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Feature
12 Of Cinema’s Catchiest Earworms
Abandon all hope, ye who enter here…

Another Madagascar movie, another highly infectious cinematic earworm. Where the original Madagascar and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had variations of Reel 2 Real’s ‘I Like To Move It’ as their indecently catchy signature tunes, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted has Afro Circus, a song sung by Chris Rock’s zebra Marty. The lyrics go as follows: “Dadadadadadadada circus / Dadadadadadadada afro / Circus afro circus afro polka dot polka dot polka dot afro!” It’s not high literature, but it’s almost criminally catchy. So to celebrate (that may be the wrong word) the new ditty that’s sure to clog up your brain for weeks to come, here are 12 more for you to, ahem, ‘enjoy’…

P.S. This is far from being an exhaustive list, since our ears couldn’t take it, but let us know what other earworms Hollywood has inflicted you with by sharing your pain in the comment box below.

WORDS ALASTAIR PLUMB
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David Bowie’s Magic Dance

From: Labyrinth (1986)
 

So hard to get out of your head, so easy to get wrong; the key lyrics to Jareth’s Magic Dance are these: “You remind me of the babe / What babe? / The babe with the power / What power? The power of voodoo / Who do? / You do / Do what? / Remind me of the babe”. Whilst it circles around the plughole of your psyche for the next eight decades, feel free to pop a crystal ball down your leggings, mime snorting something up your schnozz and pretend to toss a baby babe in the air with no discernable care for where it lands. Goblin kings: a health and safety nightmare.
 

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Have Your Say
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Your Comments

1
What no 'Spiderpig'? More

Posted by lankeymarlon on Monday October 22, 2012, 11:04

2 Springtime for Hitler?
Can't get enough of that ker-azy hun. Springtime For Hitler, definitely. More

Posted by Schnorbitz on Monday October 22, 2012, 00:18

3
Hakuna ma tata (I think that's how you spell it) from The Lion King - catchiest song in the film. Also does 'Superfreak' from Little Miss Sunshine count? I'm not sure, perhaps I haven't quite grasped the concept of an 'earworm.' More

Posted by circuit on Sunday October 21, 2012, 16:36

4 South park!
Blame Canada is catchy, but it took weeks before I could get the Terence and Philip Uncle F*cker song out of my head. More than a little embarrassing if you find yourself singing it on the way to work! More

Posted by Lucy McCaul on Friday October 19, 2012, 16:56

5 RE: Fanfare
I don't even remember the Captain America/Star Wars and a couple of others. The one I find hard to shake has always been Beetlejuice!'s Day-O More

Posted by elab49 on Friday October 19, 2012, 15:38

6 Fanfare
My wife of almost 3 months and I did an "Old Hollywood Glamour" theme for our wedding, and when we did the "couples introductions", we came out to the REAL 20th Century Fox fanfare, full extended version!! I agree with SovietSpaceCat that Morricone's theme from "Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo", aka THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY should have been on this list, in the NUMBER ONE SPOT!! More

Posted by jws1272 on Friday October 19, 2012, 12:36

7 No Afternoon Delight!?
I cannot believe Anchorman's unforgettable masterpiece 'Afternoon Delight' is not on this list. More

Posted by Fossilized on Friday October 19, 2012, 07:13

8 South Park Movie * 2
Blame Canada What would Brian Boitano Do? More

Posted by ajnoon on Friday October 19, 2012, 06:46

9 Whistles
Whistling in films always gets in my head. I'm thinking Twisted Nerve from Kill Bill 1, or Devils in the Details from Hanna More

Posted by gusbuster on Thursday October 18, 2012, 15:00

10 Kill Bill Volume 1
Has to be the Japanese all girl trio song in the bar towards the end. I used to play a game in my office by whistling it and see how far it would travel and get other people doing it as well. More

Posted by monkeez1 on Thursday October 18, 2012, 12:52

11 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Who could forget Ennio Morricone's epic theme. You only need the first couple of notes ... Oh, and Empire ... Sack your proof reader or turn off autocorrect. Alex F indeed! (Twice!) More

Posted by SovietSpaceCat on Thursday October 18, 2012, 12:48

12 Kia-Ora
If we're having the Pearl and Dean music then I still can't get "Hey Crusader! Have you any nuts?" or "We all adore Kia-Ora" out of my head. More

Posted by Notmyrealname on Thursday October 18, 2012, 11:21

13 Robin Hood Disney-style
The opening song has to go down as the catchiest tune ever - guaranteed to get into my head for weeks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx_4C1cyUZA More

Posted by ratsarse on Wednesday October 17, 2012, 14:18

14 The Jungle Book
'I wanna be like you' is the worst for getting stuck in my head. It can take hours to try and get rid of it but now you've got me thinking of it again! Now I'm the king of the swingers, oh, the jungle VIP... More

Posted by hotfuzzaholic on Wednesday October 17, 2012, 13:00

15 Oompa Loompa
...a special mention for the Family Guy one as well, "What do you do when you're stuck in a chair? Finding it hard to go up and down stairs," More

Posted by bradcam72 on Wednesday October 17, 2012, 12:34

16 The Pearl and Dean music!
all together now: "dah dah, dah dah, dah dah, dadah, dadadah, dah dah dadah dadah dah.. DAH" More

Posted by jameswhaleofatime on Wednesday October 17, 2012, 12:27

17 EOTT and TGE
I felt that The Karate Kid and TBOTRK were similar to both of those -- though they are undoubtedly huge earworms -- so if I get the time I'll add them on Thursday (I'm away today). As for Cap, I wanted something new on the list, as a lot of it was very nostalgic (ironic, considering the song's nature...) More

Posted by Ali Plumb on Wednesday October 17, 2012, 07:49

18
Oompa Loompas predicted the fake tan epidemic way back in 1971, who knew? I'm more partial to Underground from Labyrinth myself with the gospel choir that kicks in midway through, one of David Bowie's forgotten songs that should have been a bigger hit in 1986. More

Posted by BenTramer on Wednesday October 17, 2012, 02:23

19
Errm Eye of the Tiger and The Great Escape are probably the best examples wonder why they weren't on their and Captain America was. More

Posted by andybobbins87 on Tuesday October 16, 2012, 23:18

20
The Disney Club theme the soldiers sing in Full Metal Jacket always gets stuck in my brain for days on end: M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E... More

Posted by SDHoneymonster on Tuesday October 16, 2012, 20:10


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