“When I grow up…” that musical masterpiece by the Pussycat Dolls, has been playing over and over in my head for about a week now…and I’m about at my wit’s end.  It’s not that it’s a bad song (or a particularly good one) but for some reason, the high pitched part of the chorus that goes “Be careful what you wish for cuz’ you just might get it, cuz’ you just might get it, cuz’ you just might get it,” has become for me the stuff nightmares are made of. 

I spent the last several days traveling for work, the lovely Pussycat Dolls song playing in my mind the entire time.  On the flight home, I found a discarded copy of the latest issue of Time magazine, the one with a big picture of Barak Obama’s face on it in honor of the Democratic National Convention, the one that would surely in no way lead to yet another song getting stuck in my brain on repeat; boy was I fooled.  After scouring over articles on Obama, his family, his campaign aides, and opinion pieces on the party, there was one page—ONE PAGE—dedicated to typical Time content like current events and quotes.  Lo and behold, what did I see, but a piece about the definitive summer song of 2008. 

It turns out there isn’t one particular song that stands out from the crowd like Rhianna’s “Umbrella” did last year (“ella, ella, ella…”), but the song that comes closest is Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long.”  You know the one: it mixes the hook from “Sweet Home Alabama” and the piano from “Werewolf in London” behind some sugary sweet lyrics that are impossible not to sing along to.  Yep, that one. How many of you right now are “Singing “Sweet Home Alabama’ all summer long…”?  Good, now I know I’m not alone. 

Well, Pussycat Dolls, you have finally (thankfully!) been replaced.  But why were you even there in the first place?  I’m a big enough dork that I actually turned to google for the answer.  I found this great site: http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/questions/earworm.html.  It explains that there is actually a science behind this annoyance and these songs that get stuck in our minds are technically called “earworms.”  Gross. 

I decided to blog about this for a few reasons.  One, because I am evil, and I know there will be a handful of you cursing me for getting that darned Kid Rock song stuck in your head for the next few days. Two, because I want to know what songs haunt you.  Don’t be embarrassed, according to that website it’s songs from our first fifteen years of life that seem to sneak up when we least expect it and drive us crazy. And, finally, I want to know if anyone has any good tips for getting these songs out of our heads!

In the meantime, I’ll busy finding an ear “dewormer”.  Eww.