Earworms: Why Songs Get Stuck in Your Head

It’s been three hours since you heard that song. You’re trying to focus on work, but there it is again—playing on an endless loop in your head.

Don’t stop believin’… hold on to that feelin’…

You didn’t ask for this. You can’t turn it off. It just keeps playing.

You have an earworm—and if you’ve ever had one (and you have), you know how maddening they can be.

What Is an Earworm?

Earworm (also called Involuntary Musical Imagery or INMI) is the experience of a song or melody repeating involuntarily in your mind.

Etymology:

• Translation of German “Ohrwurm”
• A catchy tune that “worms” its way into your ear/brain
• You can’t get it out

Characteristics:

• Involuntary: You don’t choose to think about the song
• Repetitive: The same section plays over and over
• Intrusive: Interrupts other thoughts
• Persistent: Can last minutes, hours, or days
• Usually short: Typically 15-30 seconds of a song, not the whole thing

How common?

Research shows:

• 90%+ of people experience earworms at least once a week
• 30% experience them daily
• Average duration: 15-30 minutes per episode
• Some last hours or even days

You’re not alone. Earworms are nearly universal.

The Neuroscience: Why Songs Loop

What’s happening in your brain when you have an earworm?

1. Auditory Cortex: The Mental Jukebox

Your auditory cortex can activate spontaneously—even without external sound.

fMRI studies show:

• Imagining music: Activates auditory cortex (same regions as hearing real music)
• Earworms: Show similar activation patterns
• Spontaneous activity: Your auditory cortex can “play” music on its own

Key regions:

Primary Auditory Cortex (A1):

• Processes basic sound features
• Active during music imagery

Secondary Auditory Areas (planum temporale, superior temporal gyrus):

• Process melody, rhythm, timbre
• Store musical memories
• Spontaneously reactivate during earworms

The auditory cortex is like a jukebox that can start playing songs without being told to.

2. Memory: Songs Are Sticky

Music is encoded differently than other information.

Why songs are memorable:

1. Repetition: Songs repeat verses, choruses—built-in rehearsal 2. Melody + Lyrics: Dual encoding (auditory + verbal) 3. Emotion: Music triggers emotional responses (enhances memory consolidation) 4. Rhythm: Rhythmic patterns aid memory (evolutionary link to movement)

Result: Music memories are robust, easily activated, resistant to forgetting.

Hippocampus and Temporal Lobes:

• Store long-term musical memories
• Songs from your adolescence are particularly sticky (reminiscence bump)
• Can retrieve and replay songs automatically

3. The Loop: Why It Repeats

Earworms typically loop a specific section of a song—not the whole song.

Why?

Incomplete recall:

• You remember the chorus clearly
• The verse is fuzzy
• Your brain plays the part it knows well
• Loops because it can’t complete the full song

Zeigarnik Effect:

• Incomplete tasks create cognitive tension
• Your brain wants to “finish” the song
• Keeps replaying the fragment, trying to complete it
• But the completion never satisfies, so it loops

4. Default Mode Network: Mental Wandering

Earworms happen during mind-wandering.

Default Mode Network (DMN):

• Active when you’re not focused on external tasks
• Involved in daydreaming, memory, internal thought

When is DMN active?

• Showering
• Commuting
• Falling asleep
• Boring, repetitive tasks

Notice when earworms strike?

• Exactly during these activities

When DMN is active:

• Attention is internally focused
• Auditory cortex can activate spontaneously
• No competing external stimuli
• Perfect conditions for earworms

What Makes a Song “Catchy”?

Not all songs become earworms. Some are more likely than others.

Research Findings (Jakubowski et al., 2017)

Characteristics of earworm songs:

1. Faster tempo

• Upbeat songs stick more than slow ballads
• 120-130 BPM is common

2. Simple, repetitive melody

• Easy to remember
• Loops naturally
• Limited melodic variation

3. Unusual intervals

• Unexpected melodic leaps
• Creates slight tension/surprise
• Makes the melody distinctive

4. Common melodic contours

• Follows familiar patterns (e.g., verse-chorus structure)
• But with enough uniqueness to stand out

Top earworm songs (empirically tested):

• “Bad Romance” - Lady Gaga
• “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” - Kylie Minogue (literally about being an earworm!)
• “Don’t Stop Believin’” - Journey
• “Somebody That I Used to Know” - Gotye
• “Moves Like Jagger” - Maroon 5
• “California Gurls” - Katy Perry
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” - Queen
• “Single Ladies” - Beyoncé

Common features:

• Strong, simple hooks
• Repetitive structure
• Memorable chorus
• Upbeat tempo

Individual Variation

The same song doesn’t affect everyone equally.

Who gets more earworms?

• Musicians: More frequent earworms (heightened musical memory)
• Women: Report slightly more earworms than men (research mixed)
• People with OCD tendencies: More intrusive, persistent earworms
• High openness to experience: More earworms (personality trait)

What songs stick for you?

• Songs from your teens/early 20s (reminiscence bump)
• Recently heard songs (recency effect)
• Songs with personal significance (emotional memory)
• Songs you hear repeatedly (jingles, ads, TikTok trends)

Why Earworms Happen: Triggers

What causes a song to start playing in your head?

1. Recent Exposure

The most common trigger.

• Hear a song on the radio → Earworm for hours
• Catchy ad jingle → Loops all day
• Someone mentions a song → Stuck in your head

Recency primes the memory—making it easy to reactivate.

2. Associations

Environmental or contextual cues.

Example:

• You always listen to Song X while commuting
• Now, every time you get in the car, Song X plays in your head
• The context (car) triggers the memory

Other associations:

• Emotional states (sad song when feeling down)
• Locations (songs tied to places)
• People (songs tied to relationships)

3. Mind-Wandering

When your mind isn’t occupied, earworms fill the gap.

Activities that trigger earworms:

• Showering
• Walking
• Exercising
• Falling asleep
• Boring tasks

Why? Low cognitive load → DMN active → Spontaneous thoughts (including music).

4. Memory Retrieval Cues

Anything that reminds you of the song.

• Someone says a lyric phrase
• You see something related (e.g., “Stairway to Heaven” → see a staircase)
• Similar melody plays

Once the song is activated, it can loop.

5. Incomplete Exposure

Hearing part of a song but not the whole thing.

Example:

• Song plays in a store, you leave mid-chorus
• Your brain has the incomplete fragment
• Tries to “finish” it → Loops the fragment

Zeigarnik Effect in action.

The Positive Side: Earworms Can Be Useful

Earworms aren’t always bad.

1. Memory Aid

Songs help you remember information.

Classic examples:

• Alphabet song (learning ABCs)
• “Conjunction Junction” (grammar)
• Medical students: Memorizing anatomy via songs

Why it works:

• Melody provides structure
• Rhythm aids recall
• Repetition (via earworm) reinforces memory

2. Emotional Regulation

Songs can shift your mood.

Research shows:

• People with earworms often report improved mood
• Music (even imagined) can reduce stress
• Familiar songs are comforting

Some people intentionally use songs as mood regulation:

• Sad? Think of an upbeat song
• Anxious? Replay a calming song mentally

3. Creativity and Insight

Mind-wandering (when earworms happen) is linked to creativity.

Default Mode Network:

• Generates spontaneous thoughts
• Makes novel connections
• Earworms are part of this process

Many people report:

• Solving problems during mind-wandering
• Creative ideas during showers (peak earworm time)

Earworms might be a side effect of a brain that’s creatively active.

4. Cognitive Exercise

Mentally playing music activates many brain regions.

Auditory imagery (earworms) engages:

• Auditory cortex (sound)
• Motor cortex (rhythm, singing along)
• Prefrontal cortex (working memory)
• Limbic system (emotion)

Keeping these systems active might be cognitively beneficial.

The Negative Side: When Earworms Become Intrusive

For most people, earworms are mildly annoying. But for some, they’re debilitating.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

People with OCD report:

• More frequent earworms
• More distressing earworms
• Inability to dismiss them
• Songs feel intrusive and unwanted (similar to intrusive thoughts)

The song becomes a compulsion:

• Can’t stop the loop
• Causes anxiety
• Interferes with daily functioning

Musical Hallucinations

Rare, but distinct from earworms:

Earworms: You know the song is in your head (mental imagery) Musical hallucinations: You perceive the song as external sound (actual hallucination)

Causes:

• Hearing loss (phantom auditory perception)
• Epilepsy (temporal lobe seizures)
• Schizophrenia
• Brain lesions

If you hear music and think it’s real (not in your head), seek medical evaluation.

How to Get Rid of an Earworm

The million-dollar question: How do you stop it?

What Doesn’t Work

1. Trying to suppress it:

• “Don’t think about the song”
• This backfires (ironic process theory)
• Like “don’t think about a pink elephant”
• Makes it worse

2. Playing the song to “finish” it:

• Sometimes works
• Often makes it stronger (re-exposes you)
• Mixed results

What Might Work

1. Cognitive Engagement:

Occupy your working memory with a demanding task:

• Solve a puzzle (Sudoku, crossword)
• Read something engaging
• Have a complex conversation

Why it works: Earworms thrive during low cognitive load. Load up your brain, and the earworm has no space.

Effectiveness: Moderate to high

2. Chewing Gum:

Studies show chewing gum reduces earworms.

Why?

• Engages motor cortex
• Interferes with subvocalization (internally “singing” the song)
• Articulatory suppression

Effectiveness: Moderate (weird but backed by research)

3. Listen to a Different Song:

Replace the earworm with a different song.

Choose:

• A song you like but doesn’t stick easily
• Instrumentals (no lyrics to loop)
• Something calm (not another earworm bomb)

Why it works: Overwrites the stuck song with new auditory input.

Effectiveness: Moderate (risk: new earworm)

4. Complete the Song:

If the earworm is a fragment, finish the song in your mind.

Theory: Zeigarnik Effect says incomplete tasks create tension. Completing the song relieves tension.

Effectiveness: Low to moderate (sometimes makes it worse)

5. Distraction + Time:

Just wait. Most earworms fade on their own within 15-30 minutes.

Engage in an activity:

• Conversation
• Exercise
• Work task

Don’t fight the earworm—just shift attention.

Effectiveness: High (but requires patience)

The Best Strategy: Acceptance

Ironically, the most effective approach might be:

Stop trying to get rid of it.

Accept the earworm:

• It’s there
• It’s harmless
• It will pass
• Fighting it makes it stronger

Mindfulness approach:

• Notice the earworm without judgment
• Let it play in the background
• Don’t engage or resist
• Shift attention to present-moment experience

Why it works: Reduces the cognitive tension and frustration that feed the loop.

The Broader Principle: Your Brain Is a Pattern-Playing Machine

Earworms reveal something fundamental about how your brain works.

Your brain continuously generates patterns:

• Visual imagery (daydreams, mental images)
• Verbal thoughts (internal monologue)
• Auditory imagery (songs, sounds)

Earworms are spontaneous auditory pattern generation.

Why does this happen?

1. Pattern completion:

• Your brain is wired to complete patterns
• Fragments trigger attempts to complete
• Music is highly patterned → Easy to trigger

2. Memory consolidation:

• Replaying information strengthens memory
• Spontaneous replay might serve memory function
• Earworms could be your brain practicing

3. Default mode activity:

• When not focused externally, your brain generates internal content
• Songs, memories, thoughts
• Earworms are part of normal internal mentation

Earworms aren’t a bug—they’re a window into your brain’s constant background activity.

The Takeaway

Earworms—involuntary musical imagery—affect nearly everyone and reveal the spontaneous pattern-generating nature of your brain.

They happen because:

• Auditory cortex activates spontaneously: Can play music without external input
• Music memories are strong: Repetitive, emotional, easily triggered
• Incomplete recall creates loops: Brain tries to complete the fragment, fails, repeats
• Mind-wandering creates conditions: Low cognitive load + DMN activity = earworms

What makes a song stick:

• Fast tempo
• Simple, repetitive melody
• Unusual but familiar structure
• Recent exposure

How to handle them:

• Cognitive engagement: Occupy your brain with a demanding task
• Chewing gum: Disrupts subvocalization
• Acceptance: Stop fighting, let it pass
• Time: Most fade within 15-30 minutes

Next time you have an earworm:

Remember—it’s not a malfunction. It’s your auditory cortex spontaneously replaying a song because your brain is a pattern-playing machine that never stops working, even when you’re just trying to take a shower.

And now you’re probably thinking about a song. Sorry about that.

This is part of the Brain Series. Earworms show how your brain spontaneously generates auditory patterns—revealing the constant background activity of your auditory cortex and memory systems.