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.

[ChemistCat]

I can't get no
Physical, physical
Cocaine
Down Under.

That is the short version of all the songs that every band hired by the Incirlik Air Base Consolidated Open Mess when we were there in the 80s. We would sit by the stage when the bands were setting up and taunt them about that. I can't get no--PHYSICAL PHYSICAL!--cocaine!--DOWN UNDER!

[Alberta's Child]

Of course, anyone who has heard Ian Tyson will understand why "Fifty Years Ago" and "Will James" are always running through my head. LOL.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Lump, from "The Presidents of the United States of America". Their lyrics are classic driving grunge-thrash.

[weegee]

Did they also know Stairway to Freebird?

[Chuzzlewit]

"Niagra Falls ?" "Slowly I turn...step by step"....

[sweetliberty]

Enjoying a break from the heavy stuff.

[SubSailor]

Having my baby
what a lovely way of saying
How much you love me.
Having my baby
what a lovely way of saying
What you're thinking of me.
I can see it your face is glowing

I can see it in your eyes.
I'm happy knowin' that you're having my baby.
You're the woman I love and I love what it's doin' to you.
Having my baby

[sweetliberty]

"The worst thing ever stuck in anyone's head has to be that Oompa Oompa song from that awful Willie Wonka movie."

I think I'd have that looked at if I were you! LOL!

[weegee]

Actually, now that it is running through my head, I more accurately recall it as:

Bend me shape me any way you want me,
(I) won't come back from Dead Man's curve...

[CyberCowboy777]

a little blind spider took the wheel
navigatin' grass blades completely by feel
gotta sassy chassy sparkle in the sun
all four small bald fat tires rockin' through the sand and burnin' up
little dune buggy in the sand
little blue dune buggy in my hand

okay i got a rubber band motor hummin' on the beach ready for fun
quit spinnin' that web and come out and play in the sun
eight thimble sized cylinders to be as smooth as you please
spider's bad ass fat old abdomen stuck in the bucket seat

little dune buggy in the sand
little blue dune buggy in my hand

squishy transmission was caught in drive
spiderman was squintin' at the sand and the sky
spiderwoman in the front seat screamin' go go go
he's ridin' the accelerator down to the floor with his fuzzy little toe oe oe oe oe

little dune buggy in the sand
little blue dune buggy in my hand

little blue dune buggy
little blue dune buggy
little blue dune buggy
little blue dune buggy
little blue dune buggy

little blue dune buggy
little blue dune buggy
little blue dune buggy
little blue dune buggy

[Revolting cat!]

Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

[null and void]

Noooo...

Got a link?

[CyberCowboy777]

peaches come from a can they were put there by a man
in a factory downtown
if i had my little way i'd eat peaches everyday
sun soakin bulges in the shade

[Revolting cat!]

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move...
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

[SubSailor]

Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, oh oh oh Amadeus

Come on and rock me Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, oh oh oh Amadeus

[Slings and Arrows]

[jordan8]

Oh, I'd love to be an Oscar Mayer weiner, that is what I've always longed to be! For if I was an Oscar Meyer weiner . . .

My baloney has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R, my baloney has a second name, it's M-A-Y-E-R, oh I love to eat it everyday and if you ask me why I'll say! . . .

Two psychological time bombs brought to you by the makers of fine meat products!

[Revolting cat!]

We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
The crowd called out for more

[Chancellor Palpatine]

e're not gonna make it
no no we're not gonna to make it
'cuz there's a million better bands
with a million better songs
singers who can drum
and singers who can sing
deep in my heart i do believe
we're not gonna make it
no no we're not gonna to make it
cuz' we don't have the talent
and we don't have the time
and we don't have the patience
and we don't know how to rhyme

deep in my heart i do believe
we're not gonna make it
no no we're not gonna to make it
said no no no no no no no no no no
no no no no no no no no no no no
no no no no no no no no no no no
no no no no no no no no no no no

we're not gonna make it

[bluejean]

"I have a better term for it - "Last Song Syndrome"! I claim all rights to this term, as I've used it for years.."

But it's not the LAST song that is stuck in my head. It's a song I haven't listened to in YEARS from Dan Fogelberg's Phoenix album! Over and over - "Darker darker, don't let her talk her way into you" or something like that.

I've concluded that it happens because when I've been doing something sort of 'mindless' for awhile, my brain gets bored, goes to the attic, and starts rummaging around for something to do (think Chevy Chase in "Christmas Vacation" when he gets trapped in the attic). It starts opening old files, reminiscing, etc., and before I know it, it's brought this song downstairs and it's playing over and over and over and over...

Sometimes I can change the tune by playing something new I really like. It has to be MORE interesting than the tune my brain already dug up. Something refreshing, edgy - something my brain can toy with for awhile.

Maybe it's the brain's way of getting revenge for boredom. Of course, this is all just theoretical...