What exactly is an earworm?
In case you don’t know, in the parlance of the day, an earworm is a piece of music that gets stuck in your head, so that you “hear” it over and over and over again. It’s kind of a “stuck song” syndrome. This could be pleasurable for a short while, but can also be torturous as the melody becomes so embedded that it can literally haunt your dreams.
As you may be aware by now, we are in the midst of “Play It Again,” a special membership drive at The Classical Network, for which we have solicited lists of favorite pieces from WWFM hosts, partners, and listeners. We have been using these to try to generate captivating playlists and, by extension, a sense of community, as we play off of our shared passions, in the hopes of converting recognition of those commonalities into revenue for the station. You have to admit, it’s certainly a lot more involving than your run-of-the-mill pledge drive.
Nevertheless, we found ourselves fighting hard yesterday afternoon to try to engage our listeners. It was as we were gazing at the seemingly unattainable mini-goal of $10,000, which unaccountably continued to shimmer over the burning sands like a mirage, that David Osenberg and I got into a discussion about earworms. This was prompted by my playing of music from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” which had turned up on the lists of a couple of our hosts. One listener emailed to thank us a lot (sarcasm noted), since now he would not be able to get “Raiders” out of his head for the rest of the day.
It was then that I recollected an article I had read a couple of years ago about some scientific studies that had been done on the nuisance of the earworm. This I turned into a sales pitch – if we reached our goal of $10,000, I would reveal a surefire antidote for the earworm, and no one would ever again suffer through another restless night precipitated by John Williams.
It turned out it worked. We met our goal, and I shared the knowledge that studies have found, for one reason or another, that singing “God Save the Queen” is the remedy. (Another listener, perhaps nervous that some could surrender to latent colonial tendencies, called in to point out one could also sing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.”)
In case you missed it, you can read all about the study here (or google it):
In any case, we continue to delight in a sense of discovery as we fan through everyone’s favorites. This afternoon at 5:00 EDT, the Big Countdown of the greatest favorites – the pieces that turned up on the most lists – begins. This will continue throughout the day tomorrow.
If you haven’t had a chance to contribute, consider the value of the information you have learned here today, and drop a few bucks in the jar, so that WWFM – The Classical Network can continue to share new discoveries, imperishable standards, and sound medical advice. We are caught in the inexorable pull of the end of our fiscal year. Toss us a rope at 1-888-232-1212 or at wwfm.org. Thank you for your support!