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So I’ve been meaning to do a post about this for weeks now after a little experiment I did. (This is actually probably Earworms post 42!)

By now I’m guessing most folks know about earworms… If not, here’s Wikipedia’s definition:

An earworm, sometimes known as a brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or Involuntary Musical Imagery (IMI) is a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person’s mind after it is no longer playing.

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Unfortunately (or fortunately for others who don’t mind their brain draining their mental batteries every night) I’ve had a major infection of earworms since day 1, before it was even a THING. (Dad was a musician and used to play the guitar and sing to mom’s stomach before I was born. 😀 ) And they are particularly bad at night, just like a fever, giving me no mental rest at all! Well, Spiritual Dragonfly and I were talking about them one day, about whether they might be related somehow one to another. Did they tell a musical story, for example, when put altogether? Just to see I decided to write down what earworms infected me each night for a few days.

Night 1:
“““Moments to Remember (The Lettermen version.)
“““The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B (The Andrews Sisters)

Now, so far so good as to my research. I could see these just-graduated dudes reminiscing over their high school shenanigans as they were preparing to go off to Nam.

Night 2:
“““Message to Michael (Dionne Warwick)
“““The Last Farewell (Roger Whitaker)

Seems to fit in with my theory, eh? The girlfriend is missing her guy in the service and wants him to come home soon. She was so sad at their last farewell.

BUT!

There was one other song stuck in my head that night that I just couldn’t reconcile to my theory. Where in the world it came from in the middle of the summer is beyond me! I certainly hadn’t heard it for a long time.

“““Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (The Bar J Wranglers)

That sort of shot my theory full of holes! I went on to track them for nine more days just in case. What was on my bedroom jukebox those nights?

“““Ragtime Cowboy Joe (The Bar J Wranglers version)
“““Shake Me I Rattle (an OLD one by Patti Page)
“““Old Man River
“““Get Me To the Church on Time
“““Who’s Going to Fill Their Shoes
“““Strong Enough to Bend
“““A Place in the Sun
“““The Five Pennies
“““Everything is Beautiful
“““You Never Even Call Me By My Name
“““When the Roll is Called Up Yonder
“““Teenager in Love
“““Away in a Manger
“““You Don’t Own Me
“““Turkey in the Straw
“““Walking in a Winter Wonderland
“““Listen to the Mockingbird
“““Don’t Ever Sell Your Saddle
“““Put Your Sweet Lips a Little Closer to the Phone

(6-12-19 through 6-24-19)

Now you must admit that’s a pretty eclectic list! (Not that you wanted to know all that!) I will swear to you that every time I even wake UP in the night there’s a new song wending it’s way through my mind. No peace! I’m a Gemini, and I think my evil twin plays her records all night just to make me nuts so she can take over. It truly puzzles me why I seem to end up humming tunes I’ve not heard for years. I guess maybe I need my hard drive scrubbed!

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So now I’m curious as to who else has trouble with earworms, and can you tell me where to unplug that infernal judkebox???

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Picture Sources:
earworm — Earworms: Why You Can’t Get That Song Out of Your Head
jukebox — ebay.com