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'Earworms' & Stuck-Tune Syndrome

Stormkhan said:
One recurrent 'ear worm' for me, is one line from Born Free with alternative lyrics:
"Born free ... until the law caught me."
(Many thanks, Norman Stanley Fletcher!)
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Ack! That's one that I absolutely hate. And I am now trying NOT to think of it. I haven't have that one in many years.
 
Yesterday, I attended the memorial service for a friend who died a couple of months ago. After the service concluded, we all went outside to watch as his closer friends and family sprinkled some of his ashes on the cricket field where he had often played.

The container for the ashes was a rather plastic-y looking tube. After all the ashes had been sprinkled, as we all trudged back to the hall to get our tea and sarnies, I quietly observed to a friend that for some reason I suddenly had the (slightly insane) Shake'n'Vac song from the tv ad in the early 80s ringing in my ears.

Since then, the same bloody jingle has been going through my head pretty much non-stop. It is very, very annoying. I even woke up with it jangling away between my ears. Sleep hadn't killed off the worm.

I think I will have to break out my Abba Gold CD and play that as a matter of urgency. If those catchy tunes can't shift it, nothing will.
 
Meechyemoo said:
It turns into the kaiser chiefs, everyday I love you less and less.
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That Kaiser Chiefs song 'I predict a riot' has always got on my nerves. There's two sylables in the word predict and just singing that single word "predict" a bit faster isn't fooling anyone. Except for fans of Oasis and Blur in pubs.
 
I like the Kaiser Chiefs music, though none of it - for me - is earworm territory.
This latest Minogue production sounds like an absolutely intended ear worm ... which might spark discussion over artistic integrity, going back to the heady (and cheap) days of Crazy Frog!
 
CharmerKamelion said:
Yesterday, I attended the memorial service for a friend who died a couple of months ago. After the service concluded, we all went outside to watch as his closer friends and family sprinkled some of his ashes on the cricket field where he had often played.

The container for the ashes was a rather plastic-y looking tube. After all the ashes had been sprinkled, as we all trudged back to the hall to get our tea and sarnies, I quietly observed to a friend that for some reason I suddenly had the (slightly insane) Shake'n'Vac song from the tv ad in the early 80s ringing in my ears.

Since then, the same bloody jingle has been going through my head pretty much non-stop. It is very, very annoying. I even woke up with it jangling away between my ears. Sleep hadn't killed off the worm.

I think I will have to break out my Abba Gold CD and play that as a matter of urgency. If those catchy tunes can't shift it, nothing will.
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I refer you to the cure that seems relatively effective to me:

AnonyJ said:
I occasionally get plagued by an incessant earworm to the point where I might feel a tad nuttery - I found a good cure!
This, listened to a few times:
Of course you'll then be plagued by ba-da-DUM-ba-da-dum-ba-da-DUM-ba-da-dum but at least it's a much heavier and cooler earworm to have :)
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Some-one or something put this in my head and I would be grateful if it could be removed now please.

The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one ...
But still, they come!
 
Bad Bungle said:
Some-one or something put this in my head and I would be grateful if it could be removed now please.

The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one ...
But still, they come!
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“DUNN-DUNN- DAAAAA-DUNN-DUNN-DAAAAA, DIDL’UP-DIDL’UP!”
 
My earworm for the last two days has been Billy Idol's 'Dancing by Myself'. I've no idea why because I've had company and I haven't heard that tune for ages. The Mrs has got an ALEXA so I'm listening to it now to get it out my system. It's still a cracking tune though IMO.

edit: I think I've worked it out: the Mrs's boss has a good sense of humour, he told me a few years back about how he was once the only lad who couldn't get a girl to dance with him at a school disco so he'd decided to dance with a chair instead. This is why I like her boss. She's been talking about work so I think that might be what reminded me of that song.
 
It's weird where earworms come from!

I've had The Beatles's 'Hello, Goodbye' for about 3 weeks and I have no idea where it came from, it was just there when I woke up one morning.

I'm also EXTREMELY sick of it, but unfortunately none of the methods people use to get rid of earworms seem to work for me. If I listen to something else, I just end up with both songs going on, which is worse TBH :(
 
Peripart said:
It's funny how electronic beeps can do that. If we leave our fridge door open, it gives out a two-note ping which sounds exactly like the start of one of the themes from Jackson's LOTR.
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Our newish washing machine plays a scrap of Guns'n'Roses' Sweet Child of Mine when it's finished. :chuckle:
 
This interesting and relevant BBC radio programme has been mentioned more than once and it's still available. :nods:

Earworms

Earworms are those nagging songs you find yourself humming on the bus.
In this programme, music presenter Shaun Keaveny meets fellow sufferers and scientists to find out why songs get stuck in our head. He asks songwriter Guy Garvey from Elbow how to write a catchy tune and discovers the Holy Grail of musicians everywhere - the 'earworm formula'.
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For the past three years on his 6 Music breakfast show, Shaun has been asking listeners to send in their earworms. When psychologist Dr Lauren Stewart found out, she was fascinated by this strange mental phenomenon.

Together they've compiled the largest study on earworms to date, with over 10,000 reports from people around the world.

Lauren and her team at Goldsmiths have found that some people are particularly susceptible to earworms. Plus they are starting to discover that certain songs are more 'earwormy' than others.

So is there a secret formula behind the world's catchiest tunes?
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Recently a colleague told me about a spat they'd had at work, which concluded with the other party shouting You can't tell me what to do! You're not my boss!

Like this,

which I was of course humming all afternoon. :chuckle:
 
pb0311 said:
Why on earth do I have International Rescue by Fuzzbox playing on a loop in my head? Just the chorus, mind you....
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Hmmm. Interesting. I sometimes have minor earworm issues with the chorus of 'Pink Sunshine' by the same band. It hasn't happened for a while.... but I now suspect it has just been triggered again....'when it's good it's wicked at the same time....' .... aaaand there it is.
 
pb0311 said:
Why on earth do I have International Rescue by Fuzzbox playing on a loop in my head? Just the chorus, mind you....
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caaling CAAL-LING international rescue! .. me and some mates got into a friendly food fight with 'the barking brummie bitches' (that's what they called themselves at the time) one day. They were ace fun. :) We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Going To Use It. This is back when they were good instead ..

 
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