299 earworms

This is my 7th year tracking the earworms I wake up with every morning. This year, I added a new factor to the experiment: I switched to Spotify on January 1st. So I did not only track my own internal radio, but I can also now compare it with Wrapped, and see whether there is correlation between the music I listen to the most, and the music that gets stuck most often. (I know Spotify is problematic, this was an experiment).

Let's see the previous years:

2018: I woke up with an earworm 306 mornings, featuring 150 different songs (post here)

2019: 316 mornings, 137 songs (post here)

2020: 346 mornings, 149 songs (post here)

2021: 312 mornings, 124 songs (post here)

2022: 313 mornings, 129 songs (post here)

2023: 290 mornings, 140 songs (post here)

2024: 338 mornings, 145 songs (post here)

This year I woke up on 299 mornings with music stuck in my ear. Honestly, it was probably more than that, but in many occasions the morning chaos wiped my memory before I got to record them (yay, life with a small child). There were 148 different songs represented in the sample.

Let's see the Earworm Top List first:

Unsweetened Lemonade (11 mornings)

According to Spotify, I listened to this song 30 times this year. With that, it was among the 10 most listened to songs on my Wrapped. So, there seems to be correlation.

The Cult of Dionysus (8 mornings)

Definitely correlation: this was my top most listened to song on Spotify this year (61 listens). This is my jam. It is interesting, though, that it didn't stick as often as I thought it would.

Pink Pony Club (8 mornings)

28 listens on Spotify, so it technically wasn't in the top 10. But it did stick - both the original version and the metal cover.

Popular (7 mornings)

It was way down on the list with 19 listens, but I do adore this song, I think Ariana Grande does amazing with it.

Hear My Hope (7 mornings)

To be fair, this would probably go a lot higher on the list, except I just watched Hazbin Hotel Season 2 at the end of November, so statistically, it didn't have a chance. It still made the top list in 1 month. Also, I freaking LOVE this song.

On total, Hazbin Hotel Season 2 accounted for 21 mornings in one month. Quite impressive.

I also had You're Welcome and How far I'll go from Moana on 7 mornings each, and Shiny on 5, but at this point I have just resolved to have them stuck in my head for the rest of my life. Same with We don't talk about Bruno (6 mornings).

And yes, I watched and listened to Kpop Demon Hunters, but I didn't love it. The only song that made it high up on the list was Takedown (5 mornings).

And now, for the Spotify Top Songs:

1. Cult of Dionysus by The Orion Experience

2. Wellerman by Santiano

3. W.I.T.C.H. by Devon Cole

4. Brighter Days Come by Patty Gurdy

5. Sucker from the Arcane soundtrack

6. Spin the Wheel from the Arcane soundtrack

7. Future Heroine by Ecca Vandal

Most of these didn't even make it to the earworm list, or only showed up once. So, the correlation is not always there, it turns out.

And now, for the 1-morning-only WTF contender of the year:

Happy New Year, everyone! Happy listening! :)

338 earworms

This was my 6th year noting the songs stuck in my head every morning, and once again, here are the statistics. This is my own internal version of Spotify Wrapped...

2018: I woke up with an earworm 306 mornings, featuring 150 different songs (post here)

2019: 316 mornings, 137 songs (post here)

2020: 346 mornings, 149 songs (post here)

2021: 312 mornings, 124 songs (post here)

2022: 313 mornings, 129 songs (post here)

2023: 290 mornings, 140 songs (post here)

This year turned out to be quite exciting. I woke up with a song stuck in my head on 338 mornings, with a total of 145 different songs represented. But this year, something wholly unprecedented happened: one single soundtrack took over most of the mornings.

I have already mentioned Hazbin Hotel in the previous post. Well, I have to say, it did something with music that I did not expect. I loved the soundtrack and listened to it a lot all year; it seems like being awake and asleep had a correlation this time. The album became significant on this year's earworm list in three ways:

1. This is the first album from which every single song appeared on the list, and all of them more than once.

2. This album alone was responsible for 103 mornings, almost a full third of my year.

3. Every song (but one) ended up in the top 10.

It still holds, however, that there is no correlation between which songs I like the most, and which ones stick the most. (Although from this album, I liked all of them.). In order to not spend this whole post with HH, I am listing them separately. So:

The winner of this year's earworm list was the Finale of Hazbin Hotel, with a total of 14 mornings. (Spoiler alert!)

Followed by You didn't know (13 mornings), Ready for this (10 mornings), Respectless (7), Poison (7), Hell is forever (7), Whatever it takes (6), Loser baby (6), Out for love (5), Happy day in Hell (5), Addicted (5), Welcome to Heaven (4), Stayed gone (4), Hell's greatest dad (4), Sorry (4), More than anything (2). It seems like the songs that stick the most are the ones with the most tempo and melody changes. Personally, by the way, Loser Baby is my top favorite.

Alright, let's see who else managed to claw their way onto the top 10:

Shut up and dance (9 mornings)

We heard a busker play this in Budapest and had such a fun dance party with the kid that we had to listen to it more at home. It stuck, but I don't mind. It's a fun song.

The ballad of the witches' road (7 mornings)

One of my favorites this year. I listened to it a lot, but since I only found it in November, it didn't have a chance to climb higher on the list.

How far I'll go (7 mornings)

Not the original - which I also love - but a fun rock cover.

Bye bye bye (6 mornings)

This one is Deadpool's fault.

Head above water (6 mornings)

A friend shared this, and despite the religious overtones I think it is a pretty good song.

Bitter (6 mornings)

This one is The Rookie's fault. The Rookie is covid's fault.

Aranyapám (6 mornings)

The first Hungarian song that made it to the list, from the radio. There is something in the rhythm and the singers voice that I really like.

Steal my thunder (5 mornings)

This one is from Twisters. Which was a really, really fun movie, with a great soundtrack.

Tele a szívem (5 mornings)

The second Hungarian song. It is pretty cheerful so I like to listen to it in the mornings.

Slay (5 mornings)

Bonnie McKee is awesome; I listened to her songs a lot more than how many stuck. 

This year, predictably, also saw a rise in children's songs, but luckily not by much. I spent 17 mornings with Cocomelon and the like, but I managed to get away with only 2 (!) Baby Sharks. It helps that the kid's two favorite songs are Jolene and Rehab.

And now, the year's one-morning WTF "blast from the past" song:

I wish you all happy listening, and happy earworming for 2025 :)

290 earworms

This is the fifth year that I wrote down what music was stuck in my ear every morning when I woke up. It is becoming really fun to follow the statistics year after year.

2018: I woke up with an earworm 306 mornings, featuring 150 different songs (post here)

2019: 316 mornings, 137 songs (post here)

2020: 346 mornings, 149 songs (post here)

2021: 312 mornings, 124 songs (post here)

2022: 313 mornings, 129 songs (post here)

This year I also got to examine how parenting affects earworms :) Luckily, I ended up with fewer annoying kids' songs than expected. On the other hand, there were fewer mornings when I 1) woke up and had time to pay attention to earworms and 2) I remembered to write them down before I forgot. Thus, this year's numbers are not quite accurate, but oh well. I can say I woke up with music in my head at least 290 times, and the list contains 140 songs.

Since I had a lot less time to listen to music this year, the list contains a lot more random songs that I have not heard in years, never liked, or simply "caught" in a mall or something. There is still no correlation between what I like to listen to, and what sticks. Neither is any between whan sticks during the day, and what I wake up with.

Without further ado, here's the Top 5 of this year:

First place with 20 (!!!) mornings: 

The kid listened to this on an endless loop, and since it really is catchy (see last year), obviously it shot to the top, way ahead of all other songs. This is the highest individual number of mornings I have had so far (the previous record was 16).

Second place with 13 mornings:

Spirited is a dumb fun movie, and the soundtrack is quite catchy. This was not my favorite song from it, but for some reason this is the one that stuck the most. 

Third place with 7 mornings:

This was a four-way tie between two Disney songs - Surface pressure from Encanto, and Let it go from Frozen - courtesy of the kid, and a Monster High song (No apologies), which I don't have an excuse for :) My favorite however was the song below, from the Matilda musical. For both lyrics and choreography. 

Fourth place with 6 mornings:

Another tie - between Do a little good (Spirited again), and this song from another new favorite musical, Six. I also found myself humming the latter a lot when I was awake.

Fifth place with 5 mornings:

Another multiple tie: a Spirited song (The view from here), Ed Sheeran (Shape of you), and two more Monster High songs (Here I am, and the one below). I have to admit, Monster High is a very dumb movie series, but it is also strangely adorable.

I even made a chart this year! The majority of songs came from 7 albums I like, while 40% was completely random. The two largest slices were Disney, and the soundtrack of the & Juliet musical. Since the latter contains pop hits from the 90s and 00s, it obviously is very catchy (but since it has a lot of songs, none rose to the top list individually). I also have to note that, next to In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda was responsible for most of the Disney slice too.

And finally, this year's WTF pick, for obvious reasons (luckily, I only woke up with this once):

How was your year, in terms of music? Do you tend to wake up with earworms too?

313 earworms

This was the fourth year that I wrote down every morning what song was stuck in my head when I woke up. The phenomenon still persists, like an internal musical alarm clock, so once again I am sharing the statistics. Because I can.

2018: I woke up with an earworm 306 mornings, featuring 150 different songs (post here)

2019: 316 mornings, 137 songs (post here)

2020: 346 mornings, 149 songs (post here)

2021: 312 mornings, 124 songs (post here)

This year I woke up with music stuck in my head on 313 occasions, featuring a total of 129 different songs. 66 of them only made one appearance, while the rest repeated at least once. I have to reiterate that while the soundtrack has a link to what I listen to, it's not determined by which songs I like the most, or what I heard the day before. There are songs I had on repeat for months and yet I never woke up with them; others I don't even know, but they stuck anyway.

Here's this year's top 5:

First place with 16 mornings (holding last year's record):
(Encanto was already a strong contender last year, but couldn't climb the charts in one month. The beginning of this year, however, was non-stop Encanto bonanza.)

Second place with 14 mornings (no surprise there):

Third place with 10 mornings:
(I mentioned last year that I found this Cinderella unwatchable, but the jukebox soundtrack is incredibly persistent. Apart from this one, I had another 9 mornings with other songs from it.)

Shared fourth place, with 8 mornings each:

This song was a favorite in the summer camps, I like it because it's cheerful and fun to sing:

This one was a favorite of mine to walk to work in the mornings, because it's so happy and fun:

Fifth place, 7 mornings:

This last one wasn't alone; many AJR songs kept repeating over the year. In fact, this year was dominated by a select few persistent albums:

Encanto: 54 mornings (What else can I do 16; Bruno 14; All of you 6; Waiting for a miracle 6; Surface pressure 5; Dos oroguitas 4; Colombia 2; Familia Madrigal 1)

AJR: 49 mornings (Netflix trip 7, Sober up 5, 100 bad days 5, Bang 5, All my favorite songs 5, Way less sad 4, 3 o'clock things 3, Burn the house down 3, Let the games begin 3, World's smallest violin 3, I'm weak 2, Bud like you 1, Bummerland 1, Dear Winter 1, I'm ready 1)

Alvaro Soler: 29 mornings (Sofia 8, El mismo sol 5, Eterno agosto 4, Volar 3, El camino 2, Esperandote 2, Mi corazón 2, La libertad 1, Tengo un sentimiento 1, La vida seguirá 1)

In the heights: 27 mornings (Cold champagne 5, In the heights 4, When you're home 4, It won't be long now 3, Blackout 2, Carnaval del barrio 2, No me diga 2, Paciencia y fe 2, Respira 2, Benny's dispatch 1)

So, more than half of my mornings were taken up by these 4 albums alone.

And, according to tradition, here is this year's WTF contender:

I shall continue in 2023. Do you usually wake up with earworms? What are they? :)

312 earworms

It has now become tradition on this blog to post on the last day of the year about the earworms I wake up with every morning. For some reason I rarely wake up without something playing on my inner radio, so I started making notes, and doing the statistics at the end of the year. You can find the previous posts for 2020, 2019, and 2018 on the links. The breakdown:

2018: I woke up with music in my head on 306 mornings, with a total of 150 individual songs in one year

2019: 316 mornings, 137 songs

2020: 346 mornings, 149 songs

This year's stats: 312 mornings, 124 songs. There were 54 that I only had once, the rest repeated multiple times throughout the year. This year I had a large number of songs that kept coming back on four, five, or more occasions. As usual, here is the Top 5 list: 

First place, with 16 mornings, a new personal record:

(I loved this show and the music, and this scene was especially well done. But I did not expect it to stick this much...)

On second, third, and fourth place, we have music from In the Heights. They had absolute success in my brain this year. I woke up to the soundtrack on 66 mornings. The most common, with 10 of those mornings, was this song:

Basically the entire soundtrack made an appearance quite often: Paciencia y fe (8), Respira (7), When you're home (7), It won't be long now (7), Cold champagne (4), Benny's dispatch (3), 96,000 (3), Home all summer (3), Blackout (3), Carnaval del barrio (3), Finale (3), No me diga (2), The club (2), Piragua (1).

In shared third place, also with 8 mornings, I had this classic (I blame The Boys, and the year 2020):

And still in third with 8 mornings, I had the song below, from Julie and the Phantoms. The show was cute but forgettable, but its music stuck: I woke up to it 19 times. Next to this song, I also had Other side of Hollywood (7) and Wake up (4).

The fourth place is equally crowded. Next to In the Heights and Julie, I had an individual contestant here too, from a movie I haven't even seen. I woke up to it on 7 mornings, and it always put me in a feminist mood.

Fifth place goes to three individual contestants, with 6 mornings each:

Next to the Top 5, I have also had a blast with the soundtrack of Encanto. It could not catch up to the others in one month, but it is going strong. So far I have had it stuck in my head on 17 mornings, including today. It has no bad song, which shows in the numbers: All of you (4), Surface pressure (3), Dos oroguitas (3), Family Madrigal (2), What else can I do (2), We don't talk about Bruno (2), Waiting on a miracle (1).

Between Encanto, In the Heights, Moana and Hamilton it seems like this year Lin-Manuel Miranda was single-handedly responsible for a third of my earworm music (95 mornings). 

I am also a little ashamed to admit that the soundtrack of the latest Cinderella movie also stuck, even though the movie was atrociously unwatchable. Still, the music took up 8 of my mornings so far.

And here comes this year's WTF pick: a song I have not heard in decades and has no meaning to me. And yet one day I woke up with this playing in my head.

That's all. The experiment continues. It doesn't really mean anything, but I am greatly entertained by it. Do you have earworms too? What was your music this year?

Happy 2022!

346 earworms

Do you often wake up with a song stuck in your head?

This is the third year that I noted every morning what song was stuck in my head when I first woke up, and I tallied the results. I usually have music in my head all day, like my own personal internal radio station, but mornings are the easiest to pin down. The results don't always overlap with that I actually like listening to, and are only tangentially related to what I listen to often. It seems like some songs are just more adhesive than others.

(You can fin the 2019 and 2018 lists on the link.)

This year there were 346 mornings when I woke up with a song in my head, which is more than ever before. I noted 149 different songs, returning with more or less frequency (compared to last year's 137, and 2018's 150).

The Top 5 is as follows:

First place with 15 mornings (a personal record):

(I actually like this one a lot, and in my opinion it is musically better than either Let it go or Into the Unknown.)

Second place with 13 mornings:

(I made the mistake of watching Greatest Showman, which is an awful movie, but the soundtrack is super enjoyable, and apparently was designed to stick forever and ever from now on. From now on...)

Third place with 12 mornings:

(Told ya)

Shared third place with also 12 mornings:

Fourth place with 10 mornings:

(It's all in the name... This person makes a mash-up of the year's pop hits every December, and 2019 was especially well done.)

Fifth place, 9 mornings:

(I'll talk about this album below)

Shared fifth place, also 9 mornings:

(Yep)

Sixth place, which is not technically Top 5, but I was very happy to wake up with this on 7 mornings:

The numbers by albums: Onbiously, Greatest Showman took the cake, with 58 mornings total (Other side 13, Greatest Show 12, From now on 9, Million dreams 7, This is me - Come alive - Rewrite the stars 4, Tightrope 4, Never enough 1). 

Second place goes to Birds of Prey, which was definitely my favorite soundtrack this year. I listened to it a lot, as it is great for confidently stomping around town. I woke up to it on 33 occasions, evenly distributed, which signals the quality of the album, methinks. (Feeling good 9, Joke's on you 5, Hit me with your best shot 4, I'm gonna love you 3, Smile 2, Sway with me 2, Lonely gun 2, Bad memory 2, Man's world 1, Experiment on me 1, Diamonds 1, Danger 1).

Third place goes to Hamilton, etched into my brain forever, popping up on 20 mornings. It is closely followed by 17 mornings of Moana (You're welcome 6, Shiny 5, We know the way 4, How far I'll go 2), and 16 of DJ Earworm, prominently featuring 2010 and 2017. The musical numbers of Magicians made an appearance on 14 mornings (One day more 7, Here I go again 5).

There are always days when my brain just goes to weird musical places. One of these WTF mornings was this lovely song, linked to me by the friend, listened to once (I was greatly amused), and then crawling back from the depths of my memory several weeks later. The other was a little tune with lyrics by a very creative friend of mine, Fanni Sütő. 

Who else has this thing with taking up to songs? What sticks in your head most often?...

316 earworms

This time last year I blogged about how I wake up with a song stuck in my head almost every morning. For an entire year I wrote down the songs in my journal, and compiled a list. In 2019 I repeated the experiment, curious to see how the soundtrack changed this year, or whether it changed at all. It was definitely a fun thing to do!

Last year there were 306 days when I woke up to music stuck in my head. Usually they are stuck so strong that I keep humming them over and over until I listen to something else. This year there were 316 mornings like this; but while last year's list contained 150 different songs, this year only had 137. There is still no discernible system or reason for which song I wake up to which morning. Some of them I listen to a lot, others I have not heard for years. Songs I like tend to show up, but spaced out over months, rather than in a cluster.

Here is this year's Top 5. Don't judge.

First place, with 12 mornings:

(The Moana soundtrack is still in first place; I woke up to We know the way 8, You're welcome also 8, and Where you are 2 times)

Second place, 11 mornings:
(Yes, this is Scarlett Johansson as a porcupine)

Third place, 10 mornings:
(Yes, I know, the Sing soundtrack definitely stuck with me; I also woke up to I've got faith 4 times, it's one of my favorite songs to walk around the city to.)

Also third place with 10 mornings (sticking to her place on last year's list):

Fourth place, 9 mornings:
(I don't even listen to this one and it still stuck)

Fifth place, 8 mornings:

Also fifth pace, 8 mornings:
(Not counting the Moana songs again; Halsey's Castle, from last year's list, also got 8 mornigs).

+1 I listen to on repeat while walking to work, and yet I only woke up to it once, I don't get it:

I also compared this year's list to last year's. Last year's first place, Little Talks, only got 6 mornings, and the second place songs, Ed Sheeran's I see fire and Demi Lovato's Confident only got 2 mornings each.

It was also interesting to look at soundtracks. As I mentioned before, I woke up to Moana songs a total of 30 mornings this year. Next to them, I really got hooked on The Magicians soundtrack - together with Under pressure from the list above, they were the song of the day on 22 mornings (Take on me 7, Here I go again 6, One day more 1), and countless workdays. I also added some badass blues songs from new favorites Larkin Poe on 15 mornings (Look away 6, Dandelion 5, Bleach blonde bottle blues 4). Hamilton is still alive and well with 12 mornings (Wait for it 6, Alexander Hamilton 4, Someday 1, Satisfied 1).

On the other end of the list there were quite a few WTF moments this year. My "favorite" was a children's camp song aptly titled One hundred purple fake dumplings marching in the desert, which is basically a version of 99 bottles of beer on the wall, and it drives adults nuts. And also, to give a nod to subconscious childhood nostalgia, this:

Thank God I only had to wake up to it once.

I shall continue the experiment in 2020. Can't wait to see how it goes...

Do you often wake up with a song stuck in your hear? What is your experience?

306 earworms in 2018

Am I the only one who wakes up with music in her head? This is not a rhetorical question: The people I have asked so far looked at me really weird. And yet I can't help it: Most mornings, when I wake up, there is a random song stuck in my ears. It sometimes sticks with me all morning; other times I listen to something else to chase it away. But whether I like it or not, there seems to be a radio alarm clock in my subconscious. This year, when I started my new bullet journal (don't judge), I decided to write down every morning what my intro song to the day was. And the results are in:

Between January 1st and December 31st in 2018, I woke up with a song in my head 306 times. Monthly, this means between 21 and 28 mornings, so the phenomenon is pretty consistent. July had the most such mornings (28), and February and May had the fewest (21). But this is not really about statistics - this is about the music.

I want to note up front that I have absolutely no control over what music I hum when I wake up. Sometimes it's a song I listened to the day before, but often it is something I have not heard for years, or something I never even liked. Sometimes I wake up with the same song three days in a row, other times I have to hum all morning before I realize where the tune is from. The list is long: There are 150 different songs on it, and while many of them popped up more than once, here are the top 5 most common:

 Top of the list (12 mornings):

Second place (11 mornings):

Also second place (11 mornings):

Third place (10 mornings):

Also third place (10 mornings):

+ My personal favorite to wake up to (7 mornings):

+ When I wake up as a feminist (also 7 mornings):

When I look at albums, the list is a little different: I had a large number of Hamilton songs (Alexander Hamilton 10, Satisfied 7, Wait for it 5), and most of the Moana soundtrack (We know the way 7, How far I'll go 6, Shiny 5, You're welcome 4), as well as a healthy dose of Renaissance dance music and Blackmore's Night (courtesy of my reenactment hobbies). On the other end of the spectrum I had quite a few WTF moments, but the negative record came from the opening of a soap opera that my grandmother used to watch religiously when I was little. The song, somehow embedded in my subconscious, resurfaced to ambush me one morning. Here you go:

I think I'm going to continue with this experiment in 2019, just for the fun of it (maybe my grandchildren will find it interesting one day). In the meantime, the question remains: Am I the only one with built in Spotify, or do others wake up like this too?...

V is for a very short post on Veils, and a great song!

Three of them, specifically.

The Veil of Maya in Hinduism is the symbol of illusion, dreaming, and duality. It cloacks true reality from us, replacing it with illusions, distracting colors and shapes. The goddess Maya is also the protector of the universe who possesses a part of every other god's and goddess' power. I don't know about you, I like illusions.

The féth fíada is the magic mist or veil that cloaks the fae world and its inhabitants from mortal eyes. In one of my favorite Irish stories Eithne lost her veil as she was bathing in a stream, and after that she could never find her way home to her own world; it was invisible to her eyes, and she to theirs. She became a nun and took on Christianity before she died.

And then there is a third one, called The Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery in her book The Story Girl, which is largely responsible for me becoming a professional storyteller (go figure). It is a tale about the princess who is too proud to marry any mortal man; she waits for a knight that defeats everyone. Well, she ends up marrying a mysterious victor in black armor... read the rest for yourselves!
This story always reminds me of this song which is based on a similar tale:

Der Letzte Tanz (Schandmaul)

One of my favorite songs. That's all!