The other day I was whistling as I walked down a hallway on campus and a colleague of mine asked if I had an "earworm." "You know," he said, "a catchy song or jingle that's stuck in your otherwise empty head."
"Well, it happens to me all the time," I said.
I hate to admit it, but I think I was whistling "Muskrat Love," by The Captain and Tennelle. I must be a very, very, sick man -- with a very empty head.
"There's research on earworms, Bill! Yeah, lots of good science on what makes songs 'sticky,'" said my brainy pal. Sonic branding and audio logos, they call it---fancy talk for a 'jingle.'
Since, I've learned that marketing-types REALLY want to create earworms to help them sell their products---and the University of Cincinnati studies this stuff. (And I thought I've done bullshit research over the years. I'm kidding, it's actually pretty, pretty interesting, as Larry David would say.)
Check out there website: http://www.business.uc.edu/earworms/research
Anyway, what song is stuck in your head -- and why? And, perhaps, what is your theory why some songs become earworms? Or how to get rid of them!!
***Un-sticking your earworm? Here's The Captain and Tennelle's "Muskrat Love" video. I am a very, very sick man...I have idiopathic earworms and I'm hot for Toni Tennelle.
"My Babe", Little Walter version. I'm going to try to sing this at our next rehearsal. I haven't sung while playing for a very long. Simple little tune that I have always liked.
I wrote a song once that gets stuck in my friends heads sometimes. It's a really annoying swing number... 'In a little bit bit bit, you will have a fit fit fit/ and it won't be long long long/ before you got this stupid song song song/ stuck inside your head head head/ oh how you long for bed bed bed/ but it won't let let let/ let you down my love, I won't let you down/ let you down my love, I won't let you down' I don't have a recording handy or I'd torture you all more. It switches from swing to techno at 'let you down'. The U.N. has filed war crimes charges against me by the U.S. won't extradite me. Instead they've contacted me about using it at secret detention centers. The only thing that makes it worse is when I break into the trumpet solo on the trumpet I don't know how to play.
there is always background music in my head when other music is not going on. not sure if this is normal. in the middle of the night i wake up and the soundtrack is still going.
been working on a rip off of my babe.. so same tune in my head lots as jim
Oops - where's the embarrassment icon when you need one? I've just been tracking down this in YouTube for a friend, so I think it's safe to say it will be in my head for the rest of the day!
