Earworms Challenge #4

April Edition

Here we are again with another Earworms Challenge! I really love doing these, and based on the previous ones, it looks like I’ve been doing one a month, and that seems like a good frequency to me, so I’ll stick with that. If you’re new here, an Earworm Challenge is when you keep track of every single song that gets stuck in your head for an entire day, and create a playlist of those tunes to share. Kinda gives a good impression of your tastes and personality, and it’s just fun. This is a thing I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager and noticed that I was getting soooo many songs stuck in my head in a typical day, and wondered just how many I was averaging. Back then playlists weren’t a thing, unless you count burning cds and recording mix tapes, both of which I definitely did. Here is my Challenge from last month, and it has links to all the ones before that.

On with it! This one started out kinda funny, cos early in the day, I had just ONE song stuck for hours before it was replaced. I even texted my daughter to ask her if I had been singing anything early that morning while she was getting ready for school, in case I might have forgotten. She just thought I was being weird (she’s not entirely wrong), and anyway by the time she was able to answer me, I was up to three songs. And by the end of the day, I was at a whopping 24! Some of these I’ll end up apologizing for inflicting upon you, cos odds are they’ll get stuck in your head as well, and it might be less than pleasant. Some of these just came out of nowhere and I have no idea what brought them on. And honestly, I’d never add them to a playlist otherwise. Overall, there’s a pretty good variety of styles here, and I am satisfied with that. As usual, quite a lot of tunes from my teenage years (‘90s music was the absolute BEST, I’ll fight you on that). So anyway, here’s the playlist:

Notes on Some of the Tracks

Shake Me Down, by Cage the Elephant: This one, as previously mentioned, was stuck for hours. Good song, although not my favorite of theirs. If you like it, check out more of their stuff. They’re seriously underrated, if you ask me.

Love Yourself, by Justin Beiber: I’m not a Beiber fan, he’s ok, I guess. Not really my style at all. Always kinda liked this song, though, and it actually gets stuck in my head pretty often for one reason: this magnet that I have on my fridge.

Yeah, you try not singing this song all the time with this thing on your fridge.

If you’re not familiar with the song, the best line in it is “My mama don’t like you, and she likes everyone.” So there ya go. I’m honestly surprised that this has never made the list before. If it ever does invade my brain on a Challenge day again, I won’t include it, cos I’m not going to list duplicates if I can help it.

Let it Go, by Idina Menzel (Frozen Soundtrack): My eldest daughter Miranda was like four when this movie came out, so it would be pretty impossible for me to not know every single word to this song. It comes out of nowhere sometimes. One of the perils of raising girls, I guess.

Swim Good, by Switchfoot: This got stuck in my head when I was giving the baby a bath. She likes being on her belly in the tub and splashing like crazy. I asked her if she was going to swim, and boom, I’m singing this song to her. It’s a cover of a song by Frank Ocean, and it’s from Switchfoot’s Covers EP, which I highly recommend. I’m pretty much a fan of anything they’ve done, and if you’ve only ever heard Dare You to Move and/or Meant to Live, wow you are missing out.

Boys Will Be Bugs, by Cavetown: This is one of Miranda’s favorite bands and I think this song is on like every Spotify playlist she’s ever made, ever. It gets stuck in my head constantly, and let me tell you, it is super weird to me to be a 41-year-old woman singing a song from the POV of a 14-year-old boy who’s trying to be a badass.

She’s a Lady, by Tom Jones: It’s not unusual (see what I did there?) for this song to take over my brain, cos I often sing it to baby Betsy. But I change the words and sing, “She’s a baby, woah woah woah, she’s a baby.” I do that kind of thing to a lot of songs, actually.

Lovefool, by the Cardigans: I’m sorry for this one. So very sorry. Normally I don’t like songs that are, by definition, pathetic (have some dignity, lady!), but this one has always been infectious and a total bop despite the desperateness. Also it was included on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet, which is a masterful compilation of songs. Anytime I hear it though, I think of that scene in the Office where Jim starts singing it to annoy Karen, and Andy has to chime in too (because he’s Andy). It’s like Karen says, “This is not fair, it’s going to be in my head all day. Please?”

One Last Breath, by Creed: You liked Creed, admit it. I definitely wouldn’t consider myself a fan, but this is one of their better songs (although, to be fair, sooo many of their songs sound just alike). This popped in from a meme on Instagram (not even a good one) that had it playing along with it. Credit goes to user takethesebrokenmemes, who mashes up unrelated things into memes, and normally they’re great. This one combines the Creed song and its album artwork with the movie poster for No Country for Old Men, and I get it, but I also kinda don’t.

I had to see it, so do you.

Anyway, again, I’m sorry.

End of the Road, Boyz II Men: I have no idea where this came from.

Fly, by Sugar Ray: I heard it on the radio in the car, that’s all it took. Decent enough song, but I was over it by about the 27th time I heard it. Can we all just agree that this may have been one of the most overplayed songs in the history of mankind? If you’re with me on that and it is now stuck in your head, again, I am sorry.

Little Wild One, by the Wonders (That Thing You Do! Soundtrack): Came from my husband Ian mentioning how wild Betsy is going to be once she’s mobile. She’s a ball of fire, and often brings this song to mind. I absolutely love this movie and its soundtrack.

Punk Rock Girl, by the Dead Milkmen: I was working on some songwriting, and Ian said we should write a punk song. Punk rock was my favorite toward the end of high school, so I thought that was a great idea. Oddly enough, I never even heard this song until recent years, as it plays on the radio somewhat regularly here, but it didn’t where I grew up.

I Want it That Way, by Backstreet Boys: Miranda was watching some YouTube video where some guys were singing this song at an audition. I don’t actually like Backstreet (give me ‘NSync any day!) but this is definitely their best song, in my opinion.

Be Like That, by 3 Doors Down: As I left Miranda’s room after telling her goodnight, it brought to mind the line, “But just before he says goodnight, he looks up with a little smile at me and he says, if I could be like that…” and I was singing it the whole time I was getting ready for bed.

So that’s it for this month’s challenge! Thank you for reading. When are YOU going to do the Earworms Challenge? Be sure to comment here with a link to it when you do! I’d love to check out your playlist.