# The opposite of "ear worms"--What songs make good "ear candy"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726 "2014-01-02T18:53:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/1 "2014-01-02T18:53:55Z")
You get a song stuck in your head, only it’s good. It’s great! You can listen to it a million times! You love having it in your head. I hereby dub it “ear candy.” I recently had a run of Don McLean’s “Vincent” in my brain. I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/2 "2014-01-02T22:19:55Z")
I suppose my current ear candy would be Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know.” I don’t seem to get tired of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/3 "2014-01-02T22:21:22Z")
Pretty much anything by Ke$ha for me. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/4 "2014-01-02T22:39:22Z")
Either of these Queen songs: _Fat Bottomed Girls Somebody to Love_ They’re so spectacular that I don’t mind if they get stuck in my head for days at a time. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/5 "2014-01-02T22:42:15Z")
> [@FrigidLizard](#): > > I suppose my current ear candy would be Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know.” I don’t seem to get tired of it. I’ve heard that song a hell of a lot, and I still like it too. My ear candy: “The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring” from _The Mikado_, and “The Drinking Song” by Moxy Fruvous. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/6 "2014-01-02T23:00:53Z")
Isn’t the entire _point_ of an “earworm” that it sticks in your head because it’s so enjoyable? Seems to me that the opposite of an earworm would be a song that’s completely generic and unmemorable. You know, like that one song by whatsisface. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/7 "2014-01-03T00:18:21Z")
“What does it take to win your love for me?” by Junior Walker and the All-Stars, or “Walk Away, Renee”, by the Left Bank. Beautiful songs that I just will never get tired of. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/8 "2014-01-03T05:05:02Z")
Several songs from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog have been going through my head for weeks now. Freeze Ray, and the one where “Billy” and Penny sing a duet (the title is something like My Eyes), not together but in parallel, about their differing views of where the world is going. ---
**Author:** ![Streetsinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Streetsinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Streetsinger)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/9 "2014-01-03T05:05:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Isn’t the entire _point_ of an “earworm” that it sticks in your head because it’s so enjoyable? > > Seems to me that the opposite of an earworm would be a song that’s completely generic and unmemorable. You know, like that one song by whatsisface. I think the point is more that it’s designed to stick in your head _even though you don’t want it there._ (My brother was recently involved in a production of OLIVER, and I would periodically text him “banana phone” just to give him a change of earworms.) I don’t know if this would count as ear candy, or if it’s too long, but after a spate of listening to it over and over, I hear the St. Matthew Passion every time I go to bed and try to turn my brain off. It keeps going until I fall asleep but I certainly don’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/10 "2014-01-03T05:09:55Z")
[Wall of Voodoo’s “Call of the West”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2T5W3dMt74). ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/11 "2014-01-03T06:03:50Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > You get a song stuck in your head, only it’s good. That is not the opposite of an earworm. That is a subgroup of earworms. The opposite of an earworm is a song you can’t think of even if you want to. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/12 "2014-01-03T14:02:57Z")
The Beatles’ \*Lady Madonna. \*Especially if I’m singing the bass part. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/13 "2014-01-03T15:10:14Z")
As soon as I read the OP the main riff from “The Mob Rules” jumped into my head. So awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/14 "2014-01-03T15:23:41Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > - > > Somebody to Love\* Yep! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/15 "2014-01-03T19:28:23Z")
Well, I was thinking about stopping into this thread to nominate [Breakfast Machine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyCDLW7n53A), from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. But now that I’ve had it in my head all day, I’m beginning to reconsider. Of course, I could easily dislodge it with [Powerhouse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plVfqsbyAVc)… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/16 "2014-01-03T23:50:47Z")
> [@](#): > > The opposite of “ear worms”–What songs make good “ear candy”? If you can figure this out, come to Nashville–there are people on Music Row that would like to drive a dump truck filled with money up to your back door… ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/17 "2014-01-12T03:02:34Z")
Well, this evening’s earworm/candy started out as The Everly Brothers’ “Cryin In The Rain”. Then it turned into “Cathy’s Clown.” I managed to draw the line at “Let It Be Me.” Thanks for the music, Phil. You are missed. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/18 "2014-01-12T22:12:23Z")
[Moondance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lFxGBB4UGU) by Van Morrison. When that gets stuck in my head, I hope it never gets out. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/19 "2014-01-13T15:37:46Z")
I’ve got Adam Sandler’s Hannukah song stuck in my head. It’s wonderful. All three versions!! ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726/20 "2014-01-14T14:18:22Z")
Most - hell, all - of [my favourite songs](http://thebestpoprocksongs.blogspot.nl/). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-ear-worms-what-songs-make-good-ear-candy/677726.md?page=2)