How To Get Rid Of A Song Stuck In Your Head (the right way)

TL;DR: First read the lyrics. Then sit in silence, let the song run through your head freely, and let your brain figure out whatever it's trying to figure out.

**This is a method to use when the Zeigarnik effect doesnt work, that doesn't require you to just drown it out with something else or destroy memories, both of which can be a very unhealthy habits to develop. This method cuts to the real core of the issue.**

Don't you love it when you get a great song stuck in your head? It just kinda keeps going. And at first you're like, "Ok, this is cool. No problem." But a part of you is afraid. You know what's going to happen. You're afraid it won't go away. That the sweet serenade will turn into a lyrical browbeating that makes you want to throw yourself into the Potomac, and it'll end up being a song you hate the life out of. But you just accept it for now, you try to listen to some other stuff and forget about it. "It'll go away," you tell yourself.

Well, wouldn't it be nice to know that it's gone for real, and that you WON'T find yourself playing hot potato hand grenade in a cold sweat under your uncle's staircase in a week? Wouldn't it be nice to know that no song will EVER plague you like that again? Music is a really great way to deal with our demons and grow as individuals. And songs like this that get stuck in your head are WHERE IT IS AT. Here's what I think is going on and what to do.

Why The Song is Stuck in Your Head:

What I have found is that when a song is stuck in your head it means there's something your brain is trying to figure out, and that song has something to do with it. It doesn't matter if you like the song or not. There's something in you that's trying to speak, and it's found a voice through that song because you won't listen otherwise. There's something in you that needs your attention.


The solution: Listen.

As in most cases, taking "control" really means taking responsibility, letting go of your egos, and then being open to whatever you may be about to learn from within.

First, go read the lyrics, following along with the song as it plays. Just google the song name and "lyrics", and then find the song on youtube. (if you haven't already compulsively bought fifteen thousands copies of it) I prefer to not watch the music video, but that's up to you.

Then give yourself some time to just sit in silence with your thoughts and no external stimulation. This is basically a mini-meditation. Just let the song run through your head freely as it will and just let your thoughts do what they will do. In no time, you will have an "ah-hah" or a "holy crap" moment. You might even get a paradigm shift. I can't tell  you what your revelation will be, but you will definitely know it when you see it.

Of course the ultimate proof is if the song starts playing in your head a minute later. If you found the right thing, it definitely will not.

Some caviats: sometimes it's not just a thought, but a "do". It might bug you until you apologize to your friend, or return the book you stole. It might be that you have to grieve, so you need to go grieve before the song leaves your mind. Whatever it is, you'll know what needs to be done from this five minute exercise.

The last step is to give some sort of thanks. Just thank yourself, whoever, or whatever you feel is partly responsible for your revelation. Appreciate it. Feel that appreciation. Reflect. Done.

No method is completely foolproof--I have been running from the Mattress Giant song for the last 15+ years and it still haunts me to this day. I just can't sit with the song long enough to figure it out--it's so damn unnerving. But for every other song that has ever been stuck in my head, this method has worked. We all have our demons, and music is a great  way to deal with them. I could write endlessly about the perplexing magicality of music. Good luck!
(cue reading rainbow)