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I’m nearly certain I’ve invented something original here and wanted to share it for two reasons: a) how many times do you really get to be self-congratulatory in life, eh? And b) if I’m wrong, and someone else has already coined this phrase, I’m hoping one of you loyal readers will now embarrass the bravado out of me, and quickly.
I’ve written about the concept in a novel I’ve recently finished, but thought it would be fun to drop it first here in the Word Wrap, as any new coinage is, of course, word-related. So here’s my thinking: most of us carry tunes around in our heads a lot of the time. As I type this now, for some odd reason I actually have two competing songs in my noggin at the same time: “Joy to the World” and the theme from Sesame Street.
Most of us also have a default song, that is, the song you default to when either there’s no song in your head, or you want to get a lousy song OUT of your head. Default songs can change as you change. For instance, when I was a kid, my default song was “Blinded by the Light” (the Manfred Mann remake, not Springsteen’s). As a pimply teen, it was first “Walk this Way” by Aerosmith and then somehow morphed into “Birdland,” by Weather Report.
Years later, in NYC, it became a tune in the fifth movement of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, but then, after moving to Los Angeles in 2005, somehow became AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.” (Verily I say unto thee.)
Curiously, I’m not a gigantic fan of “You Shook Me All Night Long,” proving, perhaps, that even default songs can be annoying. So sometimes when I catch myself mentally humming the AC/DC tune, I then make a concerted effort to knock it out of my head with a newer default song that hasn’t actually taken root yet. Confused? Let me explain:
Some weeks ago, when I wrote that post on Scheherazade, I decided to try and make that my default song. But just because you decide a song could be, or even should be your default song, doesn’t mean it will become one. Then again, it may, but only after some time has passed. Or, like a rejected kidney after a laborious transplant, it may never feel at home in your inner ear and you will, ultimately, default back to the former default song.
This is all to say that most of the time, a default song isn’t something you have much control over. It’s just there, sawing away in the background. You hear it? Stop. Be quiet. Listen. What song is playing in your head right now? Whatever it is, it may be your default song. It might also be the last song you heard at the local Banana Republic before walking out with that sporty new pair of slacks. I don’t know you, so I can’t say.
But if it is your default song, and you know it is, I hope you’re now ready to share! Comments always appreciated in the Word Wrap.
Comments (138)
Comment
I’ve always asked people what their default song and default artists are. People get confused because they think that I’m asking for their favorite.
My personal default is the the theme song from I Dream of Jeannie. It was one of the cadences that my high school band used and it has stuck ever since.
posted by Beth on 3-23-2007 at 7:47 am
ooh eee ooh ahh-ahh
ting, tang, walla walla bing bang
…all day, every day.
posted by atom on 3-23-2007 at 7:52 am
my defualt song is “the life of the party” from the wild party by andrew lippa…it’s the sort of “show stopper” number from the musical that gets me weird looks from strangers who pass by me when i inadvertently begin singing it under my breath.
posted by kay on 3-23-2007 at 7:54 am
I don’t have a default song- in fact, I can’t relate to the concept at all. I would guess that most people probably have one, but for those for whom music is a livlihood or deep passion, music is simply a part of normal mental activity.
Or, maybe I’m just a freak of nature… but I can’t be the only one!
posted by Rachel on 3-23-2007 at 8:01 am
I had a friend in elementary school tell me “EVERYONE has a birthmark. If you don’t, it means you’re an alien. You don’t? Well, I guess you’re an alien. Get away from me.”
This is kinda like that. No default song. Once again, it would appear that I’m a freak of nature.
posted by Rachel on 3-23-2007 at 8:13 am
Good King Wenceslas. Humming a Christmas carol year-round gets really annoying for me as well as the people around me.
Lately, I’ve been getting Badly Drawn Boy’s “File Me Away” from the About a Boy soundtrack.
And sometimes I just can’t get “So What” out of my head. That’s the one I mind the least.
posted by Lee on 3-23-2007 at 8:20 am
All good songs! You guys never disappoint. But Rachel, please, I never said you HAD to have a default song, did I? Try adopting one and see if it takes root. And if not, consider yourself lucky! As you see, my present default song is a song I nearly abhor.
posted by David on 3-23-2007 at 8:24 am
sadly, my default setting in my brain is the “Mexican Hat Dance”
…I’m not sure why
posted by melanie on 3-23-2007 at 8:27 am
Menomena. Originally from the Muppets, of course, and with various and sundry covers from bands like Cake. But a couple of years ago I learned of this song’s origins, how Jim Henson culled it from an arthouse porno about the sexual frivolity of Sweden. So in a sense, the song has developed with me.
posted by Greg on 3-23-2007 at 8:30 am
My default song is a similar in tune to “Yellowbrick Road” from Wizard of Oz. It’s short and “instrumental”…in my head. It started about a year and a half ago now and continues. I am not always able to reproduce it, but I find myself humming it often out of the blue. And when I think about it, I lose it. It always makes me happy when I catch myself doing it though. So other than thinking I am a freak (glad to know there are others like me), I enjoy it greatly.
I aim to one day learn to play guitar or piano so I can write it. It’s the catchiest tune I have ever heard.
posted by Wes on 3-23-2007 at 8:33 am
the drum solo from Tone Loc’s “wild Thing”
posted by Cotton on 3-23-2007 at 8:43 am
OMG- Lee! That’s my wife’s default song! She was wandering around the house this morning singing that song.
posted by atom on 3-23-2007 at 9:05 am
For about 7 years or so my default song (unfortunately) has been “Gonna get through this” by Daniel Bedingfield. It’s a dance track that repeats these 4 notes over and over again, and for some reason I have it in my head probably every few days. Before that it was what I think is a cover song called “Sucker for you” performed live by John Mayer and downloaded back in Napster’s early days. Interesting concept, the default song. Good to know I’m not the only one who has the same songs constantly running through their head. Incidently, anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George can’t stop singing “If I were a Richman” and Jerry warns him its a sign of madness. Does not bode well for us. :)
posted by AD on 3-23-2007 at 9:26 am
Great comment thread! For me it’s “Fly Me to the Moon” or “Someone to Watch Over Me.” I find myself humming a few bars before I realize it.
posted by Kasee on 3-23-2007 at 9:59 am
For a nice short while there, Greg had Menomena in my head but darn you Kasee for sticking Fly Me to the Moon in there. Blast.
For those who want to adopt a default song, Menomena might just be the best idea I’ve heard yet!
posted by David on 3-23-2007 at 10:12 am
The earliest I can remember came after I sang Vivaldi’s “Gloria in D” in school. For years after, any of the movements did the job. It was slowly replaced by “Brazil”, which held the position for about a decade. Now, I’m pretty sure it’s “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”.
I am so uncool.
posted by Florp on 3-23-2007 at 10:50 am
It’s probably “Bohemian Rhapsody” for me. On a similar note, I noticed growing up that whenever something dramatic/traumatic happened in my life, and I turned on the radio to soothe myself, I’d almost always hear “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum.
And kudos to anyone who can tell me what specific thing those two songs have in common.
posted by Sandy on 3-23-2007 at 10:50 am
I always hum the theme song from Inspector Gadget. It never fails to wipe out an annoying song that’s been stuck in my head.
posted by Heather on 3-23-2007 at 11:23 am
“Too Darn Hot” - the Cole Porter number. It’s generally in response to checking the water in the shower or the weather…but then it just stays on for a while.
Maybe I should try to switch it out for some other Porter tune. I used to like this one. Now…not so much.
posted by Melanie on 3-23-2007 at 11:27 am
On a similar note, I have a song that will magically remove any song stuck in my head - Bye Bye, Mon Cowboy by Mitsou. Efficiently erases all signs of the previously stuck song, but leaves no trace of itself, so you’re left with a clean brain!
My default song is more like a default album - anything from France Gall’s Poupéee de son. Which is odd, because I’m not french, and most of the music I listen to is english.
posted by meg on 3-23-2007 at 11:30 am
I don’t think I have a default song… whatever the last song I heard was runs thorugh my head continuously until I hear another song. Although “Face Down” by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus seems to be a recurring theme recently
posted by Korin on 3-23-2007 at 11:34 am
The song that plagues me when I’m not on guard is “Can’t Touch This,” by MC Hammer. I took a classical music course once, and after I learned about rondos, a never-ending rondo version of “Can’t Touch This” started running through my head. I finally had to mentally put a flourish on the *@#! song to end the rondo and get it out of my brain.
posted by Carolyn on 3-23-2007 at 11:46 am
My default song is just a tune I apparently made up. I hum and whistle it but (as far as I know) it isn’t a real song at all. Is that weird?
posted by Leah on 3-23-2007 at 11:46 am
At the moment it’s the Almanac Singers version of Casey Jones, but what I would call my default song changes every couple of weeks. Louis Jordan songs often rank high.
posted by Jeremiah on 3-23-2007 at 12:05 pm
My default song has to be the worst…the theme song to the cheesy 80’s sitcom “Down to Earth”. Worst…song…ever!
I can’t seem to shake it. There are times when it’s dormant, but it always seems to pop back up!
That’s what I get for watching too much TV when I was a kid.
posted by Melissa on 3-23-2007 at 12:26 pm
For years, I was plagued by hava nagila, and I’m not even Jewish. Actually, when I was younger, it was come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, until I turned my whole family, because when anybody started whistling randomly, it was that.
I don’t think I have one at the moment, though.
posted by Sharon on 3-23-2007 at 12:34 pm
I dont’ think I have a default song per se - but thanks to my little sister whenever I have a song stuck in my head and am trying to think of something, anything to change the tune I always think of her ’suggestion’ and start ‘THis is the song that does not end…’ now how do I get THAT gone?
posted by Mev on 3-23-2007 at 12:44 pm
Mine seems to change every few days, although maybe that just means that I frequently get songs stuck in my head. A few weeks back it was Bon Jovi “Living on a Prayer.” I have music playing at the moment, so I can’t check what’s in there just now.
posted by Pointy-Hatted Geek on 3-23-2007 at 12:58 pm
Oh, and Mev, try something that you don’t actually know the words to. Other than that, the only thing I can offer you is my pity, and perhaps a bit of pointing-and-laughing.
posted by Pointy-Hatted Geek on 3-23-2007 at 1:00 pm
It’s random songs for me as well. Does anyone have the problem when they wake up in the morning and are doing their first of the day rituals and realize they have a song in their head and can’t figure out where it came from? RANDOM songs, to the extent that when you catch what you are singing, you almost stop dead in your tracks and think, “Why am I singing this song??” That happens to me a LOT.
posted by leigh on 3-23-2007 at 1:05 pm
When I got Grandma Tzetl’s song from Fiddle On The Roof (”A blessing on your Head, Mazel Tov, MAZEL TOV!”) stuck in my head for six weeks I almost considered an exorcism.
posted by Cynthia on 3-23-2007 at 1:40 pm
Leigh, I totally get that. It happened to me today, although not when I woke up. I was just sitting in class doodling and the chorus to “Falling for the First Time” by the Barenaked Ladies just came into my head. I haven’t heard that song in about three years! Then I was trying to remember “Madame Ray” by the Long Blondes and it just randomly popped into my head, the entire thing, after I hadn’t thought of it in about three weeks. Oh, the strangeness! My normal default song used to be songs from the CD Fallen by Evanescence, but lately it’s Paramore or The Long Blondes.
posted by Rosalie on 3-23-2007 at 2:04 pm
“Billy, don’t be a hero, don’t be a fool with your life. Billy, don’t be a hero, come back and make me your wife…”
Occasionally, other songs have gotten stuck in my head, including a few months of “I Will Survive” and “All I Wanna Do(is have some fun),” but “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero” has plagued my idle brain for the past decade or so.
posted by Beezy on 3-23-2007 at 2:04 pm
My husband continually makes up phrases and then creates jingle-like tunes to go along with them. Then he sings one incessently. At some point, he devises a new phrase and a new tune, which he then begins singing. It is a vicious cycle. The result: my default tune is usually some inane phrase sung to a catchy tune.
I’m hoping someone else either participates in or have seen this behavior in others. He may be a noise-making freak, but he’s my noise-making freak.
posted by Laura on 3-23-2007 at 2:07 pm
Cumberland Blues
posted by john on 3-23-2007 at 2:09 pm
Laura, I do that too. I doubt my girlfriend likes it very much.
And while I still like Menomena, Salt N’ Pepa’s “Push It” is pretty great. As long as you’re singing it in the original French.
posted by Greg on 3-23-2007 at 2:43 pm
I find it to be even more annoying when someone asks, “How does [insert song title here] go?” and you hear it in your head, but you can’t articulate what you’re hearing.
As for default songs, it’s usually whatever I’m playing in band. Right now that happens to be a combination of songs from “The Wizard of Oz” including such hits as, “Ding, Dong The Witch Is Dead” and “If I Only Had a Brain.”
posted by Cait on 3-23-2007 at 2:55 pm
La donna e mobile is pretty constant. I have different defaults for different situations, like walking down the hall at work is Dirtywhirl by TV on the Radio, and driving is How We Flow by Soul-Junk.
posted by Jenny in Winston Salem on 3-23-2007 at 3:26 pm
Being a fan, I get a lot of Rush in my default list: old stuff like The Trees, Subdivisions, or The Big Money, and more recently Ceiling Unlimited and the new single, Far Cry. If all else fails, Mike Oldfield’s “Platinum” is infuriatingly catchy, enough to drive anything else away!
posted by brian t on 3-23-2007 at 3:28 pm
Right now, I have Pearl Jam stuck in my head (and have all day) and would love to have a default song to fall back on to shake it.
One of my bosses has “Fly Me to the Moon” as his default.
posted by Karen on 3-23-2007 at 3:42 pm
My roommate in college’s default song was the theme from three’s company. It would pop into her head at least once a day and she’d sing it before she knew what she was doing and we’d both scream because then it was stuck.
posted by Sara on 3-23-2007 at 3:42 pm
It’s funny how random a lot of these songs are. The annoying thing about my default songs is that I remember only a small part of them, so I can’t get very far. Sometimes I’ve actualy made up the rest of the lyrics, and I end up believing that my lyrics are “real” lyrics. A couple of years ago I was singing along with ‘”I Will Survive” on the car radio and was suprised to hear that I had no idea how the song actualy goes!
For the last several months my default song has been “Little Red Corvette” but lately its been “Jenny From the Block”. I guess our brian’s default song choices has very little to do with musical quality.
posted by Xeno on 3-23-2007 at 4:42 pm
Good Morning Starshine. More specifically the part that goes “Gliddy Glop Gloopy, Nibby Nabby Nooby, Lee lee lee lo lo…” and so forth (I KNOW someone is going to post to tell me how I misspelled one of those words, so go ahead!) It used to bug me, but now I just go on and sing it out loud. My cats really love it. Note to Florp: I am ALSO uncool. But you get so uncool, you actually transcend and become cool on a new plane. Think Napoleon Dynamite!
posted by Allison on 3-23-2007 at 5:00 pm
It’s a tragic story, but I just haven’t been quite able to shake the first four measures of “Mmmbop,” by Hanson, for more than a few weeks at a time since I was fourteen. You remember when it came out? Well, for me, it never went away. I’ve been trying to replace it for ages with something more appropriate without success. If it just wasn’t so &*(%#n’ catchy.
posted by Carolyn on 3-23-2007 at 5:26 pm
My default song is “I Bloom Blaum” by Coldplay.
I catch myself singing the first couple of lines frequently when I am transitioning from one space to another, inside to outside, studio space to storage space.
posted by Sarah on 3-23-2007 at 5:42 pm
Ever since reservoir dogs debuted it’ been Blue Swede’s version of hooked on a feeling, but I have been known to bust out the theme from “Love boat” at least twice a day.
posted by lordstoli on 3-23-2007 at 5:51 pm
Shambala, by Rockapella. I suppose other groups have sung it, but Rockapella is the one I hear in my head. Either that, or Tim Wilson’s “I Could Be Wrong” unbleeped.
posted by Kelley O on 3-23-2007 at 6:10 pm
For no less than the last 10 years of my marriage it was “One less bell to answer” probably wishful thinking. After the marriage it became “Build me up Buttercup” no clue why but its a constant. Though “Somewhere over the rainbow” has been with me most of my life.
posted by Ro on 3-23-2007 at 6:46 pm
Guess I don’t necessarily have one particular song I use to drive an annoying one out of my head; I just crank up iTunes & hit shuffle for something random to come up.
The song-in-the-head thing is something I’ve thought about a bit lately, how you wake up with something random in your head & wonder where that came from. I remember waking up a week or so ago with Dire Straits “Why Aye Man” stuck in my head, and I hadn’t heard that played for years (I have the album but my turntable hasn’t worked for a long time.)
Another interesting song-in-the-head thing; years ago a friend was going through a tough time in her life - resulting in a mild depression - and describes it as “the time my song was gone”. During that time there was no music running through her head at all. I’ve often wondered if others who suffer from depression lose their inner song, or if her case was unique. Anybody?
posted by Dave on 3-24-2007 at 9:01 am
My default song is Billie Holiday’s “Pennies from Heaven”…its upbeat make lemonade out of lemons theme tends to be my overall philosophy on life i guess.
posted by Kesia on 3-24-2007 at 10:32 am
Mary had a little lamb. I have no idea why, other than b/c my name is Mary. (shrug.)
posted by Mary on 3-24-2007 at 11:13 am
For a year or so now, mine has been Moby’s Natural Blues. I don’t think I ever go more than a day without singing it.
I also am prone to getting many songs stuck in my head at once, sometimes as many as 9 or ten. For some reason I find it quite distressing. Does that happen to anyone else?
posted by Aemi on 3-24-2007 at 3:17 pm
Funny, I was just talking about annoying songs that get stuck in your head…actually there has been quite a lot of talk of default songs today. Anyways, I have a LOT, but generally I have that one song that the words “…don’t cry for me Argentina…” are some where in.
oh crap…thank you…(it’s back and LOUD)and that happens to be the ONLY line I know. Then there is “I Keep on Fallin,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and all Disney songs. It’s better just not to ask.
And you know that Barbie commercial? B-A-R-B-I-E! ? Well that one gets stuck EVERYTIME I hear it, and I always spell Barbie wrong. I hate Barbie now…
I blame my dog Max. He loves show tunes, he goes crazy with excitement. But I sing them for him (not very well) and then they are there forever.
I also rearrange the lyrics, I believe I suffer from a mild case something like dyslexia…
posted by Ellen on 3-24-2007 at 9:02 pm
Oh Boy!
I should not have read this post!
Now almost all the songs mentioned are whipping through my head!
Along with that dozen note intro to the original Star Trek Theme!
And the Mini Wheats Commercial.
Mini Mini Mini Mini Wheats!
Tum, Tum, Tum, Tum, Tum, Tara rum, ta tum, tum tum tum….
Mena menum, num, num, menena…
I feel like a PC about to crash while running Windows!
Help! Help! Help!
posted by Pierre Laberge on 3-24-2007 at 9:41 pm
The girl from ipanema has been sited in the past as a song that can be used to wipe other songs from your head. But it must be used WITHOUT THE WORDS. Just the tune. Otherwise you will be stuck with girl from ipanema. Be warned.
posted by Fungusmungus on 3-25-2007 at 7:24 am
i dont always have songs in there and i dont have a default song. its more like my brain is an i pod and when key words or groups of words are spoken to me my brain will find and play that song. also it happens with books ive read over and over to my children. like when some one says some thing about big feet all i can think is SMALL FEET BIG FEET HEAR COME PIG FEET.
posted by john on 3-25-2007 at 9:27 am
My default song has always been the theme song for pink panther…
posted by Ghazal on 3-25-2007 at 9:38 am
Absolutely! I have several default songs that make a lovely/timely mix in my brain. As of late it’s been… Springsteen-Born to Run, Maritime- The window is a door, and Modest Mouse- We carry it all so well.
ps. I’m quite ecstatic that you noted Hockey Night in your illustration.
posted by Pegs on 3-25-2007 at 10:16 am
Recently, it’s been “Field Behind the Plow” by Stan Rogers.
posted by Pegetha on 3-25-2007 at 4:12 pm
My default song is the theme from the tv show “Sanford and Son”, which my wife hates. When I want to annoy her, I’ll hum a few bars very quietly while she’s getting ready for work in the morning and by the time she leaves, she’ll be humming it out loud. . .works every time! She’ll come home that night cursing me because she couldn’t stop humming the song all day long.
posted by Michael on 3-26-2007 at 7:15 am
It’s “Upon this Tidal Wave of Young Blood,” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. And it’s hard to hum since it repeats “young blood” and “child star” so many times it’s awkward… and for some reason this plays in my mind right along a video of Nureyev dancing the Bolero.
the two don’t match up.
posted by Traurig on 3-26-2007 at 9:42 am
I am a school teacher. Everymorning I have Disney’s “Higgley Town Heros” theme in my head. (My favorite band, They Might Be Giants, wrote it.) I couldn’t ever figure out why this pops into my head every morning. Then I realized that the bell tone is the pitch of the part of the song that goes “Heroooooos” (the oooooos part) I slept more soundly after I figured that out.
posted by TM on 3-26-2007 at 1:36 pm
“Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” Otis Redding
posted by greg on 3-26-2007 at 3:05 pm
Once I had Carly Simon’s “You’re so Vain” in my head for over a month! But I think my default song is “Visions of Johanna” by Bob Dylan.
posted by ljk on 3-27-2007 at 6:13 am
Wow!! Greg, Menomena is my default song too! I was so shocked to see that someone else has this stuck in their head! I always sing it especially now that I have a baby to amuse.
posted by marsha on 3-27-2007 at 1:58 pm
I don’t have a default song but what happens to me is this- whenever people say something i start singing a line to a song. i do it alot and drive people crazy since most spoken words are in songs. For example- a coworker said she like my boots and my response was “These boots were made for walking…” Does that happen to anyone else?
posted by ISK on 3-27-2007 at 6:51 pm
“It Had to be You”
posted by Bob on 3-28-2007 at 2:42 am
Like Allison, I sing to my cats, and also about my cats, and whatever “song” emerges tends to be the default song for at least a few days. Tunes have included the theme from “Sanford and Son,” the track from “Requiem for a Dream” (with oddly upbeat words) and “Sail Away” (”Cats! You’re the cats, pretty cats, kitty cats …”) They like it.
posted by Cheryl on 3-28-2007 at 3:51 am
Oh, ISK, I am SO there: a random comment or phrase will make me start singing. It makes my kids INSANE! Although, they do seem to take some odd pride in my ability to find a song for almost ANY group of words.
As for a default song–I constantly have music in my head, but I can’t really identify only one song I keep going back to. Right now it’s Lyle Lovett’s “Step Inside This House”. (Great song–look it up if you’ve never heard it!)
posted by Kathy on 3-28-2007 at 6:25 am
for about 12 years, Some Days Are Better Than Others by U2 has come back to haunt me every once in a while. If nothing else, it says alot about my attitude toward life!
posted by Pam on 3-28-2007 at 6:45 am
“We’re Off to See the Wizard”, “Whistle a Happy Tune” (from “The King and I”), “The Star-Spangled Banner”, or CSNY’s “Our House.” Take your pick! (For some reason, I always whistle one of these in a public restroom when other people are present . . .)
posted by Deb on 3-28-2007 at 6:46 am
and the inevitable default theme “song” for trying to remember that damn default song that was JUST stuck in your brain…Jeopardy!
A: it’s the … eye of the tiger. the thrill of the night…
Q: what is my default song and exactly how many words of it do i really know!
posted by rana on 3-28-2007 at 6:52 am
“The Boys Are Back in Town” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Unfortunately, I think it’s because of those Wrangler jeans commercials with the slightly homoerotic undertones (gay cowboy love is “in,” right?)
I live in the Midwest so they play those commercials ALL THE TIME.
posted by Leah on 3-28-2007 at 7:31 am
“Look at me… I’m as helpless as a chicken up a tree…”
posted by Joe Barfield on 3-28-2007 at 7:34 am
“Happy Peanut Song…”
(from the Snickers commercial)
posted by Fred on 3-28-2007 at 8:11 am
WOW ! I thought I was the only one with music in my head. Glad to know I’m not alone.For many years ,”It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi…I use it as my cell ringtone, too. Funny thing tho, when I hear my phone ring, (in my purse, kind of muffled ), I don’t always associate the song with the cell phone ringing. I just think the song in my head is getting louder. It really annoys my son. He’s usually the one trying to call me.
posted by Susan on 3-28-2007 at 8:29 am
I’m constantly in flux on this one. I once spent two days with the saxophone music from “Sanford and Son” stuck in my head, another time it was “The Jetsons Theme”. It’s not always based on movies or television, though. Usually, it’s some obscure tune someone reminds me of, and then that tune stays with me until an even MORE annoying tune replaces it!
posted by Tim on 3-28-2007 at 9:23 am
I had to laugh when I realized that my default song is Birdhouse In Your Soul by They Might Be Giants… I laugh because I usually default to it when some other TMBG song gets stuck in my head… Usually Minimum Wage or Whistling In The Dark.
posted by Jenny on 3-28-2007 at 9:33 am
My default changes depending on what I’ve been hearing lately. I just downloaded a bunch of Fergie songs to my iPod, so right now it’s Fergalicious.
posted by Cindy on 3-28-2007 at 9:43 am
When I was younger I always had some default tune that I really liked. Then I had kids, and my brain would set it’s own default without my permission, like Barney songs, or–the worst one ever–the potty song from a potty training video my son had. AAAGGH! Thank goodness, the kids are getting older now and I don’t have this problem so much anymore. Just lately my default has been Classico by Tenacious D.
posted by Leslie on 3-28-2007 at 9:43 am
Wonderful idea. I used to wonder why I was always hearing “What A Fool Believes” in my head at all and odd hours. I thought it was just descriptive of my life.
BTW…”The Boys Are Back In Town” is by Thin Lizzy and the incomparable Phil Lynott.
posted by Ron Sewell on 3-28-2007 at 10:07 am
I’m sure glad somebody else has that hear-a-phrase burst-into-song thing going on. My kids are almost afraid to talk to me! The only thing more awkward would be to meet one of you in person and get stuck in perpetual one-line-of-a-song land…
posted by Sarah on 3-28-2007 at 10:13 am
blue christmas…no idea why…it’s always there…year round…i guess it’s my blue melody calling
posted by J Wray on 3-28-2007 at 10:23 am
My default song is the same as the only 45 I ever bought: Classical Gas by Mason Williams. Way cool.
posted by Tom on 3-28-2007 at 10:56 am
Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’
Yes, it is true, I love my default song! It’s been in there for, let’s see, over nine years now that I’m sure about. I do get other songs stuck in my head, but, once they fade, I’m always back to ‘my’ song.
posted by Jasper on 3-28-2007 at 11:22 am
“Hard, ain’t it Hard” by Woodie Gutherie. Sometimes I accidently sing the words just enough out-loud and my co-workers wonder if I am depressed. Funny!
posted by Janice on 3-28-2007 at 11:45 am
There’s actually research that has been done to determine why we get “earworms”–songs that stick in our head. Did you know that hearing music in your head when nothing is playing it is a sign of schizophrenia??? Bwa ha ha ha ha……….Curses to those who set up earworms in our heads that we can’t get out! I don’t have a default, I guess..I just catch ‘em from others. It’s menomena now…gee, thanks, guys….
posted by Donna B on 3-28-2007 at 11:59 am
The jukebox in my head is currently playing “Take the Long Way Home” by Supertramp. I’ve always liked this song even though I’ll never admit to liking Supertramp. It went away for sometime, but has no resurfaced since it’s now the theme song for the new show “The Riches”
Damn tv producers.
posted by Cari on 3-28-2007 at 1:13 pm
The jukebox in my head is currently playing “Take the Long Way Home” by Supertramp. I’ve always liked this song even though I’ll never admit to liking Supertramp. It went away for some time, but has now resurfaced since it’s the theme song for the new show “The Riches”
Damn tv producers.
posted by Cari on 3-28-2007 at 1:14 pm
Girl from Ipanema… over… and over… and over.. and over…
posted by Cerah on 3-28-2007 at 1:55 pm
It is fascinating to read all of the various responses here. There is hardly any overlap. Lee, is that Ministry’s “So What”? If so, that is awesome.
I have about eight of them:
“Echo Train” by Chad Van Gaalen (deep in this one today)
“The End of our Road” by Marvin Gaye
“I Believe to my Soul” by Ray Charles
I can’t seem to remember the others right now. Perhaps these are the three main ones (although “The Well and the Lighthouse” from the new Arcade Fire album is making a strong run - too early to tell).
I used to work late a lot and the sitting next to me and I would randomly start singing songs without even realizing it. So I suppose we had default songs:
“Dueling Banjos”
“O Canada”
“Shaving Cream” by Benny Bell
Those were weird days…
posted by Reed on 3-28-2007 at 3:40 pm
quite unfortunately my default song is some annoying thing from church chior when i was in elementary school. i don’t even know a title and i only remember 2 lines but i wake up singing it. AWFUL way to start a day!
Jenny- i love “Birdhouse in Your Soul”! maybe i can work on making that my default song instead!
posted by Sarah W on 3-28-2007 at 4:17 pm
Laura said: “My husband continually makes up phrases and then creates jingle-like tunes to go along with them. Then he sings one incessently.”
John said: “also it happens with books ive read over and over to my children. like when some one says some thing about big feet all i can think is SMALL FEET BIG FEET HEAR COME PIG FEET.”
^These are me, too.
I don’t have a real “default” song except my own made-up jingle-style one, though Menomena is actually a frequent flier around here (I am shocked how many other people have that one!), as is the old Mounds/Almond Joy commercial (”sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t…”)
I also get random words or phrases stuck in my head - for the last week, it’s been “solipsistic.” It’s apparently hereditary, because my son is saying “baba ganoush” over and over for the last hour.
posted by Christine on 3-28-2007 at 4:18 pm
“Inchworm, inchworm,
measuring the marigold.
You and your arithmetic,
you’ll probably go far.
Inchworm, inchworm,
measuring the marigold.
Don’t you ever stop and see
how beautiful they are?”
That and “Say it’s Only a Paper Moon”
And all of the Oscar Mayer Weiner jingles.
posted by Elisa on 3-28-2007 at 8:10 pm
Mine’s “Hoodie” by Lady Sovereign and also the Drake and Josh theme song.
posted by Kiki on 3-28-2007 at 9:37 pm
I just had to post here! I thought I was the only weirdo regarding mental music.
I tell people that, when I am not actively thinking about something, or reading, that I have a soundtrack playing in my head. Various types of music, various artists, etc.
My present default song (changes approximately once a year or so) is Popular, from Wicked.
posted by Felicia on 3-28-2007 at 11:25 pm
the default song -for me - is good for about a week and then it will change like the weather- but if one is tired of the current one and needs to change in a hury - just sing to yourself - her name was lola - she was a showgirl…
posted by paul on 3-29-2007 at 1:36 am
Same here: I have a constant rotation of what’s playing in my head. The best times are when I start humming during a lecture or a test (I’m a college student). And I don’t think I have a ‘default’ it’s usually something I’ve heard in the last few days. But I am also one of those people who associate groups of words in a conversation with a song. Basically I can end up with anything stuck in my head, but it’s pretty easy to remove it too.
posted by meri on 3-29-2007 at 5:33 pm
My father and I whistled the same song. Neither of us knew what it was or where it came from. I couldn’t whistle it conciously, only when I was relaxed would I spontaniously whistle it. My mother and my wife both mistook us for each other. My dad died four years ago and without realizing it I stopped whistling the song, I wish I’d recorded one of us doing it.
posted by Shazzam on 3-29-2007 at 8:52 pm
My default song is “Rubber Duckie”… I have no idea but just mention it and it will obliterate any other trace of a song in my mind. Now that I read this, it’s going to be playing in my head for days.
But it’s awesome to see someone put a term to the concept and that I’m not the only one!
posted by Devin on 3-29-2007 at 9:26 pm
Currently, “Blueberry Hill” by Glenn Miller is in my head. I have this inkling though that the reason for that is because it’s coming out of my headphones. . . maybe. In any case I would say that my default now is “I’ve got the World on a String”; any artist will suffice. In high school it was “Chim-Chim-Cher-ee” from Mary Poppins. Wierd, huh?
posted by Noelani on 3-29-2007 at 9:51 pm
i’m not alone anymore! like everyone i get the random songs that stick (is anyone else plagued by the theme song to The Littlest Hobo? damn, there it is - I can’t even talk about it!) but it was nice to see someone else gets random words stuck too (since highschool german -15 yrs ago- i’ve periodically had the word ‘fussgangerzone’ in my head & others). usually I’ll find myself singing/humming/whistling a variety of songs from 1970s/80s Sesame Street most notably C is for cookie and Rubber ducky (you’re the one!) and, who could forget, 123-45-678,910,11 twe-e-e-e-e-elve! or the theme to Flipper. yuck.
posted by Erin on 3-29-2007 at 10:57 pm
ps, blueberry hill was Fats Domino
posted by erin on 3-29-2007 at 10:58 pm
The theme song from the Banana Splits.. Tra la la..lalala… Tra la la
Before the web, my friend actually called Hanna Barbara to get me the words, now I know them and I do sing them in my head
posted by JoAnn on 3-30-2007 at 7:57 am
I too find myself singing or thinking of a variety of songs, not just one particular song. Depending on what I’m doing, They’re Coming to Take me Away (ha ha, he he, ho ho), Bette Midler’s The Rose, or I Dreamed a Dream, from Les Miserables (I think) will get stuck and stay awhile.
posted by Ann on 3-30-2007 at 8:33 pm
For some reason, whenever I use a certain machine at work I start singing the chipmunk’s christmas song. I think that the machine cycles with exactly that beat.
posted by Charles on 3-31-2007 at 8:38 am
charles, that is geeky and wonderful.
And my default switches every two days or so, but it’s always the same artist, Chris Thile…
posted by hana on 3-31-2007 at 12:46 pm
My default song is Chick Corea’s “Spain”, but done by David Grisman. Sometimes it switches to Al Jarreau’s version, then to Corea’s original and then back to Grisman. Is this unusual??
posted by Steve on 3-31-2007 at 5:00 pm
Mine lately has been Cancer from PDQ Bach’s 12 Quite Heavenly Songs, although Sagittarius is also quite prominant for some reason. This tends to be a problem as they both reduce me to giggling which can be inconvient when you’re in class.
Right now the choir I’m in is practicing a latin medley so I’m constantly singing Ay ay ay ay… canta y no llores… grr there it goes again.
posted by Janel on 3-31-2007 at 11:09 pm
I love all the responses!! I have no particular default song. Sometimes it’s what I’m listening to; sometimes random things. I sing all sorts of things to my daughter. Glad I’m not alone. My only complaint is the songs that tend to get stuck in my head are
stupid store jingles!! Makes me crazy. I’ll be walking along,when, out pops “Jewel Osco,Jewel Osco, the Jewel of New Mexico”. GOD, do I despise that song!Right now it’s Bayside. Talking Heads is always good.
posted by Tina on 4-2-2007 at 4:11 pm
Mine is a sacred harp tune, invariably. However, there are 500+ in the book of the same name. Go to fasola.org to learn more about this a capella singing and then you’ll get hooked and end up like me. Mwa ha ha! No, seriously, it’s usually one that begins “Glorious things of thee are spoken” and ends with “Thou mayest smile at all thy foes.” Look it up yourself. See you at a sing! All are welcome. Come to sing, come to listen. Books are available for loan or purchase (@$20 US). I don’t profit from this, just like to share the joy.
posted by Midge on 4-3-2007 at 7:49 am
My default song (sample?) is the part of Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” that samples David Bowie/Queen’s “Under Pressure.”
I also relate to the post from the person who spontaneously comes up with a song lyric in the midst of a conversation.
posted by Anne on 4-3-2007 at 2:36 pm
I always have the problem of having one or 2 songs whipping through my head because I’m always listening to new music. That being said, there isn’t a lot of times where my default songs gets to drive me nuts, but alas, they have been known to put me in a singing frenzy.
Currently, “Sewn” by The Feeling and “Amsterdam” by Peter, Bjorn, & John keep me awake at night, but when new songs are at a minimum, “California Dreamin” by The Mamas and The Papas always comes back to haunt me. I’ve found that Dreamin’ is actually a hard song to sing out loud by yourself, especially if you try and sing both parts.
posted by Karleigh on 4-3-2007 at 5:43 pm
just realized I have 2 default sings.
Strangers in the night seems to be my general all purpose default, ie., [i]I’m not really listenning to that gossip, although I really really want to, [/i] or, [i]Why does my secretary order paper clips when I ask for pens…[/i] or, when there’s no background noise and I need to drown out those pesky voices…
But there is also [i]Starry, Starry Night[/i]. This one plays when the adrenaline is just starting to flow…[i]Creepy, creepy guy -stand in line and don’t touch me-don’t even look my way…[/i]or, [i]Crabby, Crabby Boss - I’ve done my work now go away -at lunchtime I’ll be leaving for the day…[/i]
posted by Tracey on 4-4-2007 at 12:57 pm
Someone commented earlier about getting a word “stuck” in memory. My memory word, ever since high school geometry, is “dodecahedron.” Which Wikipedia tells us is any polyhedron with twelve faces … I remember the word from the guy in my geometry class who used it as a disparaging form of address, as in “I can’t believe you said that, you DODECAHEDRON!!”
posted by Anne on 4-4-2007 at 1:21 pm
I don’t have a default song, but I do have what I’ve always called ‘viral’ songs. They change often, although some are more infective than others. The record-holder so far this year is “Sneakers” by The Teen Idles. One whole month. Or rather, it played alone for three weeks followed by a week of “Sneakers” and “Trans Am” (also by the Teen Idles) playing simultaneously. My “kill” song, i.e. the song which kills ALL repetitive songs, is “Fish Heads” by Barnes and Barnes. (Anyone else remember that one? “Eat them up, YUM!”) Unfortunately, it’s much more viral than any other song, so I have to be desperate before I drag it out of my mental closet. In my family, the best way ever to get a song out of your head is to “give it away”; call another family member and say “I have ‘I Feel Pretty’ stuck in my head!” Then they take it on and I’m free to move on to another viral song. It’s also evilly satisfying to pass it on like that. = )
My family gets words and phrases stuck in our heads, too, which we then have to trade off. The latest word for me is my son’s favorite word, repugnant.
Gee, I don’t know if I’m happy to know there are others like me or if I find it to be disturbing…
posted by Tammy on 4-8-2007 at 5:46 pm
Joe Barfield - you should be on the misheard words posting with your chicken up a tree! Or were you joking?
I tend to have old commercial jingles pop into my head - remember when they wrote those instead of recycling pop songs?
torture yourself with these, if you’re old enough to remember them:
I am stuck on bandaid, cause bandaid’s stuck on me.
Get a bucket of chicken, finger lickin’ good…
Have it your way, have it your way
posted by Karen on 5-1-2007 at 12:21 pm
I’m so glad to FINALLY have name to put to this concept. I’ve tried to discuss it with my friends but only 1 or 2 can relate. Most just think I’m nuts. Thank you David!
By the way, in case anyone is curious, my default “song” is reciting the ABC’s. Even though the tune is the same as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”- it’s not the TUNE that works for me but the tedious reciting of the actual alphabet.
posted by Catina on 5-19-2007 at 6:43 pm
I just wanted to reply to dave who was asking about anyone that may have experienced “losing the music in their head” when they’re depressed. (March 24)
I can say from personal experience that when I experience that kind of depression my song also “ends”. It’s like your mind is silent but noisy at the same time. What I mean by that is that all “normal, positive” thought seems to be replaced by an overwhelming amount of white noise that just about drives you insane.
Anyway, that may not make sense, however, I do understand what your friend meant, as I have been there.
posted by Catina on 5-19-2007 at 6:58 pm
i am always getting randoms songs stuck in my head, from big band to classic rock to pop. it’s often just the last song i heard on the radio or the song triggered by any given combo of words (i’m glad to know i’m not alone with that). but my default songs are roger miller’s “king of the road” and kansas’ “dust in the wind” (that one only in the middle of mass. go figure.) those two kick in without fail. curses.
posted by debi_doo on 5-27-2007 at 2:23 pm
“You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” by Jim Croce.
My parents would always have Photographs and Memories on at home, so it has been my default for about 10 years.
…You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim…
posted by Tess H on 5-27-2007 at 10:59 pm
After I took my kids to Disneyland in ‘91, I had “It’s a Small World” in my head repeatedly for over 10 yrs. I was so relieved when it finally stopped. Unfortunately, now that I’m reminded of it, I’m worried it will start again.
I too wake up in the morning with random songs in my head. They’re not necessarily songs that I like, or have heard recently, or that I associate with any particular memories. They range from a schmaltzy Burl Ives tune (I don’t even know the lyrics), to Pink Floyd to Hank Williams to Cake. What is that all about????
posted by Pam on 6-18-2007 at 4:21 pm
Regarding the default sounds, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to how to go about CHANGING the one that you already have? Mine is “LA DE DAH DE DAH DE DAH” over and over again and if I have to have one going at all times I would like it to be something a little more entertaining? any suggestions?
Love this site.
Thanks
posted by MOOT on 6-27-2007 at 10:29 am
There was a big thing in the series “Ally McBeal” (er…my wife used to watch it…) where a therapist (played by singer Tracy Ullman) believed people could change the way they felt and acted by choosing their “theme song”, which was basically their default song. This seemed to be her main therapeutic technique. Most characters’ theme songs were played for comedic effect at different points.
Currently I’m “In Between Days” and don’t need a cure for that… ;)
posted by Daryl on 7-6-2007 at 2:46 am
This old man, he play one…….
It drive me crazy.
posted by playsindirt on 8-17-2007 at 10:31 am
I don’t really have a default song, I’ll have something in my head for a week and then it will go away for months to be replaced by something else, though recently it has been “Be kind to you web-footed friends, for a duck may be somebody’s mother”…I think the tune is actually Stars and Stripes Forever.
My clearing song is “Lets Make the Water Turn Black” by Frank Zappa and has been since I was about 8. It’s kind of long and know all the lyrics so I can just finish it to push something else out.
posted by emily on 3-12-2008 at 12:35 pm
My default song is unfortunately the theme song from Sanford and Son. I have no idea why, but I find myself humming the tune obsessively and at embarrassingly random moments in public. I like catching Sanford and Son re-runs every now and then on cable, but I’m not exactly in love with the show. My default song makes no sense at all.
posted by April on 3-12-2008 at 4:41 pm
Can’t say as I have one default song. What happens to me is a word or something I see or hear will trigger one of the many thousands of songs in my personal iPod that’s in my brain. I told my son I can probably think of any song on any subject.
The music is always kind of in the background and I notice it when not actively thinking.
Right now we’ve got Climax Blues Band “I Love You” in my head and MUST get rid of it fast. To the iTunes Robin!
posted by Jonathan on 3-28-2008 at 8:05 am
Mine is “Tired of Waiting for You” by the Kinks. Unfortunately the only part that I know is “I’m so tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for yoooouuu…” So it just plays over and over in my head. It makes perfect sense, though, because I wake up every morning at 5:00 thinking, “I’m so tired,” and then in comes the default song. It’s like in a musical when someone’s having a conversation that suddenly morphs into song.
posted by lala on 3-28-2008 at 8:25 am
Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass - Tijuana Taxi
posted by Mike on 3-28-2008 at 9:05 am
I have probably 20 default songs… probably the downfall of being a singer.
Menamena has been there, as has somwhere over the rainbow, someone to watch over me, mack the knife, deck the halls, inspector gadget theme song, prizmamatism from Rainbow Bright, various wizard of oz or disney songs.. or songs form dora the explorer
Currently it is the fraggle rock theme song. But you guys have mentioned a million that I hum on a regular basis!
posted by Kelly on 3-28-2008 at 10:58 am
mine tends to rotate also, but lately it’s been between “Lie In Our Graves” by Dave Matthews Band and “Mr. Bojangles” (don’t remember who sang/wrote it, but it is on the Fosse soundtrack.)
posted by the creature on 3-28-2008 at 11:37 am
For years mine was Jingle Bells, which was so annoying and drove me crazy. Imagine that one popping into your head when it’s 95 degrees. Somewhere along the way JB reliquished its control, and I hope that mentioning it here doesn’t invite it back. I don’t think I have one right now; that’s probably because I like to have music playing whenever possible. (I’m sure one will pop up now that I’ve said this.)
posted by Mel on 3-28-2008 at 12:47 pm
Mine is Mad World by Gary Jules.. its been haunting me for some time now since I heard it on Donnie Darko..
posted by Gin on 3-28-2008 at 10:04 pm
I don’t usually get the same song stuck in my head for long periods of time, but one that recurrs is “Cherish”. In particular the part that goes “I could say I need you but then you’d realize
That I want you just like a thousand other guys Who say they love you.” Someting about the structure really appeals to my brain.
Speaking of words that get stuck in your head, whenever I have nothing else important to think about (for example, in the shower) my brain defaults to “What do you have to say for yourself?”
posted by mary on 3-29-2008 at 12:22 am
I Want You (She’s So Heavy) by the Beatles. It’s a disease, really, that changes with my life. It used to be Sunday Morning by Maroon 5, but before that it was Mary Jane by Alanis Morrisette. It may soon become Makin Love by Amos Lee, though–that one has invaded my thoughts more than twice today…
posted by adrienne on 3-29-2008 at 12:31 am
“We all live in Yellow Submarine”…. or Penny Lane (just the tune of that one)
Those have been defaults for YEARS.
I get a LOT of earworms. Drives me crazy, but usually one of my defaults can clear it if I consciously think about it.
Any time I’ve been in a musical theatre productions, the songs from whatever show I’m currently in will run over and over and over in my head, and I’ll wake up humming them… drives me crazy.
I also get what one commenter said about Rondos…. I’ll have songs that I get to the end, and they just start themselves all over again in my head. Sometimes I have to purposely put a “big finish” flourish on the end to get them to stop (and sometimes that doesn’t even work)…….
posted by Valentine on 3-29-2008 at 1:04 am
My default song is Under Pressure by Queen.
posted by Me on 6-23-2008 at 2:22 am