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.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Walking like a man,
hitting like a hammer,
she's a juvenile scam.
Never was a quitter,
tasty like a raindrop,
she's got the look.
Heavenly bound
cause heaven's got a number
when she's spinning me around,
Kissing is a colour,
her loving is a wild dog,
she's got the look.

[Interesting Times]

One more, then I must debug spaghetti code.

Well life on the farm is kinda laid back
Ain't much an old country boy like me can't hack
It's early to rise, early in the sack
Thank God I'm a country boy

They played this chirpy, hateful thing during the seventh-inning stretch at Baltimore Orioles games for decades.

God alone knows why.

[CounterCounterCulture]

I said a hip hop, the hippie, the hippie
to the hip hip hop, a you don't stop 
the rock it to the bang bang boogie 
say up jumped the boogie 
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

---

Then there's the ever-popular Meow-Mix Theme...

Meow meow meow meow
Meow meow meow meow
Meow-meow, Meow-meow,
Meow meow meow meow
Meow meow meow meow
Meow-meow, Meow-meow,
Meow meow meow meow

etc.

---

For my next experiment, when I post a lyric line below, who can first say the next line of the song?

Do a little dance...

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Oh, God - you win.

The horror - the horror....

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I say a hotel, a motel, a Holiday Inn.....

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Oh, and your contest?

Make a little love, get down tonight.....

[HumanaeVitae]

I am currently being tortured by Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever". I have no idea why this is in my head.

[Interesting Times]

Thank you, I'll be here all week.

Don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses.

Here's some great supplemental reading by Dave Barry...

[vikingvx]

Down by the river that flows by the coalyard...

[Chemist_Geek]

Hold on tight,
You know she's a little bit dangerous
She's got what it takes to make ends meet
the eyes of a lover that hit like heat.
You know she's a little bit dangerous.

[Pagey]

Does anybody remember a Perry Como Song he covered called "Seattle"? That trumpet 'hook' is why I took up the trumpet when I was a youth and played for 15 years.Ohhhhh how music hits you when you're young.LOL!
"The Bluest Skiiiiies you've ever seen are in Seattle"
(with that trumpet playing that hook in the response)
"none-uh none-uh none-uh nah-na--- nah nah nah nah nah-
none-uh none-uh none-uh na naaaaah....
Like a beauuuuutiful child, growing up---- free and wild
Full of hopes and full of fears, full of laughter, full of fears
Full of dreeeeeams to last for years---in Seattle...."
Sorry if I ruined anybodys day.Still LOL!!!

[Interesting Times]

Better yet, here's the whole series -- Dave Barry on loathsome songs:

Mustang Davey
The Whammies
The Worst Songs Ever Recorded
And The Winner Is...

[Chemist_Geek]

It's been so long your welcome back my friends
To the show that never ends

Are y'all talking about ELP?

[Interesting Times]

Like a beauuuuutiful child, growing up---- free and wild
Full of hopes and full of fears, full of laughter, full of fears
Full of dreeeeeams to last for years---in Seattle...."

Theme from the TV show "Here Come the Brides."

I don't know why I know that.

I don't want to know that...

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I own, on vinyl, every ELP album up to Love Beach - which was an effort so wretched, so devastatingly bad, that it turned me off of them completely.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Two words:

Christy Lane

Sorry everyone, I couldn't resist.

" One day at a time, sweet Jesus one day at a time"........ And who can forget her hit......" I believe in angels, something good in everything I see......

ARRRGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

[Chemist_Geek]

Aieeeee!

erk.

My will to live just departed.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

To think I was excited about it, and made sure that I bought both the vinyl and the 8 track (for my car) the day it came out. I remember driving home, hitting the track button over and over, trying to find a decent tune on it and thinking vile words.

[Pagey]

I knew someone had to recognize that (fill in the blank) song.Now Now Now,( Hee Hee Hee) I even apologized up front......LOL

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Love Beach

Now that the coast is clear,
I'm moving out of here.
It's time to dissapear- with you,.
to where the skies are blue.
I want you by my side,
don't look so mystified.
You know I said I'd
always take you to love beach.
Out of reach of the eagles eyes tonight
we can make it to love beach.
Where pirate moons, throw silver spoons
across the waves to you.
Back when it all began,
I was your highway man.
Now I've got a different plan
For you.
And me beside the deep blue sea
the way it's meant to be.
Oh you'll believe me
When you see the ocean roll up
and the sun turn a mighty red
You can walk love beach forever
Till it lives inside your head .. I said
I want you by my side
I'll keep you satisfied
My love won't hide
We can make love on love beach
out of reach of the lion's claws tonight.
We can make love on love beach
I want your love, with the stars above
down on love beach
I'm gonna make love to you, on love beach
Make all your dreams come true, on love beach
Gonna make love to you, on love beach
Gonna make your dreams come true, on love beach
Gonna make love to you, on love beach ,...etc-