Why do Songs get Stuck in Your Head?
What was Life Like in the 1920s?

The idea of having an "earworm" in their head would make most people paranoid. In fact, 99% of all people are victims of the earworm. Earworms are the reason why songs get stuck in people's heads and drive them crazy as the songs repeat over and over.
***

Earworms. I wonder what they look like. Jimmy Gray sure looks like he could be a worm, and he has big ears. So, Ms. Grizzle is making us write a two-pager on a question of our choice- just as long as it's school appropriate, of course. As I'm looking around, it's pretty obvious that half the people in Jimmy's and my class are gonna do the exact same question. Because they're all cheating. I'll be the different one, but just to make sure nobody gets my idea, I'll change my title temporarily.
***

There is nothing to worry about, however, because earworms are not parasites; they are not even physical organisms. Earworms are the most common form of "'involuntary imagery,' which are sounds, pictures, smells, and even tastes that repeatedly come to mind" subconsciously. "The main culprit of involuntary imagery are certain fragments of music that usually consist of short, well-defined phrases or themes of three to four bars." "These short, repetitive tunes trigger a part in the brain called the auditory cortex." The auditory cortex is the part of the brain that makes sense of sound. "When the auditory cortex is triggered, specific neurons send electrical impulses to other parts of the brain when they detect a specific sound or pattern of timing." The brain finds something unusual about this fragment of music, and tries to process it by repeating it over and over, creating, for example, the annoying chorus of "It's a Small World."
***

My auditory cortex is processing all the murmurs of, "What's your question?" and "I'm doing..." Wow. The world holds some unique people. So I just caught Devin looking at me, and right when I saw him he looked away. Stupid Devin, he probably wants my question. Or...wait... What if he likes me? He is pretty good looking. I wouldn't mind giving my question to him.
***

There are three key factors that cause earworms: repetition, simplicity, and incongruity. "Repetition is used in advertisements because it keeps a brand or product in the forefront of consumers' minds. It can also build familiarity with the product." Repetition has the same effect with songs as it does with brand names or products. The more a person listens to a song, the more familiar they become with it, making their brain more susceptible to any differences in the song. One difference, for example, could be the quality of the stereo speakers, which might make the audio fuzzier or clearer. Simple music is easy for human brains to comprehend, so people do not have to think about what they are listening to. This makes it easy for simple songs to slip into people's minds without them even knowing what they are or how they got there. The third factor, incongruity, "is an unexpected rhythmic variation, such as a time change or a dynamic change."
***

Man, Ms. Grizzle is gonna be so proud of me. We learned all about this propaganda stuff last year; bandwagons, repetition, alliteration, etc. He's looking at me again! Oh! He just smiled! Now he's getting up... Oh gosh. What if he comes and sits next to- HE IS!
***

There are a few specific reasons why people become infected with earworms. One is that "human brains are built to see and hear patterns in the world and to make associations among our memories and new things we encounter." Another reason is that the human brain is on a never-ending search to find possibly relevant things to whatever the thinker is focused on. Other reasons include the following: "the person actually likes the song, something reminds them of the song, the song reflects their personal individual tastes and psychology, they have heard it dozens of times, they are doing something too easy, they are doing something too difficult."
***

It seems that Devin has quite the ear for music. Hah. I bet earworms "worm" their way into his brain all the time. He just read the majority of my paper and said that he liked it a lot. Turns out that he did the same thing I did, changing the name of his paper. He's doing What Attributes Make a Good Athlete. That's cool. He's cool.
***

There is no cure for the earworm, but there are some ways to put the song on pause. The victim could "sing another song; play another melody on an instrument; switch to an activity that keeps them busy, such as working out; listen to the song all the way through; share the song with a friend; or they could picture the earworm as a real creature crawling out of their head, and imagine stomping on it."
***

I'd sure like to stomp on snarky, snotty, Lottie. She just called Devin over to come look at her paper and see if it was good. I wish daring, doting, Devin had just heard my use of alliteration. But no, Snotty Lottie's totally got his attention. I bet she's talking his auditory cortex off. Oh? What's this? He's shaking his head and she's getting upset.
***

In summary, the annoying songs that get trapped inside people's heads are results of earworms, or involuntary imagery. These trigger the brain to repeat songs over and over until it understands the pattern, and then it moves on. There is no cure, so maybe the best thing to do with the continuous verses of "I love bread and butter; I love toast and jam," is to pass it on to another unsuspecting victim.
***
Oh no. I've been infected.
It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all..."