You know it's happened to you.

You hear that chorus - in a shop, in the car, from a radio or in your head as you read a post at Sonic State - and for the rest of the day.....boy, it's all that you think about.

La la la la la la la la.

The traditional remedies for Kylie Minogue Orhwurm have been to either:

• Make up your own mocking lyrics to the song, rendering it innocuous; or
• Think of something even more insanely, annoyingly catchy - such as The Ting Ting's That's Not My Name.

Both of these approaches, though, carry the unfortunate and very real danger of leaving you with an even more insanely catchy and annoying song stuck in your head.

Like the Black Eyed Peas's My Humps.

Researcher James Kellaris, Ph.D., a professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati who studies why catchy tunes stick in your head - suggests less risky alternatives.

• If a song is on an unfinished loop, "sing it through all the way, or listen to the entire song, to achieve completion,"
• "If you can't remember all the words or how it ends, rewrite the ending. Sometimes appending a Beethoven coda or even just 'Shave and a haircut, two bits' will do the trick."
• Finally, listen to either to complex music, like Mozart, or unfamiliar music that lacks a hook, like New Age.

What do you think works best to get I Can't Get You Out Of My Head out of your head?

Image: law_keven

via realsimple

James Lewin
Twitter @podcasting_news

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