Earworms: where they come from and how Google can help

You might be at work, doing a spring clean or on a walk in the fresh air when it starts wriggling its way into your head. From out of nowhere, you’ll think of some passage from a song you haven’t heard in ages. Worst case, it’s a song you don’t even like. And then the earworm will latch onto your brain.

For the next few hours or maybe even days, you’ll be «hearing» this melody, this one line in your head and won’t be able to do anything about it. «Come on, Barbie, let’s go party ah ah ah yeah Come on, Barbie, let’s go party ooh oh, ooh oh». You get the idea. But are you really helplessly subjected to your earworm? Or is there something you can do about it?

Why the catchy tune?

Before we look at the antidote for this musical vermin, let’s see where earworms come from. What makes a catchy tune?

According to popular science magazine Spektrum der Wissenschaft (article in German), most catchy tunes have one thing in common: they’re simple and have a pleasing melody. This makes pop tunes particularly suitable to become earworms. According to a study conducted by psychologists at the University of London, Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ and Bad Romance by pop icon Lady Gaga are among the top songs.

Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – Kylie Minogue’s mega hit is a self-fulfilling prophecy... A melody that worms its way into the ear is there to stay. So far, so good.

However, science doesn’t yet understand how an earworm develops. It’s assumed that the music on loop in your head will mainly start going off when you’re not particularly engrossed in anything else. While you’re carrying out repetitive or monotonous tasks, for example.

What’s more, the human brain likes nothing better than regular shapes and complete patterns. So there’s just one part of a song stuck in your head, you’re dealing with an incomplete pattern. Your brain’s craving completeness. Kind of like a jigsaw puzzle of a work of art that’s missing one last piece.

How to shake that earworm (with Google’s help)

Achieving this completeness is relatively simple in theory: you just have to listen to the whole song again. Very carefully, from beginning to end. This is said to chase out earworms as the puzzle has been completed.

But what if you’ve forgotten the name and artist of the song that’s stuck in your head? This makes things a little tricky.

At best, you still know some of the lyrics to the bit that’s turned your brain into its home. Searching for the lyrics is usually a fast way to find what you’re looking for.

But if you don’t remember the words or there just aren’t any, this makes things just that much trickier again. This is where Google comes into it.

The microphone in your mobile’s Google search bar not only lets you look for stuff via voice commands, but also does music searches. It works in the same way as the music recognition app Shazam, but with one important difference.

Google can figure out songs on the radio or playing in a bar, and it can also figure out your singing. This means you can sing or hum the tune that’s been following you all day and Google will tell you what it’s called. Don’t worry, it’s not like you have to hit every note perfectly for it to work.

All you have to do now is listen to the catchy tune in full to break the curse. Puzzle completed.

What was the song that was stuck in your head last? Share your catchy tune with the Community in the comments. After all, a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved.