# How did "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" get stuck in my head? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 1, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918 "2007-11-01T20:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/1 "2007-11-01T20:28:29Z")
And how can I get it out? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/2 "2007-11-01T20:30:43Z")
1.) Probably the same way all this stuff gets stuck in people’s heads: > **[What gets stuck in your mind despite your best efforts to dislodge it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=442367)** > > The earthquake thread got me to thinking about the Loma Prieta earthquake back in '89, which in turn (as it always seems to) got me to thinking about things that are stuck in my mind even though I’d rather they weren’t. In the case of the earthquake,... 2.) Pepper Mill always sings “Love Potion No. 9” to herself when an unwanted song gets stuck in there. She says it always works. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/3 "2007-11-01T20:31:03Z")
You just need to get something even more obnoxious stuck in there. How about “Seasons in the Sun?” ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/4 "2007-11-01T20:32:27Z")
Go into your bathroom, close and lock the door (so others in the house won’t kill you) and sing the entire song at the top of your lungs. Twice. Once it’s _out_, it won’t be _in_, dig? Or there’s always the old [standby.](http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/banana) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/5 "2007-11-01T20:46:35Z")
On the other hand, for two days I have been humming “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” I think it was triggered by a Halloween costume. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/6 "2007-11-01T20:52:54Z")
By any chance, did you see chicks and ducks and geese scurrying? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/7 "2007-11-01T20:54:41Z")
[QUOTE=Skammer] On the other hand, for two days I have been humming “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” I think it was triggered by a Halloween costume. [/QUOTE] See, at least you’ve got a plausible explanation for it. This came out of freaking _nowhere._ [singing]“Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry…”[/singing] ETA: **kunilou** : 😛 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/8 "2007-11-01T20:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=Marlitharn] …Or there’s always the old [standby.](http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/banana) [/QUOTE] I prefer [this one](http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/llama) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/9 "2007-11-01T21:19:02Z")
Oh, great. Thanks. Thanks a bunch. Isn’t this nice. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/10 "2007-11-02T02:25:09Z")
[QUOTE=Napier] Oh, great. Thanks. Thanks a bunch. Isn’t this nice. [/QUOTE] This is how I feel. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/11 "2007-11-02T02:31:04Z")
Ah. I fixed it; now I have the Looney Tunes ending tune stuck in my head. Dah da da da dah da da da duh duh duh duh, do do do do dah daaaaaaaaaaaah! ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/12 "2007-11-02T02:40:41Z")
Mariah! Mariah! They call the wind Mariah. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/13 "2007-11-02T02:51:36Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck] You just need to get something even more obnoxious stuck in there. How about “Seasons in the Sun?” [/QUOTE] Oh, you are Evil with that one. Did you, by chance. listen to the Stephanie Miller Show awhile back ago, when that song led to a cascade of “Bad Seventies Earworms”? If so, my e-mail of loathing for that song touched off the cascade. My 15 minnits of fame, over the Worst Fucking Earworm Ever. I can only wish you a lifetime sentence of “MacArthur Park”, with eternal flame rainproof candles. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/14 "2007-11-02T03:21:32Z")
Did you watch tonight’s episode of _My Name Is Earl_? Tim Stack drunkenly sang a bit of it at the strip club. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/15 "2007-11-02T03:26:23Z")
There’s a joke in this thread somewhere about the inner-city drug delivery vehicle being the Fury with the syringe on top, but I can’t think of how to work it in. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/16 "2007-11-02T05:25:54Z")
Great, now I’ve got it. Thanks a whole lot. Just for that I should find a link to Pomp and Circumstance. That’ll stick for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/17 "2007-11-02T08:15:57Z")
You had to mention that one. I don’t if it’s better or not, but I don’t get “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” stuck on my head when you mention it. I get “Sentimental Lady” instead. “Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry And all of the things that we say are very sentimental gentle wind …” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/18 "2007-11-02T10:53:25Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] Did you watch tonight’s episode of _My Name Is Earl_? Tim Stack drunkenly sang a bit of it at the strip club. [/QUOTE] No – did he really? Yikes – esp. since I’d posted the OP about four hours before that aired… **cue “Twilight Zone” music** **which eerily segues into “Surrey with the Fringe on Top”** :eek: ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/19 "2007-11-02T10:53:39Z")
Me? I have two songs that will push _anything_ out of my head. Sadly, then they get stuck. A: Powerhouse, Raymond Scott… B: Tetris theme. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918/20 "2007-11-02T14:27:14Z")
Recently there was a thread in GQ about why the Catholic Church is called “she”. I forget the exact title, but it was the kind of thing which made me mentally roll my eyes and think the Church has always been female–don’t you recall "The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ _her_ Lord . . . " I refrained–though I was happy when I later read the thread and discovered that someone had quoted that song as a supplemental answer to the question. But every single time I read that thread title, that song would run through my brain and get stuck for a while. I think it’s finally come out. But typing this post may have been a mistake. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top-get-stuck-in-my-head/424918.md?page=2)