Songs (still) in my head

Ever wonder how a song gets stuck in your head? Check this out this excerpt from The Washington Post:

WASHINGTON — As a record producer turned neuroscientist — on a first-name basis with Stevie Wonder and Carlos Santana — Daniel Levitin holds the title of Most Righteous College Professor. (At least until recent astrophysics PhD Brian May of Queen gets a teaching gig.) We caught up with the author of “This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession,” whose rocking out is now confined to a sax and guitar gig with McGill University’s Diminished Faculties.
Q. You’re the expert, but doesn’t the B.B. King riff playing in this lobby seem kind of weird for a Westin?
A. When I came down for breakfast they were blasting a Steely Dan song about a drug dealer who made acid in an A-frame out in Oregon. It was really bizarre. ... Especially since music today is becoming the new architecture. Kids under 20 are using music very differently ... They don’t have favorite bands; half the stuff they have on their iPods, they don’t care who it is or where it came from. It’s more about creating an atmosphere. It’s sonic wallpaper.
Q. In your book you say music might be an evolutionary asset.
A. Darwin thought the function of music was to attract members of the opposite sex. ... A man who can dance for hours on end, always varying the steps — that shows great physical stamina and mental flexibility. Women could be subliminally thinking, “This guy is clever. This guy could bring home a bison.”
Q. And now, in our bison-free era?
A. Look at Mick Jagger. There’s an ancient genetic echo that musicians are attractive. ... In one study women were asked to rate various fictional potential mates. The guys were either creative or not creative, rich or not rich. When women were at their most fertile, they wanted to hook up with the creative guy. Other times, they wanted the rich guy. So if you’re passing on genes, you want the creative guy.
Q. What if the creative guy is a tuba player? Are tuba players hot?
A. Tuba players are hidden in an ensemble of 90 or 100 people. I would imagine that if there was a tuba soloist, there would be tuba groupies.
Q. Now I have “Stars and Stripes Forever” stuck in my head. Explain that to me.
A. Scientists call songs that get stuck in your head “earworms,” after the German Ohrwurm. We don’t know a lot about how or why they happen — it’s hard to get funding to study this type of thing — but we know a little. Like, it tends not to be a whole song that gets stuck in your head, just 15-20 seconds of one, and it tends to be a simple song that even non-singers can hum without effort.