# song stuck in my head . . . why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949 "2001-11-29T16:48:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/1 "2001-11-29T16:48:44Z")
For some reason, “Hey Hey We’re the Monkees” has been going around and around in my head almost since I woke up this morning? I haven’t heard the song recently. Why do songs get stuck in peoples’ heads? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/2 "2001-11-29T17:35:51Z")
I don’t know why it happens either, but it’s so prevalent that the Germans actually have a word for this: “Ein Ohrwurm” - an ear worm. [http://www.der-ohrwurm.de/](http://www.der-ohrwurm.de/) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/3 "2001-11-29T17:59:54Z")
I find that the song that figures most predominantly in my morning is what gets stuck in my head for the day - could be from a dream, from the radio/TV; heck, right now I have Aretha’s “Respect” in my head (can’t really complain about that, eh?) because one of the first things I did this morning is check the SDMB and there was a question about the song in Cafe Society. I go out of my way to make sure that a good song is “programmed” in my brain - so if I hear an annoying one, I try to override it. WAG, but I assume it has to do with some form of “cache” memory in our brains. There is room in that cache for music and whatever is left in there that has the most prominence is what sticks out. Whenever our brains then scroll through the cache, they say “so, is ‘the Monkees’ song still the music in there?” the answer is yes until something knocks it out… Okay - it’s just a WAG, but it makes sense to my limited intellect… ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/4 "2001-11-29T19:19:03Z")
It could be a lot worse, **KnightedVorpalSword**!! About half the country has that damn “If I had a Million Dollars” corroding their brains!!! By the way: I love your name. You do D&D? ---
**Author:** ![Jimbrowski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@Jimbrowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimbrowski)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/5 "2001-11-29T20:33:00Z")
The common name for this phenomenon (in my circle, anyway) is “The Song of the Day”. Same idea… a tune you can’t get out of your head. Today’s Song of the Day for me: “In These Shoes” by Kirsty MacColl, courtesy of WFUV. Check her out. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bibliophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophile)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/6 "2001-11-30T03:23:25Z")
and why is it that i never ever get a good song stuck in my head. it’s always something that makes me nuts. i’ll give you an example, my sister has a five-year-old, and after visiting them, i could not get the goddamn barney song out of my head! what i want to know, wordman, is how do you “program” a good song into your head? i’d really appreciate it because if i can’t get rid of barney, i may have to put myself out of my misery ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/7 "2001-11-30T03:45:47Z")
The following is excerpted from a [recent article](http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-100701tunes.story) in the LA Times. You can search on the “stuck tune syndrome” (what a U. of Cincinnati researcher calls it) and hit a ton of similar articles, which means that a wire service recently picked up on this. > [@](#): > > One possibility is excessive repetitiveness. Although all songs contain repetitious elements, some rely on the technique so heavily that they might cause the brain to echo the pattern automatically, Kellaris suggests. Examples: “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and the theme from “Mission: Impossible.” > > A related factor is musical simplicity. “Children’s songs seem more prone to get stuck than complicated material, such as a Bach fugue,” Kellaris says. “Perhaps the ease with which a tune can be reconstructed” increases its adhesiveness. > > Greg Scelsa of Lancaster, who composes and performs children’s music for the duo Greg & Steve, acknowledges that simplicity and repetition are key ingredients for making children’s songs memorable. The answer is that no one really knows yet, there are some theories, and researchers are studying the phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/8 "2001-11-30T03:54:11Z")
**Knighted Vorpal Sword** , I’d like to commend you for your wonderful act of kindness. Now “Hey Hey We’re the Monkees” is in constant rotation in my head. You, you…you BASTARD! -clutches head and lurches away screaming- ---
**Author:** ![PollackPaul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@PollackPaul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PollackPaul)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/9 "2001-11-30T05:42:29Z")
Three words Zoom Zoom Zoom… ---
**Author:** ![ChronosGF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@ChronosGF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChronosGF)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/10 "2001-11-30T06:05:18Z")
I personally dont listen to music very much at all, wether it be in the car or on the computer or whatever. So I guess it makes sense that I dont really have a problem with this. Whenever my friend picked me up for school (back when I was in high school) the song that was playing on the radio was usually stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I dunno how much exposure matters. Just my two cents. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/11 "2001-11-30T07:04:06Z")
Ah yes, I started a thread on this, quite a while ago: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=72256](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=72256) I heard it was called “musicolalia” but I’ve never seen that term used since I first encountered it. ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-stuck-in-my-head-why/95949/12 "2001-11-30T14:38:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gorgon Heap \* > \*\*By the way: I love your name. You do D&D? \*\* No, D&D is not on my list . . . by my favorite book of all time is _The Annotated Alice_, which may explain a few things. **What?** You’ve never read _The Annotated Alice_? Get thee to a bookstore and peruse a copy!