Sunday, June 20, 2010

Earworms

To begin with, let me quote from Wikipedia:
Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm is a portion of a song or other music that repeats compulsively within one's mind, put colloquially as "music being stuck in one's head."

Urban Dictionary says: A song that sticks in your mind, and will not leave no matter how much you try. The best way to get rid of an earworm is to replace it with another. Be prepared to become a jukebox.

Assuming you read the above two paragraphs, which look boring at a glance but once you read it would make you say "Hey this happens to me all the time, you know what, just the other day I couldn't get a Justin Bieber song out of my head", I don't think I need to give a lengthy scientific explanation of what an earworm is. But, let me get back to boring once more. Wikipedia also says - Earworm may also refer to the Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm) or the musician DJ Earworm. Not to be confused with the creature depicted in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

I am least interested in worms that live in the ear, or a certain DJ, and I have never liked Star Trek. Star Wars I like, but sorry, not Star Trek. So since there is nothing else to do, let’s talk about earworms and songs that play inside one’s head.

Actually, I have no idea how to start. Conversations are not my thing. I could say “Studies have shown that there are certain songs which for some unknown reason tend to get themselves embedded in the frontal area of the brain which controls blah blah blah…” and I could look up and see my audience staring into space with a faraway look embedded on his face. If I say “Have you ever experienced that thing, you know, when you sing the same song over and over again in your head and sometimes you change songs without knowing it?” my listener would probably say a curt “Yes” and I’d be left with nothing to say except “Me too!!”

And sometimes you sing under your breath. This one is really weird. You are doing something, and at some point you suddenly realise that you have been singing for a while now, and you have no idea how you came to sing that particular song. It could be any song; it could be a song you listened to just an hour ago, a song you sang in church when you were a kid, or a song that your roommate plays all the time. You don’t even have to like the song. You have heard it so many times it has pitched a tent in your brain and set up camp there. Permanently. And once you look up from what you are doing and realise that you are singing, you immediately become self conscious. Hey why am I singing this song? Don’t I always wince and make a face whenever my roommate plays it? Then you stop singing, or change tracks. Kind of like the cartoon character who walks off a cliff but doesn’t know he’s walking on air until he looks down and sees nothing but air below him, and immediately crashes to the ground.

16 comments:

  1. It's a surprise you blog about earworms while the whole world (except me) has gone crazy over world cup.

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  2. Hahaha..like you said I have done this a lot many times. And so often that sometimes the songs that I hum is so way far from what I like but still hum because I just heard it like for example "Jhalak dikhlaja..jhalak dikhlaja..ekbar aja..aja...aja...aja..aaajjaaa.":P...

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  3. mesjay - Everyone else has written about the world cup, and the newspapers are full of it, so I thought I'd give it a miss. I do watch the games though when I can.
    Oh and btw, I wrote this post last night, during the break between the two matches :)

    Kym - What a song!! But a very catchy one. There are times when I hum "Singh is King, Singh is king...." What to do? We are nothing but poor victims of loud Bollywood music.

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  4. "Waka waka" and "waving flag" are stuck in my head. And i can't even catch the lyrics to "Waka, waka"..seems to me like she keeps saying, "stamina-mina". But the biggest earworm for me right now is that African boy who shouts "Ina-to/ Gina-to (?)" before the game starts.. I know its not music but there's a lilt to it that sound like one, heheh

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  5. Very informative, thank you.Didn't even know such words existed!! Can't really say if I have a earworm of not,but I love making noise either with my guitar, CDs or my music phone. I am probably an earworm to my family.

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  6. I always get Bollywood earworms. They are the worst for me because I don't know the lyrics, just some whiny lady's voice singing away in my head. If you find out the cure to earworms, let me know too.

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  7. Kuku - You seem to have immersed yourself fully in the World Cup fever. Yeah I agree Waving Flag could really become an earworm.

    daniel - If you love making noise with your guitar then you most definitely have a very bad case of earwormitis. Hear the music in your head, produce the same on your guitar. Simple.

    diary - So you too are a victim of Bollywood. There is no cure for earworms. The moment you catch an unwanted song in your head, simply replace it with another song. Works best when you sing it out loud.

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  8. Stamin-mina.. thats hilarious!! a nih tak tak duh hmel.. hehe!
    I had the chorus of "Saltwater Room - Owl City" stuck in my head for the past couple of days. I guess Mizos being musically-inclined tend to experience this phenomena more. I've never heard of my non-mizo pals saying they have some hindi song being "embedded in the frontal area of the brain.."
    As a habit, I unknowingly hum random made-up tune out loud like "turut turu tu turu..etc etc" which really annoys people around me.. maybe I should make it into a song.. lol..

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  9. blackestred - My favourite Owl City lyric is
    The silence isn't so bad/Till I look at my hands and feel sad/Cause the spaces between my fingers/Are right where yours fit perfectly
    For some time this particular line was stuck in my head. I somehow found it very sweet.

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  10. I totally understand... even till today the earworms in my head are still there - "On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross...", "Have thine own way lord, have thine own way, thou art the potter, I am the clay...", "God gave rock and roll to you..." you know, songs like those...

    :)

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  11. Kima - The strangest thing is the songs played in your head are songs you haven't sung in decades. Amazing power of the brain, is all I can say. And sometimes a word, a sentence, something you read somewhere can also trigger this earworm effect.

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  12. haha what a coincidence! We were just talking about this today. I have a friend who always have the most random song stuck in her head, and I was telling her she's got worms in her ears which freaked her out. She was humming one of the songs from the Terminator soundtrack yesterday, and now the stupid song is stuck in my head too :(

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  13. Everybody got a new look, I think it's my turn now. I sure have had earworm, but cannot think none right now.. chuan Kima han over zia hi chu aw... Pathian hla hriat hriat a rawn ziak chhuak ve leh ringawt tawh...

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  14. Jerusha - Terminator soundtrack? That must be one soundtrack I missed :D Just last night I was singing "Gospel hmangaihin ka pen zel ang" and later it was followed by "Picture yourself in a boat on a river,with tangerine trees and marmalade skies"--these two lines. Quite a playlist there.

    Alejendro - Yes everywhere you go you find everyone with new templates. Come and join the revolution. Kima khi maw, a rinna ngheh zia a rawn tilang anih khi :D

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  15. i thought you're going to say some kind of a worm that can hurt your ears.. tsk tsk..

    i too always have this ear-worms as you said, i would just burst out with funny songs in the middle of working, normally Mizo songs of which no one around me understand...

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  16. Varte - I always do that! Singing Mizo songs, thankfully under my breath, which no one would understand.

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