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Science Quickly

Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Your Head?

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.2639 Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Have you ever had a song continue to loop in your brain no matter how hard you tried to shake it? These “earworms” are more than just an annoyance—they’re a phenomenon scientists have studied for years. This episode dives into what makes certain melodies stick, why some tunes are more persistent than others and what our listeners shared as their most unforgettable earworms. Recommended reading: How Do You Solve a Problem Like an Earworm?  Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy, and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and co-hosted by Josh Fischman. Emily Makowski, Shayna Posses, and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

0:05.8

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

0:11.0

Yachtold also partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for gut health, an investigator-led research program.

0:20.1

To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcult.co.

0:22.6

.jp. That's Y-A-K-U-Lt.C-O.jp. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacolt.

0:31.6

For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Rachel Felton.

0:39.1

You know that feeling when you just can't get a song out of your head, just a short part

0:44.0

of it playing over and over.

0:46.8

Right now, my brain is chewing on the Muppet Show theme because I just watched a live stream

0:53.0

charity event where a bunch of my favorite comedians,

0:56.2

including some from Dropout, which longtime listeners know I'm a huge fan of, did a onstage

1:02.1

reading of The Muppet Show. So right now it's just, you know, it's time to play the music.

1:08.0

It's time to light the lights over and over again. So thanks for that, folks.

1:13.3

A lot of people call those annoying little ditties earworms, fragments of songs that crawl into

1:19.3

your mind and just don't want to leave. And scientists have actually done quite a bit of research

1:24.4

to figure out why some tunes wriggle their way into our heads better

1:28.1

than others. You've probably dealt with your own share of earworms. In fact, in a few previous

1:33.3

episodes, I asked all of you to send in some of your favorite or most infuriating examples,

1:39.0

and a whole bunch of you were kind enough to sing into your phones for us. Here's Carrie from New Orleans.

1:50.8

I have had this airworn in my head for literally, at least 20 years before I go to bed at night.

1:51.6

Whitney Houston.

1:54.6

Hey, I want to dance with somebody.

...

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