Earworms by Debra H. Goldstein

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Earworms by Debra H. Goldstein

Last month, I wrote a blog, “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” for Booklover’s Bench. Besides reacting to the content of the blog, several people “thanked” me for planting the earworm of that song in their minds. For fun, I started doing a little research on musical earworms and wondering why certain songs that may be earworms for me, aren’t for you.

By definition, a musical earworm is a song that sticks in one’s mind, playing over and over, even though the song is no longer being heard in real time. Usually, the song has repeated rhythm and word usage, but it may also have an unusual riff or musical combination of notes. If you Google “earworm songs,” you will find several lists of the top 100. Although not identical, many of the songs overlap – examples include Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Mary Poppins’ Let’s Go Fly a Kite and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Adele’s Hello, Disney’s It’s a Small World, and Baha Men’s Who Let the Dogs Out.

All of these may appear on the various the top 100 earworm lists, but not all of them are personal earworms. For example, while I enjoy the two songs from Mary Poppins, it is Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag) that resonates with me. According to research, my mind may be one that must tie an image or memory to a song for it to become an earworm.

The same holds true with books I read. Although I may remember a book for its characters or plot, it won’t become a visual earworm unless it produces an image or evokes a personal memory.

What about you? Do you have a musical or literary earworm?

19 replies
  2. Saralyn
    Saralyn says:

    Interesting to know. I think auditory learners are more prone to earworms, although I have songs repeating in my brain frequently, and I’m mostly a visual learner. As for eyeworms, I suppose that’s why covers are so important.

  3. Lois Winston
    Lois Winston says:

    I often have a few lyrics from a song or scenes from a movie or book that niggle at my brain because I can’t remember the title of the song, movie, or book. Yet the lyrics or scenes are as clear as day in my mind. I usually wind up going down the rabbit hole of Google until I satisfy my curiosity and refresh my brain as to where they’re from.

  4. Kathryn Lane
    Kathryn Lane says:

    Debra, I enjoyed reading your post because I have no earworms. Period. And I wish I did. I cannot hear music in my mind at all. I’ve been fascinated by people, such as Beethoven, who could hear exquisite music in their brains! Yet I do have an incredible eyeworm!! Show me a picture once and I will remember it. If it impresses me, the image will come back to me a lot! The brain is an amazing organ!

    • Debra H. Goldstein
      Debra H. Goldstein says:

      Interesting how the brain works – I find it difficult to recognize people by name, but I often tell you what they were wearing when I saw them at an earlier time. Pictures/photographic memory?

  6. Barb Eikmeier
    Barb Eikmeier says:

    I totally understand what an ear worm is but when I hear or read “ear worms” I think of the fat grey worms we pull off ears of corn on the farm! I think that must mean my earworm triggers are visual memories. Or tactile although I never kept them in my fingers for long!

  7. Mary Lee Ashford
    Mary Lee Ashford says:

    Debra, that’s fascinating. Having spent last weekend at a dance competition with the three youngest grands, I came away with “It’s a Hard Knock Life” in my head for days after. 🙂 Though thinking about it the visualization (and the tune) that went along with it was the Annie Broadway musical not the version the dancers did which morphed into a hip-hop rendition at one point. Aren’t our brains interesting?

  8. Kathleen Kaska
    Kathleen Kaska says:

    Great questions, Debra. Earworms are so annoying, especially if it is a song I like. There are several Simon and Garfunkel songs that stick in my head. As far as literary earworms, I’ll have to give that some thought over and over again.

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