Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Music

Journal heliocentric's Journal: Help with earworms. (to start them, not to end them) 35

Journal by heliocentric

Warning, this JE contains titles of songs that may get stuck in your head and may cause great agony for all those who interact with you and your constant singing of the tunes.

An earworm is a tune/song that get stuck in your head and you find yourself forever humming it in the shower and running in pain to escape from its torment.

I'm sure we all have our evil nemeses lurking... lurking... just waiting to pounce and stay in your head for AGES. I know I have mine (Fiona Apple - Paper Bag lasted for quite a while with me, as has 19-2000 from Gorillaz), but there are definitely some generally "popular" ones. The Lion Sleeps Tonight, perhaps?

I've been told that sometimes earworms stem from songs you hear parts of that you would never be caught dead choosing to listen to. For me, an example of this would be Shine Jesus Shine. The sight of me singing Shine Jesus Shine is like seeing the Pope launch into Dig by Mudvayne.

A little googling and I can find some so-called researched top-ten lists, which include some interesting candidates (like that Chlli's Baby Back Ribs theme), but I am asking what are your earworms? Post as AC if you are so truly ashamed of what gets stuck in your head.

The reason I ask is that at a local train group meeting a few months back I had the Mahna Mahna song stuck in my head and through my constant singing of it I got the entire crew hooked. It is to the point that if I hop on one of our radios and just utter "Mahna Mahna" I am responded with a chorus of "Do doo be-do-do" and the follow-up "STOP THAT!"

For our next rendezvous I would like to have a CD to play filled with similarly torturous tunes. I know several in the group are fans of The Prisoner and I plan to have the theme as a track.

I've also dusted off some old commercial tunes and I've included that really nasty Alka-Seltzer jingle "Plop plop fizz fizz."

Given the recent death of Jame Rich I figured Yakety Sax (Boots Randolph is still alive) would be a good number to include, as it may be a good song to play having trains running all over the place ala Benny Hill. Then I was hit with an idea: getaway music! Thus, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Breakdown is also on my list.

My problem is I could list dozens of songs I have had stuck in my head (Tainted Love) over just this past year and I know I am unique (Longest Path cover of Longest Time) for so many that I feel I would be a poor person to judge the earwormedness of a tune.

Thus, I'm also open to suggestions for songs to play whilst some old men play with trains, but I'm hoping to torture the guys as well.

...

That is torture them with more than with just my presence.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Help with earworms. (to start them, not to end them) More

Help with earworms. (to start them, not to end them)

Comments Filter:
  • Just readint eh first couple of paragraphs of this JE was enough to put this song in my head! Arrrggghhhh!!! Make the pain stop!!!!

    Sometimes "fad" songs can have a similar effect on me. The Ketchup Song, Hey Baby, and so on. I remember one night, on my way out the the club I somehow got The Ketchup Song going round and round in my head. The half hour trip into the city was spent trying to fight this evil scourge and I finally succeeded about five minutes before I got to the club. What song do you think the
  • I was singing "Big Pimpin'" all day in my head. I couldn't stop it. And I haven't heard that song in forever.
  • *waits*
  • i find that every song has a cancellation song. THere are certain songs that can't coexist peacefully. For example, for me, 'the sun will come out tomorrow,' gets cancelled out by, 'Mr. Grinch.'

    Nik Kershaw's 'Die Laughing,' is a particular persistent one for me that i'm not entirely thrilled with, particularly as i haven't found an antidote yet. 'Puttin' on the Ritz' is a pretty bad one, too. tThe '80s pretty much specialised in earworms... there's more, as i think of 'em, i'll come back & let you kn

    • Would the cancellation song is also have to be an earworm to completely neutralize the effects of the initial earworm?

      • that's exactly it, really...
        • so how you would you go about beridding yourself of any earworm? finding the elusive cancellation song that won't get stuck?

          Could white noise be the ultimate cancellation?
          • Yes, that, or find the song that's stuck in your head, listen to it several times start to finish. It's much more likely a song will get stuck if you only hear part of it. Preferably, listen to it in a compilation where the song you don't want stuck fades into songs that you DO like, that don't get stuck easily. Tight now i've a tom lehrer song stuck in my head (one man takes the credit, one man takes the blame/ and nicolai yvonovich Dovochevski is his name) i may have that lyric wrong, in fact i'm fairly c

          • Re:yes (Score:2)

            by TPFH ( 92944 )
            so how you would you go about beridding yourself of any earworm? finding the elusive cancellation song that won't get stuck?

            What I do is think of an earworm song that doesn't bug me that much. I like Chumbawamba, and since they satirize pop music many of their songs are earworms. After I get one of their songs stuck in my head I can just ignore it and it goes away.

            Could white noise be the ultimate cancellation?

            I listen to a lot of Ambient music like Dead Voices on Air and Zoviet France. I've found
  • ... is a great one. Drives yourself bananas, and will drive other people batty.

    Though probably not useful in the environment that you are thinking of using it in.

    Used to hum the tune for that walking through a room filled with computer techs. I would then wait to see how long it took before at least one of them would start humming to themselves.

    The trouble is, once the damn thing is in your head it is difficult to get out. Damned that Brain!

    They're Pinky and The Brain
    Yes, Pinky and The Brain
    One is a
  • If anyone could help me with the rest of this song I would love it. A Simpsons episode had Homer singing something to the effect of "Hey there ____ _____. Flying through the air so fancy free." This has been driving me nutts for weeks and keeps going through my head. A Kazza search for this clip has found me nothing. If you know what episode it was from or why Homer was singing it I'd love that too.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin

    Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
    My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
    Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
    So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

    Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ?
    Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
    I wait for delivery each day until three,
    So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ?

    Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ?
    I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down.
    Prove that you lov
  • seeing as how you brought up "tainted love" 80's pop songs tend to have released any concept of artistic content for sheer pop hook content. "
    Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind! Hey mickey!" Is a popular one. I find myself getting "Keep feeling Fascination" stuck in my head, esp with that annoying ass keyboard line in the beginning. And that song sucks. Berlin's "Sex (I'm a)" is a fucking kyck-asse song, and also very very funny, and catchy cuz all that guy says is "I'm a man!"
  • FEELING GROOVY! I fucking HATE that song! Thats a good one...

    I was inspired by the "Georgie Girl"/"blimpy boy" simpsons post.

  • I generally like my earworms. Here's a list of the largest offenders -- my brain is going to be so confused as to which one it should pick.
    • Tainted Love - Soft Cell Remeber when that had that commercial with the ER and the doctors singing? That rocked.
    • The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Tokens Wimo-weh a wimo-weh!
    • I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones This has got to be a work thing -- 'cause I really do just wanna be sedated.

    And finally, by far the worst offender. The one that popped in my head right away..

  • (Kylie Minogue)
    lalalala lalalalala lalala...

    Mostly, whatever I've heard lately becomes an earworm. It drives me nuts, because it's usually the bits of songs that I barely know the words to... sigh,
    • that's a badass tune. Pure pop perfection.
    • That's one that kept going through my head when it was released.

      Gotta love Kylie! ;-)

      It drives me nuts, because it's usually the bits of songs that I barely know the words to... sigh,

      That's where "earworms" really get annoying. "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" is the biggest killer for me - I really only know that phrase, but the tune (well, the chorus) just keeps going round and round in my head til I go insane!!! I have no idea what the rest of the words are, so it just goes "Sunshine, Lollipops an
  • I don't really have staple songs tht get stuck in my head, but currently Joss Stone's [jossstone.com] cover of Fell in Love With a Boy/Girl keeps getting stuck in my head.

    I guess it's just because I listen to so much music.
  • ...crawl in through the ear canal, right to the brain, where they feed and grow, eventually causing suggestibility, madness, and then death...and other hits from the same album.

    Sorry, you say "earworms" and I immediately think of Ceti Eels, thanks a lot.

    My nominees for stickiest songs would be "Substitute" by The Who (which is so bad I actually had to go and look up the lyrics because I don't have it on CD), "Two Princes" by The Spin Doctors, "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega (listen to that one a few times
    • "Tom's Diner" is my #1 choice. Anytime I have another song in my head, a friend of mine starts humming it and it knocks everything else right out. I have never found anything that would get rid of that one.

      However, I have to disagree with you on "Substitute" by The Who (my fave band, btw). I love that song, but then again I love all their songs. So, perhaps I am a bit prejudiced...

      • Hey, I didn't say I didn't like the song (I do, actually), I just said that it's incredibly sticky and gets caught in my head at a moment's notice (or less). However, I will admit that many of the songs that get stuck in my head are ones I don't like.

        Right now at this very moment it's "Don't Bring Me Down" by ELO, which is YA sticky song for which I don't know the words, so I'm stuck with the verse rhythm template, the chorus, and the bridge. Sigh...
  • Is to have Tiny Dancer by Elton John going through your head for about 3 weeks.
    ARRGH there it goes again.

    Nothing will root it out.
    Not Tricky by Run DMC
    Not that Meow Meow Meow commercial.
    Not Anything.

    • Hooold me closer blackey 'neto
      Count the headlights on the hiiighway
      Lay me down in slash of doten
      you had a busy day today

      Kidding aside, try some of the other songs listed in this JE to try and get that one out of your head. I know I've had it stuck in mine in the past and I've freed it with Paper Bag.

      Could be worse, could be that Holy Night song from a previous JE of mine.
    • Tiny Dancer is my current favourite song. It;s a cool song to have stuck in your head. ;-)

      Then again, I mgiht be biased somewhat due to what that song makes me think of... ;-)
  • Radio advertisments are often the worst. The one that kept irritatingly sticking with me forced me to switch from Manx Radio to BBC Radio 4 (no ads) on my morning drive was the ad for Barry Curran Motors.

    'For cars of superior quality,
    Barry Curran Motors of Ramsey'
    (blurb of advertisment)
    Barry Curran Motors of Raaahhhmseey
    On Eight One Seven, Oh Five Oh!!!!'

    Aaaarrrrggh.
    That and Robinson's rather b0rked advertisment which is advertising (in a song) fine fruit and fine veg, but sounds more like "Fried fruit, f
  • The Bandaid song from the ads. I've "trained" the woman in the office next to me to the extent that she can't have a passing thought of me without getting "I am stuck on Bandaids 'cause Bandaids stuck on me" running through her head over and over.
  • I found out just recently that Soft Cell was not the original version of Tainted Love.

    The first recording was back in the 60s by a woman named Gloria Jones. [allmusic.com]

    And anyone interested in this song should check out the very slow version performed by Coil [brainwashed.com] which uses sounds like big bells for the main mellody and um.... just look it up on KaZaA or something.

    I never thought of this song as an earworm, but maybe because it never bugged me to get it stuck in my head.

Slashdot Top Deals

White dwarf seeks red giant for binary relationship.

Close