Cecil is working on a column on earworms, which are repetitive tunes, advertising jingles, melodies, or songs which get “stuck in your head”, and he has asked me to do a poll to survey the Straight Dope Message Board on the subject.
We both admit in advance that this is an entirely unscientific poll, so criticism of it should be posted elsewhere.
We thought we would run the poll for about a week, then call it good and tally results. There are a few simple questions that we would like to ask - I wanted to ask more, but Cecil wanted to keep it simple and to the point. We ask that if you are able to respond that you try to answer each question to the best of your ability. Fair notice: I cannot promise that Cecil will use the results in his column, since I don’t know what the results will be and I don’t speak for him, but we both are genuinely interested, and we’ll see.
And hopefully talking about earworms won’t create any new ones in folks…
How frequently are you afflicted by the phenomenon of songs being stuck in your head, a.k.a. “earworms?” (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, Longer, or Never)
If the answer to Question 1 is “Longer” or “Never”, then you can skip the next questions.
What three songs, tunes, jingles, or melodies have most recently (say, within the last year) been stuck in your head as an earworm? If you have more than three, feel free to list them. If possible, please name the artists.
What strategies have you successfully used to rid yourself of earworms?
There is never not a song stuck in my head, unless I am currently listening to music.
I don’t even know where to begin. This morning the song “Remember” by Vivian Vee was going through my head while I was on a walk. I don’t remember what my earworm was before that because I get them so frequently that they are inconsequential to me. Sometimes I will find myself making up a little melody to the rhythm of my steps or in tune with the hum of machinery, and that little melody will get stuck in my head.
2.[ul][li]Sailing, Sailing, Over The Bounding Main. Usually happens right after I wake up and am standing groggily in the shower. Except I don’t know the works, so I think 'Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main/Shiver me timbers, walk me plank/‘Til Puff roars out his name!’ (Hey, I’m weird when I’m groggy.)[/li][li]I Dream Of Jeannie theme. It’s a bit of samba elevator music when I’m bored.[/li][li]Varies. Any number of songs will come to mind and get stuck there, depending upon the situation.[/ul][/li]
3. They usually go away on their own. Another song will play on the radio or iPod, I’ll become engrossed in a news story, I’ll need to concentrate on a task, or I’ll otherwise be distracted.
Peaches, Presidents of the USA; Under Pressure, Queen/David Bowie; I’m Sailing Away, Styx.
Well, thinking of another earwormy song usually works, although I’m not sure I’d call that a success. I can dislodge almost any earworm by humming a few bars of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana”, but I consider that the nuclear option and only resort to it when absolutely desperate. Usually I just put up with the earworm. It’ll get replaced by something else, eventually.
All the Single Ladies, Beyonce
It’s a Small World, Some Evil Bastard
Perfect, Doria Roberts
Unfortunately, many times the only way to get rid of an existing earworm is to replace it with another one. Otherwise, time is the only thing that works.
I pretty much live with earworms all the time, so put me in the daily category. Sometimes I’ll have two earworms that alternate or segue into one another, though I can’t recall any specific titles at the moment. That’s the thing with my earworms; once they’ve run their course, they’re usually forgotten until they creep in again.
For the last week or two I’ve been “listening” to Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al pretty much my every concious moment. Elton John’s Rocketman and the theme to the PBS series Lovejoy have been a couple other recent ones.
I usually don’t try to get rid of earworms unless I really don’t care for the song lodged in my head and am just sick and tired of it. Someone on the Dope mentioned that singing The Star-Spangled Banner the moment you notice an earworm will stop it. That worked briefly a time or two but, for me, it seems easier to just let it run its course.
Maybe putting on some headphones and blasting in some heavy metal would help drive the earworms away?
“Running on Empty,” by Jackson Browne; “Live Like You Were Dying,” by Tim McGraw; “Carlene,” by Phil Vassar; “Luck Be A Lady” from Guys and Dolls; “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses),” by John Fred and his Playboy Band; “Telstar,” by the Tornadoes… My tastes run to everything, and I guess my earworms reflect that.
I don’t really make an effort to get rid of them (I don’t really mind them), but I’ve found that they will go away if I immerse myself in an activity of some sort–for example, reading a book, concentrating on TV or a computer game, or doing a puzzle. Or being at work; I have to concentrate on what I’m doing there.
A Finger of Fudge
Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
Family Guy theme
The Doctor Who theme.
Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In - The Pebbles & Bamm Bamm version has been replaced in my head by the Frente! one.
I Am Fucking Brilliant - self penned. Well, I say penned, but while the theme remains constant, the lyrics and tune often change between renditions. The latest version was to the tune of Dambusters and involved my being fucking brilliant at washing dishes. Close (To the Edit) - Art of Noise. Specifically, the bit between 0:47 to 1:07.
The Art of Noise one is only there when I’m out walking, so that’s easy to get rid of, and the Fudge jingle only pops up if I see or buy the product. The rest (and other various songs, jingles or tunes) just wander in and out at random.
Almost daily. It seems to be worse if I use my clock radio to wake up. I remember I’d annoy my little brother when I was young by changing the channel on his clock radio to a country and western station; he’d then catch himself humming “The Gambler” or something over breakfast.
John Brown’s Body / Battle Hymn of the Republic / Solidarity Forever (all are based on the same piece of music); Mah Nà Mah Nà; the theme to Inspector Gadget.
I’ve found that the only sure-fire way to get rid of an earworm is to start humming the theme to Inspector Gadget. It is the H-bomb of earworms, and will instantly knock anything else from my head. Unfortunately, I have never found a way of successfully removing the theme to Inspector Gadget from my head.
(2) If I try to remember them, clearly they will be promoted to current earworms instead of historical ones. We don’t want that. However, my latest earworm, which has been running nonstop through my brain for the past thirty minutes, is Moments in Love (Art of Noise). This has been caused by reading about Kal’s experiences with Close (To the Edit) by the same band.
(3) Listening to another tune by the same band, but one which I don’t like that much. Close (To the Edit) should do it in this case.
I have periods (like now) where I am awoken by earworms every day at 4am for weeks on end (5 weeks so far). Then periods that are worm-free.
a. Freed from Desire, by Gala (this is particularly annoying because I can’t remember the real words and so my brain screams nonsense like “my intenses purified” (should be “mind and senses unified”)
b. She Wolf by Shakira (Aaah-oooh!)
c. Evacuate the Dance Floor by Cascada.
These songs represent the music I have been listening to recently.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I beg of you, please tell me how! Although, come to think of it, switching music genres does help; listening to broadway tunes for a day or two can give some relief.
How frequently are you afflicted by the phenomenon of songs being stuck in your head, a.k.a. “earworms?”
at least a couple times a week for a day or so
What three songs, tunes, jingles, or melodies have most recently (say, within the last year) been stuck in your head as an earworm? If you have more than three, feel free to list them. If possible, please name the artists.
-Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash)
-stuff from children’s programming (Calliou, Rainbow Valley Fire Department) (terrible stuff)
as an aside, my brother seems to have “Somebody’s Watching Me” (Jackson/Rockwell, now Geico commercial) stuck in his head, and he sings it…often getting it stuck in my head
What strategies have you successfully used to rid yourself of earworms?
strategies FOR MYSELF vary in success (sing it ALL the way through, or get something else stuck in your head) For OTHERS complaining of earworms I always tell them I can get rid of it…then sing “The Lonely Goatherd” from the Sound of Music (Yodel-ay-yee Yodel-ay-yee Yodel-lay HEE HOO) with gusto…it seems to work
Sk8r Boi, Avril Levigne
It’s a small world, eponymous Disney ride
listen to some other form of music, or select a new or less annoying earworm. Listening to the entire song from which the earworm segment is derived can also provide closure and resolution.
How frequently are you afflicted by the phenomenon of songs being stuck in your head, a.k.a. “earworms?” (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, Longer, or Never) Daily.
What three songs, tunes, jingles, or melodies have most recently (say, within the last year) been stuck in your head as an earworm? If you have more than three, feel free to list them. If possible, please name the artists. The theme from Bridge Over the River Kwai - Mitch Miller & His Orchestra A Kiss To Build A Dream On - Louis Armstrong* Hit Me Baby One More Time - Britney Spears Theme from Airwolf - Sylvester Levay
What strategies have you successfully used to rid yourself of earworms? I’ll let you know if I find any. Usually I just give in and walk around whistling them until something comes along to replace them.
*this one has found its way into my ear with astonishing regularity thanks to Fallout 2.
Before I had a child, weekly. Now that my home is a Disneywonderland, daily!
Supercalifragilisticexealladocious (sp?), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Toot Sweets, Samba #5, Theme to Dr. Zhivago
Finding the full score or lyrics. Usually my head gets stuck at a point and can’t complete the song, so it repeats. Once I get it properly learned it goes away.
