It sounds like a joke, but I’m serious - how do I kill an earworm???

[Ginevra]

I have talked about this here before but I have a very severe sensitivity to music. It seems like an OCD-level obsession. It has become worse than ever. Songs or fragments of music can just get stuck on a loop in my head for weeks. 
 

In the past, it often helped if I just listened to the song 40,000 times. It also usually helps if I memorize the lyrics and find out any I don’t know; this lets my brain stop saying, “Wait! What does it say right there?” Or “What does it mean?” 
 

It’s not really helping me that much at the moments though and I’m almost at two weeks for a stupid song that won’t shut up. 
 

I may seek professional help and medication for OCD. It sounds like I’m making a joke but I’m not. I really think it is an OCD-like problem. 
 

Any suggestions? Anyone know what I’m talking about? 

[Carol in Cal.]

Oh yes.  There is always something playing in my head.  I can’t get rid of it, but I can displace it by imagining another tune.

[Storygirl]

I've had the same earworm for weeks now, too, but it comes and goes and, at least, is not constant.

I've heard that chewing gum can help, but I haven't tried it.

[wathe]

I have no advice for the musical kind.

For actual physical earworms, (aural myiasis), mineral oil works well..........

 

(ETA can confirm it works)

Edited February 13, 2023 by wathe

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, wathe said:

I have no advice for the musical kind.

For actual physical earworms, (aural myiasis), mineral oil works well..........

 

(ETA can confirm it works)

That is what I was thinking this was about.

No clue on the other kind.  It happens to me once in awhile to get a song stuck in my head.  But usually if I just listen to something else the other is forgotten 

[73349]

Can you make a list of songs with similar energy level/beats per minute and try to displace it?

Also, yes, if it's bugging you a lot or interfering with other things you should or want to be doing, seeking help is a really good idea.

[Heatherwith4]

  I know exactly what you’re talking about, and I’ve never been able to do much about it when it happens to me. It seems to be much worse when I’m sick for some reason.  

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, 73349 said:

Can you make a list of songs with similar energy level/beats per minute and try to displace it?

Also, yes, if it's bugging you a lot or interfering with other things you should or want to be doing, seeking help is a really good idea.

That’s a good idea. I’ll try that. 

[ktgrok]

Displacing it usually works for me, but mine don't stick around that long. I do think I'd seek help if it was that bad. Hugs. 

[Spy Car]

Easy, start listening to Wagner.

Bill

[Guest]

Just now, Spy Car said:

Easy, start listening to Wagner.

Bill

Who/what is Wagner? 

[Spy Car]

3 minutes ago, Quill said:

Who/what is Wagner? 

He was a crazy German composer. Richard Wagner. Not "Jack Wagner."

The Russians named their mercenary army of convicts and other extremist ne'er-do-wells  who are Ukraine attacking after this guy.

I'm sure it would cure you.

Try the prelude to Tristan und Isolde as a start. Plenty more after that.

Bill

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Spy Car

[Guest]

Also: https://jmedicalcasereports.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1752-1947-8-384

It’s a thing! 

[Spy Car]

9 minutes ago, Quill said:

Also: https://jmedicalcasereports.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1752-1947-8-384

It’s a thing! 

Here is a short "snippet" from the overture from Richard Wagner's Parsifal.

If you are going to have earwigs, might as well be some of the world's most sublime music:

Bill

[Grace Hopper]

34 minutes ago, Quill said:

Who/what is Wagner? 

Less subtle than Handel 😂

 

(eta I can’t think of Wagner without my head immediately filling with Ride of the Valkries; I find Water Music more soothing)

Edited February 13, 2023 by Grace Hopper

[Grace Hopper]

Finding a substitute I prefer is the only strategy that works for me. 

[Spy Car]

5 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

Less subtle than Handel 😂

 

(eta I can’t think of Wagner without my head immediately filling with Ride of the Valkries; I find Water Music more soothing)

The Ride of the Valkyries is the most famous "bleeding chunk" of Wagner's music (thanks in no small part due to Francis Ford Coppola) but it is far from the sublime selection IMO.

Bill

[Wishes]

Maybe try watching a music video with a different song so you have different audio and neural stimulation. What I found works for my general OCD is sometimes venting to someone who’s just going to listen and not make any other comments.

[lauraw4321]

I read the title as “earthworm” and was so curious to hear how an earthworm could be difficult to kill?!?

I usually intentionally listen to the ear worm and try to memorize it. Songs seem to get stuck in my head when I don’t quite know how the whole thing goes. 

[Martha in GA]

1 minute ago, lauraw4321 said:

I read the title as “earthworm” and was so curious to hear how an earthworm could be difficult to kill?!?

Me, too. I couldn't figure out why she would want to harm the poor earthworm!

[MEmama]

I can get them for weeks, it can be quite maddening.

I pretty much constantly listen to music but sticky songs stay stuck until mysterious forces release them from my brain.

Commiseration, but no advice, sadly.

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, Grace Hopper said:

Less subtle than Handel 😂

 

(eta I can’t think of Wagner without my head immediately filling with Ride of the Valkries; I find Water Music more soothing)

I have this issue where when someone even says "Wagner", I hear Mark singing " Kill the Wabbit" in his best Elmer Fudd which gives me an all new earworm. Vicious cycle.

[Melissa Louise]

I've had good luck by replacing with a song in another language (Korean rap works well for me).

It can't 'hook' as well, because I don't know what they are saying, and the beat/flow is strong enough to dislodge the ear,worm.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

I've had good luck by replacing with a song in another language (Korean rap works well for me).

It can't 'hook' as well, because I don't know what they are saying, and the beat/flow is strong enough to dislodge the ear,worm.

Something to try! 

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, Heatherwith4 said:

  I know exactly what you’re talking about, and I’ve never been able to do much about it when it happens to me. It seems to be much worse when I’m sick for some reason.  

My mom has generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and OCD and I have OCD. Our symptoms often get noticeably worse when we have viruses. My mom's OCD started when she had repeated strep infections as a child. She also finds that vaccines worsen her symptoms. I think it's related to brain inflammation.

[MercyA]

Quill, I think this could be a manifestation of OCD, but if it's the only OCD-like symptom you have, I'd be less inclined to think that. 

Also, I don't know if you have any spectrum-y tendencies, but people with autism also tend to repeat things in their brains (or out loud) over and over. There is a high comorbity rate between autism and OCD. People with OCD are 13 times more likely to have ASD than people without OCD. 

I took Luvox for a long time and it was life-changing in terms of lessening OCD symptoms. However, it made me very sleepy during the day and caused insomnia at night. I'm currently trying Prozac and it's working fairly well--not as well as Luvox, but I might need a higher dose and at least I'm not sleepy and can sleep at night. 🙂

Edited February 13, 2023 by MercyA

[Guest]

53 minutes ago, MercyA said:

Quill, I think this could be a manifestation of OCD, but if it's the only OCD-like symptom you have, I'd be less inclined to think that. 

Also, I don't know if you have any spectrum-y tendencies, but people with autism also tend to repeat things in their brains (or out loud) over and over. There is a high comorbity rate between autism and OCD. People with OCD are 13 times more likely to have ASD than people without OCD. 

I took Luvox for a long time and it was life-changing in terms of lessening OCD symptoms. However, it made me very sleepy during the day and caused insomnia at night. I'm currently trying Prozac and it's working fairly well--not as well as Luvox, but I might need a higher dose and at least I'm not sleepy and can sleep at night. 🙂

I do have some spectrum-y tendencies. And I have had OCD-like tendencies in certain categories throughout my life, though not usually with such severity that it would be clinically diagnosable. Mostly, my need for order is more pronounced when I’m under severe stress. 
 

The music thing is very much like the intrusive thoughts of OCD. And when I am having bad insomnia, music obsession is really hard to overcome. 

[Kanin]

I sing a very boring song in my head. For the past couple of years, it's been Jingle Bells. If the other song starts up, back to Jingle Bells as soon as I notice it.

[Guest]

Just now, Kanin said:

I sing a very boring song in my head. For the past couple of years, it's been Jingle Bells. If the other song starts up, back to Jingle Bells as soon as I notice it.

Oooh that’s a good idea, too! 

[Elizabeth86]

No advice, but did anyone besides me read earthworm instead of earworm.

[Eos]

Singing folk songs works for me, especially ones with lots of verses.

Four Strong Winds by Neil Young is weirdly effective for me to supplant anything else.  Out loud.

[Emba]

2 hours ago, Eos said:

Singing folk songs works for me, especially ones with lots of verses.

Four Strong Winds by Neil Young is weirdly effective for me to supplant anything else.  Out loud.

I have to sing other songs (usually hymns) out loud every time the ear worm pops into my head to get rid of it. Sometimes I end up with the other song as an ear worm, so it’s not a perfect solution.

[Junie]

This is the best I can do. 

At least I was kind enough to enbed the link so that you don't have to click on it. :)

[Spy Car]

2 hours ago, Eos said:

Singing folk songs works for me, especially ones with lots of verses.

Four Strong Winds by Neil Young is weirdly effective for me to supplant anything else.  Out loud.

I love Four Strong Winds. Neil Young's version is superb.

One of many great songs by Ian & Sylvia. They have a song, The French Girl, that Bob Dylan recorded on the complete Basement Tapes and two versions that circulate from rehearsals at Club Front with the Grateful Dead in 1987. I so wish he'd done a studio version, but these have something special IMO.

Bill

ETA: Gotta love YouTube. The second rehearsal take of Dylan and the Dead doing The French Girl is available to listen. This is a rough unpolished recording, just the tapes rolling while they got to know each other musically.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Spy Car

[katilac]

2 hours ago, Quill said:

I do have some spectrum-y tendencies. And I have had OCD-like tendencies in certain categories throughout my life, though not usually with such severity that it would be clinically diagnosable. Mostly, my need for order is more pronounced when I’m under severe stress. 
 

The music thing is very much like the intrusive thoughts of OCD. And when I am having bad insomnia, music obsession is really hard to overcome. 

OCD is clinically diagnosable when it is noticeable enough to interfere with your life, and this can be as simple as a stupid music loop taking time or energy you could have used for other things.

Medication is what helps the most, imo, and it makes it easier/possible to learn and practice other strategies. 

 

[KungFuPanda]

Is it Unholy? It’s Unholy, isn’t it!  It is now. 
 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by KungFuPanda

[Eos]

1 hour ago, Emba said:

I have to sing other songs (usually hymns) out loud every time the ear worm pops into my head to get rid of it. Sometimes I end up with the other song as an ear worm, so it’s not a perfect solution.

Same!  

[Guest]

I refuse, KFP! Lol! 
 

I think, between making a French playlist and listening to orchestra music, I might be interrupting the song. 🙂 

[MEmama]

11 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Is it Unholy? It’s Unholy, isn’t it!  It is now. 
 

 

I really like Sam Smith but I cannot get into this song. It's just not sing-able or memorable to me at all.  
 

I relate strongly to many of their songs though. What am I missing with this one?

Edited February 14, 2023 by MEmama

[MEmama]

Adjacent to earworms, does anyone else get a certain song not just stuck but that they MUST listen to on repeat--not like a favorite song you appreciate, but not listening to it constantly makes you twitchy, like an annoying itchy tag in a shirt might? And then after a number of days or weeks the intense need vanishes and you go back to just "regular" liking the song?

Edited February 14, 2023 by MEmama

[KungFuPanda]

12 hours ago, MEmama said:

I really like Sam Smith but I cannot get into this song. It's just not sing-able or memorable to me at all.  
 

I relate strongly to many of their songs though. What am I missing with this one?

It’s so friggin danceable that it got stuck on a loop in my head for weeks . . . vocals, beats,  tempo, instruments. It’s so extra. It was a highly infectious ear worm for me. It really lends itself to doing combinations in a dance class. I can’t use it in MY classes, but I get why so many studios have uploaded their combos. 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, MEmama said:

Adjacent to earworms, does anyone else get a certain song not just stuck but that they MUST listen to on repeat--not like a favorite song you appreciate, but not listening to it constantly makes you twitchy, like an annoying itchy tag in a shirt might? And then after a number of days or weeks the intense need vanishes and you go back to just "regular" liking the song?

Sometimes this is part of it, especially if it has complex lyrics or musical aspects that I “have” to memorize. Of course, I don’t actually *have* to memorize them, but it will bug me until I do. 
 

One that comes to mind that was like this was Dark Horse by Katy Perry. I felt compelled to listen to it a billion times until I knew all the lyrics and could sing them perfectly. Oh! Another song that was like this was Bad Guy. 
 

Today I listened to a LOT of songs to try and dislodge the earworm song. It seemed like it was working throughout the day but once I started fixing dinner, the worm returned. *sigh* I’m taking melatonin tonight. 

[Spy Car]

The Prelude and Liebestod [Love-Death] from Tristan und Isolde conducted by Lenny Bernstein.

This will cure you.

If Moby Dick were music, this would be it. That good!

Listen loud. Headphones?

Bill