Roll"-ers is that the religious musicians are actually the ones on drugs?

Modern drugs apparently have other strange effects. Click here if you have ever awakened from a sound sleep with a mysterious glob of peanut butter in your mouth. (Thanks to my friend Tom Brodhead for mentioning this.)

Todays relevant video: a JibJab animation on the subject of drug side effects.

Today's irrelevant animated amphibian videos: Crazy Frog 1 ("Popcorn" short), Crazy Frog 2 ("ding ding"), Crazy Frog 3 ("Popcorn" long - love those disco-dancing underwater robots), Crazy Frog 4 (best if viewed near Christmas) and Cane Toad (an earthy ocker frog misses his mate)

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