We’ve all had it happen to us – a catchy song lyric stuck in our mind playing over and over again.  Up to 90 percent of us at least once a week have our own internal jukebox repeating a “sticky song” often referred to as earworms.  Researchers at the University of Reading found in one study that up to 15 percent of people will have earworms they describe as being so annoying to be considered disturbing.

Recent research at the department of music at Durham University in Durham, England, wanted to find out why we get songs stuck in our head and what can be done to unstick them.  The study analyzed data from more than 3,000 people surveyed from 2010 to 2013.  Each person was asked to list songs that often got stuck in their mind.  These songs were referred to as earworm songs and they were compared to songs that were not cited as “sticky songs.” 

What they discovered was that there are certain songs with a part of the melody making it more likely to keep repeating itself in a person’s head.  Usually the song has a fast tempo, a fairly generic and easy-to-remember melody but with unusual intervals or repetitions – as an example, think of the song “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple.  Apologies if this song gets stuck in your head now!

A song was also more likely to be playing in your head’s frequent play list if it was a hit song. 

One interesting finding potentially helpful to aspiring songwriters or advertisers wanting to compose a song or jingle easy for people to remember is that it is the song’s melodic content that tends to “stick” inside a person’s head.  Any catchy song having an unexpected interval structure, unusual jumps or repeated notes are more likely to have that stickiness factor.  The Knack’s “My Sharona,” or Glen Miller’s “In the Mood” are songs that are good examples of this.

What has also been noted is that depending on what we are doing throughout the day can determine if we get songs stuck in our head.  When we are cognitively engaged with something, it limits the ability of intrusive songs to enter our brain. Driving, walking or doing housework means we are not using all of our cognitive resources leaving plenty of space for that annoying song to wiggle its way into our brain and to keep rewinding itself over and over again.

Research into why we have song earworms may not seem as critical as other research but findings from the study could be significant for neurological research helping scientists better understand how certain brain networks interact.

So, how do we debug an earworm song from our brain?  Here are some tips the researcher suggested:

·         Listen to the song from start to finish can help stop the continuous loop in the brain

·         Think of or listen to another song to distract yourself from the earworm song

·         Most earworm songs will eventually fade away on their own but what helps is to keep busy with other things to do.

·         Another suggestion from a different study suggests chewing gum.  Chewing forces regions in the brain to be less active and available to support the involuntary recollection of an earworm.