Get Lucky and other Earworms: The Songs That Stick In Your Head

Okay, okay we KNOW that this is the second time in a week that we've had Get Lucky on the site.  But can you blame us?  It's bloody brilliant.  It's as bad as the time Aisling had Moves Like Jagger stuck in her head for about a year.

I have a problem. A serious problem. I can't stop singing 'Get Lucky'. It's like a sickness. I'll just be going about my business (or trying to), and then I'll find myself singing, "We're up all night to get some, we're up all night to get lucky" in a loud voice while grooving in a Pharrell-ish fashion. This is despite the fact that I am now 37, married and very boring and haven't been up all night to get lucky for quite some time.

Sometimes I sing variations on the central 'Get Lucky' theme. For example, when I'm playing with my six month old nephew, I sing the words "Up all night to get milky" because he himself often stays up all night just to guzzle some milk (the baby's own parents sing this too and  as a result, the baby's big brother believes that these are the real words and that the song is actually called 'Get Milky'). Anyway, I just can't stop singing it. I've got what they call an "earworm", a song that just won't get out of my head. And a part of me doesn't mind it.

Because it could be a lot worse. Earworms are tricky things. Sometimes, like in this case, you get a really good song stuck in your head. This is mildly annoying, especially if you find yourself absent-mindedly humming the song at a bus stop, but it's generally okay. Sometimes, however, you find yourself stuck with a song you genuinely don't like, like the time I couldn't stop singing 'Don't Stop Moving' by S Club Seven all day. 'Don't Stop Moving' is no 'Get Lucky'. It is not a very good song. And yet there have been times when it's wormed its way into my brain, whether I like or not (not, of course. Seriously).

The thing about earworms is that you have NO CONTROL OVER THEM. It's slightly terrifying. You can find yourself singing 'Neverending Story' by Limahl. Or 'The Riddle' by Nik Kershaw (actually, that's not so bad. I loved that song when I was a kid). The point is, these songs just come into your head and you can't get rid of them. You just have to wait until the earworm moves on. Like I said, it's like a sickness. One that seems to manifest itself in cheesy '80s pop songs - or new songs, like 'Get Lucky', that sound a bit like '80s pop songs. The '80s was clearly the earworm's golden age.

So what songs get stuck in your head? And are you, too, dancing around your kitchen to your own version of 'Get Lucky'?