Do you have earworm? Earworm, which I only recently discovered as a real word, is a term for songs that you can't get out of your head because of their catchy melody or repeated stanzas.

It is also called stuck song syndrome. I am sure most of us have suffered from this pretty harmless mental idiosyncrasy over the years. You might not want to read on because I am going to mention a few of the songs which stick in my head after hearing them.

There are many songs I try to avoid when listening to the radio or TV because it takes me a few hours to "get rid of the worm." It's not that they are bad songs, it's just that ... I can't get them out of my head!

Let's start with my worst — it was in my head while I was writing about this topic — "Benny and the Jets" by Elton John. Oh my God, that song just goes on and on. "Bennie, Bennie, Bennie...." Stop the music!

Have you ever been to Disney World and rode a certain ride? "It's A Small World" plays again, and again, and again during the ride. It seems it took the rest of the week's vacation to clear it from my brain.

Here are a few others — again, I'm not knocking these tunes; they are just songs that stick with me: "Mickey" by Toni Basil; "Who Let the Dogs Out" by the Baha Men; "Lollipop" by The Chordettes; "Imagination" ... another Disney song; "YMCA" by the Village People; "All Star" by Smash Mouth; "Orinoco Flow" by Enya ("Sail away, sail away, sail away"); "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick; "867-5309" by Tommy Tutone; and the aptly named song, "Can't Get It Out of My Head" by the Electic Light Orchestra.

And how do you "get it out of your head?" Some brief research on the 'net gave me these tips: 1. Chew gum; 2. Engage in some word puzzles; and, 3. Read a novel.

Yes...turn off the music and read...Perhaps this newspaper if you're not into novels!