Every time someone mentions the words “Mamma Mia”, it happens again: I can’t get the ABBA song out of my head. Mamma Mia, here we go again… sometimes it plays in my head over and over again, for hours and hours.
Probably everyone has their own experience of earworms. Sometimes they can be very uplifting, making you want to hum or dance to the tune. Other times, a recurring sticky tune can get on your nerves until you are desperately looking for a way to get rid of it. Read on to find out more about sticky music and its antidotes. By the way, be warned: This article contains a lot of earworm triggers!
1. Earworms can haunt you for weeks.
Several studies have shown that around nine out of ten people have an earworm once a week or more. Participants in the research reported catchy tunes that lasted minutes, hours or even weeks. A few even suffered for a year or more (although this is very rare). Despite their sometimes distressing nature, earworms can also have positive aspects. As they often occur when your mind is wandering, they indicate spontaneous brain activity, which makes you more creative and helps your brain to organize your thoughts. However, very excessive earworms that haunt you for a long time and affect your mood and mental health could be a case for your doctor. Occasionally, extreme cases can be a sign of a medical condition such as stroke, epilepsy or mental health problems.
2. Earworms are a subject of memory research.
Psychologists and neurologists have researched how and why earworms develop. Music could be the result of an evolutionary adaptation to memorize and process emotions as well as facts. So research on earworms – known in science as “stuck tune syndrome” or “musical imagery repetition” – could tell us more about how our memory and emotion processing works. As far as we know, learning information through music helps us to remember it better. We all know the situation when we hear a song and suddenly remember in great detail a particular occasion when we last heard the song – a beach party on our last summer holiday, for example. Earworms are likely to get stuck in your head when you are daydreaming, lost in thought, feeling nostalgic or just in a good mood. Because it is only a fragment of a song, the catchy tune plays on repeat in your mind: it is considered by your brain to be an unfinished task that needs to be completed.
3. Catchy songs have three characteristics in common.
A few years ago, a study by psychologists identified three reasons why some songs are more likely to become earworms than others. The first is pace: most catchy songs are characterized by an upbeat, easy-to-dance-to tempo and rhythm. Also important is how the melody is constructed. It should not be too complex, but it should contain a rhythmic pattern. Finally, some unique intervals should be added, little surprises that catch our attention.
4. Chewing gum helps to get rid of sticky music.
In order to stop the recurring “Mamma Mia” or other earworms from plaguing your mind, it is recommended to chew gum immediately after listening to the song – research has proven this effective. Chewing tricks our brain, or more precisely our acoustic short-term memory, by blocking one of its components.
Another antidote is to confront your brain with a challenging task, such as a difficult puzzle, in order to occupy your working memory.
Listening to the entire song to the end, at a different pitch or pace, or even singing it, could also help your mind to see this “unfinished task” as completed.
Some people reported that listening to a different “cure song” such as “Happy Birthday” brought them some relief.
5. “Bad Romance” is the number one earworm
Lady Gaga’s pop song ‘Bad Romance’ is the most common earworm, according to a study. The singer also has two other songs in the top 10. Regarding its title, it is needless to say that “Can’t get you out of my had” by Kylie Minogue deservedly comes second.
Earworms are a funny but scientifically fascinating phenomenon. I hope you have learnt something new about these sometimes annoying tunes – and I apologize for some potential earworm triggers in this article. But if you have read the whole text, you now know how to deal with them…
References:
- https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/your-brain-on-music/your-brain-on-music/your-brain-on-music-earworms/ – Sean McCollum, The Kennedy Center, 11/7/2019
- https://www.thomann.de/blog/en/8-fun-facts-about-the-mysterious-earworm/ – Lawrence, Thomann Blog,29/7/2018
- https://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/03/health/song-stuck-in-head-earworm-study/index.html – Meera Senthilingam, CNN health, 19/11/2017
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm – Wikipedia Community, accessed 22/3/2023
- https://www.today.com/health/study-shows-what-makes-song-earworm-t104651 – Meghan Holohan, TODAY, 30/10/2018
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-you-cant-get-a-song-out-of-your-head-and-what-to-do-about-it-2017100412490 – Srini Pillay (MD), Harvard Health Publishing, 4/10/2017
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/psychologists-identify-why-certain-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head/ – Ashley Welch, CBS News, 3/11/2016
- https://www.soundoflife.com/blogs/experiences/what-causes-earworms – Sound of Life, 8/12/2022