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 :)