A “catchy song,” or an “earworm,” is a tune that gets stuck in your head and repeats involuntarily. While the phenomenon is highly subjective with one person’s ‘catchy song’ being another person’s ‘turn that rubbish down’, there are several key elements that make a song memorable and catchy.
Repetition is the single most important element. The human brain is hardwired to recognize and remember patterns usually via the ‘hook’.
A hook is a short, memorable musical phrase or lyric. The hook is often the chorus and is repeated multiple times throughout the song. This simple repetition makes it easy for the brain to latch on and remember.
A strong, consistent rhythmic pattern, such as the famous stomp-stomp-clap in Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” makes a song easy to follow and triggers a physical response like foot-tapping.
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Repeating phrases or words, as seen in many pop choruses, reinforces the song’s main idea and makes the lyrics easy to recall.
AI selects it’s catchiest songs
Online tech portal CNET recently conducted a survey in asking the leading AI chatbots in what they considered the catchy songs of all time and the difference per bot was significant.
Chat GPT’s catchiest songs of all time
Village People: Y.M.C.A.
ABBA: Dancing Queen
Michael Jackson: Billie Jean
Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Spice Girls: Wannabe
Los del Río: Macarena
OutKast: Hey Ya!
Shakira: Hips Don’t Lie
Pharrell Williams: Happy
Taylor Swift: Shake It Off
Gemini (Google) top catchiest songs of all time
“Wannabe” – Spice Girls
“Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of…)” – Lou Bega
“Eye of the Tiger” – Survivor
“Just Dance” – Lady Gaga
“Don’t Stop Believin'” – Journey
“Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen
“Happy” – Pharrell Williams
“I Will Always Love You” – Whitney Houston
“We Will Rock You” – Queen
“Call Me Maybe” – Carly Rae Jepsen
Copilot (Microsoft) catchiest songs of all time
Queen – “We Will Rock You” (1977)
Pharrell Williams – “Happy” (2013)
Queen – “We Are The Champions” (1977)
The Proclaimers – “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” (1988)
Village People – “YMCA” (1978)
Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
Europe – “The Final Countdown” (1986)
Bon Jovi – “Livin’ On A Prayer” (1986)
James Pierpoint – “Jingle Bells” (1857)
Baha Men – “Who Let The Dogs Out?” (2000)
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