I just can't get you out of my head: How music triggers the imagination

The imagination is defined broadly as a mental capacity for “being in the world” and more narrowly as a mental visual image of something perceptually absent. In these definitions, the visual aspect of imagining plays a predominant role. In this chapter, I explore how other senses than the visual play a role in imagining, more specifically focusing on how music stimulates the imagination. Based on the analysis of 52 interviews with music tourists, music is shown to be able to stimulate the imagination in various ways, arguing the imaginary is at once cognitive, affective, and embodied. Though the visual is by no means absent in the process of imagining, an analysis of the specific characteristics of music sheds light on the affective and embodied dimensions of “being in the world” particularly.