How to Get a Song Out of Your Head Quickly

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Plus, learn why a song becomes an earworm

Co-authored by Aimee Payne, MFA Reviewed by Allison Broennimann, PhD

Last Updated: November 3, 2024 Fact Checked

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9 Best Ways to Get a Song Out of Your Head

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Why do songs become earworms?

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Do some people get more earworms?

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There’s nothing worse than getting a song stuck in your head that you just can’t get rid of. Even if you like the song, the same line running through your head over and over gets annoying. Almost everyone gets songs stuck in their head once every week or two. These “stuck songs” are often called earworms or brain worms, and they’re a nightmare if you dislike the song. This article covers how to get a “stuck” song out of your head, why songs become earworms, and who is more likely to experience earworms.

How to Get Rid of Earworms

Play the earworm song from beginning to end.
Sing along with a different catchy song.
If you’re a musician, sing or play the stuck song.
Read through the lyrics from beginning to end.
Imagine you hear the song ending or fading out.
Chew some gum to get rid of an earworm.
Distract yourself with a word puzzle or math problem.

Section 1 of 3:

9 Best Ways to Get a Song Out of Your Head

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1
Pop in some chewing gum. For many people, chewing gum seems to interfere with the ability to hear the music in your head. Gum-chewing (and speaking) affects short-term memory and auditory processing. This can break the earworm’s power to keep repeating.^{[1]
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- Chewing gum may also help you ignore the earworm song.
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Listen to the song all the way through. Most stuck songs, or earworms, are just a part of the song, such as a catchy chorus or line. Your brain might be replaying this because it's stuck on where to go next. Listen to the complete song from beginning to end to help your brain remember what comes next.^{[2]
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- Engaging with the song doesn't work for everyone. If you hate listening to the song again, read the section below on distraction techniques.
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Listen to or sing along with a different catchy song. Pick a song you like and know well. Ideally, you'll find a cure tune that drives out the old song but doesn't get stuck in your head itself. Try something with a different beat or in a different genre. Songs you know well, especially ones associated with nostalgia or a specific memory, are usually effective.^{[3]
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- Try songs that are easy to sing and have a lot of repetition. These tend to have notes with long durations and small changes in pitch.^{[4]
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  Research source} Songs with repetition include nursery rhymes, songs with repetitive choruses, and, again, most pop songs.
- Avoid catchy tunes and look for something you've only listened to once or twice. Songs that are harder to sing along with are less likely to stick. Or, sing a bunch of different songs like a remix.
- Listen to a movie soundtrack. They're usually long and branch off in a way that avoids repetition.
- Most cure tunes are specific to one person, but there are a few that were more popular in one survey:^{[5]
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  - “God Save the Queen”
  - “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club
  - “Happy Birthday To You”
  - The A-Team theme song
  - “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin
  - “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel
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Distract yourself with a calm activity that requires concentration. Use a relaxing activity to distract yourself if you feel anxious about the earworm or are worried you can't control it. Here are a few options that occupy the listening and speech centers of your brain:^{[6]
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- Recite something or read aloud.
- Hold a conversation.
- Try meditation or prayer.
- Read a book.
- Watch television.
- Play a video game that includes speech and/or text.
Sing or play an instrument to recreate the song. Grappling with the music and working out how to play it solves the problem for many musicians. Try out different tweaks and variations to break the repetitive cycle.
Unclear or forgotten lyrics frustrate your brain. Once you find the lyrics, read through them like a poem. Focus on the meaning of the words. Then, sing them out loud or silently to yourself to help your brain process the song.
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Visualize the song changing or ending. Even if you find this difficult, a sense of control makes you less anxious about the situation. Try to change the song for a few minutes by speeding it up or slowing it down in your head. Or, imagine the song playing backward. Visualize yourself turning down the volume knob of the song until it sounds like a whisper. Here are examples of other visualizations to try:
- Picture a sword or sharp object severing the link between your mind and the song.
- Imagine a record player in as much detail as possible. Look closely at the needle moving through the groove as the song plays. Lift the needle and listen to the sudden silence.^{[7]
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- When you get to the end of the song, sing the last note (aloud or in your head), then let the pitch drop steadily until it's much lower than any note in the song.
- Try tapping out a different rhythm with your fingertips to break the repetition of the stuck song.
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Solve word puzzles or math problems. Anagrams, crossword puzzles, and other word-based puzzles help drive away the song.^{[8]
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Research source} Thinking about words occupies the same area of your brain that plays the imagined lyrics. Or, try to break the song's hold by solving math problems that absorb your attention.^{[9]
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Research source}Stay focused, and your brain might only be able to stick to one of the two tasks.
- If you notice no difference and feel yourself getting frustrated, stop. Occasionally, an earworm gets worse if you try to fight it.^{[10]
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- Try to calculate 8208 ÷ 17, or solve 2 x 2 x 2 x 2… for as long as possible.
- A problem that's too difficult will fail to engage you. Pick something within your range of ability.^{[11]
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Let your mind wander. One study showed that fighting the song often leads to more frequent and longer experiences of stuck songs.^{[12]
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PubMed Central
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Go to source} Instead of resisting it, try to ignore the tune while you relax your mind and daydream a little. This isn't always helpful, but it’s worth it to spend a few minutes trying.
- However, there’s some evidence that mind-wandering allows earworms to burrow their way into your thoughts.^{[13]
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  Research source} So, skip this method if you’re worried about making it worse.

Section 2 of 3:

Why do songs become earworms?

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Upbeat songs that are easy to remember are often earworms. These songs feature simple rhythms and melodies that are easy to remember. However, they also have unusual repetitions, pauses, tempo changes, hooks, or intervals that set them apart from other songs and stick in your brain. They tend to get more radio time and are often featured at the top of the charts. This makes them even more inescapable because you hear them when you’re out and about. Hearing a snippet of the song as you’re walking down the street may trigger an earworm.^{[14]
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- To some extent, researchers are able to predict which songs are more likely to get stuck in your head.
- Intervals are the “leaps” between two notes when listening to a song. Larger “leaps” between notes are more unusual…and more likely to get stuck in your head.
- These unusual song elements are more likely to come at turning points, like the beginning of the chorus or bridge.

Section 3 of 3:

Do some people get more earworms?

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1
Women and musicians are more likely to experience an earworm. Roughly 90% of the population experiences an earworm at least once a week, with 33% experiencing it every day. More women reported the phenomenon than men. People who practice and play music tend to have more earworm experiences that are longer-lasting and instrumental rather than vocal or lyrical.^{[15]
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- This may be because regular musical activities prime them for earworms.
- The good news for musicians is that they don’t mind earworms as much as others.
Researchers theorize that this is because physical movement – like tapping, grooving, nodding, clapping, singing, headbanging, and dancing – comes from the same area of the brain that produces and synthesizes music. Another theory states that experiencing music with your brain and moving your body makes the connection between your mind and body last longer.^{[16]
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People with certain personality traits experience stuck songs more often. There’s evidence that personality traits like anxiety and openness to new experiences affect how often a person experiences an earworm. Worriers and people more prone to obsessive behavior seem more likely to get songs stuck in their heads. Anxious people are also more likely to become pre-occupied with a thought…including a musical one!^{[17]
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- Those who are extraverted and more open to experiences tend to experience longer earworms.

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Why is a song that I haven't heard for three years stuck in my head?

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Probably because it brings back memories from your past and your brain recognizes it.

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Why is a song in another language stuck in my head?

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This is not unusual, it is usually the tune of the song that makes it catchy and not always the words. "Despacito" is a good example of this; it became quite popular despite parts of it being in Spanish because it's got a catchy sound.

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Why do creepy songs get stuck in my head so much?

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It gets stuck in your head because it has an impact on you and you remember it because it is creepy. Ordinary, non creepy, songs may go mostly unnoticed by you while creepy songs stick in your head.

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Tips

Listen to white noise. Although the song playing in your head isn't physically generated in your eardrum, the same neurons are affected. White noise ameliorates those neurons.

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Make sense out of it. Some songs that get stuck in your head may remind you of something else, so try to think of that and put them together.

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Talk really loud to yourself.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Try doing this trick--it is said that if you sing the end verse of the song aloud or maybe in your head, then the song might end in your brain. I tried and it helped a few times.
Read a long book. Immerse yourself in it. Before you know it, you will be dragged into the world of the story and have forgotten all about your song.
Replace the song with a low frequency sound, like a rotating fan, breathing, wind, or sound from your activity.

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