I have an earworm, and now so do you!
First, you know what an earworm is? It's that damn commercial jingle, or segment of a song, quotes. Things like that just rolls around and around in your head seemingly forever.
My mother who I was pretty close to had them all the time but she would just sing it or say it and all the time in the kitchen. Which is where she was most of the time anyway. On any given day I would hear the same tunes or sayings..."Balls! Cried the queen, if I had two I'd be king!" She was a depression kid and would sing from all these genre's except the same songs..."If I had the wings of an angelllll, over these prison walls I would Flyyyy" " I'm a ding-dong daddy from Dumas"
I of course was born in the late 50's and was an avid fat little Saturday morning cartoon addict.
Ugh! I'm in the kitchen and making some pie (And yes, at times I think of those songs and quotes as you can tell. But she also passed on to me an incredible amount of cooking expertise.) when my wife said "when will the pie be ready?"
I said "Wait!" and I waved my hands over the pie and said "Eeanie meanie, chili beanie, the spirits are about to speak"
She looked all crazy at me and then like a lightbulb went off she vaguely remembered and began to rattle off names of shows and movies it came from. Here I am waiting for the right answer, which never came, remembering stupid lines or jingles...Once she was told, it got worse. I'm reaching for my knife and it was the wrong one..."Ooooh, I must have grabbed the wrong hat." Also from Rocky and Bullwinkle. After going through Boris Badanoff and Natasha, with a smattering of Dudley Doorite and Nel.
The tangents started coming like an avalanche. Jetson's, Flintstone's, And the most quotable of all Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck "That'sss Disssspicable" Sylvester? Tweety? "I taut I taw...." Yeah, you can finish it can't you?
When I signed in, I said "Hello" to Perrie and told her about this, she wasn't familiar with the "earworm" term and I proceeded to give her examples which just further drove me nuts..."When it says Libby's, Libby's, Libby's on the label, label, label......" Sing along kids!
Movies! Stupid movies at that! "Space pirates...scurge of the universe!" "Hi, I'm Barf, 1/2 man....."Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a.....
"I could while away the hours, conversin' with the flowers....." If I had a nickle for everytime I saw someone do something really stupid and started quietly singing that song.
What endless things roll in your head for hours?
"his boy Elroy...Jane, his wife"
"If I could be an Oscar...." You started singing that as soon as you saw it didn't you??
"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lett....."
"It take two hands...."
"Weeeee're off..."
Tell me...have you spent the better part of a day saying "Wooob woob wooob" and waving your hand in your partners face?
Thinking about your childhood yet? Remember ......?
Heh, heh, my job is done here......Lemme know what's spinning around there now?
"Helllp! Jane...stop this crazy thing!"
Afraid I'm not going to help. Remember the manaminah song from the Muppets show,
I had that song rattling around my brain for several years after hearing it.
Menamenah da daaa da da da...menamenah daa da da da...
Oh you!!
Lol here's another one that stuck with me "If you're in trouble, wait, don't run this kind of trouble is lots of fun Pop-o-matic pops the dice pop a six and you move twice" etc.
The popcicles with their own tray and rings for sticks? Those?
Hey! I loved this things! My mom would freeze orange juice...real orange juice not jut orange flavored Kool-Aid
Lol I loved those things, mom couldn't make enough of em for me.
I still do......
Dear Friend Studiusbagus: Here are three ear worms from my youth.
This will prove just how truly ancient I am.
1. "My beer is Rheingold the dry beer.
Think of Rheingold when ever you buy beer.
Never bitter, not sweet.
Extra dry flavored treat.
Won't you try extra dry Rheingold beer".
2. "In this vale of toil and sin.
The head grows bald, but not the chin.
Burma Shave".
3. "When the values go up, up, up.
And the prices go down, down, down.
Robert Hall, this season, will show you the reason;
Low over head, low overhead".
Enoch, Seeing the USA in My Chevrolet.
Oh my goodness! I do remember those...
Dear Friend Studiusbagus: Another shuffle down memory lane, to a time when color TV was still science fiction.
"There's a holdup up in the Bronx.
Brooklyn's broken out in fights.
There's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights.
There's a scout troop short a child.
Kruschev's due at Idlewild.
Car 54, Where Are You?"
Enoch, Toody and Muldoon. P.C.
Uuh, Uuh.
And never forget:
The Truth is Out There!
This will prove just how truly ancient I am.
1. "My beer is Rheingold the dry beer.
But are you ancient enough to remember the Bert and Harry Piels beer commercials?
Dear Friend Krishna: I am.
So is my classmate Abraham (The Other Patriarch).
Smiles.
E.
2. "In this vale of toil and sin.
The head grows bald, but not the chin.
Burma Shave".
Here's one I remember:
Feel like a noble
Not a knave.
Caesar uses
Burma Shave!
Love it!
E.
A very old one, one that some here may not be old enough to have every heard,
Bucky Beaver sings.....
"Brusha, Brusha, Brusha,
New Ipana Toothpaste, ....."
Dear Sister Raven Wing: "You'll wonder where the yellow went.
When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent".
E.
Dear Brother Enoch, yes indeed, I do remember that one too. I was very little when the Ipana ad cam e out, and instead of singing Brusha Brusha, I would sing Bucky, Bucky Beaver as it was easier to say than Brusha. (grin)
I first took an interest in reading by watching the old B/W TV ads. Our dog would sit in front of the TV and watch the test pattern until the shows started up, then he's back to let us know it was ready for watching.
...and I thought I would uniquely come up with that.
I think that's got to be close to the top of all.
Dear Sister Raven Wing: We too made up our own lyrics, or substituted others for the real ones.
For example, here are some lyrics not quite as others would recall them.
"Burpsi Cola hits the spot.
In your tummy, it will rot.
Gassy as beer.
Acid like wine.
Oh my gosh, it's Turpentine"!
Enoch, Playing With My Words and Food ('Cause it's More Fun that Way).
LOL!!! Yes, it was fun to make up words for the ad songs. The real ones got boring after a while. And it was funny that my own two kids did that same thing when they were very young. Olive pits don't fall too far from the Olive tree I guess.
Dear Sister Raven Wing: So true.
Kids love rhymes as much as laughter.
E.
OMG-- I actually do remember that one!
It's a small world...It is stuck in my head and has been since my daughter had be take her on the Disney ride 6 bazillion times.
I hate that song.
Darn it Kavika!! Now I have that song going on in my head none stop.
Too late now. You are stuck with it for days.
You too?
I don't have kids and that damn song stuck in our heads for days after Disney World visits.
As a side note, we were staying in a Disney Hotel one year and we started getting frisky which abruptly stopped when the "Happy birthday Mickey" song started playing on the TV because she felt Walt was watching.
Dear Friend Studiusbagus:
"Whose the leader of the club that's made for you and me?"
M-I-C- K-E Y
M-O-U-S-E.
Hey there, hi there, ho there.
Your as welcome as can be.
"Mic Key Mouse".
M-I-C (See in the middle ages the Bubonic Plague wiped out between 1/4 to 1/3 of Europe)
K-E-Y (Why? Because they are carrier vermin)!
R-A-T.
Mickey Rat, Mickey Rat.
Together we in will infest
{Well, you get the idea}.
Enoch, Winking at Rodent Rhymes.
Oh my! I looked at just that much in the tracker and finished it myself....Thanks....really...yeah, uh huh...LOL
We used to sing this on the school bus...until the bus driver made us stop
Dear Friend Trout Giggles: John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.
His name is my name too.
Whenever we go out, people always shout.
There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.
Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah.
Enoch, Counting 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.
Now that's a fun song when you've drank those 99 bottles...you start to lose count
Dear Friend Trout Giggles: 99 bottles.
98.
3.
I lost my place.
Smiles.
E.
And is there anyone here who knows what time it is?
And can anyone guess who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
(Maybe that's an unfair question. Because before the Internet-- even before TV (!)-- there was once a form of media called "Radio".So probably the only one who really knows is...Buzz!
Dear Friend Krishna: The Shadow Knows.
Margot Layne knows.
Lamont Cranston knows.
Enoch, In Search of Knowledge.
Smiles.
Thanks, Friend. Now it's stuck in my head
Soup and sandwich to the tune of love and marriage.
See the USA in your Chevrolet
It's been a hard days night
Here comes the sun
To be honest, I like when I get this one:
And boy did they ever roll that over and over on Doris Day's show!
Dear Friend Studiusbagus: Dina Shore show too.
Remember how she would descend the staircase at the beginning of the show wearing flowing gowns?
Just once I would have given my Wilson Tony Kubek baseball mitt to see her slide down the banister.
America is the greatest land of all.
Enoch
It hasn't happened in a while since I don't drop Mr Giggles off at work anymore but....
Reveille. If I was running behind that damn song would get me before I left base. And so I would sit there....and make bugle noises while it was playing. Then bugle noises all the rest of the damn day.
I make bugle noises all day...but most of the time it's involuntary.
And sometimes muffled in a seat cushion...
I'm at that age where you can't trust a bugle noise that doesn't come from your mouth
A few years ago I was on an elevator alone to see my Dr. This woman maybe 5 years younger than me gets on with her mother that had to be in her 80's.
The doors close and suddenly...Bbbbbrrrrrriiippp!
And the older lady looks at her daughter and says "That was a good one huh?"
Never saw that many shades of red on a person.
Dear Friend Trout Giggles: Too funny honey!
E.
BOL!
I busted a gut!
There is a Hebrew Song from the 1950 - 1960's.
The translated title is, "If not today, then tomorrow".
Its' a song of great undaunted, unshakable, eternal optimism.
Whenever I took examinations, went into combat, or any other task or activity what a lot was riding on it, I would sing that to myself (to the extent possible).
In my 70's, am still alive and kicking.
I attribute that to working my tootsies off in massive preparation, keeping a level head under pressure and in confusion and chaos; and putting forth what ever was necessary to achieve success.
That said, the lyrics are still nice.
Such inspirational words I don't mind in my skull, along with the dust bunnies and loose change accumulated from three quarters of a century in this life.
Enoch, Doing What is Necessary. If Not Today, Then Tomorrow.
A memory you can wear with pride and satisfaction...remember on my friend.
Well, something current (45 years and running) is about to give all you some relief:
And for those who are little more sedate: (Boogie woogie!)
You got to let it stick all day long now! Ya hear?
"C'mon on down! You're the next contestant on The Price is Right!"
Dear Friend Calbab: In the Mood.
Its a Wonderful World.
I Found My Thrill on Blueberry Hill.
Ring of Fire.
My One and Only Love (That is the "our song" in English for Mrs. E. and me. Close second is: At Last).
The world is a better place for music.
E.
Brother! That is good stuff. Good earworming. Question: How you ever tried to get multiple songs stuck in your head? That's never happened to me, and. . . I think that would be a problem!
Dear Brother Calbab: Not done that yet.
Never say never.
E.
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz....
Dear Friend Studiusbagus: That was some spicy meat ball!
E.
Winston tastes good, like...
Dear Friend Studiusbagus: Nine out of ten Doctors who preferred Camels have gone back to women.
I'd walk a mile for a hump!
Enoch (Joe Who?)
HA!
Now sleep, and wake up to the smell of Maxwell House coffee percolating in your house!
Good to the last drop!
Surely, I remember drinking percolated coffee with lots of sugar 'resting' in the bottom of the cup! Those were the days. Gonna find me this kitchen essential for old time sake! (Smile.)
We had one of those that sat on the stove. I also have one for camping.
My grampap and I used to eat "coffee soup". It was a piece of bread placed in a bowl with coffee. He ate his with just milk but I had to have lots of sugar. I think it was a depression-era thing.
Dear Friend Calbab: Drizzle Orange Blossom or English Walnut Honey into the coffee at the bottom of the mug.
Stir and let mix.
Pour piping hot water slowly stirring all the while until the coffee, honey and water blend.
Add to taste Gran Duque D'Alba Brandy to make it go down warm and smooth.
Line the coffee mug with chilled fresh whipped cream
Sip the brew slowly through the whipped cream so cool and sweeten.
Party on the Palette.
Enoch.
I love it. And, bread and sugar is good. Though now we know that bread is MADE with a little sugar. (Smile.) Ah! Those were the days, TG!
Brother Enoch, is that a party or a toddy? Unfortunately for me when I was an imbiber I never could enjoy the pleasure of anything with alcohol and heat combined without falling immediately asleep! Back then, the last thing I wanted to be at a party was. . .sleep! HA! To be clear, I still feel I miss out on warm alcoholic beverages (now I only have appetite for beer, and only on calendar blue moons). Alas, maybe I am allergic to toddies? I never figured it out.
Maybe now, I can give it a fresh try, because my range of sleep nowadays is "atrocious." (I will copy this "recipe.") NOTE: Do you use instant coffee?
You should open your own coffee shop, Enoch. You're too good for Jay's Diner
Dear Friend Calbab: Rum Extract has no alcohol.
Just the flavor.
E.
Dear Friend Trout Giggles: That's what the servers say, at the end of a shift when they just want everyone to leave.
Smiles.
Enoch.
Ahhh! Thank you kindly. (Smile.)
Bring BOOTS! And Let's do some TaLKING!
Sing along with me now!
Blood, Water, Sky & Sound. My final offering.
May this tune drive your day and haunt your tonight. . . .
"If you've got the time....we've got the beer....MILLER BEER !
To this day I can't get it outa my head.
"The champagne of bottled beer!"
I do like Miller Beer (on blue moons). So silky going down. Thanks for reminding me!
Welcome.
I'm a "Becks" or "Peroni" kinda guy !
Dear Friend Calbab: The Shampoo of bottled beer.
After a hard day on dialysis, its Miller's Time.
I also like Moldson's Beer Whiz Beer.
"It's in the Water".
E.
Dear Friend It Is ME: Sadder Bud Wiser.
Smiles.
E.
ShiiiiiiiiVERS !
LOL
Hamm's beer, from the land of sky blue waters..
That's Thumper in the early days of a career in television and films! I am glad it's pointed out "in color" because the late 50's and beginning 60's were surely black and white for me!
The funny thing was the ''land of sky blue waters'' which is supposed to be the meaning of the word, Minnesota..Actually means ''cloudy water'' in the Dakota language...
Dear Brother Kavika: Ever read the Cantonese Novella, The Yellow River by I.P. Daley?
Enoch Hemmingway
Dear Friend Norman D: Great one.
Love it!
Please keep 'em coming.
Enoch.
Although I love the Beatles, it seems that The Beach Boys get stuck in my head:
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go, Jamaica
That's where you want to go to get away from it all
My darlin' you're so fine
Ohhhh-hhh-hhh
But darlin' i'll find a way
To let you know what you meant to me
Guess it was meant to be
A farmer, a lawyer, and a sage
A bit gouty in the leg
You know, it's quite bizarre
To think that here we are
Playing midwives to an egg
[ADAMS, spoken]
Egg? What egg?
[FRANKLIN, spoken]
America. The birth of a new nation
My daytime-nighttime earworms, for sure! Happy! Happy! HAPPY! HAPPY! happy - hap p y - ha p py - H a pPy - hApP Y - H app Y . . . Safe & Sound . . . Safe-N-Sound- Safe-n-Sound . . . .
Thanks Cal!
I love Yaz and Foreigner and especially Dance!
Dear Brother Calbab: Thanks.
E.
I don't know about you guys-- but what I really want to do is to teach the world to sing. And beyond that-- I want to teach them to sing. .in perfect harmony! LOL
And then what? Well, I'd like to buy the world a Coke!
Now why would I want to do something like that? Isn't it obvious? Its because its The Real Thing!
P.S: Those are phrases I'll probably never forget. But OTOH, I do not drink any kind of pop (what you coastal elites mistakenly refer to as "Soda").
Here's another kind of earworm....
A woman who noticed moving lumps in her face was surprised to learn they were nematodes, probably transmitted by a mosquito bite in Russia, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.