It starts with a single bassline. Maybe a snippet of a chorus you heard while buying milk. Suddenly, your brain is a broken record. You’re trying to sleep, but "Cruel Summer" or that one jingle for a local personal injury lawyer is screaming through your subconscious at 2:00 AM. It’s annoying. Honestly, it’s borderline maddening when it lasts for days.
Scientists call this Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI). Most of us just call it an earworm. If you've ever wondered how do you get rid of earworms, you aren’t alone—about 98% of people experience them. While they’re usually harmless, they reveal a lot about how our brains process memory and emotion. Getting a song unstuck isn't just about "thinking of something else." It’s about outsmarting a neural loop that has hijacked your working memory.
The Science of the Stuck Song
Why does this happen? Your brain loves patterns. When you hear a catchy song, your auditory cortex—the part of the brain that handles sound—basically stays active even after the music stops. It’s like a mental itch that needs scratching. Dr. Victoria Williamson, a leading researcher on the topic, has found that earworms are often triggered by "priming." This means you didn't just hear the song; you saw a word, felt an emotion, or went to a place that your brain associates with that specific tune.
It’s a glitch in the matrix. A loop.
The songs that get stuck usually share specific traits. They are fast. They have a generic melodic contour but contain "leaps" or intervals that make them unique enough to stand out. Think of the "Lady Gaga" opening in Bad Romance. It’s predictable enough for your brain to mimic, but weird enough to demand attention. When the brain can't "finish" the song or gets stuck on a specific hook, it keeps playing it over and over, trying to find a resolution.
How do you get rid of earworms? Try these weirdly effective tactics
If you want to kill the loop, you have to disrupt the cycle. You can't just tell yourself to "stop." That actually makes it worse because of a psychological phenomenon called ironic process theory—the more you try to suppress a thought, the more it pops up.
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1. Chew some gum
This sounds like a "life hack" from a questionable TikTok, but there is actual peer-reviewed science behind it. A study published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology by researchers at the University of Reading found that chewing gum significantly reduces the recurrence of earworms. Why? Because the act of chewing interferes with the "subvocalizations" we make when we imagine music. When you hear a song in your head, your jaw and vocal apparatus are actually making tiny, microscopic movements as if you were singing along. Chewing gum creates "motor interference." It tells your brain, "Hey, we're busy eating right now," which breaks the loop.
2. Listen to the song in its entirety
One reason songs get stuck is the Zeigarnik Effect. This is a psychological quirk where the brain remembers incomplete tasks better than completed ones. If you only heard thirty seconds of a track in a coffee shop, your brain treats it like an open file. It stays in your "active" memory because it hasn't reached the end.
Go find the song. Play it from start to finish. Hear the fade-out. By finishing the musical "task," your brain is much more likely to archive the file and move on.
3. Use a "Cure Song"
Some people swear by an auditory palate cleanser. This is a specific song that is catchy enough to displace the earworm but "flat" enough that it won't get stuck itself. Interestingly, "God Save the Queen" (or "King") is a frequently cited cure song in research. It’s rhythmic and familiar but lacks the pop-hooks that cause a secondary earworm.
4. Solve a medium-difficulty puzzle
You need to occupy your "working memory." If you do something too easy, like washing dishes, your brain has plenty of leftover bandwidth to keep playing the song. If you do something too hard, like complex calculus, your brain gets frustrated and retreats back into the music.
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The sweet spot? Anagrams. Or a Sudoku puzzle. Or a crossword. These tasks require just enough verbal and spatial processing to push the music out of the "foreground" of your mind.
Why some people suffer more than others
It’s not just about the music. It’s about the person. People with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or high levels of neuroticism tend to experience earworms more frequently and for longer durations. It’s also common in people with ADHD, where the brain is constantly seeking stimulation.
There's also a link to stress. When we are tired or anxious, our cognitive control weakens. This makes it easier for "intruder thoughts"—including that one song from the 90s you hate—to take up residence. If you’re finding that you’re plagued by earworms every single day, it might be a sign that your brain is looking for a distraction from underlying stress.
Music is essentially a "super-stimulus." It hits the reward centers of the brain similarly to how food or certain drugs do. When a song gets stuck, it’s your brain’s way of hitting the "dopamine" button repeatedly, even if you’re consciously annoyed by it.
The "Internal Monologue" Factor
Does everyone get them? Mostly, yes. But the way we experience them varies. People who have a strong internal monologue—the "voice in your head"—often report clearer, more lyrical earworms. If you're a more visual thinker, you might "see" the music video or the album art while the song plays.
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It’s also worth noting that musicians are far more prone to earworms than non-musicians. Their brains are literally wired to pay more attention to musical structure. For a professional pianist, an earworm isn't just a melody; it’s a series of finger movements and harmonic shifts.
Common Myths about Stuck Songs
A lot of people think that if a song is stuck, it means they "secretly like it." Not true. You can absolutely despise a song and have it on a 24-hour loop. In fact, negative emotions can make the earworm "stickier" because you’re paying more attention to how much you hate it.
Another misconception is that earworms are a sign of a neurological disorder. While "musical hallucinosis" is a real (and rare) condition where people hear music as if it’s playing in the room, standard earworms are a totally normal part of a healthy human brain. It’s just your neurons firing in a predictable, if annoying, pattern.
Actionable Steps to Silence the Noise
Stop fighting the music. Start redirecting your hardware.
- Change your physical environment. Walk into a different room. The "doorway effect" helps reset short-term memory.
- Engage in "Active Listening." Don't just let the song play in the background. If you’re going to listen to it to "complete" the task, focus on the bassline or a specific instrument. This shifts the brain from passive reception to active analysis.
- Avoid the "Earworm Triggers." If you know a certain commercial or playlist always sets you off, go on a "music diet" for a few hours.
- Talk to yourself. Use your inner voice to narrate what you are doing. "I am picking up the keys, I am opening the door." This uses the same "phonological loop" that the earworm is currently occupying.
Most earworms fade within 24 hours. If you stop obsessing over the fact that the song is there, it usually slips away on its own. Your brain will eventually find something else to chew on.
Next Steps for Long-Term Relief:
If you find yourself constantly victimized by repetitive songs, try changing how you consume music. Avoid "looping" the same track on Spotify for three hours; this practically invites your brain to keep the rhythm going after you hit stop. Practice mindfulness or brief meditation to improve your ability to dismiss intrusive thoughts. When the next earworm inevitably hits, grab a piece of gum immediately—it’s the most scientifically backed "off switch" we currently have.