Earworm

Don't lie: we've all consulted the Urban Dictionary to get a read on what's happening in the cultural lexicon.

Said dictionary's second definition for "earworm" is as follows: A song with an 'addictive' element (hook, melody, lyric) that draws people into listening multiple times. Song doesn't have to be good or bad, it just needs to have that 'addictive' element.

I don't know about you guys, but that's why I listen to pop music. For the earworms. I don't care much about however the fuck Lady GaGa's embarrassing herself in the media. I am, however, down with the opening synth pattern in her stomping, triumphant "Poker Face" - as well as the undeniable hook, the strangely operatic "Can't read my" that prefaces each mention of the song's title. These musical fragments - even if they're not supported by a larger, coherent whole (Poker Face's verses are nothing special) - are why someone like GaGa pops up on my radar screen. Like worms in soil, they borrow deep into my ears... perhaps reaching my soul.

So, looking back, it was natural for me to love a mash-up guy who called himself "DJ Earworm". But when his 2008 opus - the audaciously-titled "United State of Pop 2008 (Viva La Pop)" - found its way to my iTunes, I was blown away. Here were all of the "earworms" to the music that I had been listening to for the last year... "Apologize"'s "Too late...", Wayne's "She lick me like a lollipop", and the list goes on. The thing was, all of these fragments were stitched together into a "larger, coherent whole" -- a beautiful melody over a lush bed of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" strings. Here's one example of this stitching of disparate elements...

Baby you can have whatever you like
'Cause you asked for it, tonight
With you, with you, with you, with you
Touch my body (she lick me like a lollipop)
But I don't care what they say - guess what?! I liked it!
Come closer, 'cause you need one... tonight

As with many things musical, it doesn't have the same impact on paper. But DJ Earworm's feat was still amazing - he managed to fuse together the hooks from all of Billboard's top 20 hits for the year 2008. And he's done it again for the year 2009. That, I believe, is worthy of celebrating - even if only on a silly lil' blog.

So, I think Kon and I are trying to find songs that hit "the earworm level". If it's got one of those "addictive elements" - be it an interesting set of chords, a hilarious lyric, or a wild melody - we'll try to document it here.

Songs

DJ Earworm - "United State of Pop 2008 (Viva La Pop)" - Lyrical. Purdy. Soaring.
DJ Earworm - "United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It On The Pop)" - Frenetic. Groovy. Upbeat.
Lady GaGa - "Poker Face" - A synth-powered freight train.