[porterde]

There’s a neuro-linguistic programming technique you can try to get rid of an earworm.

Picture a radio playing the song and imagine yourself slowly turning down the volume and the song getting quieter until it has gone.

This used to work for me but over time I’ve had to extend it with imagining switching the radio off at the end, unplugging it, and chucking it out the window so it smashes on the ground so no chance of it turning back on!

[giancarlostoro]

I had to google what ear worm is. English being a second language, I read the comments here first and thought you were using telepathy (essentially) to get some parasite to leave your ear.

Its rare for a song to really capture me to that extent. I dont know if its because I would just listen to entire albums on repeat or what.

I cant even mention Baby Shark without freaking out some people but I dont get it stuck in my head, I just eventually get tired of singing it with the preschooler.

[jimkleiber]

I'll try that. The one that sometimes works for me is to sing the song very slowly in my head. Something about disrupting the tempo seems to work.

My operating hypothesis is that earworms help us maintain a specific tempo, like the old working on the railroad or singing songs while doing work together, that when we disrupt the tempo, especially slowing it down to where it won't catch other songs, then it works.

[syncr0]

And what if you can’t “picture” in your “mind’s eye” i.e. aphantasia?