Cabinet of Curiosities Show 32 – Earworm II – the Earworm Strikes Back – #xmcab

As far as we can tell, there was no specific term for these types of compulsively catchy melodies, but one came into being in 1979: the German psychiatrist Cornelius Eckert described such tunes as “Ohrwürmer”—earworms. (The imagery has deep roots: “Musicophilia” notes that, centuries ago, an early folk-music manuscript referred to music that got stuck in your head as “the piper’s maggot.”) While there still isn’t a strict definition of what constitutes an earworm, it is generally considered to be a constant loop of fifteen to twenty seconds of music lodged in your head for at least a few hours, if not days—or, in severe cases, months.

 

We know a song that will get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves…. actually we know LOTS of them!