Art of the earworm: Why some songs get stuck in your head
Sure, cockroaches are bad. But there may be one pest that鈥檚 loathed even more 鈥� the earworm.
Most casual listeners have experienced an earworm before. Certain songs, such as The Knack鈥檚 鈥淢y Sharona鈥� or Lady Gaga鈥檚 鈥淏ad Romance,鈥� have the uncanny capacity to become lodged in our heads. And it鈥檚 not just pop music 鈥� unshakeable musical repetitions have fascinated composers throughout the ages, from Carpentras to Berlioz. But why do some songs stick more than others?
In an attempt to find out, Kelly Jakubowski of Britain's Durham University聽directed a . Her study found that certain compositional elements 鈥� the combination of familiar melodic structures with unusual intervals, for example 鈥� were prone to 鈥渟tickiness,鈥� independent of factors like radio popularity. But could these findings change the way composers write music? And if so, should they?
The new study, which was published Thursday in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, identified several similarities between the most common earworms. Unsurprisingly, most were up-tempo songs with fairly generic melodic shapes.
In one common shape, the melody rises in pitch through the first phrase, then falls in the second. The main hook of Maroon 5鈥檚 鈥淢oves Like Jagger,鈥� the fifth most common earworm according to this study, follows that pattern almost exactly. Another example of this shape can be heard in 鈥淭winkle Twinkle Little Star.鈥�
Many earworms also contained slight musical quirks, such as an odd interval or repetition. 鈥淏ad Romance,鈥� which topped the list, contains such a quirk: The song鈥檚 chorus, which was composed in the key of A minor, features an out-of-key E major chord.
But could such knowledge take the art out of songwriting? Probably not, says composer and Brandeis University professor David Rakowski.
鈥淪cience often takes years and years to find out what artists already know instinctively,鈥� Mr. Rakowski tells 海角大神 in an email. 鈥淜nowing the right elements of a great poem doesn鈥檛 give you the ability to write a great poem. That doesn鈥檛 tell you how to combine and contrast them in artful and fresh ways.鈥�
Most Beatles songs, Rakowski says, have at least one chord that is out of key. That would support the results of the Durham University study.
鈥淸But] I鈥檓 not sure if knowing that gives me the ability to write a Beatles song,鈥� he adds.
In future studies, Dr. Jakubowski and colleagues plan to compose a new song based on the features they identified. By playing different versions of that song to participants, they could better understand how things like tempo affect 鈥渆arworminess.鈥�
鈥淲e would also like to test the relationship between earworm tempo and movement,鈥� Jakubowski tells the Monitor in an email. 鈥淔or instance, whether certain songs are more likely to get stuck in our heads because they match the speed of our walking or running. Previous research suggests earworms often occur during repetitive, periodic movements.鈥�
The new data could also be used in computer-generated music, which is procedurally composed based on preset rules.
鈥淩ules that are derived from human cognitive principles, like those our study has revealed, could help computers to generate music that sounds like it comes from a human,鈥� Jakubowski says.
Others say the earworm 鈥� and the obsessive response it elicits 鈥� isn鈥檛 exactly a good model to draw from.
鈥淚 would hate to simplify the idea of the earworm,鈥� Victor Coelho, chair of Boston University鈥檚 department of musicology, tells the Monitor in a phone interview. 鈥淭hese things actually could be medical conditions. These are things a songwriter wouldn鈥檛 want to have.鈥�
Nineteenth-century composer Hector Berlioz was fascinated by the phenomenon. In the first movement of his 鈥淪ymphonie fantastique,鈥� Berlioz imagines a young musician who is haunted by an id茅e fixe 鈥� a recurring melody that pops in his head whenever he thinks about the woman he loves.
In the Durham University study, several participants reported that they could get rid of an earworm by listening to the British national anthem 鈥淕od Save the Queen.鈥� Others suggested listening to the earworm itself in an effort to 鈥渦nstick鈥� it.
鈥淚f people are suggesting remedies, they鈥檙e already understanding that earworms are not something great,鈥� Mr. Coelho says.聽
