Does everyone get earworms?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Many of us get music stuck in our head - “earworms.”

But is this universal? Are there any people out there who don’t get earworms? (For the sake of simplicity, let’s consider people with more or less normal hearing.)

2

I get them.

3

Interesting question. Your question makes me wonder if this happens to people only in developed countries where advertising jingles and hooky pop music are common.

As it turns out Cecil has actually addressed your question: Why do songs get stuck in your head? - The Straight Dope

4

I would think everyone would, but I asked a friend about it once and she said she rarely if ever has music stuck in her head. I on the other hand have a constant radio playing and it’s not always clear to me how a particular song ended up in my head. I started a thread about it a while ago and I think most who replied to the thread also had music stuck in their head on a regular basis.

5

I have a constant radio as well, generally with songs I like playing. Usually I can “play” songs I like, though, so I also would have said I don’t get songs stuck in my head.

I got Sirius Satellite radio for Christmas, and have just recently started playing around with other channels, like the 80s or the 90s. Heard Joe Jackson’s “I’m the Man” once or twice, and holy crap it got stuck. I’m trying to be careful now about listening to songs with catchy parts that I would have heard thousands of times twenty years ago.

6

I’ve heard that there are 3 groups of people who get earworms most often: neurotic people, women, and musicians.

I am so screwed… :wink:

7

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.

8

Thanks, now I need to get my earphones and browse youtube music videos until THAT one is gone.

My friend gets songs stuck in his head, hums them out loud, and is absolutely tone deaf. We play a game where I try to guess what he is humming until I am either right, or I throw him off and he starts humming something else.

9

I would add parents of small children.

10

The only thing that triggers an earworm in me is when I hear a phrase in normal conversation that takes me to a song. My earworms seem to have a short life of no more than about 15 minutes or so.

11

My ears are continuously infested by them. You could wake me up at 3am and ask me which song is playing in my head and I’d tell you. I am never without an earworm.

12

I rarely get them, and when I do it’s usually quite easy for me to get rid of them. This drives my wife insane because she gets them all the time. When I want to tick her off I just go “mahna mahna…”

13

I get them bad, especially first thing in the morning.
It is often a bit of a song, lyrics or tune, or perhaps a phrase.
They echo around up there and usually fade after an hour.
Thinking about it, I wonder if it is the distraction of driving that drives the worm from my ear?
The latest one? A friend referred me to an article on a motorsport website called Jalopnik.
jalopnikjalopnikjalopnikjalopnik…

If it is a song, I often learn to play it on the piano which doesn’t really help get it out of my head but is still satisfying in a difficult to describe way. I can ‘play along’ with the earworm.

14

I seem to have spells of them. I’ll get one and it will be stuck for a couple days. I go to sleep hearing it, wake up hearing it. I’ll try to replace it but it comes right back. Eventually I’ll realize it’s gone. And then I’ll be relatively free for a while. Noticing just now, though, I’m hearing three notes on a loop in the back of my mind. Not really noticeable unless I concentrate on it. Maybe that helps keep earworms away. :slight_smile: