First, we asked you to tell us what song gets stuck in your head. Then, we asked you how you got it out. Finally, we made a podcast. Thank you to everyone who called in, shared their secret techniques, and sang without shame.
Your suggestions ranged from the hilarious (Darth Vader breathing) to the malicious (give it to some one else) to the oddly-aligned (multiple people called in suggesting 'Girl from Ipanema' as a cure-all earworm). And now, we release your wisdom to the masses. We hope that this will be of help to earworm-sufferers, but be forewarned, it might just plague you with Journey.
Lulu makes radio, pie, and stories in the hills of Charlottesville, VA. She first heard Radiolab when she was working as a woodworker's assistant in Brooklyn. And that changed everything. She thinks it is Miracle Gro for the mind and hopes to be making the stuff till she is blue in the hair. You can read and listen to her stories at LuTimesTwo.com.
Comments [6]
Was a fault from RadioLab don't write the description of the songs they use in this PodCast, I personally would like to listen some of them because they are really good, but some people don't describe well the tittle and the singer.
That's sucks (but RadioLab should describe it) because they put in to the PodCast.
Meaning (Incomplete work)
The most fascinating thing about this podcast is a little aside where the song stuck in each persons head more often than not is in the correct key, as if the person had perfect pitch when recalling the song. I'm a musician and there was a point when I was a teenager where I sort of realized that you could do this. You can remember a couple of favorite songs and figure out what the tonic note is and remember that note, and sometimes that can be condensed down to just the note on guitar or piano or a brass instrument.
It's probably nowhere near as good as being born with absolute pitch, but I was able to fake it to a couple of my classmates and professors, and the whole time it was really just flipping through the earworms I had memorized until I found a pitch that matched whatever pitch they were playing. Usually the more I worked on it, the more accurate I was. It makes me think that perfect pitch is actually a little more common than we think it is, and not necessarily something you have to be born with.
By the way the kermit the frog suggestion by one of the commenters above is AWESOME. Ha.
The one trick that a friend of mine swears by is imagine the song being sung by Kermit the Frog.
That works great when you know the lyrics, similar to embracing the song. When you don't know the lyrics or the song is a musical piece without lyrics, I guess I'm still stuck with forcing it out with "stronger" music.
Hi Jad - Did you hear this recent story from NPR music? I thought of you immediately
http://n.pr/gKkQBA
Wow, one of your listeners mentioned using the inspector gadget theme song to get rid of his earworms. I too have used that very successfully for the last fifteen years.
Interestingly, I started using that song the same year that I cured myself of the hiccups forever.
I love your show. Didn't know earworm program was on. Sporadic listener to radio due to....no radio in house! But NOW, INTERNET connection and WIRELESS!
So, as a music teacher (middle school), I know some musicals we study have the dreaded "earworm." Solution: Do mental math.
Try it. It works. Hopefully email may let me know what programs you have "in the works...." .....if I check email.
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