No Cure for Songs Stuck in Your Head

Strange News - AP | Mon Oct 20, 9:48 AM ET | By RACHEL KIPP, Associated Press Writer

[Fierce Allegiance]

ALBANY, N.Y. - Unexpected and insidious, the earworm slinks its way into the brain and refuses to leave. Symptoms vary, although high levels of annoyance and frustration are common. There are numerous potential treatments, but no cure.

"Earworm" is the term coined by University of Cincinnati marketing professor James Kellaris for the usually unwelcome songs that get stuck in people's heads. Since beginning his research in 2000, Kellaris has heard from people all over the world requesting help, sharing anecdotes and offering solutions.

"I quickly learned that virtually everybody experiences earworms at one time or another," he said. "I think because it's experienced privately and not often a topic of conversation, maybe people really long for some social comparison. They want to know if other people experience what they experience."

Kellaris, whose most pervasive personal earworm (Byzantine chants) likely has something to do with his wife's job as a church choir director, has been interested in the topic of earworms for decades. As a musician who now studies how marketers reach the public, he began wondering how widespread stuck songs really are, and began doing small surveys in 2000.

Last year, he surveyed about 500 students, faculty and staff on campus asking about the type, frequency and duration of earworms, and possible causes and cures. Among the songs respondents picked as most likely to become stuck were: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," the Chili's restaurant "baby back ribs" jingle and "Who Let the Dogs Out."

But the choice that topped the so-called "playlist from hell" was "Other," meaning the majority of those surveyed chose a unique song of their own as the most probable earworm. That led Kellaris to conclude that stuck songs are highly idiosyncratic.

"There are certain tunes that we would describe as catchy that are more likely to become one, but just about anything can become an earworm," he said.

The study, presented at conferences of the Society for Consumer Psychology in 2001 and 2003, showed:

_Women report more irritation and frustration as a result of earworms.

_People who are constantly exposed to music suffer them more frequently.

_There may be a connection between earworms and a person's level of neurosis.

"People with higher neuroticism scores tend to react to the onset of an earworm by saying 'Oh no, here it goes again, I wonder how long this is going to last,'" Kellaris said. "That fretting about it, I think, exacerbates it."

The atmosphere is ripe for earworms at Last Vestige, a music store just west of downtown Albany. As customers flipped through compact discs and records with markers displaying such subjects as "Elvis the Pelvis" and "Beatles Cash-in Copycats," employees Jim Kaufman and Charles Monroe ruminated on recent bouts with earworms.

"Top 40 pop, usually — stuff you wouldn't catch yourself listening to at home," said Kaufman, who named Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny From the Block" as a past stuck song. "Or stuff you're ashamed to admit listening to at home."

Both men said they get rid of earworms either by trying to ignore them or by playing a tune they enjoy. Monroe said an earworm "usually happens when I only hear the song for like a second, like if I go to the laundromat and I'm kind of in and out."

Kellaris heard similar stories after news of his study reached the public. He got hundreds of e-mails from the Philippines, South Africa, Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany, Argentina and all over North America. Among the messages:

_A company that provided background music for retail stores wanted to know how to avoid using music prone to becoming an earworm.

_Sufferers of a psychiatric condition where patients hear music when none is playing sent queries and case histories hoping Kellaris had found a way to cure or treat the disorder. The professor said the two are unrelated.

_Personal stories about earworms haunting individuals for weeks, months or years.

_Suggestions of how to cure an earworm, including chewing on a cinnamon stick, passing the earworm on to someone else or erasing the offending song by singing the theme from "Gilligan's Island."

For marketers, earworms can be a "double-edged sword," helpful if consumers look upon a memorable jingle favorably but with the potential to breed negativity toward a brand if the stuck song is viewed as annoying or unwelcome, said Larry Compeau, a marketing professor at Clarkson University and executive officer of the Society for Consumer Psychology.

"I think the trick with earworms or with any kind of piece of music in advertising is to make sure the music is going to trigger the kinds of emotions or feelings you want the consumer to experience," he said.

Studying when earworms are most likely to occur is next up for Kellaris.

He said one theory is that stuck songs are "the brain's attempt to resolve missing information," and that retrieving the forgotten lyrics of a song will provide closure that "unsticks" an earworm.

[1Old Pro]

That's was one for sure, haven't heard it in years though.

[RosieCotton]

Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter...

[Hatteras]

Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh,
Here I am at Camp Granada.
Camp is very entertaining,
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining...

[SW6906]

We all live in a yellow submarine
A yellow submarine
A yellow submarine....

[CyberCowboy777]

I get one or two verses at a a time!

[Skooz]

I got you all beat.

Two years ago this month, I couldn't get this song out of my mind for two full weeks.

Welcome to my own private HELL:

"Long Haired Lover From Liverpool"
Little Jimmy Osmond

I'll be your long haired lover from Liverpool,
and I'll do anything you say.
I'll be your clown or your puppet or your April Fool,
if you'll be my sunshine daisy from L.A.

I'll be your leprechaun and sit upon an old toad stool,
I'll serenade you till I'm old and gray.
I'll be your long haired lover from Liverpool,
you'll be my sunshine daisy from L.A.

You'll be my lovely daisy on the mountainside,
there are lots of other flowers, too.
But all the other flowers hung their heads and cried
because the loveliest of all of them was you.

But you were evidently the exception to the rule,
I picked you quickly then I ran away.
'Cause I was your long haired lover from Liverpool,
you were my sunshine daisy from L.A.

I'll be your long haired lover from Liverpool,
and I'll do anything you ask.
I'll be your clown or your puppet or your April Fool,
cut my hair, I'll even wear a mask.

I'll be your Valentine, and you'll be mine, and things'll be cool.
We'll move along together every day.
I'll be your long haired lover from Liverpool,
you'll be my sunshine daisy from L.A.,
you'll be my sunshine daisy from L.A.

I'll be your long haired lover from Liverpool,
and I'll do anything you ask.
I'll be your clown or your puppet or your April Fool,
cut my hair I'll even wear a mask.

I'll be your Valentine, and you'll be mine, and things'll be cool.
We'll move along together every day.
I'll be your long haired lover from Liverpool,
you'll be my sunshine daisy from L.A....

[NeoCaveman]

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
It's been the ruin of many a young man
And Lord I know I'm one.....

[Porterville]

He lives in a pinapple under the sea,
Sponge Bob Square Pants!!!

[NeoCaveman]

Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine........

[RosieCotton]

I actually LIKE that one...the Doc Watson version, though, not the...can't remember who did the most popular rock version.

Though there are some songs I like that can STILL be ear worms. Pretty much everything by the Everly Brothers, for example.

Bye bye, love
Bye bye, happiness
Hello loneliness
Think I'm agonna cry-y...

[spodefly]

Hot Dogs ... Armour Hot dogs.
What kind of kids eat Armour Hot Dogs?
Fat kids, skinny kids, kids that climb on rocks,
Tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox, love,
Hot Dogs ... Armour Hot Dogs ...

The dogs kids love to bite ...

[38special]

Hey hey
You you
Get off of my cloud...

[CyberCowboy777]

Your everlastin' summer, you can see it fadin' fast

So you grab a piece of somethin' that you think is gonna last

Well, you wouldn't even know a diamond if you held it in your hand

The things you think are precious I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine
Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine

You've been tellin' me you're a genius since you were seventeen

In all the time I've known you, I still don't know what you mean
The weekend at the college didn't turn out like you planned

The things that pass for knowledge, I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine
Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine
I spent a lot of money and I spent a lot of time

The trip we made to Hollywood is still etched upon my mind

After all the things we've done and seen you find another
man

The things you think are useless I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine
Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine

[ChemistCat]

Worse, I think it's a Bush-Bashing song!!!!

arrgh!

It's REALLY BAD when it's the OTHER GUY'S STUFF stuck in your head.

[RightOnline]

yeah........I know.............."Plug Me Into Something" was actually a good song by Gross. But "Shannon"...........................ugh............

[killjoy]

MILF threads start out as updates on the Filipino terrorist organization

Dude, Filipino terrorists kidnapped Stiffler's mom?

[Hatteras]

Take me to the river, drop me in the water
Push me in the river, dip me in the water
Washing me down, washing me...

[RosieCotton]

My bologna has a first name,
it's O-S-C-A-R
My bologna has a second name,
it's M-E-Y-E-R...

[Marie]

"Skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight Aaaaaaaafternoon deliiiight"

Damn you.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Where is Chad anyway?

Sitting here with "Muskrat Love" running through my head... how about you?