They Call Me Doctor Ear Worm
Ever get a really annoying song stuck in your head? I'm not going to mention any specifics here, or you'd be cursing me all day, but let's just say a happy, bouncy quartet of children's performers in brightly coloured T shirts and black pants have a LOT to answer for where my mental space is concerned.
The term "earworm" has got to be fairly new because it shows up with a red squiggle every time I write it. It comes from a German word which means "musical itch" but I personally really like the idea of a little wiggly worm creeping into your ear and burrowing down. They often come about when we are bored, stressed or really tired, which would explain why my husband used to hum that damn WHAM song about twenty times a day in the hazy days of baby-induced sleep deprivation. And because our brains are wired to remember patterns, the structures of a song - melody, rhythm and lyrics, - can easily get stuck in there and set themselves on to endless repeat.*
Is there any way you can reliably get rid of them? I remember reading about a fairly involved technique once, that I have pretty much forgotten, so I have detailed it here with needless and slightly confusing embellishment. You were supposed to sing your earworm, then sing something else twice and then drink a glass of water without taking a breath while trying to remember what you had for breakfast the day before yesterday. Anyway, since I'm only about 23% evil, I've done a little spot of research and have discovered that there are a number of things you can do in order to shift the pesky buggers. You can chew gum, take OCD medication (yes, really), or "engage in moderately difficult tasks" such as sudoku puzzles or reading a novel.
While I was looking for information about earworms, I came across an article where the author compares them to fences, and then tries to explain that we don't get fences stuck in our heads because every time we look at a fence we see it from a slightly different angle. Ummmmm .... I don't know about you, but I am fairly sure that the reason I don't get fences stuck in my head is because I avoid people who throw them. Hey guys!!! Next time you get an annoying song stuck in your head, just be grateful that you don't have a picket fence sticking out of your cranium.
*On a side note: something that is not an ear worm but that has burrowed itself deeply and permanently into my brain is the time my Year 10 French teacher explained to us that if you get one tiny little accent wrong in the French word for "repeat" then you end up saying "endlessly fart"
The term "earworm" has got to be fairly new because it shows up with a red squiggle every time I write it. It comes from a German word which means "musical itch" but I personally really like the idea of a little wiggly worm creeping into your ear and burrowing down. They often come about when we are bored, stressed or really tired, which would explain why my husband used to hum that damn WHAM song about twenty times a day in the hazy days of baby-induced sleep deprivation. And because our brains are wired to remember patterns, the structures of a song - melody, rhythm and lyrics, - can easily get stuck in there and set themselves on to endless repeat.*
Is there any way you can reliably get rid of them? I remember reading about a fairly involved technique once, that I have pretty much forgotten, so I have detailed it here with needless and slightly confusing embellishment. You were supposed to sing your earworm, then sing something else twice and then drink a glass of water without taking a breath while trying to remember what you had for breakfast the day before yesterday. Anyway, since I'm only about 23% evil, I've done a little spot of research and have discovered that there are a number of things you can do in order to shift the pesky buggers. You can chew gum, take OCD medication (yes, really), or "engage in moderately difficult tasks" such as sudoku puzzles or reading a novel.
While I was looking for information about earworms, I came across an article where the author compares them to fences, and then tries to explain that we don't get fences stuck in our heads because every time we look at a fence we see it from a slightly different angle. Ummmmm .... I don't know about you, but I am fairly sure that the reason I don't get fences stuck in my head is because I avoid people who throw them. Hey guys!!! Next time you get an annoying song stuck in your head, just be grateful that you don't have a picket fence sticking out of your cranium.
*On a side note: something that is not an ear worm but that has burrowed itself deeply and permanently into my brain is the time my Year 10 French teacher explained to us that if you get one tiny little accent wrong in the French word for "repeat" then you end up saying "endlessly fart"
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