Posted on 02/24/2003 8:26:14 PM PST by InShanghai
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.
Ah, brings back memories of cruising down Bergenline Avenue or Tonnelle in my Gremlin, with my tight Jordache jeans and my greasy combed-back hair...
Wait a second, why do I have my Uncle Tommy's memories, I'M 26!!!
Or even worse, for the mathematically inclined:
Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall,
Aleph-null bottles of beer;
Take one down, pass it around--
Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall!You can sing that one forever...
This is the last so-o-o-o-ng I'll ever write for you...
Oh, Mickey, you're so fine,There's got to be a special corner in hell for Toni Basil.
You're so fine you blow my mind
Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!
What can one say in the face of such bad songs that stick in one's head, but
What've I--what've I--what've I done to deserve this?
For the whole hour and a half they had the same song on repeat, they much have played it 30 times.
The song that goes "Sorry i'm not at home right now, walking in a spider web, leave a message and I'll call you back"
Now I actually kind of like No Doubt, but not that particular song and not 30 times in a row at 170dB
Now for the last four days I have had "Sorry i'm not at home right now, walking in a spider web, leave a message and I'll call you back" banging in my head.
The last song I got caught in my head was around Christmas, I was in a record store picking up a DVD and this awful song was being played that just went "Super sex world going up and down" over and over again. I don't even know who sings it but that song was stuck in my head well into January
I can remember a commercial with that song in it. I can't remember what it was for, but they would play it on Saturday Mornings. For some strange reason, it scared the sh-t out of me, especially that shrieking kid.
Years later, I rented the movie Being There where Peter Sellers' character puts on the TV and lo and behold, that commercial came on. The painful memories returned...
I HATE that ride at Disney Land, and since my daughters vanish like a pair of ninjas whenever my wife starts to walk in it's direction of it's a small world I get dragged on it OVER and OVER and OVER again.
watch out for the piranha (yayayayaya)
LOOK OUT FOR THE KILLER WHALE! (screams)
Manic Monday (The Bangles)
Six O'clock already, I was just in the middle of a dream.....
Cars (Gary Numan)
Here in my car, I go safest of all, I can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live: In cars.
.
.
There are many other little ditties that pop up into my mind and stick, but I think I have one up on many here: I actually got an entire bar (small town, during a baseball tournament) to SING the "Gilligan's Island" song. No word of a lie, EVERYONE, including the bar staff, joined in. At the top of our lungs. It was one of the funniest things I've ever been party to. My head sure hurt the next day, mind you...,...
If your blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where fashion sits Puttin on the ritz.
If the real thing don't do the trick
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn it out to the wick
aren't you, Barracuda?
If you're blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where fashion sits Puttin on the ritz.
THERE'S another one! "Peter Gunn"!
We'll be singing When we're winning we'll be singing I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down Pissing the night away Pissing the night away He drinks a whisky drink He drinks a vodka drink He drinks a lager drink He drinks a cider drink He sings the songs that remind him Of the good times He sings the songs that remind him Of the better times Oh Danny Boy Danny Boy Danny Boy I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down Pissing the night away Pissing the night away He drinks a whisky drink He drinks a vodka drink He drinks a lager drink He drinks a cider drink He sings the songs that remind him Of the good times He sings the songs that remind him Of the better times Don't cry for me Next door neighbour I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (we'll be singing) You're never going to keep me down (when we're winning) I get knocked down But I get up again (we'll be singing) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (we'll be singing) You're never going to keep me down (when we're winning) I get knocked down But I get up again (we'll be singing) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down I get knocked down But I get up again (pissing the night away) You're never going to keep me down
While we're at it anybody know what the "Pomputus of Love" is?
I'm too sexy for my love too sexy for my love Love's going to leave me I'm too sexy for my shirt too sexy for my shirt So sexy it hurts And I'm too sexy for Milan too sexy for Milan New York and Japan And I'm too sexy for your party Too sexy for your party No way I'm disco dancing I'm a model you know what I mean And I do my little turn on the catwalk Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah I do my little turn on the catwalk I'm too sexy for my car too sexy for my car Too sexy by far And I'm too sexy for my hat Too sexy for my hat what do you think about that I'm a model you know what I mean And I do my little turn on the catwalk Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah I shake my little tush on the catwalk I'm too sexy for my ... too sexy for my ... too sexy for my ... 'Cos I'm a model you know what I mean And I do my little turn on the catwalk Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah I shake my little tush on the catwalk I'm too sexy for my cat too sexy for my cat Poor pussy poor pussy cat I'm too sexy for my love too sexy for my love Love's going to leave me And I'm too sexy for this song
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