Regardless of who you are or what you do, it happens to everyone at some point in life: earworms. Not to be confused with that pesky larva that destroys corn and tomatoes, an earworm is defined by Wikipedia as “a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person’s mind after it is no longer playing”. This annoying condition is formally referred to by experts as involuntary musical imagery (IMI), and a great deal of research has been done on this particular phenomenon. This is no surprise since earworms are experienced by about 90% of us at least once a week, according to the Earworm Project conducted by the University of London. Though most of us regard earworms as merely irritating, research indicates that 15% of people consider them so disturbing that they disrupt thought patterns and interfere with their lives. This is a more serious condition known as intrusive musical imagery (IMI).
While it is still not understood exactly why we get them, analysis reveals that the type of song and your situation definitely influence the probability of catching an earworm. In a Discover Magazine article, Professor James Kellaris, also known as “Dr. Earworm”, asserts that we are more susceptible if we are stressed, tired, or exposed to music repeatedly or for long periods of time. And catchy songs with an upbeat melody or repetitive lyrics are more likely to get stuck in our heads than music without such patterns. Which explains why so many of us are significantly distracted by the innocent verses of Disney’s “It’s A Small World”, doesn’t it? Oops, sorry about that.
So what can you do to unstick that bothersome song? Suggestions made by HowStuffWorks in “Getting Rid of Earworms” include some of the following:
- Sing another song, or play another melody on an instrument.
- Switch to an activity that keeps you busy.
- Listen to the song all the way through (this works for some people).
- Turn on the radio to get your brain tuned in to another song (or news program).
Here is where C. Crane can help you cure the dreaded earworm syndrome. We have great radios for audio and reception, and have a number of options depending on your priorities. Keep one of them handy for the next time you get that annoying commercial stuck in your head.
Enter to win in the comments on this blog by answering this question:
Tell us the most irritating or unusual earworm that ever got stuck in your head.
Win the CC Pocket Portable AM FM and Weather Radio. Drawing will be held August 31st. Only one entry per person.
Congratulations Emily Taylor! Thank you All for participating!
I hate it when I get a song stuck in my head which I hate. That happened yesterday when I was forced to sit through a performance of old-time songs. That Love Letters in the Sand tune stayed with me for hours and it just came back now. Aaaa!
The theme song to CHIPs : (
I get the year worm fairly often but usually its a song that I like…. but commercials and TV shows are the worst.. and out of all the commercials and TV shows the them to CHIPs is the one that gets stuck most often….. And of course it has no words just notes : (
This has happened to me fairly often, but nothing like with the “Small World” theme. This one actually mentally transports me into a small boat in a large darkened cavern with illuminated dioramas of very cute characters. It even calls up the smells of that ride.The last time I physically experienced this was in 2001, but you have returned me to that time and place! There must be something innate in our mental structure that resonates with that song.
Occasionally, I have a go-’round with Swan Lake. The violins are nice, until the melody inevitably segues into “You just gotta have a swan or you’re outta luck … ” **sigh**
I almost hate to inflict this upon anyone…but it’s the song “I Love” by Tom T. Hall…you know:
I love little baby ducks, old pickup trucks
Slow-movin’ trains and rain
I love little country streams, sleep without dreams
Sunday school in May and hay…
So sorry.
I didn’t know that was the name for having that song stuck in my head. I hate having songs stuck my head, it’s quite annoying. So I listen to music I like to have another song stuck in my head, something I prefer.
I never had the “It’s ASmall World” earworm, thankfully. The worst in recent memory was the song “Bylar Conmigo.” i work in the Texas oilfields and once if the ranches where we were servicing a lease was near the Mexican border, and the only radio stations we could receive were Spanish. The fact that i don’t speak Spanish made the earworm that much more annoying (even though the song itself was pretty catchy).
For the past three days I have a song that I do not know stuck in my head. It’s driving me crazy! I’m a musician of sorts and in my mind I try to compose new arrangements of it and take it somewhere new (for some variety Jezebel), but soon notice I am back to hearing the same few bars. Also it’s not that great of a song haha, so I don’t want to sit down and record it. May have to do so if this continues!
This happens to me a lot. Almost everyday. I usually wake up with a song in my head. One I haven’t heard in awhile. Sometimes one I don’t even like. Sometimes,I have one in my head and turn on the radio the song will be playing. I always thought since I’m older and fillings in my teeth may contain mercury,that I pick up radio signals from my fillings and they play in my head. I know it’s weird. Thanks for the article.
I forgot to mention about one ear worm I had when I was eleven which kept me awake at night. It wasn’t a song but that sound at the beginning of that TV show, The Outer Limits. It kept sounding in my head and I’d often wake up with it in my mind in the middle of the night. I felt so afraid as a result of that frightening sound.
love train by the o’jays…love the song but stays in my head night and day!
There are many songs the have become stuck in my head. Luckily most are pleasant and ,of course catchy . One of the most reoccurring is Thunderclap Newman’s-“Sometings in the Air” . I heard it first in 1970 when a friend played it for me. The friend was a drummer in a band and we we both about 15 yrs.old. He was a great musical influence on me. “Something in the Air” has once again been stuck.
This happens to my wife quite often and drives her crazy. She watches 2 of our grandchildren each day and usually it is a song from one of their shows or movies.
“Looks Like We Made It” by Barry Manilow. It happens every time I hear that awful song, or any time I even think about it. Oh, no. There it goes again…(sigh)
“Skyrockets in sight – afternoon delight…”
Enough said.
Thanks a lot. Now it’s in my head.
I have songs playing in my head often! The worst are the songs I can’t stand. I began to notice that songs sometimes pop into my head that I haven’t heard since the 50’s, and I have no idea why I hear them. I hated them THEN! I have begun using this annoyance as an opportunity to “change my thoughts”, and work at playing another song in my head. But… it also can be a blessing, because I am a musician, and I hear songs exactly as they were recorded, as though I am hearing them on a radio… and I say it can be a blessing because, as a musician, I sometimes work on doing a song that has a part that I just can’t quite get right. I hear the song over and over in my head, then all of a sudden, I hear the part (in my head) that I hadn’t been able to figure out. So, it can be a real tool, if it doesn’t drive me crazy!
not an earworm of a song in my head that I never invited….I dig them all man…they are a blessing to me…
As a musician I sometimes have the bass lines running through my head for hours. this is especially true if one of the songs include 8 to the bar or boogie beat.
The Blind Faith has been setting on my brain for over a month now and I can’t part with thinking it is from out of a dungeon of terrible pain so I front up however much I like those songs that I will go to my higher power to have it come to an end.
My son has a leap frog musical activity table that sings through numbers 1-10. I find myself singing it all day, even hours after I hear it (which of course is a ton with a one year old!). It’s seriously obnoxious. Here’s a link to YouTube of it, so you can enjoy it’s catchy tune as much as I do. Haha! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QVa_-X7k9Fk
I wake up with a song in my head almost every morning. I have done this all of my life. Today, the song is “Try To Remember” by The Brothers Four. Many times, I will obtain the lyrics, and apply them to guitar, violin, mandolin, etc.. This usually takes care of the earworm for me. One of the most recurrent earworms throughout my life is “Yankee Doodle”, but there are others, and almost any song can attack without warning. Thanx!
Songs broadcasting from my mercury filings….hmmmmmmmm……
that resonates!
The most horrible earworm the Benny hill theme
“Can’t get you out of my head” plays over and over and over and………
In reply to “Earworm Blog” I frequently listen to 50s thru 70s local AM&FM radio.To this day still is Hermans Hermits song Henry the 8th I am I am.As the worst,most annoying and to make matters worse hardest after hearing it on oldies radio to get it out of your head.😱
“Riding The Storm Out” by REO Speedwagon
The first time i ever got caught out in the rain on my first street legal motorcycle this song started playing in my head. Over the years it has progressed to happening anytime it rains no matter what type of vehicle in or riding on at the time. It then further progressed to happening most ANY time it rains whether I’m in a vehicle or not! Grrr, lol!
That’s my earworm story. Hope you enjoyed it, and remember …. keep on “ridin’ the storm out”!
Here’s one for you fans out there, My baby does the hanky panky…..an oldie but a goodie. I have had earworm with this song for over 40 years. Thankfully not too often.
Here’s one the CIA can use for interrogation purposes.The Hermans Hermits song,Henry the 8th I am I am from 60s.Such a bad earworm suspects will tell them everything they know in a relatively short amount of time.Easily worst one for me.😱
The most irritating earworm I ever get is weird cartoon music from children shows or movies I have to watch. It’s always usually just a short 5 or 10 second clip of some part of it stuck in my head on repeat nonstop specially when I’m tired or trying to sleep. Drives you nuts.
Weirdest earworm experience I’ve ever had was a couple decades back when Los del Rio’s “Macarena” and Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” were both being heavily played. The bagel shop I was working at played a “top hits” music channel for ambience (their definition of ambience and mine differed heavily, but a paycheck was a paycheck!), and both of those songs were in heavy rotation (and I couldn’t stand either of them!). Ever since then, Tubthumping will randomly jump into my head and become an all day earworm (a few times a month), but when it does Macarena will come with it. I can’t tell if the earworms are dueling or of they’re just siblings, but when one shows up the other comes along. At least they’re not both running in my head simultaneously!
I didn’t want to think about it BUT as soon as I read this blog, it was already too late!! Here I am now, humming that old Oscar Meyer Weiner song…..” I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Weiner….” Anyone old enough here to remember that commercial? HELP!!!!
Once the Olympics started, the Olympics theme was everywhere; you can’t get away from it.
It’s become not so much an earworm but, more like sound pollution.
Also, the article didn’t go into the difference, if any, between earworms and sound pollution.
The clock on my wall plays a different short tune at the top of the hour. I thought that it was cute at the store, but every time it plays a tune, the darn thing gets stuck in my head till a new one plays in an hour! I would get rid of the darn thing but it is a well made clock and was a bit expensive. Oh well… At least it’s not playing ” It’s a small world”!
“Sweet dreams are made of these” by Eurythmics. YUK! Has annoyed me ever since the song first came out. I turn on the Eagles or a similar group and there’s my antidote! Their earworms are great.
Years ago The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson had a bit after his monologue called Stump the Band where they would ask members of the audience to name a song and try to stump the musicians. If successful, a prize was given. Carson would then ask for the audience member to sing it. After all of these years I still on occasion will hear in my head the song “I Hit Nellie In The Belly With A Flounder.”
Don’t remember this for sure, but it might have been a song popular in England.
Pencil thin mustache by Jimmy Buffett seems to have been my earworm for some months now, I’ll move on to something differant by than
Maybe it’s my overindulgence of fast food, but the “I’m lovin’ it” theme from Mickey D’s has been rolling around my head for several years now. This is probably not healthy, the food notwithstanding…
“The lion sleeps tonight”……..I love the song.
When certain DJs are on what used to be the ‘Oldies’ station in St Louis(now ‘Adult Contemporay/Classic Rock/Mix’ station, I.E. they play the same garbage as 8 other stations in the area owned by the same conglomerate) they have a tendency to think (?????) that disco is ‘classic’, and that people want to listen to it. How can any sane, self respecting person play a michael jackson song, followed by ‘the artist formerly known as princess’????? Self flagellation at it’s best.
After ‘THAFKAP’s’ death, the ear worms became serpents of the viper variety. MJ, THAFKAP. MJ,THAFKAP. MJ, THAFKAP. Utterly pathetic! Which is why I rarely listen to St Louis area radio anymore…..
I’ve had “I Think We’re Alone Now” going through my mind ever since I woke up yesterday morning. Come on, Tommy, give me a break!
Brother Louie by the the band Stories. This is ok because I love this song and Ian lloyds voice but it’s been banging around in my head for over a week, ever since we adopted a Welsh Corgi and named him Louie after the dog in the “Overboard” comic strip.
“1-800-Kars 4 Kids, K – A -R – S 4 Kids.org” (repeated over and over with slight variations for a full minute).
“Afternoon Delight” by the Starland Vocal Band. OMG, turn it off, please!
Why is it that only the most annoying tunes take up residence in my head? They are like a parasite and I can’t find the antibiotic to rid myself of them. Just reading the earworms posted here are nudging me to download them.
i never liked this song,, and i can’t , for the life of me, figure out why it shows up in my head, time, after time, after time, etc. – “I Am Woman” Helen Reddy! I only hope that when I leave this old rock that this song would not be going through my head!
I have had many different ear worms that last for 2 or 3 days,the way I get rid of them is to picture in my mind putting the offending earworm record on my turntable and then blowing up the entire house.The record typically does not survive the explosion
Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell is a particularly difficult earworm to get rid of for me.
I love the song “When the Saints Go Marching In” but when it will not go away that gets annoying. Only hope is to sing another song over and over and over again.
There’s an extremely annoying commercial on AM that always gets stuck in my head & it drives me crazy!! It’s the 1 877 kars 4 kids jingle.
Every time I hear the national anthem, I can’t get it out of my mind and start humming and whistling and eventually burst out in song. Of course I either frighten or embarrass anyone within the sound of my voice. I can’t help it, I love our Nation’s Anthem.
I’ve had Love Roller Coaster going through my head all day. Listening to it hasn’t shifted that horrid ear worm and neither has listening to other tunes. I’m so tired of that Ohio Players song, if you can call it a song, but it just won’t quit.
Everyone1’s A Winner! By Hot Chocolate is my ear worm! I’m 66 years young and this one stays in my head until I start singing along with it.