As a music critic, I’ve long been fascinated by people’s first favourite songs. Not songs made for children, or the kinds of songs we self-consciously broadcast our allegiance to after we’ve developed the filters of taste, personal identity and critical perspective. I’m talking about those early formative encounters with the vast world of popular culture – the initial, primeval jolt that this song is somehow more special than the rest.

Where does that feeling come from? Does something about our first favourite song’s chord progression or production style predict what sort of music we grow up to like best? Are we all eternally doomed to be haunted by our original favourite song, forever chasing the unrepeatable rush of hearing it for the first time?