# Do you have words or phrases that trigger songs in your head? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867 "2016-08-05T19:23:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/1 "2016-08-05T19:23:37Z")
I’m watching a documentary about Ramesses II and the exodus was mentioned. Immediately, [“Exodus, movement of Jah people”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv584jRwh0s) was playing in my mind, and it does every time I encounter the word. Similarly, every time I utter “I don’t know”, my fucked up brain adds [“…but I’ve been told, a big legged woman ain’t got no soul”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiPl3rQZ6f0). Sure, the last one is an important piece of worldly wisdom, but isn’t that a bit weird? Does anybody know this phenomenon and can relate? Am I listening to too much music, or am I just crazy :D? ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/2 "2016-08-06T00:08:37Z")
Phenomenon…dootdooo bee doobie. [Mahna Mahna](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ZPvqJIt3c) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/3 "2016-08-06T01:36:31Z")
The name “Kinkaid” sets off the whole “Hikky Burr” nonsense song from the old Bill Cosby Show. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/4 "2016-08-06T02:20:25Z")
Any time someone comments on an odor, I think of “That Smell” by Skynard. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/5 "2016-08-06T02:54:57Z")
“I’m goin’ off the rails on a Gravy Train.” ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/6 "2016-08-06T03:22:01Z")
When the cat whines, my wife always asks it in her condescending-talk-to-the-kitten tone, “What chew want?” I silently add, “Baby, I got it." ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/7 "2016-08-06T03:31:13Z")
I listen to a lot of albums so often when I hear a popular song on the radio I get the following song from the album stuck in my head. For a while back in the 00s I had “When I’m sixty Four” by The Beatles as my ringtone for my parents. As a result I always had “Lovely Rita” in my head (the next song on the album) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/8 "2016-08-06T03:39:13Z")
Yes. Yes, I do. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/9 "2016-08-06T03:54:54Z")
I hated that Macromedia named its web design software “Dreamweaver”. I made sure never to croon [the 70’s pop-prog song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZKuzwPOefs) (hey, i think I just coined a name for that genre) in class. I didn’t want my students to suffer like I did, just because I had the song start playing in my head whenever anyone said the name… Every. Single. Frickin’. Time. I had hopes when Adobe bought out Macromedia that they might rename it, but nooooo… ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/10 "2016-08-06T06:08:21Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > “I’m goin’ off the rails on a Gravy Train.” That…and, for some reason (a _total_ stretch, this next one, but…) when my cable used to show Bundesliga footy, whenever Shalke was mentioned, I’d go “hey little sister, Shalke…It’s a, nice day to…” (and I hate \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_ more than anyone at SDMB) If I hear boulevard, I immediately hear in my poor beleaguered head some of the most dreaded vocal notes in all of rock and roll, and that’s of course when Mr. Steven Perry of Journey mentions that very same conduit of vehicular/foot conveyance. Hearing helpless makes me think of the Niel Young song, which is also my all time least favourite NY tune. Hearing mulitudes - I want to go “muuuuuuullllllllllll-titudes” like Geddy in _Closer to the Heart_ …there could be a kajillion others if I really sat down at this ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/11 "2016-08-06T06:25:10Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > (and I hate \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_ more than anyone at SDMB) Hilarious! did I ever express myself incorrectly there! To didactically rephrase: I hate \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_ more than anyone else at SDMB hates \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_.😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/12 "2016-08-06T09:30:34Z")
I’m watching a show about the Spanish Inquisition on H2. As soon as I heard the topic, I started singing _“The Inquisition! Let’s begin! The Inquisition! Look out, sin! We’ve got a mission to convert the Jews! Jew-Jew-Jew-Jew-Jew, Jew-Jew-Jew!”_ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/13 "2016-08-06T09:47:56Z")
This one just came to mind as well (sung to the tune of “McNamara’s Band”): _“Oh, my name is Torquemada, I’m the leader of the band! And though we’re few in number, we’re feared throughout the land! Oh, we work on Jews and Protestants, we kick them when they fall! But when we work on heretics, we work the best of all! Oh, the racks go creak and the thumbscrews squeak and the whips, they flail away! The Jesuit slams the iron maiden shut as I sit in the corner and pray! Oh, the auto-da-fé is God’s chosen way and the screams of the victims are grand! Another soul to Heaven for Torquemada’s band!”_ ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/14 "2016-08-06T11:05:09Z")
This is a bit weird, but whenever I see Joni Mitchell’s name, I mentally pronounce her first name as rhyming with Lodi (California) and I think “Oh lord, stuck in Joni again”. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/15 "2016-08-06T11:29:55Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Phenomenon…dootdooo bee doobie. [Mahna Mahna](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ZPvqJIt3c) “Anemone” triggers Mahna Mahna in me - especially when tide pooling with my kids (we’d sing it as we pointed out anemones). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/16 "2016-08-06T12:56:19Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > This is a bit weird, but whenever I see Joni Mitchell’s name, I mentally pronounce her first name as rhyming with Lodi (California) and I think “Oh lord, stuck in Joni again”. We have a nearby town named Lodi, so whenever it’s mentioned on the news… Double whammy if you live between Lodi and Rockville. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/17 "2016-08-06T13:24:29Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Double whammy if you live between Lodi and Rockville. Yeah, don’t go back to Rockville. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/18 "2016-08-06T14:18:54Z")
Every time I see one of those road signs saying “Flagman ahead”, my brain spins up Carole King’s _Jazzman_, and I start making up lyrics. “When the flag man waves his rag, I know I better step on the brakes.” You get the idea. It also works for when my wife comments “Can you smell the jasmine?” Ohh, jas-miiiiiiiine! It sometimes seems my whole life is music and movie quotes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/19 "2016-08-06T14:41:19Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Phenomenon…dootdooo bee doobie. [Mahna Mahna](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ZPvqJIt3c) ^ This. Also, it’s the tune that comes to mind whenever I hear ‘cadaver dogs’. Clipping toenails? That triggers _Evil Dood_, by Lump. Good luck trying to find it online to listen to. (It’s on [Mermaid Lounge](http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/various_artists_f2/mermaid_lounge/).) ♬ _Your Velcro sideburns are giving me the creeps/Better clip your buck toenails they’re ripping up the sheets…_ ♬ Mrs. L.A. complains that _everything_ reminds me of a song. I tell her everything reminds me of everything. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867/20 "2016-08-06T14:44:14Z")
Yesterday, a younger co-worker happened to say “This is the world we live in”, and I immediately sang back “And these are the hands we’re given”. He didn’t get it, though all of the co-workers comparable to me in age did. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-words-or-phrases-that-trigger-songs-in-your-head/761867.md?page=2)