Annoying Earworms

Not nose worm; earworm!

     Earworm (not to be mistaken with earthworm) is a trendy word that brings to MY mind creepy-crawlies. It falls into the same category as the words moist, slimy, slithery and slug. What on earth are earworms? Why do we get them? and, most importantly, how do we get rid of earworms?

     Now that your interest is piqued (not picked), a definition is in order. Earworms are the sometimes silly, catchy tunes we hear on the radio that crawl into our minds and stay for hours, repeating over, and over, and over, and over again.

     The Today Show reported that life experiences or memories relating to a song invite earworms; 70% of the time it is a song we like; 65% of the time the song has a catchy tune.

     Two earworm songs to which I am vulnerable are: the boy band One Direction's 2011 silly hit "What Makes You Beautiful" and Carly Rae Jepsen's catchy "Call Me Maybe."

     One way to help remove obnoxious, involuntary music take-overs is to become involved in a challenging task. If you wish to experience an annoying earworm, this quirky song's repetitious tune just might do the trick!