Jason E. Andersen

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?

Bonus Fun Fact: The psychological condition where a song or musical tune continuously occupies your thoughts is called an earworm.

Earworms, also called sticky music or Stuck Song Syndrome (SSS) by clinicians, are an aberration in a person’s memory that causes a sort of feedback loop which is unresolved. They are often triggered by memories of events and their association with music. Earworms are innocuous for most people, but can have detrimental impacts when there are negative emotions associated with the music.

Ridding yourself of an earworm can be a bit of a trick. Here are a few methods for overcoming an earworm, likely with varying levels of success:

• Listen to the song from beginning to end
• Sing the song aloud (not around me)
• Distract yourself with something that occupies the mind
• Replace the earworm song by listening to another song
• Chew gum

I chose this topic because I currently have an earworm in the shape of “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. If you have to listen to a song over and over in your head, it’s really not a bad choice. At least it’s not Baby Shark. I get earworms often, and often overcome unpleasant songs by listening to “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats. There, you learned something about me and my top tier music choices.