Songs on the Brain

What causes songs to get stuck in our heads? Which songs are the stickiest? New research sheds light on these "earworms." Also, what does it feel like to have synesthesia, a rare condition in which some of our five senses get intermixed? We hear from someone who literally "sees" music.

If you've got earworms, you're not alone. No, they're not alien invaders or signs of a hygiene problem, but songs that overstay their welcome inside our heads. And we all get them, it turns out. In a recent study by James Kellaris, a professor of consumer psychology at the Univ. of Cincinnati, 98% of listeners report having been bothered by a stuck tune at one time or another.

And they're naming names. Here are the most commonly mentioned earworms:

1. Other. We all seem to have our own worst earworm.
2. Chili's "Baby Back Ribs" jingle.
3. "Who Let the Dogs Out"
4. "We Will Rock You"
5. Kit-Kat candy-bar jingle ("Gimme a Break ...")
6. "Mission Impossible" theme
7. "YMCA"
8. "Whoomp, There It Is"
9. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
10. "It's a Small World After All"

Researchers still don't know why earworms happen, although they have some clues. First of all, musicians and people with compulsive tendencies experience them more frequently than others. It may just be that musicians spend more time listening to music, but scientists note that musical training leads to physical changes in brain structure.

Also, motion adds to the experience. That is, when the body is involved in experiencing music, such as with a dance (Hey, Macarena!), the associated tune is more likely to get sticky.

Some characteristics of the songs themselves make them more likely to become unwelcome guests: repetition of occurrence (think: ad jingles), elements of surprise, repetitive melodies, and simple tunes.

How can we get rid of them? Singing the song aloud can sometimes exorcise it.

Some artists work with their earworms. According to the New York Times, songwriter Neil Diamond gets melodic swatches stuck in his head, then turns them into new songs, including some of his big hits. "If I wasn't in the business of songwriting, I'd probably be seeing a doctor. I've tried everything from cold showers to listening to other people's music, but nothing helps." (Do his songs then become YOUR earworms?)

Graham Nash credits stuck notes for the creation of "Black Notes." He was stuck onstage for a few minutes without Crosby et al, and decided to sit down at the piano. The persistent notes leapt out and became verse and song on the spot.

And speaking of black notes, consider blue notes. Or orange notes. And the rare neurological condition synesthesia, in which a person's senses overlap. Most synesthetes see letters and numbers as having particular colors. Others, like college professor Sean Day, sees colors when he hears music.

In the August issue of Esquire magazine, Day writes about it in a section called "What it Feels Like... " To him, each musical instrument has its own color. Pianos evoke a "sky-blue mist," electric guitar a "fire-engine red plasma" (actual hue depending on the amount of distortion). Tenor sax is more complicated: "a floating ball of a hundred coiling snakes made of purple neon tubing."

When he drives with the car stereo on, the windshield in front of him is tinted with these colors, which he can see through. (He also sees colors when he tastes things, leading to oily green coffee and orange-and-blue key lime pie.)

Needless to say, Day didn't talk about this much while growing up, and didn't become aware of a clinical name for his condition until he was in college. He accepts that this is just how his senses work. "I'm not delusional. I'm quite aware that it's not actually there. It's an everyday thing, so I don't even pay attention to it. I hear a piano, it's blue, same thing as always."

Read about Kellaris' earworm research on WebMD, the Cincinnati Post, or a Univ. of Cincinnati news release

Read the August 12, 2003 New York Times article [fee required] or an excerpted version at the Duluth Tribune

Browse the August issue of Esquire or examine the magazine's upcoming book, "What it Feels Like," which also examines the experience of surviving an avalanche, walking on the moon, swallowing swords, etc.

Learn more about synesthesia by visiting the American Synesthesia Assn., reading an article in Psyche, or reading an article from MIT