Song Stuck in Your Head? You're Not Alone

Reuters ^ | Monday, Feb 24, 2003 | Alison McCook

[InShanghai]

 

Song Stuck in Your Head? You're Not Alone

By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The vast majority of people say they have been mentally tortured at one point in their lives by a song that keeps repeating itself over and over in their heads.

And new research shows that people most frequently plagued by this phenomenon are those with slightly neurotic tendencies , and people who enjoy and listen to music often.

These mental broken records are also more likely to play the first or last song we hear in different situations, such as the first song that comes on in the morning alarm, or the last song playing before we turn off the car, study findings show.

Songs that topped the list as being most likely to stick around in someone's head included the Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out?" and the Chili's restaurant jingle about Baby Back Ribs.

But the number one song rated most likely to cause this phenomenon, referred to as an "earworm" in Germany, is "other"--indicating that many different songs can become stuck in our heads.

"Just about anything can get stuck in people's heads," study author Dr. James Kellaris of the University of Cincinnati told Reuters Health.

"We each have our personal demonic tunes that get stuck in our heads, I guess," he added.

Kellaris presented results from his current study on Saturday at the Society for Consumer Psychology Winter Conference in New Orleans.

Kellaris's previous research into the phenomenon of earworms revealed that "sticky" songs are those that are relatively simple, repetitive, and contain an element that surprises the listener. This incongruous element can be an interrupted pattern, or something that violates expectations of what comes next.

During the current study, Kellaris distributed surveys to 559 people aged 18 to 49 asking them about their personalities, how often tunes got stuck in their heads, how long the episodes lasted, and when the phenomenon was most likely to happen.

Ninety-eight percent of respondents said they had experienced stuck songs. Most said the episodes occurred "frequently," and lasted an average of a few hours.

Songs with lyrics were most often the culprits, a trend that Kellaris said is not surprising. Often what gets sticky is not just a tune, but also lyrics, a trend he calls "stupid lyrics syndrome." Combining a tune and lyrics ups the chance of song snippets staying with the listener for hours, he said.

Episodes of earworms also tend to strike people with neurotic tendencies more often. These people are not seriously neurotic, Kellaris said, but may simply be more prone to worrying and anxiety, and may have neurotic habits like biting pencils or tapping fingernails.

Women were more likely than men to report feeling annoyed, frustrated, or irritated about having songs stuck in their heads--a trend Kellaris said he is hard pressed to explain.

In terms of how to protect yourself from earworms, Kellaris recommended that people not worry about a stuck song as soon as it appears, and perhaps avoid listening to music for a spell if it becomes too sticky.

Strategies people report using to rid themselves of stuck tunes involved trying to listen to something else, distracting themselves with another activity, and trying to erase the repetition of one song snippet by singing the song all the way through.

"If they can't remember the lyrics, sometimes it helps for them to sing through the entire song, and then it will go away," Kellaris said.

Kellaris said he has also heard a "folkloric" recommendation of chewing on cinnamon sticks to rid the brain of a sticky song.

"Some people swear that will unstick a stuck tune," he said.

[Judith Anne]

The shot and shell were raging
Across the battlefield
Our boys in gray were fighting
Their noble flag to shield
Came a cry from their brave captain
"Look boys! Our flag is down
Who'll volunteer to save it from disgrace?"

"I will!" a young voice shouted
"I'll bring it back or die!"
Then he plunged into the thickest of the fray....
Saved the flag, but gave his young life
All for his country's sake...
They brought him back and heard him softly say,

"Just break the news to Mother,
She knows how dear I love her
Tell her not to wait for me,
For I'm not coming home....
Just break the news to Mother,
For me, there was no other,
And kiss those dear sweet lips for me,
For I'm not coming home..."

The general in a moment,
Knelt down beside the boy,
And gave a cry that touched each heart that day...
"Tis my son! My brave young hero! I thought you safe at home..."

(*Dammit! Sorry, I can't remember the whole thing. Dad sang it to me when I was just that high and the words get foggy after all these years...*)

Thanks for posting the words to the song above, I appreciate it.

[Don W]

I dunno: the sea will never lie to you, accuse you of things you wouldn't dream of, or take you for granted. The sea is just the sea. It can be a cruel mistress, but can also bring you pleasures unimagined.

[Judith Anne]

Okay, next line...

"Forgive me, Father, for I ran away,"


Chorus

"Just break the news to Mother etc.

[dware]

Just the other day someone posted a response to a thread I started. It was a one liner...

DO THE HUSTLE...(insert whistling here)

Nite all...

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree... "Movin' to the country,
"Gonna eat a lot of peaches..."

[Judith Anne]

Blow up the TV
Throw away the papers
Go to the country
Build you a home

Have a lot of children
Raise them on peaches
You'll find Jesus
On your own..

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

"You're the poetry man..."

Wuz that Captain and Tenille? Can't remember...

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

If I had a hammer...

No search engine. Honest.

[Don W]

Play that funky music white boy.
Play that funky music right.
Play that funky music white boy.
Lay down that boogie and play that funky music 'til you die.

[Judith Anne]

Oh, no! Now I'm thinking...

Play that funky dixieland
Pretty momma come and take me by the hand

Take me by the hand (hand) take me by the (pretty momma!)

Dance with your daddy ALL night long

Now you're in trouble! I won't forget this!

[peteram]

Here's a little song I wrote,
I hope to sing it note for note,
Don't worry - Be happy.....

[GRRRRR]

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmit---his name is MY name tooooo....

Radar Looooove......

GRRRRR (tag...you're it)

[geege]

That's really a headache.......I got stuck with "Electric Avenue" yesterday.........

[Houmatt]

"The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" and "Proud Mary"

Bilbo! Bilbo Baggins He's only three feet tall. Bilbo Bilbo Baggins The bravest little hobbit of them all!

Get down with your bad selves!

[error99]

This is a true story - I swear.
Many, years ago Mrs. error and I were in Disney world
and we were on the Small World ride.
About half way through, something went wrong.
We never knew what exactly happened, but the end result
was the ride got stuck. The boats were bumper to bumper
as far ahead and behind as we could see.
Those little dolls sang that song incessantly.
Over and over and over again they went on and on and on.
Peope were starting to climb out of the boats
and onto the scenery. Disney security showed up
and made them get back in their boats and patroled
the area preventing any further escape.
We were stuck there for nearly an hour.
I ain't been right since.

[Skeet]

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world.

Enjoy!

[Aeronaut]

I didn't see it, so here goes...:

Yummie yummie yummie I got love in my tummy.

Ducking

[LibertarianInExile]

I think they do that on purpose. I grew up near Orlando, so have been to Disney thousand times and suffered through the Small World rides.

But I did the Disney thing again for the umpteenth time with a Yankee girlfriend...the things we do for love...and gawdamighty, it broke on me, too.

Luckily, like Mark Twain, I have my own, built in, song-stuck-in-your-head, destroyer verse:

A horse is a horse, of course, of course, And no one can talk to a horse of course That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.

I sing that and I simply can't repeat it because while it's catchy, it's soooo stupid.

[Fresh Wind]

A horse is a horse of course of course
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is of course unless the horse
Is the famous Mr. Ed

Go right to the source and ask the horse
He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse
He's always on a steady course
Talk to Mr. Ed

People yakety-yak a streak and waste your time of day
But Mr. Ed will never talk
Unless he has something to say

A horse is a horse of course of course
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is of course unless the horse
Is the famous Mr. Ed

[Jeremiah Jr]

I live by the river...