Earworm

{{Short description|Music or saying that sticks in the mind}} {{Other uses}} {{Distinguish|Earwig}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}

An '''earworm''' or '''brainworm''',<ref name="Musicophilia">{{cite book |last=Sacks |first=Oliver |author-link=Oliver Sacks |title=Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain |publisher=First Vintage Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4000-3353-9 |pages=41–48}}</ref> also described as '''sticky music''' or '''stuck song syndrome''',<ref name="theworld2">{{cite news |last1=Chatterjee |first1=Rhitu |date=2012-03-07 |title=Earworms: Why songs get stuck in our heads |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17105759 |work=BBC News |archive-date=March 3, 2023 |access-date=June 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303223132/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17105759 |url-status=live }}</ref> is a catchy or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person's mind even after it is no longer being played or spoken about.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxford Dictionaries: "earworm" |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/earworm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329182203/http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/earworm |archive-date=March 29, 2013 |access-date=July 4, 2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Halpern |first1=Andrea R. |last2=Bartlett |first2=James C. |date=2011-04-01 |title=The Persistence of Musical Memories: A Descriptive Study of Earworms |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/mp/article-abstract/28/4/425/62495/The-Persistence-of-Musical-Memories-A-Descriptive?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Music Perception |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=425–432 |doi=10.1525/mp.2011.28.4.425 |issn=0730-7829 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> '''Involuntary Musical Imagery''' ('''INMI''') is most common after earworms,<ref name="Jakubowski Finkel Stewart Müllensiefen 2017 pp. 122–1352">{{cite journal |last1=Jakubowski |first1=Kelly |last2=Finkel |first2=Sebastian |last3=Stewart |first3=Lauren |last4=Müllensiefen |first4=Daniel |year=2017 |title=Dissecting an earworm: Melodic features and song popularity predict involuntary musical imagery |url=https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/aca-aca0000090.pdf |journal=Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts |publisher=American Psychological Association (APA) |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=122–135 |doi=10.1037/aca0000090 |issn=1931-390X |archive-date=May 16, 2023 |access-date=October 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516201254/https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/aca-aca0000090.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=T. I. |year=2015 |title=The classification of involuntary musical imagery: The case for earworms |url=https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/40630/2/Classification%20of%20INMI%20revision%203%20-%20Centaur.pdf |journal=Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain |publisher=American Psychological Association |volume=15 |pages=5–13 |doi=10.1037/pmu0000082 |number=1 |archive-date=May 28, 2023 |access-date=April 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528220155/http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/40630/2/Classification%20of%20INMI%20revision%203%20-%20Centaur.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Williamson |first1=Victoria J. |last2=Jilka |first2=Sagar R. |last3=Fry |first3=Joshua |last4=Finkel |first4=Sebastian |last5=Müllensiefen |first5=Daniel |last6=Stewart |first6=Lauren |date=2011-09-27 |title=How do "earworms" start? Classifying the everyday circumstances of Involuntary Musical Imagery |journal=Psychology of Music |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=259–284 |doi=10.1177/0305735611418553 |s2cid=145466099}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Filippidi |first1=I. |last2=Timmers |first2=R. |year=2017 |title=Relationships between everyday music listening habits and involuntary musical imagery: Does music listening condition musical imagery? |journal=Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain |publisher=American Psychological Association |volume=27 |pages=312–326 |doi=10.1037/pmu0000194 |s2cid=149182669 |number=4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jakubowski |first1=Kelly |last2=Farrugia |first2=Nicolas |last3=Halpern |first3=Andrea R. |last4=Sankarpandi |first4=Sathish K. |last5=Stewart |first5=Lauren |date=2015-11-01 |title=The speed of our mental soundtracks: Tracking the tempo of involuntary musical imagery in everyday life |journal=Memory & Cognition |volume=43 |issue=8 |pages=1229–1242 |doi=10.3758/s13421-015-0531-5 |issn=1532-5946 |pmc=4624826 |pmid=26122757}}</ref> but INMI as a label is not solely restricted to earworms; musical hallucinations also fall into this category, although they are not the same thing.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hemming |first1=J. |last2=Merrill |first2=J. |year=2015 |title=On the distinction between involuntary musical imagery, musical hallucinosis, and musical hallucinations |journal=Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain |publisher=American Psychological Association |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=435–442 |doi=10.1037/pmu0000112}}</ref> Earworms are considered to be a common type of involuntary cognition.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last1=Moeck |first1=E. K. |last2=Hyman |first2=I. E |last3=Takarangi |first3=M. K. Y. |year=2018 |title=Understanding the overlap between positive and negative involuntary cognitions using instrumental earworms |journal=Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain |publisher=American Psychological Association |volume=28 |pages=164–177 |doi=10.1037/pmu0000217 |s2cid=150180837 |number=3}}</ref> Some of the phrases often used to describe earworms include "musical imagery repetition" and "involuntary musical imagery".<ref name="Musicophilia" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liikkanen |first1=L. A. |year=2012 |title=Inducing involuntary musical imagery: An experimental study |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~liikkane/2011-INMI-MusSci.pdf |journal=Musicae Scientiae |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=217–234 |doi=10.1177/1029864912440770 |s2cid=146451325 |archive-date=March 3, 2023 |access-date=November 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303221707/http://www.helsinki.fi/~liikkane/2011-INMI-MusSci.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Liikkanen |first=Lassi A. |year=2008 |title=Music in Everymind: Commonality of Involuntary Musical Imagery |url=http://i.org.helsinki.fi/lassial/files/publications/080904-Music_in_everymind_pdf.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (ICMPC 10) |location=Sapporo, Japan |pages=408–412 |isbn=978-4-9904208-0-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203150256/http://i.org.helsinki.fi/lassial/files/publications/080904-Music_in_everymind_pdf.pdf |archive-date=2014-02-03}}</ref>

The word ''earworm'' is a calque from the German ''{{Lang|de|Ohrwurm}}''.<ref>{{cite web |title=earworm |url=http://www.wordspy.com/words/earworm.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015025919/http://www.wordspy.com/words/earworm.asp |archive-date=October 15, 2014 |website=wordspy.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ohrwurm |url=https://www.dwds.de/wb/Ohrwurm |website=dwds.de |lang=de |access-date=July 17, 2019 |archive-date=April 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426220820/https://www.dwds.de/wb/Ohrwurm |url-status=live }}</ref> The earliest known English usage is in Desmond Bagley's 1978 novel ''Flyaway'', where the author points out the German origin of his word.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kruszelnicki |first=Dr Karl |date=2016-11-29 |title=The earworms you can't get out of your head |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/greatmomentsinscience/the-earworms-you-cant-get-out-of-your-head/8064664 |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=ABC Radio National |language=en |archive-date=May 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503012402/https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/greatmomentsinscience/the-earworms-you-cant-get-out-of-your-head/8064664 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Researchers who have studied and written about the phenomenon include Theodor Reik,<ref>{{cite book |last=Reik |first=Theodor |title=The Haunting Melody: Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Music |publisher=Grove Press |year=1953 |location=New York}}</ref> Sean Bennett,<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Bennett |first=Sean |title=Musical Imagery Repetition |date=August 30, 2002 |access-date=June 30, 2010 |type=Master |publisher=Cambridge University |url=http://www.seanbennett.net/music/essays.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128085737/http://www.seanbennett.net/music/essays.html |archive-date=January 28, 2018}}</ref> Oliver Sacks,<ref name="Musicophilia" /> Daniel Levitin,<ref name="Levitin">{{cite book |last=Levitin |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Levitin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_B3CEBJhhBQC&q=%22this+is+your+brain+on+music%22+levitin+ocd&pg=PT111 |title=This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession |publisher=Dutton, Penguin |year=2006 |isbn=0-452-28852-5 |location=New York |access-date=August 7, 2012}}</ref> James Kellaris,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kellaris |first=James J. |date=Winter 2001 |title=Identifying Properties of Tunes That Get 'Stuck in Your Head' |journal=Proceedings of the Society for Consumer Psychology |location=Scottsdale, Arizona |publisher=American Psychological Society |pages=66–67}}</ref> Philip Beaman,<ref name=beaman/> Vicky Williamson,<ref>{{cite web |last=Chatterjee |first=Rhitu |date=March 6, 2012 |title=Earworms: Why songs get stuck in our heads |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17105759 |access-date=March 7, 2012 |work=BBC News |archive-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430032020/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17105759 |url-status=live }}</ref> Diana Deutsch,<ref name="Deutsch2019">{{cite book |last=Deutsch |first=D. |author-link=Diana Deutsch |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/musical-illusions-and-phantom-words-9780190206833 |title=Musical Illusions and Phantom Words: How Music and Speech Unlock Mysteries of the Brain |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-19-020683-3 |pages=116–127 |chapter=Catchy Music and Earworms |lccn=2018051786 |archive-date=May 16, 2020 |access-date=October 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516203437/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/musical-illusions-and-phantom-words-9780190206833?cc=us&lang=en& |url-status=live }}</ref> and, in a more theoretical perspective, Peter Szendy,<ref>{{cite book |last=Szendy |first=Peter |url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Music/Philosophy/?view=usa&ci=9780823234387 |title=Hits. Philosophy in the Jukebox |publisher=Fordham University Press |others=translated by William Bishop |year=2012 |archive-date=April 26, 2023 |access-date=April 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426220821/http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Music/Philosophy/?view=usa&ci=9780823234387 |url-status=live }}</ref> along with many more. The phenomenon is distinct from palinacousis, a rare medical condition caused by damage to the temporal lobe of the brain that results in auditory hallucinations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=David R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAHHJymFle8C&q=palinacousis+definition&pg=PA535 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Auditory Science: The Auditory Brain |last2=Fuchs |first2=Paul Paul Albert |last3=Rees |first3=Adrian |last4=Palmer |first4=Alan |last5=Plack |first5=Christopher J. |date=January 21, 2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-923328-1 |page=535 |access-date=July 3, 2013}}</ref>

==Incidence and causes==

Researcher Vicky Williamson at Goldsmiths, University of London, found in an uncontrolled study that earworms correlated with music exposure, but could also be triggered by experiences that trigger the memory of a song (involuntary memory) such as seeing a word that reminds one of the song, hearing a few notes from the song, or feeling an emotion one associates with the song. The list of songs collected in the study showed no particular pattern, other than popularity.<ref name="theworld2"/>

According to research by James Kellaris, 98% of individuals experience earworms. Women and men experience the phenomenon equally often, but earworms tend to last longer for women and irritate them more.<ref>{{citation |last=Adams |first=Cecil |title=Why do songs get stuck in your head? |date=October 16, 2009 |work=The Straight Dope |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2901/why-do-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head |author-link=Cecil Adams |access-date=August 5, 2010 |archive-date=November 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121035915/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2901/why-do-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head |url-status=live }}</ref> Kellaris produced statistics suggesting that songs with lyrics may account for 73.7% of earworms, whereas instrumental music may cause only 7.7%.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoffman |first1=Carey |date=2001-04-04 |title=Songs That Cause The Brain To 'Itch': UC Professor Investigating Why Certain Tunes Get Stuck In Our Heads |url=http://www.uc.edu/news/kellaris.htm |access-date=2012-08-06 |publisher=University of Cincinnati |quote=Of the 1,000 respondents, the kind of music respondents said they got stuck on most recently were songs with lyrics for 73.7 percent, jingles or ads for 18.6 percent and an instrumental tune for 7.7 percent. |archive-date=April 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426220823/http://www.uc.edu/news/kellaris.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2010, published data in the ''British Journal of Psychology'' directly addressed the subject, and its results support earlier claims that earworms are usually 15 to 30 seconds in length and are more common in those with an interest in music.<ref name=beaman/> Earworms can occur with either 'positive' or 'negative' music.<ref name=":12"/> Positive music in this case is music that sounds happy or calm. Negative music is the opposite, where the music sounds angry or sad.

Earworms are not related only to music with lyrics; in a research experiment conducted by Ella Moeck and her colleagues in an attempt to find out if the positive or negative feeling of a piece of music affected earworms caused by that piece, they used only instrumental music.<ref name=":12" /> Her experiment determined that all participants experienced a similar quantity of earworms, regardless of the emotional valence, although the quality of the earworm did vary. The earworms born from the negatively valenced music brought about more distress and occurred less frequently than those produced by positively valenced music.<ref name=":12" />

According to the Harvard Medical School earworms can sometimes occur with obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychotic syndromes, migraine headaches, unusual forms of epilepsy, or a condition known as palinacousis — when you continue to hear a sound long after it has disappeared. Persistent earworms (lasting more than 24 hours) may be caused by many different illnesses, such as stroke or cancer metastasizing to the brain.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pillay |first=Srini |date=October 4, 2017 |title= Why you can’t get a song out of your head and what to do about it |url=https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-you-cant-get-a-song-out-of-your-head-and-what-to-do-about-it-2017100412490}}</ref>

==Antidotes== Scientists at Western Washington University found that engaging working memory in moderately difficult tasks such as anagrams, puzzles or reading was an effective way of stopping earworms and of reducing their recurrence.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gray |first=Richard |date=March 24, 2013 |title=Get that tune out of your head – scientists find how to get rid of earworms |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9950143/Get-that-tune-out-of-your-head-scientists-find-how-to-get-rid-of-earworms.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324212929/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9950143/Get-that-tune-out-of-your-head-scientists-find-how-to-get-rid-of-earworms.html |archive-date=March 24, 2013 |access-date=March 25, 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> Another publication points out that melodic music has a tendency to demonstrate repeating rhythm which may lead to endless repetition, unless a climax can be achieved to break the cycle.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwanauer |first1=Stephan M. |url=https://archive.org/details/machinemodelsofm00step/page/174 |title=Machine Models of Music |last2=Levitt |first2=David A. |publisher=MIT Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-262-19319-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/machinemodelsofm00step/page/174 174] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Research reported in 2015 by the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading demonstrated that chewing gum could help by similarly blocking the sub-vocal rehearsal component of auditory short-term or "working" memory associated with generating and manipulating auditory and musical images.<ref>[http://www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR631000.aspx "Listen up – new research shows chewing gum could remove that stuck record in your head"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112118/http://www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR631000.aspx |date=September 24, 2015 }}, University of Reading, 22 April 2015</ref> It has also been suggested to ask oneself why one is experiencing this particular song.<ref name="Deutsch2019" /> Another suggested remedy is to try to find a "cure song" to stop the repeating music.<ref name="marysue">[https://www.themarysue.com/earworm-cure-songs/ "Science Identified 'Cure Songs' to Get Songs Unstuck From Your Brain, I Guess All Diseases Have Been Cured"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503032031/https://www.themarysue.com/earworm-cure-songs/ |date=May 3, 2023 }} by Dan Van Winkle, ''The Mary Sue'', March 3, 2014</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Williamson VJ, Liikkanen LA, Jakubowski K, Stewart L |year=2014 |title=Sticky tunes: how do people react to involuntary musical imagery? |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=1 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...986170W |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0086170 |pmc=3908735 |pmid=24497938 |doi-access=free |article-number=e86170}}</ref>

There are also so-called "cure songs" or "cure tunes" to get the earworm out of one's head. "God Save the King" is cited as a very popular and helpful choice of cure song.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Music: How to get rid of an earworm |url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/music/research/earworms/remedies/ |access-date=2020-07-19 |publisher=Durham University |archive-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719022504/https://www.dur.ac.uk/music/research/earworms/remedies/ |url-status=live }}, citing Williamson et al. 2014</ref> "Happy Birthday" was also a popular choice in cure songs.<ref name=marysue />

Listening to the tune in a different tempo or lower pitch, or a remixed version if it exists, can be an antidote. Listening to the tune from start to finish can also help. Since earworms are usually only a fragment of music, playing the tune all the way through can help break the loop.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 16, 2020 |title=How do you get rid of an earworm? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/classic/read-and-watch/music-reads/how-to-get-rid-of-an-earworm/12151374 |website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207225109/https://www.abc.net.au/classic/read-and-watch/music-reads/how-to-get-rid-of-an-earworm/12151374 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Notable cases== Jean Harris, who murdered Herman Tarnower, was obsessed with the song "Put the Blame on Mame" by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher, which she first heard in the film ''Gilda'' (1946). She would recall this regularly for over 33 years and could even hold a conversation while playing it in her mind.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Díaz de Chumaceiro |first=Cora L. |date=October 16, 2004 |title=Jean Harris' Obsessive Film Song Recall |url=http://www.psyartjournal.com/article/show/de_chumaceiro-jean_harris_obsessive_film_song_recall |journal=PsyArt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801022050/http://www.psyartjournal.com/article/show/de_chumaceiro-jean_harris_obsessive_film_song_recall |archive-date=August 1, 2019 |access-date=December 11, 2011}}</ref>

==In popular culture== {{refimprove section|date=May 2024}}  Mark Twain's 1876 story "A Literary Nightmare" (also known as "Punch, Brothers, Punch") is about a jingle that one can get rid of only by transferring it to another person.

In 1943 Henry Kuttner published the short story "Nothing but Gingerbread Left" about a song engineered to damage the Nazi war effort, culminating in Adolf Hitler being unable to continue a speech.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuttner |first=Henry |title=Nothing But Gingerbread Left |url=http://henrykuttner.bravehost.com/Kuttner,%20Henry%20-%20Nothing%20But%20Gingerbread%20Left.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314223346/http://henrykuttner.bravehost.com/Kuttner,%20Henry%20-%20Nothing%20But%20Gingerbread%20Left.html |archive-date=March 14, 2012 |access-date=October 10, 2017}} ''Full text of story''</ref>

In Alfred Bester's 1953 novel ''The Demolished Man'', the protagonist uses a jingle specifically crafted to be a catchy, irritating nuisance as a tool to block mind readers from reading his mind.

In Arthur C. Clarke's 1957 science fiction short story "The Ultimate Melody", a scientist, Gilbert Lister, develops the ultimate melody – one that so compels the brain that its listener becomes completely and forever enraptured by it. As the storyteller, Harry Purvis, explains, Lister theorized that a great melody "made its impression on the mind because it fitted in with the fundamental electrical rhythms going on in the brain." Lister attempts to abstract from the hit tunes of the day to a melody that fits in so well with the electrical rhythms that it dominates them completely. He succeeds and is found in a catatonic state from which he never awakens.<ref>{{citation |last=Chorost |first=Michael |title=The Ultimate Melody by Arthur C. Clarke |work=The Web site of aleph |url=http://deoxy.org/alephnull/melody.htm |access-date=2010-08-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101171528/http://deoxy.org/alephnull/melody.htm |archive-date=2011-01-01 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

In Fritz Leiber's Hugo Award-nominated short story "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH-Tee" (1959), the title describes a rhythmic drumbeat so powerful that it rapidly spreads to all areas of human culture, until a counter-rhythm is developed that acts as an antidote.<ref>{{citation |last=Pretor-Pinney |first=Gavin |title=The Wavewatcher's Companion |page=218 |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JATrt8qhXqIC&pg=PA218 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-7475-8976-1}}</ref>

In Joe Simpson's 1988 book ''Touching the Void'', he talks about not being able to get the tune "Brown Girl in the Ring" by Boney M out of his head. The book tells of his survival, against the odds, after a mountaineering accident in the remote Siula Grande region of South America. Alone, badly injured, and in a semi-delirious state, he is confused as to whether he is imagining the music or really hearing it.<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Joe |url=https://archive.org/details/touchingvoid000simp |title=Touching the Void |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-06-016027-2 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

In the ''Dexter's Laboratory'' episode titled "Head Band", a contagious group of viruses force their host to sing what they are saying to the same "boy band" tune. The only way to be cured of the Boy Band Virus is for the viruses to break up and start their own solo careers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dexter's Laboratory: Head Band / Stuffed Animal House / Used Ink |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/dexters-laboratory/head-band-stuffed-animal-house-used-ink-1591794/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226203957/http://www.tv.com/shows/dexters-laboratory/head-band-stuffed-animal-house-used-ink-1591794/ |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |access-date=May 29, 2014 |website=TV.com}}</ref>

In the ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' episode titled "Earworm", SpongeBob gets the "Musical Doodle" song stuck in his head, giving him an earworm, which ultimately turns out to be an actual worm, which is removed by his friends singing or playing other songs.

In ''The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part'' there is a scene in which most of the film's characters are subjected to "Catchy Song" and all except Lucy dance to it, while simultaneously the denizens of Harmony Town sing it to Emmet and Rex. Lucy/Wildstyle avoids being "brainwashed" by the song by breaking one of the speakers and using some of its pieces to build earmuffs for herself before escaping via air ducts, while Emmet and Rex escape in a similar fashion.

E. B. White's 1933 satirical short story "The Supremacy of Uruguay" (reprinted in ''Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow'') relates a fictional episode in the history of Uruguay where a powerful earworm is discovered in a popular American song. The Uruguayan military builds a squadron of pilotless aircraft armed with phonographs playing a highly amplified recording of the earworm, and conquers the entire world by reducing the citizens of all nations to mindless insanity. "[T]he peoples were hopelessly mad, ravaged by an ineradicable noise ... No one could hear anything except the noise in his own head."<ref>{{cite web |date=July 24, 2007 |title=The Supremacy of Uruguay |url=http://www.armandobronca.com/the-supremacy-of-uruguay_95 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227213304/http://www.armandobronca.com/the-supremacy-of-uruguay_95/ |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |access-date=January 17, 2014 |publisher=www.armandobronca.com}}</ref>

In 2014, musician Emperor X wrote a deliberately catchy song titled ''10,000-Year Earworm to Discourage Settlement Near Nuclear Waste Repositories (Don't Change Color, Kitty)'' in reference to the "ray cat" idea in nuclear semiotics, attempting to embed a warning message in folklore that would still be remembered in 10,000 years' time.

In 2023–2024, an "earworm eraser" clip created by Atlassian was popularized on social media.<ref>{{cite news |last=Veltman |first=Chloe |date=November 29, 2024 |title=All I want for Christmas is ... help getting this song out of my head |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/27/nx-s1-5200065/earworm-eraser-christmas-songs |work=Morning Edition |publisher=NPR}}</ref>

In the film ''Earworm'' from 2025, the main character Ulph Degerfors is plagued by a severe case of earworm as Rednex's Cotton Eye Joe takes over his mind. Gradually, he spirals toward madness, with everything he experiences and hears becoming tainted by the song.<ref>{{cite web |title=Earworm |url=https://www.premium-films.com/catalogue/earworm |website=Premium Films |access-date=February 8, 2026 |archive-date=January 12, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260112234326/https://www.premium-films.com/catalogue/earworm |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Key characteristics == According to research done in 2016 by Kelly Jakubowski and colleagues, published by the American Psychological Association, there are certain characteristics that make songs more likely to become earworms. Earworm songs usually have a fast-paced tempo and an easy-to-remember melody. However, earworms also tend to have unusual intervals or repetitions that make them stand out from other songs. Earworms also tend to be played on the radio more than other songs and are usually featured at the top of the charts.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 3, 2016 |title=Psychologists Identify Key Characteristics of Earworms |url=https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/11/earworms |access-date=2020-07-19 |publisher=American Psychological Association |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108093218/https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/11/earworms |url-status=live }}</ref> The chorus of a song is one of the most reported causes of earworms.<ref name="beaman">{{cite journal |last1=Beaman |first1=C. Philip |last2=Williams |first2=Tim I. |date=2010 |title=Earworms (stuck song syndrome): Towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts |url=https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/5755/1/earworms_write-upBJP.pdf |journal=British Journal of Psychology |volume=101 |issue=4 |pages=637–653 |doi=10.1348/000712609X479636 |issn=2044-8295 |pmid=19948084 |archive-date=April 20, 2024 |access-date=April 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420213737/https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/5755/1/earworms_write-upBJP.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The most frequently named earworms during this study were the following:

# "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga # "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue # "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey # "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra # "Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera # "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg # "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen # "Alejandro" by Lady Gaga # "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga<ref name=beaman/>

== Susceptible traits == Kazumasa Negishi and Takahiro Sekiguchi did a study to see if there are specific traits that make a person more or less susceptible to earworms or involuntary musical imagery.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Negishi |first1=Kazumasa |last2=Sekiguchi |first2=Takahiro |date=2020-06-04 |editor-last=Sudzina |editor-first=Frantisek |title=Individual traits that influence the frequency and emotional characteristics of involuntary musical imagery: An experience sampling study |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=15 |issue=6 |bibcode=2020PLoSO..1534111N |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0234111 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=7272041 |pmid=32497111 |doi-access=free |article-number=e0234111}}</ref> The participants in the study were assessed on obsessive-compulsive tendencies, the Big Five personality traits, and musical expertise. Negishi and Sekiguchi found that some of the obsessive-compulsive traits, such as intrusive thoughts, played a role in experiencing earworms while compulsive washing did not. In terms of the Big Five personality traits, neuroticism significantly predicted occurrences of earworms. Musical expertise created an effect of sophistication when it came to earworm occurrences.

== Tools used in data gathering == One tool used to gather data on involuntary musical imagery (INMI)—and, more specifically, earworms—is called the Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale; it was created with the research compiled from George Floridou, Victoria Williamson, and Danial Müllensiefen. It uses four factors to measure different experiences surrounding earworms and INMI in general.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Floridou |first1=G. A. |last2=Williamson |first2=V. J. |last3=Stewart |first3=L. |last4=Müllensiefen |first4=D. |year=2015 |title=The Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (IMIS) |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/92668/1/Floridou%20IMIS%20post%20reviews-ajc_GF.pdf |journal=Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain |publisher=American Psychological Association |volume=25 |pages=28–36 |doi=10.1037/pmu0000067 |archive-date=January 28, 2022 |access-date=April 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128030952/https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/92668/1/Floridou%20IMIS%20post%20reviews-ajc_GF.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Those four factors include 'Negative Valence', 'Movement', 'Personal Reflections', and 'Help'.<ref name=":2" /> Negative Valence is the category that measures the subjective response to the INMI experience.<ref name=":2" /> Movement, a relatively new aspect of the INMI experience, refers to accompanying embodied responses such as singing, humming, and dancing.<ref name=":2" /> Personal Reflections is the occurrence of a personal quality, like unrelated thoughts, associated with the INMI; they are not directly related to the valence of the INMI itself.<ref name=":2" /> Help is the category which determines the beneficial and constructive aspects to the INMI experiences, which could potentially reflect similarities in the characteristics of unfocused music listing and task-unrelated thought.<ref name=":2" />

== References == {{reflist}}

== Further reading == * {{cite book |author=Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis |title=On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-999082-5 |ref=none}} * {{cite news |author=Vadim Prokhorov |date=June 22, 2006 |title=Can't get it out of my head |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jun/22/popandrock |work=The Guardian |ref=none}} * {{citation |author=Divya Singhal |title=Why this Kolaveri Di: Maddening Phenomenon of Earworm |date=December 8, 2011 |ssrn=1969781 |ref=none}}

==External links== {{Wiktionary}} *[https://www.gold.ac.uk/music-mind-brain/imis/ The Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (IMIS)] at Goldsmith University of London *{{cite magazine |last=Margulis |first=Elizabeth Hellmuth |date=January 16, 2014 |title=Why Songs Get Stuck in Your Head |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/why-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head/282997/ |magazine=The Atlantic |ref=none}}

Category:Calques Category:Musical terminology Category:Music psychology Category:Music-related neologisms Category:1970s neologisms