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No Cure for Songs Stuck in Your Head
Strange News - AP | Mon Oct 20, 9:48 AM ET | By RACHEL KIPP, Associated Press Writer

Posted on 10/20/2003 10:54:35 AM PDT by 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.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: earworm; song; songs
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To: Lazamataz
If your middle name isn't "Wayne", you can change it cheaply enough.
441 posted on 10/20/2003 2:23:25 PM PDT by Chancellor Palpatine
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To: Allegra
I probably saw one of those "reunion" shows. I know I caught one at numbers when he released a single and the "final" show at Blythe Spirits (now Cecil's I think).

Houston has a Continental Club now (just like Austin).

442 posted on 10/20/2003 2:28:04 PM PDT by weegee
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To: Chancellor Palpatine
It's too late to get revenge on the woman who recorded that. She died earlier this year...

PHONE RECORDING VOICE DIES ("The number you have dialed has been disconnected...")

443 posted on 10/20/2003 2:30:25 PM PDT by weegee
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To: weegee
I left out the most important part...

Surrrrrrrrrrrrrfin' birrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd....

444 posted on 10/20/2003 2:32:49 PM PDT by weegee
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To: Fierce Allegiance
bfl!
445 posted on 10/20/2003 2:42:23 PM PDT by Alas Babylon!
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To: weegee
That's a great song, and I don't really mind it when it gets in my head. On the other hand, I have been having trouble with the Who's "Happy Jack" lately, now that it has surfaced in the Hummer commercials. Just for that, I will never buy one!
446 posted on 10/20/2003 2:43:51 PM PDT by Fresh Wind
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To: bootless
Close, but it was "killing frost"

...in retrospect, I'm sure you're correct, but I really didn't want to get the song stuck in my head, so I didn't dwell on it :o)

447 posted on 10/20/2003 2:44:45 PM PDT by glock rocks (Support Free Republic. Pray for our Troops. God bless America.)
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To: Rebelbase
You made me laugh out loud when I tried your cure @109. I'd never put that to the test before and I couldn't believe how difficult it is! I get my right foot to 6:00 and it wants to reverse its direction. Maybe with practice ... Felt like I was in kindergarten trying to draw the alphabet for the first time.
448 posted on 10/20/2003 2:45:46 PM PDT by GretchenEE (Liberals CANNOT be trusted with national security [excepting maybe Congr. Norm Dicks].)
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To: ItsOurTimeNow
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......make it stop!!!!

Red

449 posted on 10/20/2003 2:49:37 PM PDT by Conservative4Ever (Wm. Wallace did not cry 'diversity' while being disemboweled.)
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To: Rebelbase
Using your right hand draw and imaginary clockwise circle, while at the same time take your right foot and draw and imagniary counter clockwise circle

Oh man...that's messed up!

450 posted on 10/20/2003 2:51:18 PM PDT by ItsOurTimeNow ("Forth now, and fear no darkness!")
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To: eddie willers
Oh we are playing dirty now huh?

Well take this!

Tell Laura I loooo-ve her

Tell Laura I neee-d her

Tell Laura not to cry

My love for her will never die

The ultimate "dead teenager song"

451 posted on 10/20/2003 2:54:27 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (It's none of your business what I do in the woods nosy Humans!)
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To: SubSailor; All
"The bunny, the bunny, oooh I ate the bunny"

Ya know.............I think Veggie Tales are just adorable, etc..........but if I never hear "If...you...like...to...talk...to tomatoes..........if..a...squash...can...make you smile.........."................it'll be too soon.

...and that damned tuba.........................(Larry, bud......grow some hands and PLAY the guitar, damn it!!!!).

452 posted on 10/20/2003 2:54:52 PM PDT by RightOnline
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To: Chancellor Palpatine
"Afternoon Delight" is a great song. Read the words. Only an impotent man would not like that song.
453 posted on 10/20/2003 2:55:14 PM PDT by connectthedots
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To: Lazamataz
Duuuuude! Hang up the phome!
454 posted on 10/20/2003 2:55:41 PM PDT by null and void
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To: Chancellor Palpatine; Lazamataz
Make sure you get a scope. Oh, and make sure you let somebody know what your middle name is for the whole posterity thing.

Ghod, I hope it's not Wayne...

455 posted on 10/20/2003 3:00:13 PM PDT by null and void
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
And a "Lincoln Binkin Bo-Binkin" to you all.
456 posted on 10/20/2003 3:00:37 PM PDT by PoorMuttly (Operation Enduring Muttly)
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To: Chancellor Palpatine; Lazamataz
If your middle name isn't "Wayne", you can change it cheaply enough.

LOL!

457 posted on 10/20/2003 3:01:05 PM PDT by null and void
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
OH YEAH?!

"What was it that
You were looking for,
Upon the tracks that night?

They said they found my high school ring
Clutched in your fingers tight."

458 posted on 10/20/2003 3:04:09 PM PDT by eddie willers
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To: All
The candy mannnnn... the candy man can.
459 posted on 10/20/2003 3:11:27 PM PDT by reaganbooster
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To: Scenic Sounds
I wake up every morning with "Sharp Dressed Man" in my head...
460 posted on 10/20/2003 3:13:52 PM PDT by stands2reason ("What you see at fight club is a generation of men raised by women." -- Chuck Palahniuk)
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