Ear Worm: Difference between revisions

{{trope|wppage=Earworm}}

 

[[Lamb Chop's Play Along|This is the song that doesn't end...]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNTxr2NJHa0 Yes, it goes on and on, my friends...] in your head.

Compare [[The Tetris Effect]], the video game equivalent.

 

 

Some of these link to [[YouTube]], so if you wish to listen to them in stereo, add "&fmt=18" to the link without the quotation marks. This may negate some of the awesome, but in some cases it may also elevate the song to godlike status.

Please mention the work the example comes from. Simply typing out "Lalalalala (link to Youtube video)" will not be a good idea, because a) the link might get deleted, b) not everyone can play videos, and c) "Lalalalala" looks like gibberish to the average viewer.

 

 

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{{examples}}

== Music ==

 

=== Unsorted ===

* That stupid barking-dog Jingle Bells that every half-assed radio station feels they have to whip out every Christmas.

* If you live in Recife, then [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgu9OzNS1Fk this song] will never leave your head.

** ''Vem minha gatinha, venha meu amor, venha minha amaaaaada! Vamos fazer amor em cima da caasa!!''

** While we're in Brazil, "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn1w4gr_V08 Eu Quero Ver o Oco]" by hardcore band Raimundos manages to be heavy and catchy.

** Rough translation: "Brother Jacques, Brother Jacques, are you asleep? Are you asleep? Matins bell is ringing, Matins bell is ringing, Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong."

** Singalong translation: "Brother Jacques, Brother Jacques, please wake up, please wake up! Matins bell is ringing, Matins bell is ringing, Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong."

* Ever find yourself singing ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTc6g0ywnRc Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot]'' days after you played it? Despite the fact that you can't make out if the lyrics are ''words'' or merely ''odd sound combinations''?

* Oooh, aaah, oooh, aaah, oooh, aaah, get, get, get away, now...

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBj1mTyGDgA Ejo, Captain Jack! (Ejo, Captain Jack!)] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3j2gAO7Jy0 Bring me back to the railroad track! (Bring me back to the railroad track!)]

** When [[Radioactive Zombie]] was in Sea Cadet boot camp, this was the battalion-wide earworm. ''Put that rifle in my hand...'

*** Not to mention Matsumoto Jun's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmZwZcyjn1w Yabai-Yabai-Yabai.]

* [[Hello! Project|Morning Musume]], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXhk_9kgy4w "Happy Summer Wedding"] "Ba-da-pa-da, ba-da-pa-da, ba-da-pa-da-pa-pa, ''hai!''"

** EVERYBODY'S GONE SURFING! Surfin' USA.

*** Ah-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA Wipeout!

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt-NvcuDVBc This]. And it's got a horrible name, to boot.

* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0I8_bOAuso O Fortuna]'' from Orff's "Carmina Burana."

* "Je Veux te Voir" by YELLE ([[NSFW]], especially for the bilingual).

* For me there are quite a few country music songs that are like this, including but not limited to the following

** Crazy Frog's version of Axel F

** The [[Nightmare Fuel|parade theme]] from Paprika, of all things. Here it is in ITS terrifying(ly addictive) glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4doHF0dIuh0

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjoIkq4y7s Fantastic Cat.] The sheer weirdness, and pidgin English lyrics make it even more so.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w45Qi7Nki54 Feeeeeeed my fiii-iiiire], let me put some dust on your fa-ace. Even non-German speakers are affected by Eisbrecher.

* Those who have heard the Ievan Polka know what I am talking about when I say "HELP!!!"

* Mistabishi - "Printer Jam". Built around the screeching sound of a dot-matrix printer.

* The band The Illuminoids has the tendency to mashup earworms TOGETHER, which tends to make them even catchier. Which is somewhat amusing when they mix the rolling stones, nirvana, and some recent hip-hop song together.

* I don't know about y'all, but I'm beginning to regret him ever getting a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8FXuvuCCxw brand new pigbag]

* For Flemish tropers: Samson en Gert songs. Especially their earlier ones. "Dit is de Samsonrock/De Samsonrock/die dansen alle honden in hun hondenhok!"

* The daughtry's 'I got over you' don't have a link to the song but damn if those chorus lyrics don't stick in your head.

* "I always ''turn the car around''..."

* The abominable "Scotty Doesn't Know" has haunted me. I do not like heavily sexual music in most cases, ''especially'' when it's that descriptive and it's about cheating. This led to some uncomfortable moments.

* For Russian and Non-Russian Tropers alike: I ''dare'' you to get [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gmSuOvZnio "Bird of Happiness"] ("Птица Счастья") out of your head. I ''DARE'' you.

** Also [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZybc_RLe7o "Vologda"] (Вологда) has this effect as well. (Skip to about 0:55 for the actual song)

* can't believe one of the all-time most annoying Ear Worms hasn't been mentioned... aaaa-gaaaa-doo doo doo, push pineapple shake the tree...

 

* [[The Arrogant Worms]], appropriately enough, have [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmadeC8oifI "Song Inside My Head"], which is both an Ear Worm and about an Ear Worm. They even include the basic melody recorded in several different musical styles.

* Similarly, the song "Ohrwurm" by the German a capella band Wise Guys is an Ear Worm sung ''by'' an Ear Worm.

* Yet again, the song "Tosi Tarttuva Täytebiisi" ("Really Catchy Filler Song") by finnish group Allekirjoittanut (later [[Covered Up]] by Raptori, which shares two members of Allekirjoittanut) is a tongue-in-cheek dance track about the song itself being an [[Album Filler]] Ear Worm, while the Raptori version lampshades the [[Covered Up]] aspect.

* [[Jonathan Coulton]]:

{{quote|"''Shawty's like a melody in my head That I can't keep out Got me singin' like Na na na na everyday It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay''"}}

* "That Song in My Head" is another meta-example, as the hook is "I've had that song in my head all day."

 

== Western Animation ==

=== Unsorted ===

* ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]''

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' has: "''Duff beer for me, Duff beer for you, I'll have a Duff, You'll have one too...''" (repeat ad nauseam). For Massive Damage, it's set to a tune very similar to "It's a Small World".

** What's more, it's the "jackpot" music on multiple versions of the ''Simpsons''-licenced Fruit Machines. Winning £5 has never been this annoying before...

* Brad opens the "I Was a Preschool Dropout" episode of ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]'' by singing an entire verse of a [[Shout-Out|song called]] "[[Minky Momo]]". Immediately upon finishing the song, he grimaces and announces, "I ''hate'' that song."

{{quote|'''Brad:''' A-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-MOMO!

** You're now reading everything as if Troy McClure, Morgan Freeman, and Professor Farnsworth are reading it to you at the same time. Worst voices to have stuck in your head EVER!

* The episode "Head Band" of ''[[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexters Laboratory]]'' features a "boyband virus" quite literally infecting the ears of Dexter and his family, and it does not only make them hear a song but also sing and talk to the tune of it. {{spoiler|Luckily the virus eventually cures itself, as members of the boyband leaves to pursue solo-careers...}}

* Whenever Cartman from ''[[South Park]]'' hears the first line of "Come Sail Away", he ''has'' to sing it all the way through.

* In the ''[[Robotboy]]'' episode "Traffic Slam", Tommy and his friends sing a song to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" called "I Know a Song That Gets on Everybody's Nerves", over and over, while they're stuck in traffic. You get the impression that they're doing it just to annoy Tommy's dad (it works).

* Two examples from ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'' and ''Unlimited'':

** Batman has "Frère Jacques" on loop in his head {{spoiler|to keep Dr. Destiny out}}.

* ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' and the entirety of its [[Musical Episode]], "Mayhem of the Music Meister": The heroes sing throughout it due to a music-based villain who controls them through his music.

* Poor [[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]] was constantly tormented by the theme song to D.W.'s favorite inane kid's show, "''[[The Magic School Bus|CRAZY BUS, CRAZY BUS, RIDING ON A CRAZY BUS]].''"

* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'': In the episode "The Case of the Cola Cult", the Rangers discover a cult of mice who worship a defunct brand of soda after they discover a video tape of the company's most popular ad, complete with jingle... oh God, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ptsGMyEwiQ/ the jingle!]

* An episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'' features Peter hearing the song "Surfin' Bird" for the first time in years. Upon hearing that the restaurant management is going to throw away the record, he takes it and soon becomes obsessed with the song. He blares it for days upon end, he constantly brings it up in conversation so he can play it, he withdraws a large sum of money just to promote the song on TV, and he even uses the record as a sex toy. Eventually, Stewie and Brian steal the record and destroy it—and to make sure he doesn't ever play it again, they destroy every copy in town. {{spoiler|Thanks to Jesus, Peter gets another copy at the end anyway.}}

* A ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' episode (aptly titled [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Ear Worm"]]) has SpongeBob listening to a new song called "Musical Doodle", and [[G-Rated Drug|gaining a dangerous addiction to it.]] {{spoiler|Which turns out to be caused by an actual worm living in his ear listening to the song over and over again on a phonograph.}}

* ''[[Regular Show]]'', episode "This Is My Jam", has "Summertime Lovin', Loving in the Summer (time)" which becomes so relentless catchy that it eventually takes on physical form. The guys end up countering it by creating their own Ear Worm and blasting the Summertime Song, resulting in [[The Power of Rock|the two songs manifesting as giant glowing men who duel with guitars]]. Yeah, it's [[Widget Series|that kind of show]].

 

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{{reflist}}

[[Category:Tropes of Legend]]

[[Category:YMMV Trope]]

[[Category:Music Tropes]]

[[Category:Index]]

[[Category:Examples Need Sorting]]