It's got a great hook

October 16, 2008 6:27 AM

I'm looking for insidious earworms, those songs that get really stuck in your head. Warning: answers may induce insanity.

I'm trying to compile a list of those songs that just get caught in your brain, looping over and over again and driving you mad. For example, if I hear even one verse of Swinging on a Star* I'll be humming it all day, until the next earworm comes along. A friend the other night mentioned the music from the Smurfs as one of these. I am so sorry.

* What, this isn't your favorite version too?

posted by JaredSeth to media & arts (104 comments total)

This is the song that never ends
It just goes on and on my friend
Some people started singing it not knowing what it was
and they'll continue singing it forever just because...

That songs kills.


I also frequently get the CanCan stuck in my head. Weird, I know
posted by gwenlister at 6:40 AM on October 16, 2008

I used to annoy the hell out of my coworkers by walking into someone's cubicle and spontaneously singing "IIIIIII wanna know, have you ever seeeeeeen the rain?" (CCR), or "What I really wanna know is, are you gonna go my way?" (Lenny Kravitz). Not the whole songs, just the one line from each. They definitely fit the maddening looping description for me.
posted by bilgepump at 6:47 AM on October 16, 2008

For me, it's the Meow Mix commercial.

Thanks, JaredSeth. Thanks a lot.
posted by ferociouskitty at 6:55 AM on October 16, 2008

Popcorn.
posted by Pronoiac at 6:57 AM on October 16, 2008

gwenlister, I just looked that up on wikipedia and thanks to that, I learned about the infinite-loop motif, which I may have to add as a tag on this question.

And kitty, I warned ya.
posted by JaredSeth at 6:57 AM on October 16, 2008

It's a world of laughter
a world of tears
it's a world of hope
and a world of fears
There's so much that we share
that it's time we're aware
IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL.......
posted by pdb at 6:59 AM on October 16, 2008

istanbul (not constantinople)
mambo italiano (that just might be me though)
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:00 AM on October 16, 2008

The Girl from Ipanema always does it for me, but that's a good thing.
posted by mollweide at 7:00 AM on October 16, 2008

That Discovery Channel song, especially when I can substitute in things I love and hate.

Also, any single Britney Spears has released since she went crazy. The latest one threatens, big time.
posted by gnomeloaf at 7:01 AM on October 16, 2008

For anyone who successfully survived the 70's...

Thinkin' of you's workin' up my appetite
looking forward to a little afternoon delight.
Rubbin' sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite
and the thought of rubbin' you is getting so exciting.

Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight.

A-A-A-A-Afternoon delight.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:03 AM on October 16, 2008

2 of Hearts by Stacey Q ALWAYS gets me, so does Maneater by Hall and Oates...
posted by dearest at 7:09 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird, as sung by Mr. Peter Griffin.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 7:10 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

MOR pop songs from the 70s. Those are my earworms. What d'ya reckon that means?

Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am
Stuck in the middle with you.

and the bit that goes pleeeease (Clunk clunk) pleeee-ee-eease.

Then there's

Like walking in the rain and the snow
and there's nowhere to go
and you're feelin' like
a part of you
is dyin'
And you're lookin' for
the answer
in her eyes.
You think you're gonna break up
Then she says she wants to make up
Ooooo...

Right. Stopping.
Yesterday, it was "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" by John Lennon and Elton John. But I like that song, so it's OK.
posted by droplet at 7:10 AM on October 16, 2008

Radio Lab has a great show on infections pop music and earworms like these.
posted by lockle at 7:14 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

It Must Have Been Love by Roxette

Great song, but not after it's been in your head for two weeks...
posted by jluce50 at 7:16 AM on October 16, 2008

Backwater
posted by Burhanistan at 7:17 AM on October 16, 2008

I want you to want me.

I can't get you out of my head.

The goddamn Can-Can.
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:17 AM on October 16, 2008

Kings Lead Hat
posted by Burhanistan at 7:19 AM on October 16, 2008

La La La
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:19 AM on October 16, 2008

After watching this Pop Idol spoof at the week end I had Love Train going through my head for days....
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:24 AM on October 16, 2008

From Bester's The Demolished Man, with the scene here.

Eight, sir; seven sir;
Six, sir; five, sir;
Four, sir; three, sir;
Two, sir; one!
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.

Sing out out loud a few times.
posted by adipocere at 7:38 AM on October 16, 2008

I hope this minor piggyback will be permitted? Long ago on MF someone linked to a cool "earworm replacement tool"... is it still live, and does anyone have the link?

If we had that link, JaredSeth, it had a huge long list of typical earworm songs in MIDI version for your listening pleasure.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:39 AM on October 16, 2008

"Across the Universe" is a fairly infectious earworm. Jai guru deva om, baby.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:42 AM on October 16, 2008

It Must Have Been Love by Roxette

I was going to suggest Ace of Base or ABBA tunes. What is it about Swede-Pop that makes for ear-worms?
posted by Pollomacho at 7:43 AM on October 16, 2008

Walk like Egyptian.
Jump (van halen).

and for some reason, the Canadian National Anthem (IANACanadian)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 7:44 AM on October 16, 2008

For some reason, Steely Dan's My Old School has always been an insidious earworm for me.
posted by pasici at 7:46 AM on October 16, 2008

I have found that whenever I have an earworm, if I start to sing Gloria Estefan's Conga, it bumps it right out.

But then I'm stuck with "Come on shake your body baby, do the conga, I know you can't control yourself any longer, feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger..." on loop. So sometimes it's just better to stick with the above mentioned Istanbul (not Constantinople).
posted by librarianamy at 7:47 AM on October 16, 2008

One Ring Zero's "All About House Plants" is the worst offender I've ever heard. Every few months, it pops up in my head. The lyrics are also maddening, and follow:

All the plants are on fire!
All the plants are on fire!
They have a secret life!
They have a secret life!
All the plants are on fire!
In my house in the rain!

And so on . . .
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:47 AM on October 16, 2008

The PBS children's show earworm...

"La la, la la,
La la, la la,
Elmo's World...

"Bob the Builder,
Can we fix it?
Bob the Builder,
Yes We Can...

"I'm just a kid who's four,
Each day I'm learning more...

"I love you,
You love me,
We're a happy family..."

And so on. Earworm central. The only way to stop them is to sing them back in a mangled way. My 4-y.o. gets so mad when I sing "Slob the Builder" and "La la, la la, Earworm Song!" But I find it oddly satisfying.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:47 AM on October 16, 2008

Do you live with a toddler?

The Little Einsteins theme song. The Dora the Explorer theme song. The Go Diego, Go! theme song. The Yo Gabba Gabba theme song. The Wonderpets cheer song. The Higglytown Heroes theme song (it's done by They Might Be Giants). The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song, and that fucking "Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog" song they sing at the end of the show. The Clifford the Big Red Dog theme song. The Backyardigans theme song.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:48 AM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Speaking of Yo Gabba Gabba, the "Dancey Dance" song won't leave my head for days if I hear it.
Closing Time by Semisonic, too.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 7:50 AM on October 16, 2008

misanthropicsarah, I get Mambo Italiano too! I'm pretty sure it was in a commercial for either pasta or East Side Mario's (italian restaurant) though.

Also, "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" from the movie Hamlet 2. Which is the very worst kind of earworm.
posted by heavenstobetsy at 7:51 AM on October 16, 2008

(checking preview... surprisingly, no mention... so...)
Loituma's Ieva's Polka
posted by omnidrew at 7:54 AM on October 16, 2008

Celebration does it for me without fail.

(My officemate once asked, offhandedly and out of the blue, "Is it 'celebrate good times' or 'celebration time'?" and that was it for the rest of the week. It would be stuck there now, but this thread has proven that the CanCan is much stronger -- thanks a lot, Metafilter.)
posted by Westringia F. at 7:55 AM on October 16, 2008

Pretty much anything from Katamari Damacy. The fact that most of it's in Japanese tends to enhance, not hinder, the frustration of its catchiness. At least most earworms are familiar and hook other people, roping them into your suffering. But get overheard bungling phrases like "Katamaree! Dama-sheedee! Sogeh-togeya!" and you will get nothing but loneliness (and more than a few weird looks).
posted by Rhaomi at 7:58 AM on October 16, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

America, Fuck Yeah!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:59 AM on October 16, 2008

I am sit-TING in the mor-NING
At the DI-ner on the COR-ner...
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:05 AM on October 16, 2008

Out of Touch by Hall & Oates has been in and out of my head for the past month or so.

I saw Girl from Ipanema up higher on the list. My friends and I actually hum or sing it to get other songs out of our heads.
posted by simplethings at 8:07 AM on October 16, 2008

Stuck by Stacie Orrico does it every time.

Every now and then
when I'm all alone
I'll be wishin' that you call me on the telephone
Say you want me babe
but you never do
I feel like such a fool...
There's nothing I can do...
posted by dmaterialized at 8:12 AM on October 16, 2008

The bird is the word.... I watched family guy like 2 weeks ago and Monday morning it was stuck in my head. I almost took a hammer to myself to get it out. Then my co-work who has a equally terrible taste in music played a 3 hour block of Nazareth, ACDC, and Billy Joel. Now you are probably saying "what is so bad about that?" Well Night Woman is a horrible song, the ACDC play list is a bunch of songs that no one has heard before, and I'm sorry but if I hear uptown girl one more time I am going to go postal! And yes they are played at a level which is suitable for the whole office. But he is about 10 feet from me and I get to hear a low pitch of the songs over and over and over again. I'm sorry what was the question again?
posted by Mastercheddaar at 8:13 AM on October 16, 2008

Tom's Diner, Suzanne Vega
Witchita Lineman - Glen Campbell
Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell
posted by Ponderance at 8:14 AM on October 16, 2008

Metroid already beat me too Tom's Diner, my bad.
posted by Ponderance at 8:14 AM on October 16, 2008

Also: the SLOW version of "Helter Skelter", from Anthology (really just a solo guitar and vocals)

Do you, don't you want me to love you?
posted by dmaterialized at 8:15 AM on October 16, 2008

Great answers here. I think I may have to play myself a bunch of these and see if one sticks more than any others for the best answer. All in the name of science, of course.
posted by JaredSeth at 8:16 AM on October 16, 2008

This is weird, but nearly every time I let the dogs out, I get "Who let the dogs out" stuck in my head. Mostly because I am wondering if my husband already did it before he left for work.

Inexplicably, I had "The Final Countdown" by Europe stuck in my head this morning while getting dressed. For some reason I rarely get new songs stuck in my head - they're all 80s or 90s earworms.
posted by desjardins at 8:16 AM on October 16, 2008

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

It's actually useful for driving other earworms out. It too will get stuck, but it's so much less annoying than some of the crap that gets hold in my head.
posted by tomboko at 8:20 AM on October 16, 2008

867-5309!
posted by Comrade_robot at 8:23 AM on October 16, 2008

Banana Phone =(
Especially the "Cellular, modular, interactiveodular" part...

Great, now I'm going to be singing that in my head all day now.
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:24 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Last week, it was a toss-up between the theme to "Hong Kong Phooey" and "Kung Fu Fighting" (I was writing an article about "Chinese things that became fads in the United States" and one section got into the Kung Fu craze of the 70's). In fact, I actually DELIBERATELY thought of "Kung Fu Fighting" to drive "Hong Kong Phooey" out of my head -- and then two days later, vice versa.

I have had all of the following stuck in my head at various times. Not all of them are apparent "earworms", but they have proven to be difficult to dislodge:

Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujiah"
The "Banana Splits" theme song
Britney Spears' "Oops I Did It Again"
Tears For Fears "Sowing The Seeds Of Love"
Barenaked Ladies' "One Week"
"Girl From Ipanema"
Billy Joel "It's Just A Fantasy"
The "Zoom Zoom Zoom" jingle from the car ads
K.T. Tunstall's "Black Horse And Cherry Tree"
"Boom-de-yada, Boom-de-yada, Boom-de-yada, Boom-de-yada..."
"Lydia the Tattooed Lady"
"Twist And Shout"
"Time Warp" from Rocky Horror
The theme to the "Time Warp Trio" cartoon
Randy Newman's "Naked Man"

....I'll probably think of more later, even.

And to make it up, I'm also offering a solution to the earworm problem: anytime I really, really need to get a song stuck out of my head, all I need to do is think of the song "Low Rider" and it's gone. "Low Rider" has seemed to be a universal solvent for crap stuck in your head.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:25 AM on October 16, 2008

PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP THE MUSIC.
posted by gnomeloaf at 8:27 AM on October 16, 2008

Seconding "America, Fuck Yeah!"
posted by starscream at 8:43 AM on October 16, 2008

Coin-Operated Boy by the Dresden Dolls
Love Cliche by Bran Van 3000
As far as Rocky Horror goes, Hot Patootie earworms more for me than the Time Warp.
Barbara Aaa-aaa-aann... Please take my haaa-aaa-aaaand...(by The Regents in 1961, this was Barbara Anne, but apparently it was originally called Barbara Ann. Wikipedia is a bit confusing on the matter.)

I'm having trouble thinking of more while in this thread, because now Katamari is conga dancing and castles don't have bananaphones are going through my head.

OH! I almost forgot! Hey Sarah Palin got Hey There Delilah stuck in my head again.
posted by mismatched at 8:46 AM on October 16, 2008

Also, from the Related Questions below, Dragostea Din Tea (the Numa Numa song).
As long as we're on the internet-related theme, Less Than Three (if you're curious about how it could earworm, skip past the "I can't wait to get on the internet and talk to my booooyyyyfriendddd" part. (Possibly not accurate, because I particularly dislike this one, but you did ask for earworm-y songs.)
posted by mismatched at 8:50 AM on October 16, 2008

Also, anything by Mika ever. (Possibly the worst offender in this case? Lollipop.)

I could do this all day, so I think I'll stop here. Message me if you want more.
posted by mismatched at 8:55 AM on October 16, 2008

Definitely Dragostea Din Tea
Since You've Been Gone, by Kelly Clarkson
That stupid Ketchup song

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Loituma
posted by O9scar at 9:05 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Feliz Navidad. God, I hate that damned thing.
posted by ElmerFishpaw at 9:05 AM on October 16, 2008

Her name was Lola; she was a showgirl, with yellow ribbons in her hair and a dress cut down to there.

Copa Cabana, although Afternoon Delight is now duking it out in my ears for supremacy. Today might get really weird.
posted by theora55 at 9:11 AM on October 16, 2008

People let me tell you 'bout my best friend,
He's a warm hearted person who'll love me till the end.
People let me tell you bout my best friend,
He's a one boy cuddly toy, my up, my down, my pride and joy.

Click this youtube link at your own peril.
posted by jamaro at 9:14 AM on October 16, 2008

99 Luft Balloons. Nina rocks. Over and over again.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:14 AM on October 16, 2008

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Loituma

O9scar, I'd never heard of it before but that is positively evil.
posted by JaredSeth at 9:15 AM on October 16, 2008

One that was never really too bad for me, but was the downfall of many friends of mine was The Macerena

Closing Time was previously mentioned.. that one haunted me for 2 straight weeks not too long ago...

and once again....

::whistling Closing Time::

thanks bunches :-)
posted by MattScully at 9:16 AM on October 16, 2008

I can't get this band out of my head, The Countdown (mostly the song Restart, but they are all infectious)

The Knack - My Sharona which I can't believe hasn't been mentioned yet!
posted by lee at 9:29 AM on October 16, 2008

This will cure you of any earworm that you might have.
posted by seawallrunner at 9:36 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Kelly Clarkson?
This is the shit, rainbow - since you been gone
posted by lee at 9:41 AM on October 16, 2008

A lot of the internet meme stuff is bad. Bananaphone, the hampster dance, Crazy Frog, Loituma... Otherwise it's generally a good base hook that catches me. For the last year or so, it's been Robyn's Handle Me or Blue Sky by Gliss (starts at 0.37) stuck in my head on repeat.
posted by gemmy at 9:53 AM on October 16, 2008

"One Minute Lovecat" (Missy Elliot vs. The Cure)
"S.O.S. (Rescue Me)"
"Paper Planes"
"YATTA!"
"Dragostea Din Tei"
"Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

Listen with extreme caution:
"I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am"
"Jingle Bell Rock"
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"*

Some songs are just catchy, but anything that makes a song frustrating (hard to sing, Christmas songs out of season, inane lyrics, etc.) makes it a more sticky earworm.

* - known to cause justifiable homicide
posted by Drop Daedalus at 9:56 AM on October 16, 2008

That damn Bumblebee Tuna song! The problem is it just goes on and on and on...
posted by Salthound at 10:00 AM on October 16, 2008

Well, thanks to MetaFilter, this song is always in my head. I woke up thinking about it last week, and I have successfully infected my family as well. Limoncello.
posted by genefinder at 10:03 AM on October 16, 2008

'Barbie Girl" by Aqua. I'd link to it, but I just can't bear to subject you all to it...
posted by Spyder's Game at 10:04 AM on October 16, 2008

I could go on and on and on forever (da da da ich liebe dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha) but the most evil on my current list is by Freezepop...Sprite: Melonball Bounce.

But don't worry, be happy.
posted by geckoinpdx at 10:11 AM on October 16, 2008

It's peanut butter jelly time
peanut butter jelly time
peanut butter jelly time
peanut butter jelly
peanut butter jelly
peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!

This one's bad enough that any 6-syllable phrase uttered in my household is frequently surrounded by the words "It's" and "time", and then generally followed up with the same phrase with "with a baseball bat!" appended. Even things that don't necessarily make grammatical sense.
Ex: "It's time to eat your dinner time... time to eat your dinner with a baseball bat!"
Of course, sometimes different length phrases are shoved in, stretching or omitting sounds as necessary. Peanut butter jelly time is evil.

Any song I know will randomly get stuck in my head, though. Oftentimes a line or two preceding a word/line I don't know or can't figure out will repeat endlessly until I give up and google the lyrics.

Finally, I usually wake up with a random song in my head. This is common enough that I don't even remember what the song is a few minutes later, but I know there was one in my head. Maybe I should keep a journal.
posted by owtytrof at 10:15 AM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Most of my worst ones have already been named, but a few more...

Lemon Jelly - "Nice Weather for Ducks"
Michael Buble - "Spider-Man Remix"
Pink Martini - "Sympathique"


The Tender Box - "The Spectacular Spider-Man Theme Song": DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! The first time you listen to this, it sounds like your typical annoying emo teenage crap, which it is. After you are forced to listen to it multiple times to get to your cartoony geeky awesome, you start to tolerate it. Then you start to like it. At the terminal stage of this disease you will willingly seek this song out to listen to it.
posted by bettafish at 10:18 AM on October 16, 2008

Reach Up For the Sunrise by Duran Duran (the Serie A song in Italy) for that naturally-looping chorus.
posted by Zambrano at 10:19 AM on October 16, 2008

Oh, I also wanted to mention Weird Al's polkas. They're done in such a way that my mind can jump from almost any song in any of his polkas to any other song indefinitely(except for the ending songs - if that happens, though, it just starts over).
posted by owtytrof at 10:26 AM on October 16, 2008

Also as previously mentioned, the Banana Splits song, but the Liz Phair/Material Issue version.
posted by geckoinpdx at 10:30 AM on October 16, 2008

Castlevania Level 1 for the 8-Bit Nintendo. It does the trick every time.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 10:56 AM on October 16, 2008

I can't remember how I first came across it, but this Maharishi Vedic Organic Honey commercial song can get lodged in my consciousness for days at a time...
posted by anthom at 10:56 AM on October 16, 2008

"The Hukilau Song" as sung by Satan and his minions in that episode of South Park
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 11:29 AM on October 16, 2008

This is the song that never ends... (Lampchop's Play Along)

It just goes on and on my friends.....
posted by wg at 11:35 AM on October 16, 2008

Gail Parker, US Senate.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 11:38 AM on October 16, 2008

That which has stuck with me the longest, and is often referred to by the person that put it there, is Sweet Betsy From Pike. IIRC, it stuck with me for about two weeks.

Oh don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike,
Who crossed the wide prairie with her lover Ike,
With two yoke of oxen, a big yellow dog,
A tall Shanghai rooster, and one spotted hog?

I read recently that ear worms are processed by the same part of your brain that does math. So, to get rid of the 'worm, do some math. (I've not tried it but will try to remember the next time I've a worm.)

The other option to get rid of the worm is to actually sing (or hum or whistle) the entire song. It's a completion thing.
posted by Man with Lantern at 11:47 AM on October 16, 2008

Amusingly, the first time I had They Might Be Giant's Dr. Worm, I had it stuck in my head for days.

Talk to the Hot Dog from Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show had the same effect.
posted by Nelsormensch at 12:28 PM on October 16, 2008

Oh, gosh. They Might Be Giants - Why Does the Sun Shine? is their catchiest song ever I think.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 12:36 PM on October 16, 2008

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
posted by Exchequer at 12:37 PM on October 16, 2008

nthing "Girl From Ipanema", and the Bumblebee Tuna song is a good one too!

Stuff from "Flight of the Conchords" always does it to me... especially "Foux de Fa Fa".
posted by rebel_rebel at 1:11 PM on October 16, 2008

This is incredibly painful. I groan with each new entry. It's interesting to see the different generations at work.

That stupid McDonald's salad jingle:

I want salad with lots of stuff
Just plain lettuce is never enough
I want SALad


Anything by Barry Manilow....

We walked to the sea
Just my father and and me
and the dogs played around in the sand....
We're just ships that passed in the night
and we smile when we say it's alright......

John Denver:

Well life on the farm is kinda laid back
ain't much an old county boy like me can't hack
it's early to rise, early in the sack,
Thank God I'm a country boy!
posted by caroljean63 at 1:34 PM on October 16, 2008

We walked to the sea
Just my father and and me
and the dogs played around in the sand....

For whatever reason, I'm hearing this to the tune of "The Sloop John B.", which is its own earworm now.

And dammitall, so is the Bumblebee Tuna jingle....


Jeeping fuck, I now have six earworms fighting for space in my head right now:

"We come on the sloop John B., Hong Kong Phooey and me,
Yum yum bumblebee can't get you out of my head...
Mah na mah na na, with a baseball bat,
Woo hoo, woo hoo hoo, I wanna go home..."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:59 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Electric Six - Gay Bar
posted by sandking at 2:13 PM on October 16, 2008

I used to whistle a snippet from the muppets theme song at work, wait five minutes and then see who picks it up unknowingly. Then I'd giggle.

I often get The Decemberists Mariners Revenge Song stuck in my head, but I quite enjoy it.
posted by robotot at 2:14 PM on October 16, 2008

That new Britney Spears' song is called Womanizer. And yes, god, it tunnels into your brain.

Although have you seen the video? Those sauna scenes? MEOW! Bitch's still got it.
posted by CwgrlUp at 2:39 PM on October 16, 2008

Oh man. Lesko's Revenge.

Cup of Brown Joy.

Hakuna Matata.

The damned Patty Duke theme was haunting me yesterday.


Patty Duke can go to hell. Hayley Mills can go to hell, too.
posted by Lou Stuells at 3:33 PM on October 16, 2008

"John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmitt" played in my head when I walked to this bus this morning.

I like having "Eva's Polka" stuck in my head. How about Dahler Mehndi's "Tunak Tunak Tun"? Somehow, with both of these examples, the fact the words are in languages I don't even come close to understanding makes them all the more (delightfully) insidious.



Oh, and sometimes "Shine On Harvest Moon." And, because of this thread, the Can-Can.
posted by Neofelis at 3:36 PM on October 16, 2008

Oh, and tomorrow. Tomorrow. You're only a day away.
posted by geckoinpdx at 4:52 PM on October 16, 2008

Hey Ya and Roses by Outkast used to play on VH1 in May of 2004 at 3, 4, 5AM. I know this because I had a newborn and did NOT have Tivo. Those songs were stuck in my head for the whole 10 weeks, driving me a little more insane. Hey Ya and Roses by Outkast used to play on VH1 in May of 2004 at 3, 4, 5AM. I know this because I had a newborn and did NOT have Tivo. Those songs were stuck in my head for the whole 10 weeks, driving me a little more insane. Hey Ya and Roses by Outkast used to play on VH1 in May of 2004 at 3, 4, 5AM. I know this because I had a newborn and did NOT have Tivo. Those songs were stuck in my head for the whole 10 weeks, driving me a little more insane.

Roses was the reason I named daughter #2 Maggie and not Caroline.
posted by beachhead2 at 5:16 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I didn't mean to type that many times. Listening to the song just caused small convulsions. OOPS
posted by beachhead2 at 5:17 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I am shocked - SHOCKED - that we're 90+ posts in and "Don't Stop Believin'" hasn't made the list. That one is unshakable.
posted by harkin banks at 6:13 PM on October 16, 2008

Mine are the Odd Couple theme (movie version) and that song from Les Miserables that George Costanza hummed for a whole episode of Seinfeld (I've never even seen or heard that musical, but I've had the song in my head for ten years!).
posted by Mael Oui at 8:28 PM on October 16, 2008

Julian Lennon "Much Too Late For Goodbyes"
posted by horseblind at 6:05 AM on October 17, 2008

Oh yeah - "Let 'Em In" by Wings. Especially the "Sister Susie, Brother John, etc." bit.

Eventually I started making up my own words for it, and turned it into a game of "how many rhyming sets of names can I fit into this song?"
posted by anthom at 7:28 AM on October 17, 2008

Reminded of Hello by They Beloved. That'll be going around for head days now.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:16 AM on October 17, 2008

Funny thing is that for me, an earworm loses its power once I can listen to the whole song. But former earworms used to be "Am I the Same Girl", and of course "Copacabana".
posted by WCityMike at 11:32 AM on October 17, 2008

No one's mentioned "Cruel Summer" yet.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:50 PM on October 17, 2008

Holy crap Seawallrunner!
posted by wherever, whatever at 5:12 PM on October 17, 2008

Thanks to a reminder from #1, I've gone through and marked a bunch of best answers, which was a challenge unto itself...you try going through these answers and see how you fare. Thanks to everyone!
posted by JaredSeth at 5:28 AM on November 16, 2008