Earworms Explained: Why Some Songs Stick in Your Head

Level: B2

Printable: Student handout (PDF) | Teacher’s key (PDF)

Reading

You are standing in the supermarket when a few seconds of a jingle drift out of the speakers. By the time you reach the checkout, the tune has lodged itself in your head, and it is still there on the bus home, at dinner, and in the shower. It plays on without any help from you. Scientists call this involuntary musical imagery. Everyone else calls it an earworm, a word borrowed from the German Ohrwurm. It is remarkably common: a large survey of Finnish internet users found that more than nine in ten people reported having one at least once a week.

What starts an earworm? The most common cause is simply hearing the music, and songs you enjoy tend to be the likeliest candidates. But there are other routes. British researchers who collected reports from the public found that a cue such as a word, a few notes, or a feeling you link with a song can bring it back. A mind that is idle is another way in. Waiting at a bus stop, walking to work, or washing dishes can leave your attention free, and a tune slips into the gap. People who play music or listen to it all day report more earworms, which may simply reflect how much music they hear.

Some songs are also stickier than others. In one study, researchers compared tunes that many people named as earworms with similar songs that nobody named. The catchy tunes tended to have a fairly fast tempo, a familiar overall melodic contour, and a few surprises, such as an unexpected leap or an extra repeated note. The riff that opens Smoke on the Water and the chorus of Bad Romance were two of the researchers’ examples. The team could predict, to some extent, which songs would stick. Popularity mattered too, probably because more people hear a hit. Even so, earworms are very personal: a song that can haunt one person may leave another untouched.

Why does the brain do this? Nobody fully understands it yet. One idea is that an earworm is an unwanted memory that returns on its own, much like a sudden flashback to a childhood holiday, except that what comes back is sound. Another is that the system behind silent inner speech, which quietly plans the movements of the mouth and throat, helps keep a tune going round and round. Neither idea is settled.

If you want to get rid of a tune, the evidence offers a few ideas, though most of it comes from short laboratory tests. Trying hard not to think about the tune often backfires, so it helps to give your mind something else to do. Chewing gum is the most surprising idea. In experiments at a British university, volunteers who chewed gum reported hearing a tune in their heads less often than people who did nothing or tapped their fingers. The researchers think chewing may interfere with the system that handles silent speech. Solving a puzzle of medium difficulty, such as an anagram, seemed to help in an American study, while puzzles that were too hard seemed to make earworms more likely. The lead researcher recommends an absorbing task that is neither too easy nor too hard, such as a good book or an engaging conversation. Listening to the whole song is another popular remedy. Many people report that it works, although that advice rests on their reports rather than on experiments.

For most people, an earworm is a harmless nuisance. Most fade within half an hour, although some linger for hours or even days. An earworm is not the same as a musical hallucination, in which a person seems to hear real music with no source. Hallucinations are rare, they are most often reported by older people with hearing difficulties, and they are worth discussing with a doctor. One neurologist also advises contacting a doctor if an earworm lasts more than 24 hours or comes with other worrying symptoms, such as confusion or changes in vision.

None of these remedies is guaranteed, and researchers do not yet know whether they work equally well for every kind of earworm. The next time a tune arrives uninvited, you could run a small test of your own. Try one remedy, note how long the song stays, and compare the result with your last earworm.

Vocabulary

Each word has a frequency score, a rank, and a tag. The score shows how common the word is in modern English: higher means more common, and each full point means roughly ten times more common. The rank is the word’s position on a list of about 321,000 English word forms, from most to least common. The tag shows where you are most likely to meet the word: Current, Formal, Literary, or Dated. The paragraph number shows where the word first appears in the reading. The labels are information, not instructions. Deciding which words are worth your time is up to you. How to read the scores, ranks, and tags.

A few seconds of a supermarket jingle can stay in your head for hours.
The ice cream van plays the same jingle every afternoon.

The tune has lodged itself in your head and will not leave.
A fish bone lodged in his throat during dinner.

Earworms are a kind of involuntary musical imagery.
Sneezing is an involuntary action that you cannot easily stop.

A single word on a poster can be a cue that brings a song back.
The actor waited for his cue before walking on stage.

An idle mind gives a tune the chance to slip in.
The factory machines stayed idle during the holiday.

The catchy tunes tended to have a fairly fast tempo.
The advertisement had a catchy slogan that children repeated for weeks.

A melody with a familiar contour is easier to remember.
The map showed the contour of the coastline.

The team could predict, to some extent, which songs would stick.
Nobody can predict exactly what the weather will do tomorrow.

A song that can haunt one person may leave another untouched.
The memory of that mistake haunted him for years.

Neither idea about earworms is settled.
The question of who owns the land is not settled yet.

Chewing may interfere with the system that handles silent speech.
Loud music from the street can interfere with your sleep.

An absorbing task can leave no room for a tune to play.
She was so absorbed in an absorbing novel that she missed her stop.

For most people, an earworm is a harmless nuisance.
The noisy neighbors were a constant nuisance.

Some earworms linger for hours or even days.
The smell of smoke can linger in a room for a week.

An earworm is not the same as a musical hallucination.
High fever can sometimes cause a hallucination.

Activity Page

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Speed Challenge

Answer 12 questions against the clock. Every wrong answer adds 5 seconds, and the lowest score wins. Open the speed challenge in a new tab.

Shadow Reading and Typing: My Supermarket Earworm

This short text uses many of the words from this lesson. Use it for shadow reading (reading aloud along with a model) and for typing practice.

Last week a jingle from a supermarket advertisement lodged in my head. By the evening it was still playing, and I could not concentrate on my homework. The tune was so catchy that I even started humming it on the bus.

At first I tried to ignore it, but the melody kept returning. I noticed that it came back whenever my mind was idle, for example while I washed the dishes. A single word on a poster was enough of a cue to start it again.

By the next morning the song had become a real nuisance. I bought some gum and chewed it hard, because chewing might interfere with the inner voice that keeps a tune going. Then I tried a word puzzle on my phone. It was so absorbing that the song disappeared for almost an hour.

I cannot predict when the next earworm will arrive. Some songs seem to haunt me for days, while others leave after a few minutes. I know it is not a hallucination, and I know it will not linger forever. I told my friend about it, and she laughed because the same thing happens to her. Next time I will chew gum first and see how long the song stays.

How to practice

Read the text silently once and check any words you are unsure of.
Read it aloud slowly, one sentence at a time. On the typing page, the Listen button reads each line with your device’s voice, so you can listen first and then repeat.
Shadow: read aloud again at a natural speed, trying to keep a steady rhythm without stopping.
Record yourself, listen back, and note one sentence to practice again.
Type it on the typing page below and check your speed and accuracy.

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Comprehension Questions

What is an earworm, and what do scientists call it?
According to the first two paragraphs, how common are earworms, and what can start one?
Why might musicians and heavy listeners report more earworms?
How did researchers study what makes a tune catchy, and what did they find?
What does the writer mean by saying that earworms are very personal?
What two ideas does the writer give about why the brain produces earworms, and how certain are they?
What did the gum experiments find, and how do the researchers explain the result?
What does the reading say about puzzles and other mental tasks as a way to stop an earworm?
How is an earworm different from a musical hallucination, and when does the reading say to contact a doctor?

IELTS-Style Questions

True, False, or Not Given: “The researchers found that women have more earworms than men.” Explain your answer using evidence from the reading.
Yes, No, or Not Given: “The writer believes that chewing gum is a reliable cure for earworms.” Explain your answer using evidence from the reading.
Author’s purpose: Why does the writer end by suggesting that readers run a small test of their own? Is the aim to prove that the remedies work, to encourage readers to try the ideas because the evidence is limited, or something else?

AI Discussion Prompt

I just read an article about earworms, the songs that get stuck in our heads. It covered what starts them, what makes a tune catchy, two ideas about why the brain does it, remedies such as chewing gum and solving puzzles, and the difference between an earworm and a musical hallucination. I am an English learner at about B2 level. Please ask me one question at a time, starting with whether I often get songs stuck in my head. Respond to my ideas first, then briefly correct any language errors, and ask follow-up questions that make me explain my reasons.

AI Vocabulary Prompt

I want to practice vocabulary from an article about earworms. Please quiz me on the following words one at a time, using a mix of question types: multiple choice, true/false, and sentence completion. Give me feedback after each answer before moving on, and bring back the words I miss later. Here are the words: jingle, lodged, involuntary, cue, idle, catchy, contour, predict, haunt, settled, interfere with, absorbing, nuisance, linger, hallucination.

Discussion Questions

Do you often get songs stuck in your head? Which song is stuck in your head right now, or was the last one you remember?
Where do you usually hear music during a normal day? Does this affect which songs you remember?
Think of a song you could not get out of your head. Can you trace it back to something you heard, saw, or felt just before?
Do you think earworms are more common for songs you like or for songs you dislike? Why?
Do you listen to songs in English? Could they help you learn the language, or do they repeat only the same few words?
Can you remember an advertising jingle from your childhood? Why do you think it stayed in your memory?
Which songs in your country are so familiar that almost everyone could hum them? What helped them to spread so widely?
Have you ever tried chewing gum, doing a puzzle, or another trick to get rid of an earworm? Which method would you try first, and why?
The reading says earworms are very personal. Why might two people hear the same song but only one of them get it stuck?
Do you think music should be played in shops, cafes, and on public transport? Who benefits, and who might be bothered?
Researchers tested these ideas in laboratories with volunteers. What are the strengths and limits of testing an everyday experience that way?
When you read about a surprising result, such as gum helping against earworms, what makes you trust it or doubt it?
If researchers learn exactly what makes a melody sticky, who should be allowed to use that knowledge? Is it harmless, or a form of manipulation?
Do you think people in different cultures experience music in the same way? How could researchers compare earworms across countries fairly?

Language Focus: Gerunds as the Subject of a Sentence

What it is: A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used like a noun. It can be the subject of a sentence and usually names an activity in general, without saying who does it.

Why writers use it: Gerund subjects are common in articles, advice, and research summaries, because they let you talk about actions and processes directly. A gerund subject takes a singular verb, even when it is followed by a plural noun or a list.

Examples from the reading:

“Waiting at a bus stop, walking to work, or washing dishes can leave your attention free…”
“Chewing gum is the most surprising idea.”
“Solving a puzzle of medium difficulty, such as an anagram, seemed to help in an American study…”
“Listening to the whole song is another popular remedy.”

Practice task: Rewrite this sentence so that a gerund is the subject: “It can help to take a short walk when a tune will not go away.”

(Example answer: “Taking a short walk can help when a tune will not go away.”)

Online Resources

Musical activities predispose to involuntary musical imagery (Psychology of Music). The abstract of the large Finnish survey mentioned in paragraph 1.
Dissecting an Earworm: Melodic Features and Song Popularity Predict Involuntary Musical Imagery (Goldsmiths Research Online). The abstract of the melody study described in paragraph 3, with the researchers’ own wording.
How to kill an earworm (British Psychological Society). A short, readable report on the American puzzle experiments from paragraph 5.
Want to block earworms from conscious awareness? B(u)y gum! (University of Reading). The abstract of the gum experiments in paragraph 5, in the researchers’ own words.
Song Stuck in Your Head? What Earworms Reveal About Health (WebMD). A general-interest article on how long earworms last, simple remedies, and when to see a doctor, as in paragraph 6.