March 17, 2003 - 8:35 a.m.
earworms
They bore into your head. They won't let go. There's no known cure. Earworms can attack almost anyone at almost any time.
woah. black betty bam ba lam ba lam
woah. black betty bama nam ma nam
No, it's not an invasion of jungle insects. It's worse. Earworms are those songs, jingles, and tunes that get stuck inside your head.
smelly cat, smelly cat...
Nearly 98% of people have had songs stuck in their head. The 559 students -- at an average age of 23 -- had lots of trouble with the Chili's "Baby Back Ribs" Jingle and with the Baha Men song "Who Let the Dogs Out." But Kellaris found that most often, each person tends to be haunted by their own demon tunes.
don't i look like a Halle Berry postah?
"Songs with lyrics are reported as most frequently stuck (74%), followed by commercial jingles (15%) and instrumental tunes without words (11%)," Kellaris writes in his study abstract. "On average, the episodes last over a few hours and occur 'frequently' or 'very frequently' among 61.5% of the sample."
work it, i needa glassa watah...
Here's the students' top-10 earworm list:
Other. Everyone has his or her own worst earworm.
Chili's "Baby Back Ribs" jingle.
"Who Let the Dogs Out"
"We Will Rock You"
Kit-Kat candy-bar jingle ("Gimme a Break ...")
"Mission Impossible" theme
"YMCA"
"Whoomp, There It Is"
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
"It's a Small World After All"
Stuck song syndrome annoyed, frustrated, and irritated women significantly more than men. And earworm attacks were more frequent -- and lasted longer -- for musicians and music lovers. Slightly neurotic people also seemed to suffer more.
