Question: Why do some songs get stuck in my head?

Nadine Mirza answered on 14 Nov 2018: last edited 14 Nov 2018 8:40 pm

Awesome question!
So when we have a song stuck in our head this is called an earworm. Earworms are an example of spontaneous cognition- that is our brain thinking or doing stuff that might have nothing to do with whatever task we’re doing in that moment. Human brains spend about 40% of the day doing some form of spontaneous cognition, which includes earworms.
Firstly, more exposure to music- the more you’ve heard a particular song and the more it’s been repeated the more likely it’s going to become an earworm. It’s why radios repeat the same few songs over and over. You can read more here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17105759
Having certain personality traits like neuroticism can also make you more likely to have an earworm, as well as being triggered by stress.
Researcher’s have also found that certain songs are also more likely to become an earworm based on how they’re structured. It’s usually fast tunes with very generic melodies. You can read more about that here along with what the most common ear worms are (most popular is Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance!): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/psychologists-identify-why-certain-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head/