Because of my wonderful ADD, I have trouble memorizing anything, including lyrics. Most of the time, I manage through sheer stubborness. Occasionally, though, I'll run into a song I just can't learn. Typically, they wil have similar or identical lyrics that repeat and I either confuse them or the ones that immediately follow.

An example is a simple lullaby I wrote a couple of months ago. Here are the lyrics (the melody is AABA):

Hush-a-bye my little baby,
Night will soon be here.
Sandman's comin' so close thine eyes
And sleep my little dear.

Hush-a-bye my little baby,
Dreamland's drawing nigh.
Angels guard thy little bed,
Watching from the sky.

I'll be near so sleep in peace.
There's no need to cry.
May sweet dreams be with you, my dear,
So night soon will fly by.

Hush-a-bye my little baby,
Morn' is on its way.
Day will break and then you shall awake
To play another day.
To play another day.

The lines I keep messing up are the ones the follow the first line of each A section (the ones with the word Hush-a-bye), especially the first two. I keep mixing them out of order, mixed up, or both.

Another song I haven't been able to learn (even after trying off and on for the past three years is called "Can You Count the Stars of Evening. The last four lines of each of the three verses are similar and I keep mixing them up.

A similar problem I recently ran into involves an Irish song I've known well for several years (Come by the Hills). For some odd reason, I've started sing the last half of the second verse at the end of the first verse.

Does anyone have any idea why I am having these problems and what I can do to deal with it? It's driving me nuts! (Yeah, I know, short trip.)

Jeannie