Ever get a song caught in your head? I asked this question of some friends plus the one spouse I have here at home, and found this is a universal experience.
It’s also universally annoying.
The way it works for me is, a small portion of a song (what we used to call the hook when I was in radio) repeats and repeats and repeats. There’s no rhyme or reason or trigger that I can think of. It just happens.
Yesterday it was Gary Lewis and the Playboy’s immortal “Sure Gonna Miss Her.” All I got was the first seven seconds – the bridge to vocal. There’s a very nice Spanish guitar riff played twice in this little segment. That’s not enough to be a mitigating factor.
I’d like to know why this happens, but I wouldn’t even know how to get Google to spit out the truth. What do you search for?
Maybe more importantly, can it be stopped?
I’ve read up a bit on this before, heres a couple articles you might be interested to read:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4332771.stm
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/4855
I find the best way to stop the song is to actually listen to it!
Thanks. I really didn’t know where to start.
My favorite quote from the BBC – “Researchers have previously argued that catchy songs work by causing a “brain itch” that can only be scratched by repeating the tune.”
So, I have a Gary Lewis brain itch. My life is now complete!
Earworm! Here are a couple of songs that are guaranteed to get stuck in my head when I hear them. Proceed with caution.
My remedy has always been to listen to just 5 or 10 seconds of a song that I LIKE, then turn it off. Usually the new song will replace the old one. If I’m going to have a song bouncing around in my head, at least it’ll be one that I like.
That happens to me at least once a day! Usually it’s the chorus that gets stuck in my head.
I find that listening to the song usually does it for me. Of course it’s kind of torturous when something gets stuck in your head at the beginning of a work shift and you have to wait until 11 to go out to your car and find it on your iPod and crank it on the way home.