Earworms

Wax Madonna in Vegas
was an earworm trigger.  

The music of my subconscious is always playing. It is the the soundtrack of my life.  Hearing music is completely different than hearing voices. The most destructive thing it causes are awkward moments of dancing to the music in my head.    At the moment, Christmas tunes are playing in heavy rotation. If you walk by my office at work, you will either hear the song of the moment or see me doing one of my signature bopping dance moves.

The random selections of the music of the subconscious can be amusing, perplexing and annoying.  Why I am hearing this song now? Is the universe sending me a secret message?

According to the BBC article “Earworms: Why songs get stuck in our heads”

by Rhitu Chatterjee, scientists have a name for songs that get stuck in our heads - “earworms.” There is even a website dedicated to collecting earworm stories: earwormery.com.

Usually, my earworms are songs I recently heard, or that have particular meaning to me. Sometimes the trigger is a phrase. For example, when I see the phrase “Keep Calm and Carry On,” 98% of the time, my mind is going to play Kansas' “Carry on my Wayward Son.” So, what causes earworm infestations? According to the article,  earworms infect our brains for multiple reasons, including:

• Recent music exposure
• Repeated music exposure
• Word triggers
• People triggers
• Situation trigger
• Stress
• Surprise
• Dreams
• Mind wandering

What earworm has invaded your brain today?  Is it annoying or just entertaining? Can you identify the trigger?