FT5: Songs Stuck In My Head
We all have that feeling. You have a crucial presentation or test the next morning and you just need some damn sleep. Then it hits you. Out of nowhere, the chorus to ‘Rocky Mountain High’ (or some equally random song) decides to lodge itself deep within your subconscious. “What the hell John Denver, I don’t even listen to your music and can’t possibly even remember the last time I hear that song!” This kind of thing happens to me more often than I would like to admit, but here goes. The ear-bug phenomenon may be an inevitable curse to the music junkie. I can’t go through the day without listening to some sort of music and therefore, some rhythm or theme, or even a random lyric gets stuck, leaving me with nowhere to run. The only thing to do is to listen to music as a guard against this from happening, from my own personal theme music infiltrating my deepest thoughts. And thus, the cycle begins anew. Over the years, I find myself humming the tunes of many songs in the short-term, but a few have never left. It’s a living nightmare. Damn you Hippocampus! Follow the jump for full list.
5. Ween – Bananas and Blow
“Bananas & Blow (oh – oh), Bananas & Blow, Stuck in my cabana, living on Bananas & Blow”. I’ll have to thank my brother for this gem haunting my every living moment. Catchy? Undoubtedly. But no one should have to be reliving this chorus for eternity. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. On another note, some joker is selling Gene Ween tickets for $200+ on Craigslist. Who are these people? The even sadder part is that I used to like this song. Consider it overplay to the 1000th degree. In MY Mind. (Why?)
4. Hall & Oates – Maneater
“Oh oh, here she comes”, The lyric is like an omen. Sometimes it starts with the sax intro, or sometimes the chorus. Other times it’s the connection to a friend talking about a girl that triggers it. A keyword even: Jaguar, Mind over matter. This song can get stuck in my head at nearly any moment and the only way to get rid of it is to watch the video and remember just how badass Oates’ moustache was. (The Horror)
3. Jon Lajoie – Show Me Your Genitals
You know this amazing device you’re using right now to read this? The intertubes, the kids call it? Well, it is great for a lot of things, but it’s also a curse. Once you view something, you can’t un-view it. It’s there, haunting your memory banks, waiting for that inopportune moment to sing out and ruin a otherwise perfect moment. Try going on a date with a special someone and the moment you lean in to kiss her, that bass line hits. On another note completely, I do wish I had his dance moves. Look, I love Jon Lajoie’s comedy, but seriously. (Get out of my head! -Shakes Fist-)
2. Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me With Science
You know the episode of South Park when Cartman has to sing the entire ballad “Come Sail Away” in its entirety whenever it’s started? Well my gray matter has formulated a similar annoyance. Call it an impulse, but anytime I watch NOVA, hear about an amazing discovery in the world of science, or an innovation due to clinical research, my mind yells “SCIENCE!” just like in the song. Without skipping a beat my brain sings through the rest of the song complete with smoking shoes, up-skirt shots, and ultra 80’s dance moves by elderly scientists. “Good Heavens Miss Sakamoto, You’re Beautiful. (I think this is a “suitable case for treatment”)
1. A-Ha – Take on Me
If my mind was an ipod, this song would have the number one spot on the play count. More often than not, this is the tune I’m humming in the shower, in bed, at work. It really doesn’t have boundaries. Much like the magic frame, it reaches out a grabs my hand. I do much prefer the literal version to the original, but if only the song wasn’t so damn catchy. A-Ha, you owe me big time. I want my private thoughts back. (Kill Me Now)
So, there you have it. My life, my demons. Who tortures you? Or is it really a blessing?
Chocolate Rain. Even long after this internet meme has gone away, I still find myself humming the first three notes.
Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” is the greatest song to make you shoot your babysitter. When the devil (Dr. Luke) wrote the opening lines “I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan,” I’m sure he was “Ka-Chingin'” himself to sleep. Damn you Westlake High School for putting this on your Girls JV Basketball warm-up mix CD before your games. I’m calling technical fouls on you and Billy Ray’s kiddo forever.
~Ramalama
“Tom’s Diner” – Suzanne Vega. I think the first time I heard this song, I actually said to myself, “This is going to be stuck in my head for awhile.” Over a decade later…
“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” – Julie Andrews. I can’t explain it, but Julie’s always telling me she’d like to eat chocolates and a big chair. Not that I mind Julie Andrews singing in my head. Could be worse, could be whoever they dubbed over Audrey Hepburn.
Song from a Def Poetry Slam. Only lyrics I know: “It’s like this-and-uh / It’s like that-and-uh / It was poetry and then they called it rap-and-uh / It was gangsters, criminals, bastards, crooks / It was Gil Scott-Heron and Gwendolyn Brooks.” It got me to read Brooks. This one isn’t a complaint.
Theme song to Sesame Street. I whistle it to myself when walking. It’s not cute & it’s not charming; it’s creepy when a late-20s guy is whistling a kid’s tv show program.
I don’t even know how it happened, but “Like a Cannonball” by Menudo has been stuck in my friggin’ head for like a month.
Before that, it was “Sailing” by Christopher Cross.
I don’t even know how this shit happens, I just wish it would stop.
Wow, Raygun. I pity you. It’s like literally being trapped in a pinball machine. (Now where have I seen that before?)
jon – I can’t remember either.. a friend just hit me in the head with a soccerball and I’ve been out cold while they went out with a bunch of hot chicks!
songs get stuck in my head constantly; it ia not fun. I always wonder how muscians can go on tour and perform the same sticky songs over and over again. They must be inhuman