August 24, 2009

Have you got a song that you use to eradicate another catchy song from your head?

I do. I've had it for years. It's "5D" by The Byrds. I've used it, effectively for 40 years. (And I'm still wondering how it is that I could come out to here and be still floating and never hit bottom but keep falling through, just relaxed and paying attention?)

And what's the last song you needed to eradicate? (I dislike the term "earworm" for some reason.)

Chez Althouse, the song in need of eradication is something you will hear if you play the clip that follows, which you will do at your own risk.




That's the comedian, JP Inc., who opened for Neil Hamburger, here in Madison last Thursday.

And here are photographs of President Barack Obama wearing what, if you were foolish enough to play that clip, you will now be calling — not "mom jeans" — Randy Normal jeans.

24 comments:

Methadras said...

Yeah, I do the same thing. Anything from Yoko Ono is my mental music cleanser. She can audibly scour any music from anyone's head. You should try it.

MadisonMan said...

Tubthumping. By Chumba Wumba. Very effective.

Anonymous said...

Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe Doe
Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe
Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe Doe
Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe
Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe Doe
Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe
Din Daa Daa, Doe Doe Doe

is sometimes used to cancel-out:

Shoobie doobie do wop
I wanna dedicate this
Pop pop shoo wop
Everybody made it
Shoobie doobie do wop
Infiltrate it
Pop pop shoo wop
Activate it

New York, London, Paris, Munich
Everybody talk about pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Pop pop pop pop musik

David said...

The moment the words "eradicate" and "catchy song" hit my brain, Raindrops Are Falling on My Head switched on, along with Hello, Dolly. Thanks for nothing, Althouse.

Bill White said...

The tune that goes with "Shave and a haircut, two bits" has been my earworm killer since childhood.

Scott M said...

I use either one of the two best songs in creation...

Grey Street by the Dave Matthews Band or Nutshell by Alice In Chains. Both will do the trick nicely.

It does not help that my five-year-old promptly replaces my hard-fought zen (is there such a thing...lol) with yet another inanity.

Bissage said...

My mental dishwashing liquid? That would be "Safe European Home" by the Clash. Cleans like a white tornado. We're going on three decades, now. Yikes!

Last song scrubbed from my chattering monkey mind? That would be the theme song from "Laverne and Shirley."

WOOOOOOOSSSSHHHH!!1!!11!!!!

Down the drain it went, off to the sewer plant, right behind "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" and "Run, Joey, Run."

Anonymous said...

I don't have an eradicating song, but when I am feeling particularly mean, I walk by one of my colleagues humming "Seasons in the Sun".

Diana said...

Learned this one from the young'uns: the lyrics of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" sung to tune of the Gilligan's Island theme song.

Unknown said...

This post is really over the top. I spent 40 years trying to forget the one piece of drek on the album and you HAD to bring it to mind.

No fair.

PJ said...

Damn it, Professor! What happens when you can't get 5D out of your head?

wv: fiblin, what my congressman is doin regardin health care

Sofa King said...

I use the main theme from Pines of the Appian Way - other tunes don't stand a chance against the thundering crescendos of victorious legions!

rhhardin said...

What's rung through my head for decades in idle music moments is Claudio Saracini, Pallidetta qual viola, as done by Alfred Deller (countertenor) and Desmond Dupree (lute) on an old LP.

Fortunately it's not bad music.

I see it referenced all over online but don't see any audio file to link to.

Pallidetta qual viola è la bella pastorella che dal sen il cor m'invola. Che da pregi del mio sole ben s'avveda che più eccede il pallor delle viole. Ond'ogn'hor lasso al martine ch'ho nel core prego Amore che mi faccia impallidire

(The shepherdess who steals my heart from my breast is as pale as a violet, exceeding when one sees it the pallor of the violets. In the manner Mars' heart is drawn to Venus I pray I be made so pale myself.)

A minute long; I remembered the opening words so can at least look that up.

blake said...

I don't have that problem any more. When I did, though, I used to use the theme from "The Judge".

About 30 seconds in.

I'm sure Althouse watched this series religious as a young lawyer....

bill said...

The song I use for musical eradication is Mephiskapheles' Bumblebee tuna song.

BJM said...

Some one had to do it.


wv: relees = that relees sucked

sonicfrog said...

♫ Lola, She was a showgirl... ♫

sonicfrog said...

Althouse blog just got Rick-Rolled!

sonicfrog said...

Here is a song you don't want stuck in your head.

JohnG said...

Mm dooby do, dahm dahm, dahm do dahm ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm ooh dahm
Mm dooby do

Modern Otter said...

Damn it, Professor! What happens when you can't get 5D out of your head?

5D would be pretty well up there among songs I wouldn't mind having stuck in my head. "Then I opened my heart to the whole universe. And I found it was loving." Roger's best solo writing credit, imo. Even though the single sputtered on the charts.

Eric said...

"Brush your breath! Brush your breath! Brush your breath with Dentyne!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvyT1rsLM70

It'll kill anything. I have not been able to get it out of my head for decades.

Christy said...

Edith Piaff's La Vie En Rose. It works because I don't know French and spend so much time trying to remember the words phonetically that the earworm skitters away.

Anonymous said...

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We looked down the river and we see'd the British come.
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring.
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.

Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye
We held our fire 'til we see'd their faces well.
Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em ... well

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.