Why is this song stuck in my head?

Psychologists say certain songs are more likely than others to keep playing in your brain

I have had a Kacey Musgraves song stuck in my head for two weeks, and it is making me crazy. Why is this happening?

First, some reassurance: You are not alone.

Research suggests that catchy songs that get lodged in your head—colloquially known as earworms—are common and can happen to people weekly or even daily.

"Some people wander around with music in their head kind of constantly," said psychologist Ira Hyman, who studies the phenomenon at Western Washington University in Washington state.

Scientists do not fully understand why earworms are so hard to shake. But certain songs are more likely than others to set up shop in your head. And the propensity to catch them can depend on what you have recently listened to and what you are doing.

WHAT CAUSES AN EARWORM?

It probably comes as no surprise that the songs that insert themselves into your brain are typically those you have recently listened to.

But it is also possible to get an earworm after hearing a word or sound—or even experiencing a situation—that reminds you of a particular song, said postdoctoral research fellow Callula Killingly, who studies earworms at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

Perhaps someone mentions Madonna, and then you find yourself humming Material Girl. Or you take a bite of linguine that tastes exactly like the pasta you ate just before a Taylor Swift concert, and suddenly you are singing Shake It Off.