BROOKE GLADSTONE: Did you ever have a tune burrow into your brain? Experts call it an earworm, and it can sound like this: [MR. SOFTEE THEME PLAYS UP & UNDER] This month, in his continuing battle against noise pollution, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has proposed banning that theme from city streets, where it spills forth all summer long from Mr. Softee ice cream trucks. Think of the mayor as exterminator, nozzle trained on a public infestation of earworms. I remember the first time I had one. I was 9 years old. [MY BOY LOLLIPOP UP & UNDER]

SINGER: MY BOY LOLLIPOP YOU MAKE MY HEART GO GIDDYAP YOU SET THE WORLD ON FIRE YOU ARE MY ONE DESIRE YOU'RE MY LOLLIPOP [HARMONICA] My Boy Lollipop was number two on the hit parade, and it made my heart go giddyap until I was ready to dash my brains out. Took me years to get rid of it. Even now, it sneaks back if I'm tired. But, it could have been worse. [IT'S A SMALL WORLD PLAYS]

CHORUS OF

SINGERS: IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL....

BROOKE GLADSTONE: That nightmare tune appeared on a list of top ten earworms compiled last year by University of Cincinnati marketing professor James Kellaris, with the help of his students. As you might have guessed, songs with lyrics stick most, followed by commercial jingles and instrumental tunes. Kellaris found that most episodes last for hours. Those poor kids. [LION SLEEPS TONIGHT PLAYS]

SINGER: IN THE JUNGLE, THE MIGHTY JUNGLE, THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT IN THE JUNGLE...

BROOKE GLADSTONE: In June of 1985, two young climbers attempted to scale a peak in the Peruvian Andes. As told in the book and documentary Touching the Void, one of them fell into a crevasse and was presumed dead. At one point, he almost wished he was, because of an earworm. [TOUCHING THE VOID CLIP PLAYS]

MAN: I did have one time when I got a song going through my head, and it was by a band called Boney M. I don't really like Boney M's music.

SINGERS: TRA LA LA

MAN: SHOW ME A MOTION--

SINGERS: TRA LA LA LA LA LA--

MAN: SHOW ME A MOTION--

SINGERS: TRA LA LA, LA LA--

MAN: SHE LOOKS LIKE--

MAN: And it just went on and on and on, for hours. I found it very upsetting, cause I, I wanted to try and get it out of my head, I was thinking, you know, bloody hell, I'm going to die to Boney M.

MAN: SHOW ME A MOTION--

BROOKE GLADSTONE: They say that musicians, women and neurotics are most susceptible to earworm, but according to the San Francisco Gate, Mark Twain once wrote a short story about a, quote, "jingling rhyme" that became indelibly lodged in the author's mind until he passed it on to another hapless victim. But does that really work? They say breathing into a paper bag can cure hiccups, but can no one rid me of this meddlesome tune? [MISSION IMPOSSIBLE THEME PLAYS UP & UNDER] Yes. It turns out Neva Grant, a senior producer at NPR's Morning Edition, has the cure.

NEVA GRANT: Yes, I do, Brooke. It is the song America from the musical West Side Story. You deploy this particular antidote when the song that's stuck in your head is so bad that even hearing: [SINGING] I LIKE TO BE IN AMERICA, over and over again is, is better than what was ever there before. Because you need something forceful to kind of push whatever the other thing is firmly out of the way.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So there you have it, folks. An end to misery. But don't thank me yet. It may not work for you. Even worse, you might not be able to get America out of your head. In that case, blame Neva. [INSTRUMENTAL SECTION OF AMERICA UP & UNDER]

BOB GARFIELD: That's it for this week's show. On the Media was directed by Katya Rogers and produced by Janeen Price, Megan Ryan and Tony Field, and edited-- by Brooke. Dylan Keefe is our technical director and Jennifer Munson our engineer. We had help from Anne Kosseff and Mike Vuolo and editing help from Sharon Ball. Our webmaster is Amy Pearl.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Arun Rath is our senior producer and Dean Cappello our executive producer. Bassist/composer Ben Allison wrote our theme, which listeners tell us is too complicated to be an earworm. This is On the Media, from NPR. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

BOB GARFIELD: And I'm Bob Garfield.

FEMALE SINGER: HERE YOU ARE FREE, AND YOU HAVE PRIDE.

MALE SINGERS: LONG AS YOU STAY ON YOUR OWN SIDE.

FEMALE SINGER: DREAM TO BE ANYTHING YOU CHOOSE.

MALE SINGERS: DREAM TO WAIT TABLES AND SHINE SHOES.