Yesterday on All Things Considered, their film critic (forget his name) reviewed the new Phantom of the Opera movie. He described the songs as “earworms,” meaning they burrow into your head and get stuck there, which is OK if you like Weber’s music but not so great if you don’t. Maybe this term has been in circulation for a while but it’s the first time I heard it. I must admit, after the first time I saw A Clockwork Orange, I had “Singing in the Rain” playing in my head for two days. What songs have been “earworms” to you? And was the experience enjoyable or maddening?
The Tokens, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
It’s stuck there now, and all I did was type the name of the song.
The classics are of course, the Smurf theme and the Oompa Loompa song.
Currently however, it’s a battle between “The Man they call Jayne”, from an episode ofFirefly (curse your black heart Joss Whedon!) and “Touched” by Vast (wailing singing + techno beats= stuck in my head for EVER).
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…
Coast to Coast by Elliot Smith and Wilco’s Passenger Side. It’s a good thing I like these songs.
I second Rufus Xavier: “It’s A Small World” is THE champion of them all.
My earworms are classical. In fact, there’s always something I like running through my head, but it doesn’t bother me.
One that stands out was the hunters’ chorus from “Der Freischutz” which our group was doing. A couple of people outside the group complained because I was always humming, whistling or singing it softly.
A more recent one was Joan Sutherland’s performance of “Let The Bright Seraphim”. In the earlier part of my life I just didn’t care for her style. I had heard hersing that before but it just didn’t register. However, a couple of years ago I suddenly realized my tastes had changed and I really liked her voice. I bought a CD with that aria on it. It was incredible! In the first few days I would play it multiple times in a row multiple times a day, and it was running through my head almost continuously (I live alone).
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring banana phone!
*Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it with dew
Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two
The Candy Man
The Candy Man
Oh the Candy Man can
Oh the Candy Man can
The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love
And makes the world taste good*
The Song that has no End from Sharri Lewis’ Lambchop.
Lots of kids songs are sticky, my wife had *the itsy bitsy spider * in her head the other day.
That damned Tom’s Diner song by Suzanne Vega.
Signs (the Tesla version is the one I hear most often)
And a zillion others - basically any song that I don’t hear the end of.
Quick fact: this concept, and compound word, comes from the German Ohrwurm.
For me it’s f*cking Karma Chameleon by Culture Club. Though this is useful for driving out other Ohrwurmen.
Der Lindenbaum by [cant remember, Schubert?]
Michaeleska by Wolgemut
Banana Phone by Raffi
Elvis Sunday by the little known band Splashdown
Achey Breaky Heart.
Okay, not really. I just want it to get stuck in someone’s head. Merry Christmas!
Billy Boola by Gavin Friday and fucking Bono. One of my sister/roomate’s favorite songs so I get to hear it quite often.
Dragostea Din Tei
Recently?
Hal Blain’s opening drumbeat to The Ronette’s “Be My Baby”
The Four Tops’ “Standing in the Shadows of Love”
Rammstein’s “Engel”
Slipknot’s “Wait and Bleed”
Tool’s “Hooker with a Penis” and “Eulogy”
I’m lucky…I only get songs stuck that I like, and that I own, so I can go listen to them and get them out. And, no, there is NOTHING odd about any list that puts Slipknot and the Four Tops together.
Hymns. Especially if you’ve since left that religion. You wake up and BAM!!! it’s there, with no stimulus or anything.