A little while ago a friend at work got a song stuck in his head. Worse, it was Michael Jackson’s “Beat it.” The only way he could get rid of it was to replace it with a different song, so the rest of us all contributed other songs that tend to get stuck in our heads — truly wretched songs. “Copa Cabana,” “The Pina Colada Song,” and the “My Three Sons” theme were all tossed around, and eventually my friend got Jacko to beat it out of his head.
But now it’s happening to me. I have the “Bumblebee Tuna” jingle bouncing back and forth inside my head, refusing to quit.
And I’m not even that fond of tuna!
Help!
J.
(Yum, yum, bumblebee, bumblebee tuna…)
You need Mephiskapheles version of that song…
Much better beat…faster…good horn section.
*gasp*
How DARE you blaspheme “Copacabana”?!
My cure, taught to me many years ago, was “I love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett.
Tunes that run around in my head as white noise to drown out the other inane tunes are:
Come Together – Beatles (or Aerosmith version)
Feelin’ Allright – Joe Cocker
Paradise City. GNR.
All else will vanish from your head.
Song sticking is a curious phenom. The stuck tune is seldom one I really like….
Last week I was woken up out of a sound sleep by “ballroom blitz” and it drove me crazy for about a day and a half.
I can’t remember, outside of that incident, the last time I heard or thought of that tune, which I don’t like and never liked. Inside of that incident, it’s too dark to read.
Sarah, you probably got “Ballroom Blitz” stuck in your head because it’s been playing in the background of a car commercial lately…I’ve been getting it stuck in my head, too.
It would be truly evil to get a song like “I’m on top of the world” (looking down on creation, and the only explanation I can find…) by the Carpenters stuck in your head. That would be just evil.
Heh, the Mephiskapheles version kicks ass.
Here’s one of life’s great coincidental moments:
My brother, getting his first real job after being in a band and traveling the world for several years, makes an interesting friend. His new boss at an ad firm (In the IT department) happens to be one of the original members of the Mephiskapheles, and the agency they work at just happens to be the very agency that came up with the original jingle. (and yes, he had heard of my brother’s old band as well)
LMAO This is a common office thing, I think.
Some of the truly wretched songs I’ve had in my head, because of my boss:
Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python)
The Seeker
and, despite being Jewish, he loves every upbeat Christmas carol you can think of, regardless of the season
Rudolf
Jingle Bells
etc
etc
Mister Burns had done it
The power plant had won it
With Roger Clemons clucking all the while
Mike Scoscia’s tragic illness made us smile
As Wade Boggs lay unconscious on the ballroom tile
We’re talkin’ softball
Maine to San Diego
Softball
Mattingly and Canseco
Ken Griffey’s grotesquely swollen jaw
Steve Sax had a run-in with the law
We’re talkin’ Homer
Ozzie and the Straw!
Whenever my wife complains about a song getting stuck in her head, I just sing her the first line of that, and it instantly replaces whatever’s playing.
And then she goes stark raving mad trying to get that one out of her head.
<wicked snicker>
As Wade Boggs lay unconscious on the ballroom tile
That should be barroom, not “ballroom.”
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY! S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, HEY!
Andy Griffith Show theme song. At least it’ll be cheerful brain hiccups instead of a nauseating Michael loop.
Kin got my comment. The Mephiskapheles version is quite cool.
For my wife, the song that most gets stuck in her head is “Ruby Soho” by Rancid. But just the chorus…
Destination something-now
Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho
That’s all she knows.
This usually doesn’t happen to me, but the worst ever was when I was 11 or 12, and the commercial theme for the Miami Seaquarium got stuck in my head for a month…
Come on out for a day of fun
At the… Miami Seaquarium
There’s so much to see, and there’s so much to do
Come see our Killer Whale, and Flipper too!
One. Whole. Month. My dog thought I was nuts.
Try the theme to Gilligan’s Island. (at least it will take away the Tuna song).
Sing Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan’s Island. Works to clear “It’s a Small World” and writer’s block. It will take you half a day to learn it–right brain has to work against left brain.
karma-karma-karma-karma-karma-chameleon…
Mine is the Baby Back Ribs commercial song! NEVER have eaten them in my life.
One of my kids once sang: Fish heads, fish heads, roly, poly fish heads, etc. for three days. And some people think there is no excuse for child abuse?
Anyone know the name of this phenomenon? Has to be one.
I was just commenting on this on my website yesterday. I had a song from grade school stuck in my head for a full day. It was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ rendition of “Little Spanish Flea”. I hadn’t heard it in years. I don’t know why it attacked me, but I’m sure glad it’s gone.