# earworms **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698 "2011-03-14T20:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/1 "2011-03-14T20:47:53Z")
What causes them? I have one now that I’ve had for over a week and it is annoying me enough to ask! 🙂 Also, any way to get rid of it, other than creating another one? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/2 "2011-03-14T20:49:25Z")
a replacement ear worm is probably the ONLY cure! (sorry) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/3 "2011-03-14T21:39:33Z")
Here you go: _[Earworms (stuck song syndrome): Towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts (2010)](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/000712609X479636/full)_ (paywalled, but the abstract is there). > [@](#): > > Active attempts to block or eliminate the earworm are less successful than passive acceptance, consistent with Wegner’s theory of ironic mental control. So just go with it. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/4 "2011-03-14T23:20:30Z")
They say garlic and chili are good for intestinal worms. Maybe that’s worth a try? 🙂 When I get a song stuck in my head, the only cure is to go listen to the whole thing. Usually it’s stuck there because there’s a piece of it I can’t remember. Once I remember the missing piece, my brain moves on to some other puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/5 "2011-03-14T23:52:20Z")
It’s a world of laughter A world of tears It’s a world of hopes And a world of fears There’s so much that we share That it’s time we’re aware 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 world after all It’s a small, small world… …rinse, repeat ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/6 "2011-03-15T00:00:45Z")
I have a song to ‘cleanse the palette’. I just mentally play Automatic by the Pointer Sisters in my head and it clears the song I want to get rid of! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/7 "2011-03-15T00:06:26Z")
I have karaoke music in my computer. If I get an earworm, I sing it out. It worked for Cartman. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/8 "2011-03-15T00:13:38Z")
Moon river . . . . ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/9 "2011-03-15T00:46:39Z")
The solution is in here: [http://www.online-literature.com/twain/3268/](http://www.online-literature.com/twain/3268/) ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/10 "2011-03-15T02:53:40Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > They say garlic and chili are good for intestinal worms. Maybe that’s worth a try? 🙂 > > When I get a song stuck in my head, the only cure is to go listen to the whole thing. Usually it’s stuck there because there’s a piece of it I can’t remember. Once I remember the missing piece, my brain moves on to some other puzzle. Unfortunately for me, I can remember every lyric of this particular earworm, but as it turns out the cure is apparently to post about it here because it is now gone! Well, at least for now… > [@sitchensis](#): > > It’s a world of laughter > A world of tears > It’s a world of hopes > And a world of fears > There’s so much that we share > That it’s time we’re aware > 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 world after all > It’s a small, small world… > > …rinse, repeat FIEND!!! > [@njtt](#): > > Here you go: _[Earworms (stuck song syndrome): Towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts (2010)](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/000712609X479636/full)_ (paywalled, but the abstract is there). > > So just go with it. I wish the abstract had included information as to why they happen (if anyone knows) ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/11 "2011-03-15T16:33:42Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > FIEND!!! Perhaps [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA90IlymdZ4) will work better. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/12 "2011-03-15T16:48:29Z")
> **[Why do songs get stuck in your head?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343998/why-do-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head)** I like the theory that earworms are caused by your brain trying to restore a memory path of the entire song. Following that, listening to the song all the way through, or looking up the lyrics and reading them should resolve it. It’s worked so far for me, but it could be a placebo effect. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/13 "2011-03-16T02:17:22Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Perhaps [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA90IlymdZ4) will work better. Not clicking on it! LALALALALA! > [@lisacurl](#): > > [Why do songs get stuck in your head? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2901/why-do-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head) Ah, the master speaks and I see that no one really knows why we get earworms. Bummer. > [@](#): > > I like the theory that earworms are caused by your brain trying to restore a memory path of the entire song. Following that, listening to the song all the way through, or looking up the lyrics and reading them should resolve it. It’s worked so far for me, but it could be a placebo effect. Unfortunately, the earworm I just had was of a song that I knew well. What cured it was part posting here and part cranking up some Garth. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/14 "2011-03-16T05:01:16Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Not clicking on it! LALALALALA! > … > Unfortunately, the earworm I just had was of a song that I knew well. What cured it was part posting here and part cranking up some Garth. 😃 Garth? As in _Garth Brooks?_ And you’re afraid of _ **my** _ link? :p:rolleyes::smack::dubious: ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/15 "2011-03-16T05:26:44Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Garth? As in _Garth Brooks?_ And you’re afraid of _ **my** _ link? > :p:rolleyes::smack::dubious: Hey, there’s nothin’ wrong with Garth! I thought you were sending a link to YouTube of “It’s A Small World”… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/16 "2011-03-16T07:52:41Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I thought you were sending a link to YouTube of “It’s A Small World”… :eek: I’ve been accused of many things, and many of them were true, but I’ve never been accused of being _ **that** _ cruel! ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/17 "2011-03-16T08:51:08Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > It’s a world of laughter > A world of tears > It’s a world of hopes > And a world of fears > There’s so much that we share > That it’s time we’re aware > 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 world after all > It’s a small, small world… > > …rinse, repeat Great. Thanks. Appreciate it. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/18 "2011-03-16T10:18:48Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I wish the abstract had included information as to why they happen (if anyone knows) I have read the actual paper. Basically, the answer is “no”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/19 "2011-03-17T17:58:29Z")
I have a new earworm for St. Patrick’s Day, generated when I saw the words “Irish stew” on our cafeteria menu. Yes, I am now compulsively humming (and even singing) “The Irish Ballad” by Tom Lehrer. _She weighted her brother down with stones, Sing rickety-tickety-tin, She weighted her brother down with stones, And sent him off to Davy Jones. All they ever found were some bo-ones… And occasional pieces of skin, of skin, Occasional pieces of skin._ I’ve tried purging it with other Tom Lehrer songs, but I’m not sure “I Hold Your Hand In Mine” is an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698/20 "2011-03-18T00:13:51Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …I’ve tried purging it with other Tom Lehrer songs, but I’m not sure “I Hold Your Hand In Mine” is an improvement. Try “Send The Marines”, or “National Brotherhood Week”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earworms/574698.md?page=2)