Conversation:

Well, what's sticking with you at the moment?
Mine is the "Girl from Iponema" of which I know only two lines it seems. Will have to try your strategies to see if they work

I'm trying to avoid the song-sticking as I write. But here are my three worst culprits:

Don't Worry, Be Happy (80's pop tune)
The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow (Annie the musical)
Theme Song from the Smurfs (early 80s TV show)

One word: Kokomo.

I hated it when it came out 12 years ago, I hate it even more today, and if I even think the word (or hear the name of any of the islands mentioned in the song), I'm stuck with it for days.

Also "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", even in the middle of July. And I'm not Christian.

*Slips out to purge head of these musical demons*

A particularly dastardly one is from a video game called "Dance Dance Revolution." The game is an arcade game with a screen and four arrow pads on the floor which you step on according to the music and cues from the screen, so if you do it right it looks like you're dancing.

Anyway, the song in question is called "Boom Boom Dollar." Just to show you how stupid the song is, here's the chorus (which is the part stuck in my head):

"Boom boom boom boom ay ay ay ay...." (repeat)

My wife and I share a number one sticking song (no words, is that better or worse) It's the song/tune from the Disney version of Robin Hood the one that Alan a Dale whistles and hums as he's walking across the top of the screen (I think)
our second favorite (both occasionally used to get other songs out) is Joe Pascuali's(Sp.) "I know a song that will get on your nerves"

I think the worst ever has to be Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep! Horrendous! Another that I could not get rid of was American Pie when it first came out - at the time it became associated with some bad events that were happening in my life at the time and consequently I HATE that song more than almost any other I know.

Ah, associations can be the worst. Funny thing is that eventually you WILL get over it. It may take years though. After a particularly harrowing breakup (relationship wise) I learnt loads of Jim Croce songs (from the music no less!). All the really heartbreaking ones. Bad move, it was indeed years before I could listen to them again, but in the words of another song "It's all right now!"

I must confess.. SisQo's "the Thong song" gets stuck in my head quite abit.. for god's sake..the chorus is "Let me see that thong.... thong thong thong thong thong."

Oh yes, American music is quite creative.

Due to someone sending me it, last week it was the theme to Rentaghost. Nearly drove me insane.

American Pie stuck for ages, but at the minute it's Happy Hour by The Housemartins and I have no idea why as I haven't heard it for years.

My current one is The Real Slim Shady - not a bad song but so addictive and repetitive, especially the chorus. No wonder it's number 1 at the moment and I can't use my method of clearing it - buying it and playing it 'til I'm sick of it - 'cause all the shops are sold out.

Further to this ... and just to prove it ...

imslimshadyyesimtherealshadyallyouotherslimshadiesarejustimitatinsowonttherealslimshadypleasestanduppleasestanduppleasestaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh.....

At the moment, the clear winner for me has to be...

"You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel"

I'm dreading the upcoming Olympic Games and having to listen to the overhyped dirge that passes for the American national anthem being played ad nauseum.

Yeah..that song was in my head for finals... It drove me nuts.. in the middle of precalc, all that was in my head was that chorus..and the bassline for Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Around the world"...

I'll eat my hat if I haven't found the stickiest song ever! It's so sticky that just saying its name will make it stick in your head, so if you don't want it to stick, look away now. It's "If I only had a brain" from The Wizard of Oz. I don't even know many of the words but it's been stuck in my head on and off for the last six months ever since a colleague (in another job, another *country* even!) complained that it was stuck in her head and that it kept leaking out - she would hum it around the office. Well, it's become such a large part of my existence that I despair of ever leaving it behind totally and have had to come to terms with it's presence in my mind.

Don't fly Singapore Airlines in the near future then."The Wizard of OZ" was available both coming and going from Singapore to Lodon last week.

I was experimenting with getting rid of "stuck songs" by recalling the lyrics to Monty Python ones and I now have "Eric the half a bee" stuck in my head - my colleagues are looking despairingly at me

Probably none of them are old enough to know who Cyril Connolly was either.

I've had Beethoven's "Fur Elise" stuck in my head for several months now. I don't even think about it, it's just something I hum when I get bored. Other "stickies" come and go, but this one will! not! leave!

Wow, that's a pile of songs! I'm glad to see that sticky songs are not just a nuisance, but a major world mental health problem. While reading all the replies, I discovered a new way to combat these mucilaginous little ditties: Sticky Song Overload. This can only be done with a large number of people you know nothing about. What you do is this: Listen to everybody say the song that's troubling them most, and each person's song will try to get itself implanted between your ears. The way this works as a cure is, with all the songs coming at you, it's like fifty people trying to get through a door at once. Meanwhile, the song that was there originally suffocates. It was very interesting reading all your troubles, and now my head is music-free, when previously, it was stocked with "Believe", by Antiloop.

Thanks!