When You Have a Song Stuck In Your Head

One sleep problem I have is being bothered by an earworm all damn night. Perhaps, you, too have suffered from earworms.

I have this theory that hell is being stuck with only three CDs of incredibly bad music.  There’s probably more to hell, but the music is what really rubs the salt into your wounds.  Whenever I come across a song that really turns my stomach, I think, "That’s on the 3 CD Soundtrack to Hell).

But it can incredibly stressful when you have one of these musical mutations stuck in your head for days on end.  I remember when I had "Achy Breaky Heart" stuck in my head for about a week. I’d rather get a root canal than have that happen to me again. 

The Pet Shop Boys

The song I currently have stuck in my head is the Pet Shop Boys’ "It’s A Sin."  I figure it’ll go away when the Pet Shop Boys CD I bought will finally arrive in the mail.  This isn’t as stressful as I happen to really like the song.  But what do you do when you have a song stuck in your head that you abhor?

Substitute Another Song

This is the "fighting fire with fire" approach.  Songs that get stuck in your head are often have incredibly simple melodies that keep on repeating.  The only problem is that you have to find a song you like that fits these criteria in order to smother the original song.  Songs I find useful to help break up "Achey Breaky Heart" from my head include:

• Rugby songs (those in England know what I’m talking about.  These songs have absolutely nothing to do with rugby.
• "The Yellow Rose of Texas"
• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
• "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt"
• "On Top of Old Smoky"
• "Bingo"
• Meow Mix jingle (any commercial jingle will usually dislodge even your most cherished of songs)
• "It’s A Sin" by the Pet Shop Boys

Chewing on Cinnamon Sticks

I just discovered this folk-lore remedy while researching this article, so I’m not sure how effective it is.  But any port in a storm, I say! 


Sing the Entire Dreaded Song Out Loud

This is another folk lore remedy for getting rid of horrible songs.  This does sometimes work — but you have to know all of the lyrics.  I can tell you right now that I haven’t brought myself to Google the lyrics to "Achy Breaky Heart".  I’m afraid that in some horrible case of mistaken identity, my computer will be seized by the police looking for whatever it is they look for when they seize computers.  They’ll find I’ve looked up the lyrics to "Achy Breaky Heart".  I’ll never hear the end of it.  It’ll go on my tombstone.

Listen to Running Water

It’s hard not to worry about a song stuck in your head, but worry only compounds the song’s hold upon your brain.  What sometimes helps for me is to go listen to a fountain, a river, a rainstorm or my fish tank.  I suppose you could listen to radio static, but that sound drives me mental, so I don’t use it.  The running water sounds trigger a relaxation response in me.  They also usually don’t have any rhythm to them, so I can’t match the song to the water. 


Hope this helps.