# If you had to pick one earworm to hear for the rest of your life **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604 "2018-03-15T15:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/1 "2018-03-15T15:07:53Z")
You are told that you are getting a permanent [“earworm”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm) that would be in the back of your mind when you are awake until the day you die…but _you_ get to pick the song. However, if you try for a work-around like John Cage’s silent work _4’33"_, I’ll pick the song for you. 😃 Remember: If you pick your favorite song, there’s a very good chance it will become your most hated song in a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/2 "2018-03-15T15:12:47Z")
“Live and Let Die.” A slow section, a fast section, a funky section, brass and strings, it’s got it all. You got to give the other fellow HELLLLLLLLLLL! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/3 "2018-03-15T15:17:49Z")
Am I allowed the Abbey Road medley? Probably not. I’ll go with \*\*Uncle Albert \*\*by Paul McCartney. Some variety to it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/4 "2018-03-15T15:19:01Z")
I’d go with both the Beatles, and variety: Revolution #9. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/5 "2018-03-15T15:21:11Z")
Full length _American Pie_. At 8:33, I won’t have to hear it as often. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/6 "2018-03-15T15:22:25Z")
Well, I know what I wouldn’t pick. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/7 "2018-03-15T15:25:21Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, I know what I wouldn’t pick. Would that be a certain dessert that randy high-school boys…nm. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/8 "2018-03-15T15:25:59Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, I know what I wouldn’t pick. Elaborate, please? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/9 "2018-03-15T17:09:14Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, I know what I wouldn’t pick. \*Rio \*by Duran Duran? I think I would pick _Baker Street_. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/10 "2018-03-15T17:27:21Z")
Fourth Movement of the Ninth Symphony by Beethoven (Ode to Joy), instrumental only, without the German shout-singing. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/11 "2018-03-15T17:29:31Z")
There are a number of album sides that are a single track: Yes “Close to the Edge”, Genesis “Suppers Ready”, Jethro Tull “Thick as a Brick”. All would make acceptable rest-of-your-life earworms. However, I think I will go with my current _actual_ earworm, “La Villa Strangiato” by Rush. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/12 "2018-03-15T17:31:25Z")
Dammit. You preempted 4’33" and songs of its ilk designed to get around the spirit of the question. I can probably survive [Neu!'s _Hallogallo_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zndpi8tNZyQ) as the background music to the rest of my life. (Note: this is an actual song I listen to with some frequency, not a throwaway answer, and it is earwormy to me.) ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/13 "2018-03-15T17:37:47Z")
Shameless cheating: _The Art of Fugue_ by Bach. Bonus: The big moment in it is famously unfinished, leaving me with a “what-if” to contemplate over and over. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/14 "2018-03-15T17:38:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Elaborate, please? I wouldn’t pick ‘Cherry Pie’ by Warrant. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/15 "2018-03-15T17:38:20Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Dammit. You preempted 4’33" and songs of its ilk designed to get around the spirit of the question. If you try to pull something like that, you could get “Music Box Dancer”, “This Is The Song That Never Ends”, the "[“Levan’s Polka” loop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faQSs6UBDok)…or worse. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/16 "2018-03-15T19:04:31Z")
Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto: 3rd Movement. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/17 "2018-03-15T19:10:35Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, I know what I wouldn’t pick. edited ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/18 "2018-03-15T19:19:54Z")
_Sleepwalk_ by Santo and Johnny ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/19 "2018-03-15T20:06:23Z")
_Tubular Bells_ by Mike Oldfield. It’s long enough not to get too boring on repeated listens. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604/20 "2018-03-15T20:12:10Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, I know what I wouldn’t pick. Obvious joke _too_ obvious… We have a poster here by the name of the piece I would choose: Mozart’s [K364](https://youtu.be/_0hTDZ0whpU), the Sinfonia Concertante. 1st movement, if I must. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-earworm-to-hear-for-the-rest-of-your-life/810604.md?page=2)