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3%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
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10[[quoteright:244:[[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ga941204_8.png]]]]
11[[caption-width-right:244:''[[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart This song's gonna get stuck inside you!\
12Run but you can't hide, I'll find you!]]'']]
13%%
14->''"The song has ended, but the melody lingers on."''
15-->-- '''Music/IrvingBerlin'''
16
17This is the song that doesn't end... It goes on and on in one's head.
18
19"Ear Worms" (from the German phrase ''Ohrwurm'') are those songs that weasel their way into one's head like uninvited guests and then proceed to stink up the inside of one's cranium by playing themselves there over. And over. And over. ''[[OverlyLongGag And over]]''. They're those songs that just ''get stuck in one's head'', and no amount of screaming, pounding, protesting, and banging one's head into one's desk will get them out. [[Music/{{Eagles}} They will check out any time one likes, but they will never leave.]]
20
21This phenomenon is well-known in RealLife, so it's no wonder it frequently comes up in fiction as well.
22
23Characters infected with an Ear Worm may find themselves prone to bursting out into the song in inappropriate places and shown liking the tune because it's irresistibly catchy. They can end up [[CloudCuckoolander distracted in the middle of conversation (or other important activities)]] by the continuous snatches of song wavering between their ears. However, soon they'll be profoundly annoyed by it and tugging at their ears in fury. And it's only a matter of time before, like [[Film/{{Scanners}} Darryl Revok]], they drill a hole in their forehead [[BrainBleach to let the voices out]].
24
25SubTrope of InnerMonologue. Ear Worms are frequently the tool used to produce PsychicStatic. Especially powerful ones can also serve as a BrownNote. If the repetitive music that is the cause of someone's woes is not just in memory but ongoing, it's IncessantMusicMadness. Could be sung or played by an AnnoyinglyRepetitiveChild.
26
27Not to be confused with the [[PuppeteerParasite mind-warping parasites]] from ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' or [[PuppeteerParasite mind-controlling parasites]] from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' or Earwig in Real Life.
28
29Although many of us have had experiences with Ear Worms, please stick to listing [[Administrivia/InUniverseExamplesOnly examples where a song's catchiness is commented on or demonstrated in-universe]]. Describing ''what'' makes a song catchy is almost impossible for most people who aren't music theory experts, meaning that the odds of subjective examples being Administrivia/ZeroContextExamples are extremely high (as was the case with a past version of this trope). Not to mention that calling a song annoying from an out-of-universe perspective could be Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike.
30
31----
32!!Administrivia/InUniverseExamplesOnly:
33
34[[foldercontrol]]
35
36[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
37* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'': Kyoko [[PsychicStatic keeps her favorite rock song in mind to protect herself]] during a brainwashing session.
38* In ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool'', the characters desperately try to remember the name of a song that is completely stuck in their heads, after one of them hears Mechazawa hum it in the bathroom. In the anime, they hum it in unison by the end of the episode and still can't name it. The song was [[spoiler:"Ningen Nante", by the guy who does the main theme of the series.]] Notably, it seems that it wasn't Mechazawa who started this. At the beginning of the episode, we see him at a concert with Freddie [[TakeOurWordForIt singing]] to a guitar instrumental played by Gorilla. When you put two and two together, [[spoiler:the guitar part serves as a basis for "Ningen Nante".]] So he wound up with the song in his head, felt like going around humming it, and it spread through the school like an infection.
39* The song "Aa, Nagarekawa" is referred to as such in the ''Manga/{{Locodol}}'' anime.
40* In ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'', Akane takes Akari's appearance to make a short movie parodying your typical MagicalGirl ShowWithinAShow, called ''Magical Akalyn''. If Asahi's reaction in the volume 10 omake is anything to go by, the show's theme song is an Ear Worm (though the fact it was played in a loop for maybe more than an hour on the radio didn't help).
41-->''She's never ever popular! (si~ngle~) Alcohol's her only partner! (si~ngle~)...''
42* In a ''literal'' example of Ear Worm, in an early episode of ''Manga/{{Needless}}'', there is a brief scene where a strange cat/worm creature comes out of Eve's ear as she is sleeping. [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Its purpose is never explained, and it is never seen again for the rest of the series]].
43* Taken to a ''very'' dark extreme in the ''Manga/VoicesInTheDark'' short story "Splendid Shadow Song". A woman hears a busker playing a song that is so catchy it literally alters her brainwaves and repeatedly plays over and over in her head, driving her insane in the process. Many others who heard the song ended up committing suicide.
44* Sato in ''Literature/WelcomeToTheNHK'' is consistently tormented by the theme song to the ShowWithinAShow ''Magical Girl Pururin'' played by his neighbor Yamazaki. Once he befriends Yamazaki and he is introduced to the show, he often finds himself humming the tune, and even adopts it as his ringtone!
45[[/folder]]
46
47[[folder:Comedy]]
48* Comic Greg Warren has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7DDZ_Ov4VE a bit]] about a crazy woman on the subway who kept repeatedly singing "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A ''FIIIISH! SANDWICH!''", and that weird little ditty has been stuck in his head ever since.
49-->"That woman should not be homeless, she's a hitmaker! She may be one of the greatest lyricists of our time. I've heard ''eleven'' Music/TaylorSwift songs, I don't know the words; I know ''all the words'' to 'Fish Sandwich', and --''and!''-- nobody's wondering what to get her for Christmas!"
50[[/folder]]
51
52[[folder:Comic Books]]
53* One story of the ''Comicbook/{{Animaniacs}}'' comic had Wakko getting a song stuck in his head, but not remembering from where. As he sang it, lots of people followed him. Then he recognized it, [[TheUnreveal but without saying from where]]. Given everyone else had been 'infected' by that point, they all run in panic.
54* Creator/AdamWarren did a short arc for ''ComicBook/Gen13'' which featured Caitlin as the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] in the face of an ''[[EvilDiva unnaturally]]'' [[EvilDiva infectious]] and insane pop song.
55* In a ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'' story, the League encounters a created being that sucks up memories. Once they manage to reverse the effects, the Atom leaves it one memory: the Ear Worm that's been stuck in his head the whole issue. "Ziggy Stardust". The kicker: he couldn't remember the whole song.
56* In ComicBook/HarleyQuinn's own comic, an Ear Worm is an actual worm that hibernates for 363 days a year; the two days it is awake -- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day -- it curls up in a human's ear and sings very, very annoying Christmas songs like "Jingle Bells" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas". Harley is its latest victim, but she is cured by -- who else? -- [[BadassSanta Santa Claus]].
57* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': In ''Sandman: At Death's Door'' by Jill Thompson, Delirium deals with the demons that crash Death's party by infecting them with obnoxious songs.
58[[/folder]]
59
60[[folder:Comic Strips]]
61* One Sunday strip of ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' has Jon whistle a very odd tune (shown in a musical staff), which gets stuck in Garfield's head as a result. He ultimately gets rid of it by passing it onto Odie.
62* The titular character in ''ComicStrip/{{Luann}}'' gets annoyed by a song stuck in her head in one Sunday strip. She asks Bernice how to get rid of it, which she replies by suggesting not to share its name.
63* Norm from ''ComicStrip/MyCage'' once got a song stuck in his head; when pressured to tell what song it was he finally admitted it was the [=FreeCreditReport=].com jingle.
64-->'''Norm:''' Advertising has salted my soul. Nothing good can grow there again.
65* One ''ComicStrip/{{Nemi}}'' strip features an Ear Worm taking over a bus. Much to the annoyance of the main character.
66-->'''Cyan:''' ''[humming away]'' Hey, do you hear it too?\
67'''Nemi:''' ''[visibly straining]'' No! I'm hearing "'''Raining Blood'''" by Music/{{Slayer}}! Louder, and louder and '''louder'''!
68* ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'':
69** Rat does this to mess with Pig in one strip by singing John Denver's "Country Roads, Take Me Home" near him. Rat even admits that he's doing it to plant an Ear Worm in his friend's head.
70** The 5/23/21 strip begins with a content warning. "Something terrible" ruined Pig's whole day, and Rat and Goat ask Pig to try to talk about it with them. Pig sings the Kars 4 Kids {{jingle}}, causing Goat to give a BigNo, Rat to fall on his knees, and Pastis to appear and apologize to the readers.
71* Tom Tommorrow's ''ComicStrip/ThisModernWorld'' once introduces a superhero named Anagram Man, but for the purposes of this entry we must take note of his sidekick, [[http://archive.salon.com/comics/tomo/1998/07/17tomo.html/ Song-In-Your-Head Boy.]]
72* A Sunday strip of ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'' has Hector confessing to Jeremy that he has a show tune stuck in his head. After much pestering from Jeremy, it is revealed to be "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" from ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'', at which point Jeremy gets it stuck in his head as well.
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Fan Works]]
76* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5520986/31/The-Apothecary-Knows-Best The Apothecary Knows Best]]'', Snape gets "Purple People Eater" stuck in his head after singing it to his four-year-old.
77* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Mittens is prone to getting tunes stuck in her head, though it happens to Bolt as well.
78** In "The Paris Trip," Mittens has "Free Man in Paris" by Music/JoniMitchell running through her head while sightseeing in the city, as well as "And I Love Her" by Music/TheBeatles after she and Berlioz make love. This also happens to her with "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" by Music/SimonAndGarfunkel during the cab ride to the airport at the end of the story, which makes her wistfully sad for her vacation fling with Berlioz.
79** In "The Gift," Mittens has the song "Pay You Back with Interest" by Music/TheHollies floating through her head at one point in Nirvana, which is appropriate given the tie-in with karma.
80** In "The Ski Trip," Mittens has "Can't Buy Me Love" by Music/TheBeatles start running through her head at the beginning of her ill-advised downhill ski run with Bolt and Rhino.
81** In "The Ship," both Bolt and Mittens mention having songs by Music/MarshallCrenshaw running through their heads just after they declare their love for each other. For Bolt, it's "Cynical Girl," while for Mittens, it's "Brand New Lover."
82** In "The Imaginary Letters," Bolt mentions having the song "Cinnamon Girl" by Music/NeilYoung going through his head when he and Penny are joyfully running through Harvard Yard.
83* In ''Fanfic/ABoyAGirlAndADogTheLeithianScript'', Edrahil doesn't like the working songs of the tribe of Beor because they're nonsensical, complicated tunes which you ''can't'' get out of your head. So he makes sure to hum them around people he dislikes.
84-->'''Beren:''' Well, there are words, only nobody knows what they mean any more. They don't even mean anything in our Old Tongue. There are a lot of working songs like that. And they all sound kind of the same, but they're different. So the threshing song is actually the reaping song done backwards. They seem really easy to sing, but they're not easy to get right, and if you mix it up you have to start over, and your friends throw chaff at you for breaking the changes because if one person gets off then everyone loses their place. Lord Edrahil absolutely hates them, on account of how they're boring and complicated at the same time.\
85'''Steward:''' You left out the fact that once one hears one such -- tune, one cannot banish it from memory.\
86'''Captain:''' And you've left out the fact that you made certain that someone was humming it, in response to your peevish reminiscences, just when the Warden of Aglon was happening along to scoff at Himself for having been set down by Amarie.\
87'''Beren:''' See, that's humor-at-someone's-expense.
88* [[http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Catchy-43953181 "Catchy"]], a little ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' comic by Rufftoon on Website/DeviantArt, has Uncle Iroh tricking Zuko into singing "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheCaveOfTwoLovers Secret Tunnel]]".
89* ''Fanfic/CatTales'': Invoked in ''Something New'', where Riddler can't get the song "76 Trombones" out of his head. It turns out to be a plot of Joker and Hugo Strange; Joker is seeking retaliation for Riddler repeatedly pinching Harley's behind at the Rogues' Christmas party in ''Knight Before Christmas'', and had Hugo inject Riddler with a viral microchip receiver, transmitting the song directly into his brain to drive him crazy.
90* ''WebVideo/FalloutNukaBreak'': The advertising jingle "By Mennen!" is pretty much the only thing from pre-apocalypse society that Ben (a ghoul) hasn't lost to TheFogOfAges, a testament to its tenacity as an ear worm. Although he can't remember what it was used for, leading the group to eventually decide that it was some sort of religious expression, and they start saying "by Mennen" the way one would say "by God".
91* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4238196/23/Harry-Potter-and-the-Marauders-of-the-Mind Harry Potter and the Marauders of the Mind]]'':
92-->'''James:''' ...Lily is brilliant at runes and so is Moony. Pads and I never took it at school, but we both had to learn them alongside our alphabet as children. Remember, Sirius? A-B-C and ''ansuz-berkana-kensaz''. There was a little song that went with it--\
93'''Sirius:''' Don't you dare sing it! It went round in my head solidly for five and a half years. I reckon there's some sort of charm on it to force you to remember it for all time. It haunts my nightmares.
94* Weaponized in ''Fanfic/IAmNOTGoingThroughPubertyAgain'', when Naruto gets a song stuck in Shukaku's head so the heart-to-heart he had with Gaara has time to sink in.
95* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9704180/8/I-m-Still-Here I'm Still Here]]'' Harry uses "The Song That Never Ends" as part of a ward scheme designed to discourage upper-year Slytherins from breaking into first year students' rooms. After the students in question are freed from it, Dumbledore comments that he still occasionally whistles a tune he heard at a Muggle circus fifty years ago.
96* In the "Strangers" plot of ''[[http://community.livejournal.com/jla_watchtower/tag/strangers JLA Watchtower]]'', several Titans and Titan allies were "swapped out" with EvilCounterpart members of the RoguesGallery, while the Titans themselves were "stuck in the heads" of their evil counterparts. One of the most effective ways the captive Titans fought back was by singing annoying songs to the supervillains, driving them to distraction.
97* In ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', Alex Harris is trying to concentrate during a strategy meeting with ComicBook/TheAvengers and she finds herself half-humming, half-singing a MajorGeneralSong (that started with the line , [[ItMakesSenseInContext "I am the very model of a busty superheroine..."]]) she'd seen on Website/YouTube that just happened to have been about Alex herself. When the Black Widow asks her if something's wrong, Alex tries to explain, badly. She specifically calls it an Ear Worm, and can't figure out whether she is more annoyed by the fact that she can't get it out of her head, or that the damned thing exists in the first place.
98* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7274734/6/Saying-No Saying No]]'' Kreacher and Dobby take turns "teaching" the [[ItMakesSenseInContext Dark Torso]] a few of these songs. Eventually it spreads to Hogwarts, driving Hermione nuts.
99* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6238824/16/The-Sorting-Hat-s-Stand The Sorting Hat's Stand]]'', a miscalculation in a prank spell which was supposed to affect only Slytherins eventually results in the ''entire school'' singing "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" for the eight hundred and sixty-fourth time.
100* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10766595/1/Harry-Potter-Three-to-Backstep Three to Backstep]]'', this is one of the titular trio's responses to listening charms put in their private apartment by Dumbledore in order to eavesdrop. Like the fic above, they use "I'm Henry the Eighth I Am". Another of their responses is altering what a different eavesdropping point picks up for a ParanoiaGambit.
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
104* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' invokes both this and Disney movies {{Award Bait Song}}s when Dory starts singing an obvious parody of such a song. "''Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming...''". It becomes a CerebusRetcon in ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' when it was revealed her parents made up that song to help encourage her to keep moving on.
105-->'''Marlin:''' Dory, I'm gonna get stuck now WITH THAT SONG! Now it's in my head!
106* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'', vultures sing a reworded version of "Food Glorious Food" regarding eating the main characters. Sid starts dancing along to it, then humming it, much to the other characters' irritation.
107* A running gag in ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' is that a jingle from a chewing gum commercial is a recurring one of these for Riley. This is shown as being the result of two "mind workers" pranking Riley's emotions by sending a memory of the jingle up to Headquarters, causing Riley to hum it to herself and making Anger even angrier. Even Joy has gotten fed up with it.
108* In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' [[TheMovie movie]], we see Drakken pass by a glass-roomed torture chamber where a man is assailed by an Ear Worm. We can't hear it, but there are some [[Ride/ItsASmallWorld very familiar dolls involved...]]
109* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart'': The not-so-subtly titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_HFm54lb04 "Catchy Song"]], which largely consists of the phrase "''[[LampshadeHanging This song's gonna get stuck inside your head,]]''" is this movie's answer to "Everything Is Awesome". The title really says it all. As Uni-Kitty's listening to it, an ''actual cartoon worm'' appears in her brain.
110-->''Cause it's so catchy, catchy, it's such a catchy song\
111Gonna make you happy, happy, don't try to fight it, sing along!''
112* {{Convers|ationalTroping}}ed in the post-credits [[TheStinger Stinger]] of ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet''. [[spoiler:Ralph comments on how "[[JustForFun/{{Rickroll}} Never Gonna Give You Up]]" is very catchy after singing it himself, calling it "a real earwig".]]
113[[/folder]]
114
115[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
116* In ''Film/DeepRising'', Joey starts singing the [[TheElevatorFromIpanema elevator's music]] under his breath while the group is sneaking along a corridor. Everyone stops and points flashlights and/or guns at him, so he sheepishly explains that it's stuck in his head. Amusingly, even the hardened mercenaries don't push the issue and simply resume walking.
117* "Pocketful of Sunshine" becomes an Ear Worm for the main character, Olive, of ''Film/EasyA'', after she receives a birthday card playing it.
118* In ''Film/{{Eurotrip}}'', Scotty's ex-girlfriend Fiona's new boyfriend's song, "Scotty Doesn't Know" (about Fiona cheating on Scotty), becomes something of an Ear Worm for the entire cast -- starting with Scotty's best friend. Not only that, but it becomes a major hit all over Europe.
119* In ''Film/TheNightTheySavedChristmas'', "Jingle Bells" is such an annoying one that even SantaClaus himself is sick of it. ("Sing any other Christmas song you want," he yells to his elves. "Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, White Christmas, any of those! But '''NO MORE JINGLE BELLS!'''"
120* In the movie ''Film/{{Pontypool}}'', the Ear Worm comes in the form of infected phrases in the English language that spread through understanding.
121* In the movie ''Film/{{Thoughtcrimes}}'', Brendan doesn't believe in Freya's telepathic abilities until she mentions that he'd had the ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' theme song stuck in his head all day.
122* In ''Film/WaynesWorld'', Wayne has the song "Hey Mickey" stuck in his head. He and his girlfriend sing it to expel it.
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Jokes]]
126* You can find a few. For example:
127-->'''Patient:''' Doctor, doctor! I keep getting these two songs stuck in my head: "The Green, Green Grass of Home" and "Delilah"!\
128'''Doctor:''' Oh, you've got Music/TomJones syndrome.\
129'''Patient:''' Is that rare?\
130'''Doctor:''' ''It's Not Unusual.''
131* A joke about pest control by an individual [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretending to]] [[LiteralMinded take a popular phrase literally]] suggests a remedy: since many people use poisons of various forms to eradicate household and farmyard pests, songs with the word "poison" in the title or lyrics (or anything by a musician who has recorded such a song) might be used to control ear worms, depending on individual tastes in music. An example for one who favors classic rock:
132-->'''Bartender:''' Name your poison.\
133'''Patron:''' Well, the poison would depend on just what kind of pests I'm trying to get rid of. So let me see, I think I'd use d-Con for rodents, [=RoundUp=] for weeds, Raid for insects... Music/AliceCooper for ear worms...
134[[/folder]]
135
136[[folder:Literature]]
137* Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/AfterDoomsday'' features a song, "The Battle of Brandobar", written to be a peculiar form of Ear Worm. The rhythm and rhyme of the song are carefully put together so it suffers little if any distortion when passed from singer to singer: "A space-hand who had never heard of Kandemir or Earth would still get their names correct when he sang what to him was just a lively drinking song. Only those precise vocables would sound right." This is essential, because the song is intended to let scattered Earthpeople know, "Hey, there's a bunch of Earthmen ''here''."
138* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': The Yeerks are literal ear worms, except they crawl into your ear and take over your brain instead of being catchy. A more accurate version is how one Yeerk's host constantly recites [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Henry V]] in the back of his mind. It enrages the Yeerk so much that when it uncovers time travel, the first thing it does is try to go kill Henry V at Agincourt.
139* ''Literature/AudreyWait'' is a book about an BreakupSong that also turns into an infamous Ear Worm worldwide, shaming all parties involved.
140* In Robert [=McCloskey=]'s ''Centerburg Tales'' a record dropped off at Uncle Ulysses' lunchroom by a mysterious stranger contains a song so catchy that most of the town ends up singing it uncontrollably. The only remedy is to get a ''different'' song stuck in their heads: "Punch, Brothers, Punch" from Creator/MarkTwain's "A Literary Nightmare", mentioned below. And then once one person is sent out on their way out of town with "Punch, Brothers, Punch", all is back to normal-- then someone plays the ''[[HereWeGoAgain other]]'' side of the record...
141* The SufficientlyAdvancedAliens of ''Literature/ChildhoodsEnd'' use this as an example of precisely directed power. Yes, they ''could'' take out a dictator through armed combat, but it'd be much more effective and less destructive if they made it so there was a distracting little voice talking in his ear, 24 hours a day, that prevented him from thinking straight or planning his wickedness.
142* H. H. Munro, a.k.a. Creator/{{Saki}}'s [[http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/381/ "Cousin Teresa"]], in which a song containing the jaunty refrain "Cousin Teresa takes out Caesar, Fido, Jock, and the big borzoi." becomes an immense popular hit ("big-drum business on the two syllables of bor-zoi. It's immense."). The ensuing popularity of this absurd Ear Worm serves as a satire on the public obsession with trivia.
143* Prose variant: in ''Dark Cities Underground'', the protagonist once starred in a series of children's books his mother wrote when he was a boy. Even forty years later, he can't stop himself from mentally narrating his own actions in the catchy rhyming couplets his Mom's books used ("Jeremy Jerome Gerontius Jones, went to get an auto loan").
144* Alfred Bester's ''Literature/TheDemolishedMan'' features a man who wants to commit a murder in a world populated by telepaths. So he deliberately "infects" himself with an extremely catching ear worm so that any telepaths won't be able to hear anything else that he's thinking. In-universe, ear worms are referred to as "pepsis", although no-one remembers why.
145* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The Hedgehog Song. It's an ear worm even though the words are never mentioned.
146* ''The Do-Da-De-Da-Da Code'' by Robert Rankin has a throw-away line in chapter 37 in a passage where everyone's fingers are poised for the last big number of a gig, "''Fingers, Fingers, fingers. Fingers of Jonny's left hand on the neck of the wondrous guitar. Fingers of Andi Evans on the big buttons of the big recording equipment. Fingers of tom Gripping his drumsticks. Fingers of Gaz on the mic. A finger on the trigger. Two fingers of redeye from the optic. A finger of fudge is just enough.''" That last part is from the Cadbury's jingle that goes:
147-->''A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat.\
148 A finger of fudge is just enough, until it's time to eat.\
149 It's full of ''Cadbury's'' goodness, but very small and neat.\
150 A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat.''
151* In the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Literature/ForgottenRealms'' novel ''Finder's Bane'', by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak, the party is captured by the mind flayer god Ilsensine. To buy their release, they have to give it a song that it has never heard before. The minor deity Finder, in the party, gives it a recursive song -- the last verse feeds into the first. The resulting Ear Worm gives Ilsensine big problems -- so the mind flayer god ends up begging Finder to take the song away in return for three answers to questions.
152* Bill from ''Literature/IThinkILoveYou'' reluctantly works for a Creator/DavidCassidy fan magazine. To his annoyance, he finds himself unable to get the songs out of his head, singing them to himself even when he's off work. He thinks that long after he's forgotten all of Tennyson and Keats, he'll still be able to give a confident rendition of "How Can I Be Sure." He tries to hide this fact from his girlfriend, who hates David Cassidy and thinks he works as a serious rock journalist.
153* In ''The Name of the Wind'' the first book of ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'', the protagonist Kvothe writes the song "Jackass, Jackass" to mock his school rival Ambrose. Since personally performing the song too often will get Kvothe in serious trouble with the University authorities, he writes the song as a deliberate Ear Worm. By the time he gets reported, it's all over town. Reader beware: the selections of the song included in the text are Ear Worms in their own right.
154* OlderThanRadio: In 1876, Creator/MarkTwain wrote [[https://web.archive.org/web/20050311013236/http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/559/ "A Literary Nightmare"]] (also published as "Punch, Brothers, Punch") about a jingle on punching train tickets getting stuck in his head.
155* In ''The Shattered Alliance'' book from the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' novels, Jodah the Archmage deters eavesdroppers at his study door with "a catchy little tune from my childhood that loops back on itself repeatedly." Since the spell makes people hear ''him'' singing it, another mage called it "cruel and unusual punishment."
156* The Creator/TerryPratchett book ''Literature/{{Nation}}'' has an Ear Worm in the form of the Beer Song, described as a cheery little tune that bounces along and can't be removed from the brain with a chisel. It's important that the inhabitants remember it, though, as skipping a verse or two could result in fatal poisoning.
157* In ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' the Marquis de Carabas gives one to a street busker in exchange for information. We next see the busker surrounded by an enraptured crowd as desperately tries to give the tune back.
158* The short story "Nothing but Gingerbread Left" by Creator/HenryKuttner (which may have been the inspiration for the "funniest joke in the world" Monty Python joke) which was actually written during WWII was about a marching stanza in German that the allies covertly inserted into the ranks of the German soldiers which translates to "LEFT! LEFT! LEFT a wife and [=SEVenteen=] children in [=STARVing=] condition with [=NOTHing=] but gingerbread LEFT LEFT! LEFT a wife and [=SEVenteen=] children—...." and this mentally sabotaged the Germans; they couldn't get it out of their heads, and it won the day for the allies. Be warned though, if you actually read this story, even reading it in English a few times as it occurs in the story, it will play a number on your head (just how bad must it be in German)!
159* The short story "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH-Tee" by Creator/FritzLeiber concerns a rhythm and pattern of dots that form an Ear Worm so powerful that it essentially takes over the world, leaving almost everyone unable to do anything but obsess over it. Eventually, the spirit of a long-dead witch doctor gives the main characters an antidote (another Ear Worm which cancels it out), because, as the ghost explains, "it was starting to catch on down here, too."
160* In the ''[=SERRATed=] Edge'' novel ''Chrome Circle'' by Creator/MercedesLackey, the protagonist Tannim manages to ''take down an entire group of psychics'' with the sheer Ear Worm potential of Music/TheyMightBeGiants. Apparently, the fact that the band's songs are both A) incredibly catchy, and B) so nonsensical that you actually have to focus on the lyrics to keep up makes them a [[PsychicStatic perfect block]] for any [[MindRape Mind Rapage]]. It definitely didn't help that Unseleighe psychics have absolutely NoSenseOfHumor, little comprehension of allegory, and the imaginations of lead bricks. They went positively ''insane'' trying to figure out what the hell Tannim was thinking about.
161-->"I know what the White Eagle is, but what in the name of creation is the ''Blue Canary?!''"
162* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
163** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' novel ''Dark Mirror'' by Diane Duane, Deanna advises Picard to cultivate an Ear Worm in order to [[PsychicStatic block]] her MirrorUniverse counterpart's telepathy. He chooses George Strong's parody of ''Literature/TheSongOfHiawatha'':
164--->''He killed the noble Mudjokivis.\
165 Of the skin he made him mittens,\
166 Made them with the fur side inside,\
167 Made them with the skin side outside.\
168 He, to get the warm side inside,\
169 Put the inside skin side outside;\
170 He to get the cold side outside\
171 Put the warm side fur side inside.\
172 That's why he put the fur side inside,\
173 Why he put the skin side outside,\
174 Why he turned them inside outside.''
175** The concept is referenced in one of the ''Literature/StarfleetCorpsOfEngineers'' stories, when Sonya Gomez tries to make her personal access code easier to remember by using lyrics from a catchy alien folk song.
176* ''Literature/TakeshiKovacs'': ''Broken Angels'' mentions a propaganda song written by Kempist revolutionaries which was so catchy that even the most patriotic soldier could find himself absent-mindedly humming lyrics from it. It became a bit of a problem, with overzealous [[ThePoliticalOfficer political officers]] turning in otherwise-loyal citizen who happened to get it stuck in their heads. The government eventually dealt with it by releasing a rip-off version featuring pro-government lyrics set to the same catchy tune.
177* This was the plot of a short story by Creator/ArthurCClarke, "The Ultimate Melody" in the collection ''Tales from the White Hart''. A scientist noted the effect of Ear Worms in popular music, and determined to find the underlying rhythm that made them all so addictive through process of comparison and elimination. He apparently succeeded in touching on that "universal melody" for a moment, as the end of the story finds him [[BrownNote completely vegetative]], the song having matched so neatly with his brainwaves that it effectively locked them in stasis forever. As a note (no pun intended) of irony to the whole story, the machine that has been compiling and analysing these songs was turned off, still playing the ultimate melody, by a man who was completely unaffected by it. Why? He was [[DisabilityImmunity completely, utterly tone-deaf]].
178* ''Film/WaynesWorld: Extreme Close-Up'' declares "Mandy" by Music/BarryManilow the worst of all ear worms. If you hear this song in the morning, you'll never be able to get it out of your head all day, no matter what counter-measures you take.
179* Creator/ChinaMieville's short story "Wormword" features a ''deadly'' Ear Worm that can be spoken as well as sung. If you hear it intoned correctly, it causes a feedback loop in the brain that not only makes you recite the wormword over and over, potentially infecting other listeners, but also causes your brain proteins to distort, as if you've contracted a prionic brain disease. The closest thing to a Victorian extreme sport was salons of young people passing a slip of paper with the Wormword around, each reading it aloud in turn, gambling with getting the pronunciation right each time. [[TemptingFate Care to try your luck?]] The word is usually written as [[spoiler:yGudluh]].
180[[/folder]]
181
182[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
183* ''Series/The10thKingdom'': While in "The 10th Kingdom", the Trolls discover ''Music/TheBeeGees'', and subsequently can't get the songs out of their heads.
184* ''Series/TheATeam'' references this trope in Season 4:
185-->'''Murdock:''' I've had "Three Blind Mice" by the Lennon Sisters goin' in my head for the past three days.
186* An episode of the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] has a song suddenly and mysteriously force its way into the heads of four characters. They aren't even sure what it is or where it came from, but for several days, they hear it everywhere, driving them slowly insane. Apparently, if your brain gets infected by a driving cover of "All Along the Watchtower", you [[spoiler:just might be a Cylon]]. (Said cover is also a powerful Ear Worm in real life.)
187* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' Sheldon gets one stuck in his head which he fears will drive him mad. (It does to everyone around him.)
188* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot Earshot]]" Buffy temporarily gains mindreading powers from a demon and learns that Principal Snyder has "Walk Like an Egyptian" by Music/TheBangles stuck in his head.
189* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': In '"[[Recap/CheersS3E14TheHeartIsALonelySnipeHunter The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter]]" has the "The Sunny Side of the Street" song passed on.
190* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'': Prue gets the jingle for an ice cream truck stuck in her head. It turns out this was the demon's chord, which attracts demon children so that the ice cream man [[SealedEvilInACan can seal them away]]. Prue remembers it because she was mistakenly trapped by the ice cream man when she was younger.
191* ''Series/TheColbertReport'': The "You Are the Best" TrainingMontage song from ''Tek Jansen''.
192-->'''Creator/StephenColbert:''' That song just digs into your brain like an alien parasite.
193* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
194** A Creator/JonPertwee-era episode has Jo Grant resist the Master's hypnosis by reciting "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Creator/LewisCarroll.
195** Speaking of the Master, he's apparently had the same Ear Worm continuously since he was eight, [[spoiler:when the last Time Lord president implanted it in his head]]. He once spread it to the entire human race in order to take over the world.
196** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E3UnderTheLake Under the Lake]]", everyone who sees the mysterious writing inside the spaceship has their brains rewritten by it. When they die, they come back as ghosts who repeat the coordinates endlessly. The Doctor compares it to hearing "Mysterious Girl" by Peter Andre and being unable to get it out of your head. He even uses the term "ear worm" to describe this.
197** ''Weaponized'' and lampshaded by the arctic researchers in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas Last Christmas]]", who pump New Who's perennial ChristmasEpisode staple (Slade's "Merry Christmas Everybody") into Shona's headphones so she'll be too captivated by the tune to acknowledge the Dream Crabs.
198* An episode of ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey'' has a [[TheSwearJar Nessun Dorma box]] for people caught humming the theme of the Italia 90 world cup.
199* In one episode of ''Series/FullHouse'', Michelle gets a cassette player and a copy of "Baby Beluga". Unfortunately, she plays it constantly, even asking the family to sing it when the tape breaks. When Stephanie is getting ready for bed later on, she finds herself absentmindedly singing the song, much to her chagrin.
200-->'''Stephanie:''' ''[rapping on her head]'' Get out! Get out! Get out!
201* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', (paraphrasing):
202-->'''Loreli:''' I finally found out how to get "Lazy Hazy Crazy Days" out of our heads. Just sing "It's a Small World" over and over.
203* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'':
204** When a death-metal artist moves in upstairs and plays his music full-volume around the clock, both Daphne and Martin get "Na-na-na-na-na-na, flesh is burning..." stuck in their heads.
205** When Frasier is unemployed in season 6 he starts writing an operetta to keep himself occupied. Later in the episode Martin starts singing one of the songs to himself and only realizes what he's doing when Niles tells him he's doing it ''again''.
206* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': In "The One with the Free Porn", Rachel gets a BowChickaWowWow melody stuck in her head. Apparently it's the theme music for "''[[ParallelPornTitles Good Will Humping]]''".
207* "Goodies Rule OK", a ''Series/TheGoodies''' special, has them (among other things) writing a motivational song called "Bounce!", which causes everybody who hears it to perform the accompanying dance. Britain goes bankrupt because everybody is bouncing instead of working.
208* In ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'', Bob describes a jingle as the basic concept of an Ear Worm: "A catchy little tune that sticks in your head and drives you a little bit crazy."
209* British comic duo ''Hale and Pace'' did an episode with this as a running gag. [[spoiler:At the end, he does fire lead in his head. They sing the song at his funeral. He sits up out of his coffin ''screaming''.]]
210-->''You're never going to get this song\
211 Out of your head, out of your head,\
212 You're never going to get this song\
213 Out of your head, out of your head\
214[then later, after it's [[OverlyLongGag gone on a bit...]]]\
215 The only way to get this song\
216 Out of your head\
217 Fire some lead\
218 Into your head''
219* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
220** In "Arrivederde, Fiero", Ted and Marshall are on a long road trip in a car with a cassette tape of "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)" stuck on an endless loop. They alternate between liking the song and hating it
221--->'''Ted:''' I am. So. Sick. Of this song.\
222'''Marshall:''' Don't worry, it comes around again.\
223'''Ted:''' What do you mean?\
224''[cue GilliganCut to Marshall ''and'' Ted enthusiastically singing along]''
225** "Spoiler Alert": Marshall's annoying habit is singing to narrate everything he does plus some nonsense stuff; it turns out that one such song, which sounded like gibberish to the group, was a mnemonic device for the password to his bar exam results. The song is stuck in everyone's head and they all know it by heart, which is how Marshall finally remembers his password.
226** "Of Course": The group of friends repeatedly describes Barney's tune "a bang, bang, bangity-bang" as very catchy and burst into singing it together.
227%% ** "Rabbit or Duck": Barney's 'Turkey in the Straw' ringtone.
228* The concept is used in an episode of French TV series ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'': Myth/KingArthur can't get out of his head a song he heard from a minstrel ("À la volette", a traditional children's song). He spends most of the episode getting distracted and trying to get the melody out of his head (even interrupting a council to sing it out loud). Ironically, the series was so popular that the song itself became once more well-known and remains a prime example of the Ear Worm in France.
229* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': In "[[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS3E11HereIGoAgain Here I Go Again]]", after a mission to TheSeventies, Mick Rory has Music/{{ABBA}}'s "Waterloo" stuck in his head, and doesn't hesitate to use the [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory-erasing gun]] on himself to wipe it out.
230* In the ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' episode "Oldies but Young'uns", Al goes nuts over an old song he has stuck in his head that goes, "Hm-hmm, him..."
231* The series ''Series/{{Medium}}'' has this in the episode "The Song Remains the Same", with Alison having "I Will Survive" blaring in her head making her shout and barely hear what people are saying. At one point the "record" skips, only continuing when she got closer to the broken iPod of the missing girl.
232* ''Naor's Friends'' (basically the Israeli version of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'') has an episode in which a woman gets the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jAEQyy3iOA Shuvi laYam]]" stuck in Naor, Dedi, and Weizmann's heads out of spite, because they were frustrated with how long it took her to finish her business on the ATM machine they were waiting to use. It got so bad they called a specialist, who played the Ketchup Song ("a lesser catchy song") in their heads on repeat for long enough to get it out, but warned them not to hear the original song for 24 hours. As luck would have it, the café they went to got robbed while they were there, and "Shuvi laYam" started playing on the radio... Which made them [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome angrily take down the robbers, who were armed with machine guns, pepper the radio into smitherenes, and save everyone in the café]]. At least the song got out of their heads...
233* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': One sketch centers around a group of mobsters meeting at an Italian restaurant to discuss money owed to the boss. However, the group is distracted by the restaurant's main act (host Creator/PeterDinklage) singing an '80s techno song about his "Space Pants". Eventually, the boss tells them they can wait until the song's over as it's too catchy.
234* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'':
235** The episode "My Musical" ends with the current Sacred Heart patient humming the song she heard the staff sing when she first entered the hospital [[spoiler: which is ironic, since her eardrums about to explode is what threatened her life in the first place.]]
236** Also the third episode of the series, "My Best Friend's Mistake", where they can't get the Erasure song "Give a little respect" out of their heads, which leads to various members of the cast up and [[RunningGag singing it out of the blue]].
237* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'':
238** The episode "The Jacket" has George dealing with the fact that "Master of the House" from ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' is stuck in his head, and that he randomly starts singing it out loud without even realizing it. When he starts singing it in front of Alton Benes, Elaine's GrumpyOldMan father, Alton angrily tells him to shut up. TheTag shows Alton driving down the highway, only to suddenly start singing it himself. Apparently this ear worm is not only annoying, it's also contagious.
239** George also thinks that the "By Mennen!" advertising jingle is an ear worm, and incorporates it into his strategy for getting women. "Co-stanza!"
240** In "The Susie", George's [[FunnyAnsweringMachine answering machine outgoing]] is him singing to the tune of ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero''. Later in the episode, Jerry, who tried calling George but got the machine, found himself singing the song while unloading his car.
241* The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E3TheSurvivors The Survivors]]" features an Ear Worm in the form of an OminousMusicBoxTune that produces enough PsychicStatic to [[TerribleTicking freak out Troi to the point of madness]].
242* In the ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' MusicalEpisode “[[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E09SubspaceRhapsody Subspace Rhapsody]]”, the episode ends with Uhura humming one of the songs sung in the episode, only for some of the crew to glare at her. She stops and sheepishly goes, "Sorry. Earworm."
243* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS02E05SimonSaid Simon Said]]", there is an InUniverse example when Dean gets "Can't Fight This Feeling" stuck in his head.
244* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
245** ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger VS [[Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger Abaranger]]'':
246--->'''Jasmine:''' Please excuse me. ''[place hand on Ryōga's hand]''\
247'''Narrator:''' ''[while clipshow of ''Abaranger'' goes on]'' Jasmine is an [=ESPer=]. Whoever she touches, Jasmine recaps his memories.\
248'''Jasmine:''' Seems true for now. I have my doubts for them though -- ''[walks to the camera]'' -- ''[[DancingTheme Aba-Aba-Aba-Aba-Abaranger!]]''\
249'''Umeko:''' What the heck was that?\
250'''Jasmine:''' Don't know either. It was on loop in his brain.
251** The ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGtADWjsqvc ending song]] has a line which, roughly translated, goes like:
252--->''Singing loudly so you'll always remember''
253* In ''Series/{{Utopia|US}}'', Thomas Christie compares the phrase "Where is Jessica Hyde?" to this, saying that it's like a "turdy little pop song" that won't get out of his head.
254* In the ''Series/WhiteCollar'' episode "Most Wanted", Peter keeps singing a catchy little song set to "London Bridge". [[ConspiracyTheorist Mozzie speculates]] that this is a weapon developed by the federal government for psychological torture by Ear Worm. It's actually an FBI mnemonic song listing the names of the mistresses of a high-profile fugitive who happens to be the Criminal of the Week.
255* A subplot in the ''Series/WillAndGrace'' reboot has Jack and Karen struggle to get an irritating commercial jingle out of their heads. Said jingle is an obvious parody of the infamous "Karz 4 Kidz" song.
256* ''Series/{{Yellowjackets}}'': In "[[Recap/YellowjacketsS2E8ItChooses It Chooses]]" Taissa complains that "[[Music/{{Live}} Lightning Crashes]]", the song to which she and her fellow survivors had been dancing in previous episode, is going to be stuck in her head for a while.
257[[/folder]]
258
259[[folder:Music]]
260* The song "Tosi Tarttuva Täytebiisi" ("Really Catchy Filler Song") by the Finnish group Allekirjoittanut (later CoveredUp by Raptori, which shares two members of Allekirjoittanut) is a tongue-in-cheek dance track about the song itself being an AlbumFiller Ear Worm, while the Raptori version lampshades the CoveredUp aspect.
261* Music/TheArrogantWorms, appropriately enough, have "Song Inside My Head" which is both an Ear Worm and about an Ear Worm. They even include the basic melody recorded in several different musical styles.
262* Cephalic Carnage, pot-smoking and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic incredibly talented]] inventors of [[{{Grindcore}} Rocky Mountain Hydro-Grind]], paint the fourth wall red with their rather catchy song "[[http://www.metalinjection.net/tv/view/5824/cephalic-carnage-ohrwurm-video-nsfw Ohrwurm]]", though [[SchmuckBait don't visit]] that [[SurrealMusicVideo music video]] unless you're prepared for {{Squick}}. (And have some amount of BrainBleach on hand.)
263* Music/JonathanCoulton:
264-->''If you can find, some way to be,\
265 a little bit less, afraid of me\
266 You'd see the voices that control me,\
267 from inside my head say I shouldn't kill yoooouuu... yeeet....''
268* The Devo Spice song [[http://thefump.com/fump.php?id=1403 "Earworm"]] is about this.
269* "Come on Eileen" by Music/DexysMidnightRunners includes the lyric "...and you'll hum this tune forever".
270* "Love You Like a Love Song" by Music/SelenaGomez + The Scene and Creator/{{Zendaya}}'s "Replay" (not the Iyaz song) are two Creator/DisneyChannel related examples, comparing a love interest to an ear worm. Of course, both are relentlessly catchy in their own right.
271* Referenced by Music/{{Eminem}} during "White America", with him noting (and maybe mocking) his influence on society.
272-->''Straight through your radio waves\
273 It plays and plays\
274 Till it stays stuck in your head\
275 For days and days''
276* "That Song in My Head" by Julianne Hough is another meta-example, as the hook is "I've had that song in my head all day."
277* Referenced in the song "Replay" by Iyaz (the song itself is also a major ear worm):
278-->"''Shawty's like a melody in my head That I can't keep out Got me singin' like Na na na na everyday It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay''"
279* In "Reflections" by Music/MindInABox, after shadowing a target into a nightclub, Black cannot get the music out of head, which then degrades into a lyrical MadnessMantra of sorts. Amusingly, ten years later in "Travel Guide", the music is [[MetafictionalTitle stated to be by mind.in.a.box]].
280* Music/MorrisMinorAndTheMajors: "This is the Chorus", a parody of all the late 1980s Stock Aitken Waterman hits, has the line: "This is the Chorus, This is the Chorus, It goes round and around and gets into your brain".
281* "Stuck on You" by Failure also compares a love interest to an earworm, and is deliberately simpler and catchier than their usual style... A considerably darker interpretation is that the song is comparing ''drug addiction'' to an earworm.
282* The song "Ohrwurm" by the German a capella band Wise Guys is an Ear Worm sung ''by'' an Ear Worm.
283[[/folder]]
284
285[[folder:Podcasts]]
286* Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} parodied this in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', when Khan implants some [[PuppeteerParasite Cetan eels]] in a pair of officers.
287-->'''Mike:''' Honest-to-god ear worms. They'll have "Party in the USA" playing in their heads for days, poor bastards.
288* In ''Podcast/WereYouRaisedByWolves'' viewers have written in to Nick and Leah about how memorable and catchy the theme song is, and the co-hosts mention these compliments as a way of showing appreciation for the person who wrote the music, Creator/RobParavonian.
289[[/folder]]
290
291[[folder:Poetry]]
292* The Billy Collins poem "More than a Woman" features a narrator describing how a song has been playing uncontrollably in his head all day. Although he says, "It is a song so cloying and vapid I won't even bother mentioning the title," the poem's title clearly tells us that it's Music/TheBeeGees song from the ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' soundtrack.
293[[/folder]]
294
295[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
296* ''Series/LambChopsPlayAlong'' with Shari Lewis, Lamb Chop and Hush Puppy: it used [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNTxr2NJHa0 "This Is the Song That Never Ends"]] (a.k.a. "This Is The Song That Doesn't End") as the closing theme. It's a recursive ear worm, so you can't even get rid of it by singing it all the way through... Any kid who grew up in the '90s has been annoyed by some kid on their camp bus starting a sing-a-long with this song, as well as "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves". Worse, if you were a camp counselor in the '90s and they started a sing-a-long and you had to try to get them to shut up. You can not call yourself an American if you don't know this song. Lampshaded on the show itself, in which Shari Lewis cries out in horror when people begin to sing it, and then sends them away so she doesn't have to hear it anymore.
297-->''This is the song that never ends\
298 It just goes on and on, my friends\
299 Some people started singing it not knowing what it was\
300 And they'll continue singing it forever just because\
301 This is the song that never ends...''
302* ''Series/SesameStreet''
303** A 90s episode had Oscar trying to get the theme song out of his head.
304** A 2000s episode had Big Bird getting addicted to Cookie Monster's famous song "C is for Cookie" so much that he cannot stop singing it, which prevents him from saying the number of the day.
305* "The Chicken Song" from ''Series/SpittingImage''. This was a parody of "Agadoo" by Black Lace. Characters in the show were heard singing snatches of it throughout the episode before it was performed by the ensemble at the end. And then it was released for real as a single.
306-->''Now that you've heard it once\
307 Your brain will spring a leak,\
308 And though you hate this song\
309 You'll be humming it for weeks!''
310[[/folder]]
311
312[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
313* An end to a rather strangely named ARG has this happen to a former shadow government official/cultist turned power-hungry God. Thanks to the players, another, more powerful and more moral God throws him into a dark cellar, and blasts "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper and the covered versions over and over. He really, ''really'' hates it.
314* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
315** One 2[[superscript:nd]] edition ''Forgotten Realms'' priest spell called ''forgotten melody'', known only to the clergy of Milil, would cause distraction by getting ''part'' of an Ear Worm stuck in a target's head, leaving them unable to concentrate as they struggle to either get it out of their head or come up with the missing next line. Amusingly, it's noted that the spell is more devastating for characters with high Intelligence, since this makes them far more focused on the task and incapable of dismissing it.
316** 3[[superscript:rd]] Edition has a bard spell called ''insidious rhythm'' that consists of a catchy, silly tune that stays stuck in the mind of the target. This imposes a penalty on all activities involving reflection and concentration, and can even make a spellcaster flub his incantations.
317* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'', sufficiently powerful message-carrying psi-bombs can lodge a short sentence or rhyme in a person's mind for several minutes. For obvious reasons, this can be a more terrifying prospect than similar tech that can rip out someone's soul and store it in a jar.
318* A magical version appears in in ''TabletopGame/InvisibleSun'' with the Insidious Song, a disease in musical form that lives in the mind of a thinking being, its simple but catchy tune echoing over and over. It is impossible to get the song out of your head once it takes hold, barring some kind of curse removal magic. The Insidious Song is highly contagious and tries to get those in its grip to hum or sing enough of the tune so it also spreads to other minds.
319* The digital version of ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G-MvH63ZrU Missing Information]], the theme for when TheMole Miss Information wins. The fact that she's basically taunting you doesn't help.
320* ''TabletopGame/SufficientlyAdvanced'' has a program called the Mental Repetition Override Lens, which can be installed in a properly-wired brain specifically to suppress the memory of a song that you can't get out of your head.
321[[/folder]]
322
323[[folder:Video Games]]
324* Now on ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds''. At the end of the recent Mythsong Valley saga, [[spoiler:the sixth Chaos Lord turns out not to be Discordia, but the special guest of the big Friday event, Kimberly of One Eyed Doll, whose music Discordia had been entranced by. Drakath turned her into a Chaos Lord by sticking a mind-controlling Ear Worm into her head. Only by defeating her does Kimberly manage to get the Chaos tune out of her head and return to normal]].
325* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', Raphael -- a devil with a penchant for [[DealWithTheDevil striking deals]] -- made a contract with another demon in sing-song form, ''specifically'' to exploit the fact that such a song is impossible to forget.
326* In the Claptastic Voyage DLC of ''Videogame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', one of the sidequests has you trying to kill a literal ear worm crawling within Claptrap's mind, which takes the form of a [[SandWorm Thresher]] with subwoofers on its head that's constantly blaring [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHnJ9NmK3Pc said song]]. The song is so infectious that there's even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEiTB8VXuuw cut dialog]] of the player characters humming along.
327* ''VideoGame/CragneManor'': One of the more surreal puzzles in the game involves you knocking down a shack, then an earworm of "Tubthumping" getting stuck in your head. You can sing along to the song, and the lyrics get progressively corrupted and disturbing. Since the earworm is only imaginary, to get rid of it, you can [[spoiler:sever its ties to your brain with an imaginary knife you find elsewhere in the area]].
328* In the "knocking" puzzle in ''[[VideoGame/{{Deponia}} Chaos in Deponia]]'', Rufus must remember a secret code knock, but he keeps getting distracted by the catchy music that plays in the marketplace, making him forget the knock. [[spoiler: [[BreakingTheFourthWall To solve this puzzle, you go into the game's settings and turn the background music off.]]]]
329* ''VideoGame/Destiny2'' has Savathûn's song, which is described by Eris as being a "Viral Chant," used by the Witch-Queen as a method of influencing and controlling those that hear it. It's been heard coming from Shaxx, Crow, and even the ''population of the city itself.'' Now consider the fact that this was the first thing players heard when starting the game for an entire year.
330* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' has "Plagued by a Popular Song", a "menace" quality that characters gain from failures. The song in question is "Pop Goes the Weasel" and [[StuffBlowingUp bad]] things will happen to your pet weasels if it gets too high.
331* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': The ad jingle for the titular park of the "Nuka World" DLC. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIneiOpuS2M "What if there was a place with all the zip of Nuka-Cola? Wouldn't it be the cheer, cheer, cheeriest place in all the world?]]" Random raiders will occasionally complain about the song being stuck in their head.
332* ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' has a level based on the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', complete with requisite remix of the overworld music. When selected as opponents, Mario says how much he loves the song, while Bowser roars that he'll never get the song out of his head.
333* ''VideoGame/GuitarHero: Warriors of Rock'' has the "Player of the Ear Worm" trophy for playing the same song 10 or more times.
334* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', in the last boss battle of the Accordion Thief's Nemesis quest, the BigBad has the ability to not only get a demonic song stuck in your head, but ''physical ear '''worms''''' as well! The only way to get rid of them is to [[spoiler:sing a different Ear Worm in response]], which enrages the worms and sends them back to attack the BigBad. The kicker? The cure is [[spoiler:a mashup of "Feliz Navidad" and "The Fish Heads Song".]]
335* ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'': Susie mentions that the Haltmann Company's theme song (which is also the game's main theme), "The Noble Haltmann", is very catchy. She can be spotting singing at certain points during the game as well.
336* In ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'', a zombie bemoans:
337-->'''Zombie:''' I can't get this Music/KatyPerry song out of my head! [[CruelAndUnusualDeath What a terrible way to die]]!
338* ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'':
339** In ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', a character tells the story of how almost all of his pirate crew killed themselves, when stricken with the game's theme song.
340** Later, in ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland Chapter II: Siege of Spinner Cay'', Guybrush wonders why a certain tune is stuck in his head. The tune is Largo [=LaGrande=]'s theme from ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge''.
341* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': Travis found "Philistine", the song sung by the 4th-ranked assassin Margaret Moonlight during the battle with her, to be "catchy as hell". She asks if he memorized the song, and she happily dies after he says he has. Immediately after this, Travis whistles some of the song.
342* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. When Peach takes a shower, she hums both the overworld '''and''' underwater themes from the original ''Super Mario Bros.''
343* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
344** If you talk to Kei Nanjo in the pharmacy in ''VideoGame/{{Persona|1}}'', you catch him singing along with the pharmacy song (a potent Ear Worm). He then realizes you're listening to him and demands you join in.
345** In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', [=NPCs=] are overheard talking about how insanely catchy the "Tanaka's Amazing Commodities" TV show theme is.
346** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', Teddie complains that the music playing in the old-school video game-inspired "Void Quest" dungeon has gotten stuck in his head.
347* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' turns this into a major plot point. The "Calamari Inkantation" from [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 the first game]] is so phenomenally catchy that it makes slews of Octarians realize that there's more to life than the militarized underground they call home, inspiring them to defect and live peacefully on the surface amongst Inklings. The song is also one of the only memories that survives Agent 8's amnesia in the [[ExpansionPack Octo Expansion]].
348* ''VideoGame/VermintideII'': Bardin Goreksson's habit of singing on missions spreads to everyone, MissionControl included. Markus and Sienna will join a round of "Over The Mountain"; Victor absently hums the song; and Kerillian gets annoyed when she realizes [[GotMeDoingIt she's doing it too]].
349-->'''Kerillian:''' Where is my hearthfire, over the mountain-- you're a parasite, Goreksson, burrowing in my head!
350* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', one of the thought fragments that can be read, features someone trying to get a "Dempa"(?) tune out of their head.
351[[/folder]]
352
353[[folder:Web Animation]]
354* Music/{{Vocaloid}}: Some [=PVs=] for "Alice Human Sacrifice" (as well as the music itself) imply that Kaito's songs of madness were Ear Worms with lyrics that stray away from the melody and emotions put in the song.
355* Jonti Picking (a.k.a. Weebl, creator of ''WebAnimation/WeeblAndBob''), big provider of Ear Worms, eventually {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this with [[http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/annoying/ "Annoying"]], which has an annoyingly catchy tune ''about'' an annoyingly catchy tune:
356-->''Oh my word, this tune is annoying,\
357 Yes I know, it's really annoying\
358 I can't get this song out of my head!\
359 Make it stop, this tune is annoying\
360 I gotta go to work in the morning\
361 Now I'm gonna be humming it in my bed!''
362[[/folder]]
363
364[[folder:Webcomics]]
365* In ''Webcomic/TheBedfellows'' strip "Jacked Ass", Sheen gets sick of Fatigue playing the "[[Franchise/MyLittlePony My Little Donkey]]" theme song loudly, so he yells at him to turn it down. Then he gets the song stuck in his head when he starts masturbating, causing him to sing it. He angrily struggles to get it out of his head, but he couldn't stop singing it, resulting in an AtomicFBomb he screams out in rage.
366* ''The Book of Biff'' shows us how to take care of an [[http://www.thebookofbiff.com/2006/11/15/138-song/ Ear Worm.]]
367* ''Webcomic/TheDawnChapel'' shows us [[http://dawnchapel.com/2010/06/the-early-bird-gets-the-earworm/ even birds are not safe from Ear Worms.]]
368* [[http://follyandinnovation.com/2010/08/youre-welcome-for-the-funk-guitar-you-are-about-to-sing-in-your-head/ A strip]] of ''Webcomic/FollyAndInnovation'' shows us "the way an average city street looks with the theme song from ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' stuck in your head."
369* Helix from ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' can't decide whether an Ear Worm is [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00240.htm just a catchy tune or a computer virus]].
370* ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'': Fooker has a [[http://www.gpf-comics.com/archive.php?d=19981124 very geeky version]] of an ear worm.
371* ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': After [[https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-278-alarmingly-disorderly-harnessing-of-doom/ Sydney activates her "Super ADHD Brain"]], she comments that Batman singing "''[[Music/ScatmanJohn I'm the Bat-Man! Ski bi di bi di do bap do...]]''" is totally stuck in her head now.
372* Shinga, author of ''Webcomic/HeadTrip'', apparently believes that some Ear Worms are [[http://headtripcomics.comicgenesis.com/d/20070323.html worse than others.]]
373* The strip [[http://oglaf.com/lute/ "Lute"]] of ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' (warning, {{NSFW}} website): A minstrel tries to compel a pair of hostile rogues with "the power of song". Doesn't prevent him from being killed, but at least the ear worm stuck in their heads provide posthumous revenge.
374* [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=435 A strip]] of ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' features Marten singing the ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' theme after a TooMuchInformation moment from his mother, and:
375-->'''Faye:''' Dammit Marten, now the ''Katamari Damacy'' theme will be stuck in my head all day.
376* ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'': The song that [[https://rustyandco.com/comic/level-8-8/ Mimic sings in the tavern]] to defuse a brewing fight between Stabs and Robespierre has to be catchy, because two panels later the Viscount is seen absentmindedly humming a rhyme of it.
377* ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'': Denmark has a silly ad ditty about [[https://satwcomic.com/my-corona the Corona beer stuck in his head]] from hearing repeatedly about the Coronavirus pandemic.
378* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2009-10-14 Ennesby gets a chewing out]] for resurrecting a certain tune... or he would get a chewing out if anyone dares to get close enough to talk to him.
379-->'''Reverend Theo:''' No, I'm ''not'' going to come down there to tell you this to your face! That music is a proven memetic infector, and your re-translation is not going to prevent it from infecting me!\
380''[to Kevyn]'' Please, Commander, I beg of you... MAKE ENNESBY STOP.\
381'''Buranabots:''' ''[offscreen]'' '''OY VEY, MACARONI!'''\
382'''Ennesby:''' [[LampshadeHanging This one's kind of catchy.]] Especially if you have arms to do the moves with.
383* A ''Webcomic/WorldOfFizz'' storyline involves Alex and Carlos (and later Dawn) repeatedly singing "[[Series/AmericanIdol Pants on the Ground]]", much to Kelli's annoyance, until she finds herself [[http://fergoandenrique.comicgenesis.com/d/20100122.html humming and singing the song]].
384* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'':
385** [[http://xkcd.com/161/ One strip]] shows the bad consequences of an Ear Worm (''VideoGame/{{Katamari|Damacy}}'' while driving can be as dangerous as ''VideoGame/{{Burnout}}'' music).
386** ''xkcd'' does it again while also riffing on Creator/EdgarAllanPoe: Presenting [[http://xkcd.com/740/ The Tell-Tale Beat]].
387* In the world of ''Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic'', a certain [[http://yafgc.net/comic/1089-that-damned-song/ song about the lady and the sausage maker]] is considered such.
388-->'''Lucas:''' It took six months to get that tune out of my head. Two years to purge the imagery!
389[[/folder]]
390
391[[folder:Websites]]
392* Even [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17105759 The BBC]] have gotten in on the act.
393* In ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19590_the-6-weirdest-cities-people-actually-live-in.html The 6 Weirdest Cities People Actually Live In]], after a bit about a city whose residents live off the capital's garbage: "Great, now we have the ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' theme stuck in our heads."
394* It's now so bad that [[http://unhearit.com/# websites have been set up]] to get rid of Ear Worms. Success is varied.
395[[/folder]]
396
397[[folder:Web Videos]]
398* When WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd reviewed the Platform/AtariJaguar system, the green face from ''Cybermorph'' came out to haunt him with "Where did ''you'' learn to fly? Where did ''you'' learn to fly? Where did ''you'' learn to fly?..."
399* ''WebVideo/BroniesReact'': In the video for the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E13ThePerfectPear The Perfect Pear]]", upon hearing the quite aptly titled "You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song", WebAnimation/SilverQuill just quips, "Hello, earworm."
400* Website/ChannelAwesome:
401** WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob has a hard time stopping his leg from moving with the music of ''Film/NudistColonyOfTheDead'' (which, as its name certainly ''doesn't'' hint, is a freaking musical).
402--->'''Cinema Snob:''' Now shall we all collectively go find power drills in order to get this fucking song out of our heads? ''[short song extract]'' Yeah, I think that will be a pretty fucking good idea!
403** ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'':
404*** During the review on GuiltyPleasure songs, "Tik Tok" by Music/{{Kesha}} and "You Belong with Me" by Music/TaylorSwift have a bad effect on the Nostalgia Chick.
405*** And, although she absolutely despises ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'', she (and every other woman associated with the site) [[http://youtu.be/HVrW7f27Sno?t=4m20s WILL sing "Part of Your World" once the ball gets rolling]].
406** ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'':
407*** The Critic's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vxk6zblj20 "Top 11 Catchiest Theme Songs"]] video is entirely about this trope. At the end, he gets extremely agitated while urging the viewers to warn people about these songs and not let them hear any -- especially ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' (woo-oo!).
408---->'''Nostalgia Critic:''' It will never leave, it will never leave! It's like an addiction...
409*** He complains about catchy song for shows he doesn't like every now and then (''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'') and even sings "[[WithLyrics Good luck getting this theme song out of your head...]]" over the ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' theme.
410*** In the "Film/{{Willy Wonka|AndTheChocolateFactory}} vs. Film/{{Charlie|AndTheChocolateFactory}}" video, the Critic also mentions that the "Willy Wonka" song from the most recent movie kept torturing people for months after seeing it.
411*** In [[ItMakesSenseInContext his review of one of his own movies]], ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', he warns, "Good luck getting this fucking song out of your head for the next two weeks," before playing a clip of the movie in which [[WeNeedADistraction the distraction song]] is sung. After the clip, the Critic adds, "Actually, if you look at the back of your DVD case, you will find there's an extra recording of ''[=DuckTales=]'' just to help you out with that."
412*** The trope is directly mentioned in a sketch parodying the Witches' song from ''Film/HocusPocus''.
413---->'''Nostalgia Witch:''' ''This ear worm will stay with you until blood squirt out your nose\
414This whole thing's as impromptu as "[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze Go Ninja Go]]"!''
415** ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'':
416*** Todd discusses this trope [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDW-lRkHtzM reviewing]] Music/ChrisBrown's "Deuces". However, he calls the song an "Ear Snail" because it's slow, gross, and completely forgettable.
417*** He also says that Music/KatyPerry's "E.T." fails to be catchy, particularly regarding the anemic beat. But Todd ends up with [=FloRida=]'s "Whistle" stuck in his head, [[https://vimeo.com/148557437 leading to self-immolation trying to stop it.]] And in return plants "Music/{{Friday}}" on [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] head.
418*** A {{One Hit Wonder}}land episode has Webvideo/ThatDudeInTheSuede saying how unfortunate that since 1998, the common New Zealand phrase "How Bizarre" can't be heard in those islands without [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2cMG33mWVY a Spanish guitar playing in everyone's heads afterwards]].
419*** Another One Hit Wonderland, "Funkytown", is downright described as an earworm in the episode description, has Todd doing an ImagineSpot of a scavenger AfterTheEnd singing to the song's tune, and in the end he says "now I'm gonna beat my skull with a hammer in hopes of removing this song from my brain!"
420* ''Website/CollegeHumor'' lampooned this in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyEIM2cpkoE "One Week" song parody]]: Streeter plays an amateur band player who gets so obsessed with a catchy song that it drives him insane, leading to sexual dysfunction, hallucinations, threatening his girlfriend's parents with a hammer, threatening his own fans with a handgun, attempting assassination, and eventually [[DrivenToMadness ending up in an insane asylum]].
421* Exploited in one WebVideo/DannyGonzalez vine, which involves a serial killer using the Red Robin jingle to lure their victim out of hiding. It works, as the victim can't resist singing along.
422* ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'':
423** The one for ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' has a change of lyrics for every song of the movie; when it comes to "Let It Go"...
424--->''Get it out\
425 Get it out\
426 Get this song out of my head!\
427 Get it out\
428 Get it out\
429 I'll sing anything else instead!''
430** Rinse and repeat with the "Happy" song from the ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'' and ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'' trailer:
431--->''(Because it's catchy)\
432 Clap along if you can't\
433 Get this song out of your head\
434 (Because it's catchy)\
435 Clap along if you wish\
436 It was something else instead\
437 (It's too damn catchy)\
438 Clap along if you sing\
439 This song under your breath\
440 (Insanely catchy)\
441 Clap along if you beg\
442 For the sweet release of death''
443** And ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' earns this treatment for "Under the Sea".
444--->''It's so catchy, it's so catchy. It's so catchy it's so catchy.\
445 There's no escaping, this song's amazin' and so catchy.\
446 You'll never get it out your head.\
447 You'll sings the words until you are dead.\
448 Even when you sleep, it plays on repeat, it's so catchy.''
449** The trailer for the ''Westernanimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' cartoon says the theme song "[has] been stuck in your head for decades. I mean, seriously, if Professor X was real, all I'd hear is 'ba-na-na-na naaaaa na na'."
450* ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'':
451** Some of the music tracks in the games he reviews, most particularly the theme of ''Dragon Ball'' for the NES (its European version, to be precise) are those. He even shows how this theme will never leave your brain.
452** When reviewing ''The Addams Family'' (NES), he notices that the only music track of the game is a 8-bit six-second loop of the series' theme. To show how it is annoying, he uses a short loop of the ''Joueur du Grenier'' opening theme during the following minute.
453* ''WebVideo/MusicalHell'' was targeted by this when reviewing ''Film/MammaMia'', to the point that the punishment for Music/{{ABBA}}'s songwriters is "getting their own songs stuck in their heads for all eternity, so at least I'd have some company".
454* [[http://NationalLampoon.com The National Lampoon website]] created a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFiuIJVUsAs parody]] of [=TimeLife=] Classics CD music collections: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Songs That Get Stuck in Your Head]]'' -- "Each song has been improved to include ''only'' the parts sure to embed in your brain! With [=TimeLife=] "Songs That Get Stuck in Your Head", you now can choose the songs you ''want'' to get stuck in your head!" The most prominent example of the Ear Worm trope in this parody: {{Music/Daniel Powter}}'s "Had a Bad Day".\
455[[ButWaitTheresMore "And if you act now, you'll get a bonus disc: Songs That Bleed into Each Other!"]] Only one song combination is demonstrated: Queen's "Under Pressure" and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby".\
456[[ButWaitTheresMore "If you act now, you'll even get those songs stuck in your head that you have no idea who they're by or what they are!"]] Among the ear worms in this fictional bonus disc: the original Meow Mix commercial jingle, a dial-up modem from the 1990s, and the majestic THX Surround Sound tune!
457* On Website/YouTube, ''Nerdy Shenanigans'' asks the question [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web70y5yV6E "Why is the Spider-Man 1967 Theme Song Still Here?"]] The answer is a serious and thorough analysis of the concept of ear worm.
458* ''WebVideo/{{React}}'': "Kids React to ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}''" (the first cartoon series):
459-->'''Krischelle:''' I'm gonna have this song stuck in my head. [[SarcasmMode Thanks.]]
460* Website/ScrewAttack's Top 10 Cartoon Games made sure to include this in one of the entries:
461-->''Ch-Ch-ch-Westernanimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers!\
462 Ch-Ch-ch-Chip N' Dale, when there's danger!\
463 This song will be on your head all day and night\
464 Because of [[FollowTheBouncingBall sing-along with Craig!]]''
465[[/folder]]
466
467[[folder:Western Animation]]
468* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "[[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS5E15TheVase The Vase]]", when Nicole comes home from work, Richard is singing the song from the Elmore Wrecking Yard commercial ("We wreck 'em!")
469* Carl of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' talking about MC Pee Pants's song "I want Candy":
470-->'''Carl:''' It keeps running inside my head and it won't leave unless I blow it out. '''With a bullet!'''
471* Poor WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} was constantly tormented by the theme song to D.W.'s favorite inane song, "''[[WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus CRAZY BUS, CRAZY BUS, RIDING ON A CRAZY BUS]].''"
472* In the episode "Pichichus enamorado" from ''Las Aventuras de Hijitus'', Oaky constantly sings a serenata song for his vecinita which she gets annoyed fast. Cue to also the dog Pichichus singing that song. Later, La vecinita de enfrente sings her serenata to Oaky much to his disappointment.
473* In the ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' episode "Chez Pig", after the animals open a café selling Pig's family recipe pies, Freddy gets their place's birthday jingle stuck in his head and sings it when he tries to sing the jingle from another restaurant.
474-->'''Freddy:''' The birthday song has driven all other songs from my brain!
475* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' and the entirety of its MusicalEpisode, "Mayhem of the Music Meister": The heroes sing throughout it due to a music-based villain who controls them through his music.
476* In "Share Air" on ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins'', Grumpy Bear doesn't want to listen to Harmony Bear's new song (which Harmony had warned Share not to listen to anyway) because he's worried it might be this. In fact, there's another reason why they shouldn't be listening to the song -- the song is so "light and airy" that it ''literally'' causes you to float in the air.
477-->'''Grumpy:''' Look, Share. I know how to fix a lot of things. A broken bike, a busted window, but a song that makes a bear float in the air? ''[chuckles]'' That's a new one. I'm just glad I didn't listen to it myself.
478* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': In the episode "The Case of the Cola Cult", the Rangers discover a cult of mice who worship a defunct brand of soda after they discover a video tape of the company's most popular ad, complete with jingle... oh God, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ptsGMyEwiQ/ the jingle!]]
479* The episode "Killer Music" of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' has XANA trying to kill people with an ear worm... which also happens to send them into comas.
480* The episode "Head Band" of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' features a "boy band virus" quite literally infecting the ears of Dexter and his family, and it does not only make them hear a song but also sing and talk to the tune of it. [[spoiler:Luckily the virus eventually cures itself, as members of the boy band leave to pursue solo-careers...]]
481* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDlvWWdXxCE One unfinished]] Westernanimation/DonaldDuck cartoon, intended for a ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'' follow-up, explains local game "Caxangá" by using the melody of its sing-song tune "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVyWEy7V9P8 Escravos de Jó]]" with new lyrics noting it's very infectious (and indeed, the short has the song [[TheTetrisEffect and the game]] stuck in Donald's mind):
482-->''Down in Brazil, there's a sing-song game they play\
483When you hear this tune, it comes to you night and day\
484Just played once, and I'm sure that you will find\
485This quaint melody will linger in your mind''
486* ''Franchise/DuckTales'' (Woo-oo!):
487** An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' that does their spin on ''The Odyssey'' has Uncle Scrooge nearly be lured away by the Sirens. After he is rescued, he comments "Ever had a song that just wouldn't get out of your head?"
488** 2017 ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|2017}}'' reboot:
489*** In the episode "[[Recap/DuckTales2017S1E22TheLastCrashOfTheSunchaser The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!]]", the kids get an "in-flight show" in the form of a ''Darkwing Duck'' marathon, only for damage to the VCR to cause the end credits of one episode to loop repeatedly. Huey, Louie, and Webby eventually start humming along to the credits music.
490*** In another episode, Don Karnache's sky pirates use a musical number to distract the ducks while they're being robbed. Launchpad finds it so catchy that he stops flying the plane to watch the show, and after the inevitable crash, he continues humming the refrain.
491** In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', a brief scene shows Megavolt pacing in his lighthouse tower, singing [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage a version of the title theme]], with no lyrics. He soon breaks off and complains, "Agh, I can't get that song out of my head!" His irritation is understandable, since the song is all about his nemesis.
492* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' features Peter hearing the song "Surfin' Bird" for the first time in years. Upon hearing that the restaurant management is going to throw away the record, he takes it and soon becomes obsessed with the song. He blares it for days upon end, he constantly brings it up in conversation so he can play it, he withdraws a large sum of money just to promote the song on TV, and he even uses the record as a sex toy. Eventually, Stewie and Brian steal the record and destroy it -- and to make sure he doesn't ever play it again, they destroy every copy in town. [[spoiler:Thanks to Jesus, Peter gets another copy at the end anyway.]]
493* In "Franklin and the Super Sleepover" from ''Literature/{{Franklin}} and Friends'', the Turtle family learns at dinner that the Beaver family has their "Beaver Tooth Song," a catchy little tune about their strong beaver teeth that they sing before every meal. When they almost start breakfast that morning without it, Franklin reminds his family about it. Beaver thanks him for remembering, and he comments "Remember? How could we forget it?"
494* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'', the title character is haunted for a short while by a song belonging to one of the many of the show's antagonists. "Where did he go, that Invisibo..." indeed!
495* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':
496** In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel", Gideon arrives at the Mabel Shack's doorstep and Mabel quotes one of his song lyrics in surprise.
497--->'''Mabel:''' ''[gasp]'' It's widdle ol' you!\
498'''Gideon:''' ''[chuckle]'' Yeah, my song's quite catchy.
499** The "Stan Wrong Song" from "Boss Mabel." Stan is caught singing it to himself in "Mabel's Guide to Fashion".
500** In "Society of the Blind Eye", Wendy vents her frustration over being unable to get "Straight Blanchin'" by Li'l Big Dawg out of her head after Soos becomes obsessed with it. [[spoiler:Near the end, she almost resorts to using the eponymous society's memory-erasing gun to wipe the song from her mind.]]
501* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/HarveyStreetKids Harvey Girls Forever!]]'' episode "Blame That Tune", a restaurant jingle gets stuck in the heads of most of the kids with the exception of Dot and Pinkeye, turning the affected into semi-coherent "songies". Dot drives it out by playing [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage the show's opening theme]].
502* In ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'', the arrival of Aphrodite is always heralded by her personal theme song "Aphrodite, Aphrodite, Aphrodite,/The goddess of love!" In the ChainOfDeals episode, Cupid wants Herc's help in getting it out of his head.
503* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jellystone}}'': "Kitten Around", the sickeningly sweet song Augie sings throughout "Yogi's Tummy Troubles", ends up stuck in Boo Boo's head [[spoiler:after he's accidentally left floating in the void of Yogi's stomach]], much to his irritation.
504* Two examples from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''Unlimited'':
505** Batman has "Frère Jacques" on loop in his head [[spoiler:to keep Dr. Destiny out]].
506** The Question has a generic pop star song on loop in his head, [[spoiler:but not on purpose -- after being on stakeout with the car radio on, it's been stuck in his brain]].
507* The ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episode "Team Impossible" has said team show up with a theme song, which Ron groans afterward that he cannot get out of his head.
508* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' "My Favorite Duck", camper WesternAnimation/PorkyPig is pestered by WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, who keeps singing "Blues in the Night", eventually getting Porky singing it, when he's trying to sing "On Moonlight Bay".
509* In "You're My Hero" from ''WesternAnimation/MackAndMoxy'', Clixx complains that he can't get the episode's featured song, "Call 9-1-1", out of his head. Then, hearing him sing a bit of it, Admirable [[Creator/DeanNorris Dean]] says that now he can't get it out of his head either.
510* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'', Bessie uses an Ear Worm product jingle in order to get people to stop saying her middle name... [[TheScottishTrope which is cursed,]] and the effects of which are putting all of San Francisco at risk.
511* Brad opens the "I Was a Preschool Dropout" episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' by singing an entire verse of a [[ShoutOut song called]] "[=MinkyMomo=]". Immediately upon finishing the song, he grimaces and announces, "I ''hate'' that song."
512-->'''Brad:''' ''A-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-minky-MOMO!\
513The Minky Momo is an attitude\
514The Minky Momo is a mellow mood\
515You're Momo when you're drinkin' lemonade\
516You're Momo soakin' in a marinade\
517I know you're Minky, 'cause I'm Momo, too\
518And so I know what you're goin' through\
519But there's no mo' Momo whenever I... get... close... to... you!''\
520''[stops singing]''\
521Man, I hate that song!
522* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMagiswords'':
523** Vambre unwittingly enforced this in a short, when she tells her brother Prohyas to think of a new song. He creates one called "Purple Pete" and promises to only play it once.
524--->'''Prohyas:''' ''I got a nose, purple I suppose,\
525And I will name my nose '''Pete'''!\
526I got a nose, purple and it's gross,\
527And I will name my nose '''Pete'''!\
528It's Purple Pete, Purple Pete, Purple Pete!\
529It's Purple Pete, Purple Pete, Purple Pete!\
530It's Purple Pete, Purple Pete, Purple Pete!\
531It's Purple Pete, Purple Pete, Purple Pete!''
532** Vambre soon suffers an ear worm to the point where she is unable to think straight. When Prohyas sees his sister constantly hurt during a mission while dealing with the song, he decides to play it again to make her feel better. Vambre's Brain not only lampshades this trope, but is '''literally''' infected with worms. Vambre's Brain starts singing the song again in the end of the short, this happens:
533--->'''Vambre's Brain:''' ''It's Purple Pete! Purple Pete! Purple--''\
534'''Vambre:''' '''I WILL HOLLOW YOU WITH A GRAPEFRUIT SPOON!'''
535* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
536** Two episodes from the fourth season have characters referencing "Winter Wrap Up" from the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp eponymous episode]], though the only two characters to do so (Pinkie Pie and Discord) are known to [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall lean on the fourth wall]].
537** Invoked in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E13ThePerfectPear The Perfect Pear]]" by Pear Butter singing a love song titled "You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song".
538* An ''[[WesternAnimation/KaBlam OffBeats]]'' short concerns Tommy's inability to get a song out of his head.
539* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
540** The Musical cliptastic countdown special, which shows the top 10 favorite songs, voted by the viewers. In it, the villain Doofenshmirtz tries to hypnotize the "Live Studio Audience" with one of these. ("My name is Doof and you'll do what I say... Woop Woop!") They get un-hypnotized when Agent P plays the number 1 requested song, which is "Gitchie Gitchie Goo" (and, as commented by Doof, "the never-before-seen extended version!")
541** In the episode "Does This Duckbill Make Me Look Fat?", Dr. Doofenshmirtz is stealing all the clown statues from a burger chain because the song played from the clown is an Ear Worm he can't stop singing. Perry's boss is singing it too. Then in the end credits, he gets the "Perry the Teenage Girl" song stuck in his head.
542* ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'':
543** The three-part story "Brainwashed" deals with an Ear Worm that's spread to the whole world and is dumbing it down (it's strikingly similar to the "Macarena", which can't be coincidental). In a rare occasion of not trying to take over the world, Pinky and the Brain have to save the world.
544** One episode of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain'' involves The Brain trying to use an Ear Worm to (what else?) TakeOverTheWorld. Specifically, he's going to modify the song in the "It's A Small World" ride at Disneyland to include lyrics telling people to make The Brain ruler of the world.
545* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' has the song from a theme park named "Whoopie World". [[spoiler: Turns into a ChekhovsGag when Randy starts singing it so it's the only thing on Howard's mind, thus the only thing on the mind reader's screen.]]
546-->'''Howard:''' You know that stupid Whoopie World commercial? I keep getting it stuck in my head! Whenever I hear it, I can't think of anything else!\
547'''Randy:''' Hmmm?\
548'''Howard:''' ...Don't you do it.\
549'''Randy:''' Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoopie, Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoopie, Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoopie, Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoopie!\
550'''Howard:''' AHH! AAH! AAAH!
551* ''WesternAnimation/RazzberryJazzberryJam'': In “The Forever Song”, the Jazzberries are beset by the eponymous eternally-looping tune. In addition to being annoyingly catchy, the song is also (supposedly) cursed so that anyone who stops singing it is plagued with bad luck.
552* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', episode "This Is My Jam", has "Summertime Lovin', Loving in the Summer (time)" which becomes so relentless catchy that it eventually takes on physical form. The guys end up countering it by creating their own Ear Worm and blasting the Summertime Song, resulting in [[ThePowerOfRock the two songs manifesting as giant glowing men who duel with guitars]]. Yeah, it's [[QuirkyWork that kind of show]].
553* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}'' episode "Traffic Slam", Tommy and his friends sing a song to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" called "I Know a Song That Gets on Everybody's Nerves", over and over, while they're stuck in traffic. You get the impression that they're doing it just to annoy Tommy's dad (it works).
554* In the short film ''[[ComicStrip/RupertBear Rupert and the Frog Song]]'', the titular Frog Song is so catchy that the two black cats who plan on eating the frogs briefly start meowing along before being shushed by the owl they're working with.
555* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has: "''Duff beer for me, Duff beer for you, I'll have a Duff, You'll have one too...''" (repeat ad nauseam). For Massive Damage, it's set to a tune very similar to "It's a Small World". What's worse, it's the "jackpot" music on multiple versions of the ''Simpsons''-licenced Fruit Machines. Winning £5 has never been this annoying...
556* Whenever Cartman from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' hears the first line of "Come Sail Away", he ''has'' to sing it all the way through.
557* A ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode (aptly titled [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Ear Worm"]]) has [=SpongeBob=] listening to a new song called "Musical Doodle", and [[GRatedDrug gaining a dangerous addiction to it,]] causing him to [[SanitySlippage go insane.]] [[spoiler:Which turns out to be caused by an actual worm living in his ear listening to the song over and over again on a phonograph. Squidward beats it via his own ear worm, but this causes [[HereWeGoAgain the ear worm to infest him]].]]
558* In the ''WesternAnimation/TrollsTheBeatGoesOn'' episode "Ear Worm", DJ Suki's latest song gets stuck in her and her friends' heads. Poppy drives it out with a song of her own, only for the newer song to get stuck in her head at the end.
559* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'''s MusicalEpisode "My Fair Hatey" ends when its finale number "You're the Greatest" is interrupted by [[BigBad Lord Dominator]] shooting at the protagonists and yelling at them to stop singing. The cold tag depicts her singing the song intermittently as she goes about her day.
560-->'''Lord Dominator:''' Ahhhhh''hh!'' ''[[ActuallyQuiteCatchy Stupid catchy tune!!]]''
561[[/folder]]
562----
563->Ha! Now we've got ''you'' singing it!

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