蜜雪冰城神曲，为啥这么上头！
最近，蜜雪冰城主题曲刷屏网络，改编版本层出不穷，“你爱我，我爱你，蜜雪冰城甜蜜蜜。I love you，you love me，MI XUE Ice cream&tea.”网友直呼：太上头了，太上头了！
实际上，歌曲源于美国作曲家史蒂芬·福斯特（Stephen Foster）于1847年所写的经典乡村民谣《Oh! Susanna》。
借（cèng）此（gè）机（rè）会（diǎn），我们来看看人们为何会被这样的歌曲洗脑，旋律为何会萦绕于耳边，挥之不去？
无注释原文：
Why earworms get stuck in your head
Science Focus
We all get a shuddering sensation when a song, for no apparent reason, refuses to leave your head – in fact here at BBC Focus we’re no strangers to the dreaded “earworm.” But a new study published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts reveals a fascinating insight into earworms, and why some songs are better than others in sticking in our heads.
The large-scale study, involving 3,000 participants, showed that earworms are usually faster, with a fairly generic and memorable melody. They also demonstrate unique intervals, such as leaps or repetitions that set them apart from just your ‘average’ pop song.
Among the most popular earworm tunes in the study were Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, Don’t Stop Believing by Journey and, rather ironically, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head by Kylie Minogue.
A musical mystery
It is a common assumption that earworms are generally songs that get more radio time and spend more time in the charts, which the study scientifically confirms, but it goes further in investigating the actual elements of the song that make it catchy in the first place.
To do this, most frequent earworms of the participants were entered into a database and compared to songs that had never been reported as an earworm at all. It showed songs that matched in popularity together with how long since they’d been in the UK charts.
The melodic features of the tunes were then analysed, revealing that earworm tunes were typically those with ‘common global melodic contours’ i.e. songs that have overall melodic shapes common in Western pop music.
“We now also know that, regardless of the chart success of a song, there are certain features of the melody that make it more prone to getting stuck in people’s heads like some sort of private musical screensaver” Says Dr Jakubowski, who conducted the research at Goldsmiths, University of London.
A classic example of a common contour pattern is heard in Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, where the first phrase rises in pitch and the second falls. This makes the tune easy to remember and has been exploited in many other nursery rhymes, but also in pop music. For example, the opening riff in Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5, also follows this pattern.
No worming out of this one
In addition to the melodic shape, the other ingredient to the earworm formula is the unusual interval structure. The aim of this is to surpass the listener’s expectations of an average pop song, showing unexpected leaps or more repeated notes than usual.
“Our findings show that you can, to some extent, predict which songs are going to get stuck in people’s heads based on the song’s melodic content,” says Jakubowski. “This could help aspiring song-writers or advertisers write a jingle everyone will remember for days or months afterwards.”
Of course, there are a whole plethora of other reasons as to why a song may get stuck in your head, such as meaningful lyrics, a reminder of a memorable experience, or maybe even the structure of your brain.
The authors conclude that studies of earworms can help elucidate how the brain works, and improve our understanding in how perception, emotions, memory and spontaneous thoughts behave in different people.
- ◆ -
注：中文文本为机器翻译仅供参考，并非一一对应
含注释全文：
Why earworms get stuck in your head
Science Focus
We all get a shuddering sensation when a song, for no apparent reason, refuses to leave your head – in fact here at BBC Focus we're no strangers to the dreaded “earworm.” But a new study published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts reveals a fascinating insight into earworms, and why some songs are better than others in sticking in our heads.
当一首歌无缘无故地在你的大脑挥之不去时，我们都会有一种不寒而栗的感觉--事实上，在《BBC聚焦》杂志，我们对这种可怕的“洗脑音乐”（earworm）并不陌生。但是，发表在《美学、创造力和艺术心理学》（Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts）上的一项新研究对“洗脑音乐”有了极有吸引力的见解，以及揭示了为什么有些歌曲比其他歌曲更能让我们印象深刻。
shudder
shudder /ˈʃʌdə/ 表示“（因有令人不快的想法或感觉而）战栗，发抖”，英文解释为“to shake suddenly with very small movements because of a very unpleasant thought or feeling”举个🌰：
The sight of so much blood made him shudder.
看到那么多的血，他不禁浑身战栗。
sensation
1）可数名词，表示“感觉；知觉”，英文解释为“a feeling that you get when sth affects your body”，如：a tingling/burning sensation 刺痛/烧灼的感觉。
2）不可数名词，表示“感觉能力；知觉能力”，英文解释为“the ability to feel through your sense of touch”，举个🌰：
She seemed to have lost all sensation in her arms.
她的两条胳膊好像完全失去知觉了。
🎬电影《困在爱中》（Stuck in Love）中的台词提到：I was overcome by the oddest sensation. 我像是被一种怪异的冲动（感觉）驱使着。
dreaded
表示“令人害怕的，令人恐惧的”，英文解释为“making you feel afraid or anxious – often used humorously”举个🌰：
My dreaded cousin is coming to stay!
我那可怕的表弟要来和我一起住了！
earworm
本文的主题词，直译就是“耳朵虫”，表示“常在耳边回响的歌曲；（因不断在脑中重复而恼人的）上口曲调”，英文解释为“a song that you keep hearing in your head”。
stick in sb's mind/head/memory
表示“铭刻在（某人）的脑海里，使某人难以忘怀”，英文解释为“to remember something”。
The large-scale study, involving 3,000 participants, showed that earworms are usually faster, with a fairly generic and memorable melody. They also demonstrate unique intervals, such as leaps or repetitions that set them apart from just your ‘average’ pop song.
这项涉及3000名参与者的大规模研究表明，“洗脑音乐”通常速度较快，具有相当通用且令人难忘的旋律。它们还表现出独特的间隔，如跳跃或重复，使它们不同于普通的流行歌曲。
melody
melody /ˈmɛlədɪ/ 1）表示“旋律；曲调；（尤指）主旋律”，英文解释为“a tune, especially the main tune in a piece of music written for several instruments or voices”；
2）表示“（旋律简洁的）乐曲，歌曲”，英文解释为“a piece of music or a song with a clear or simple tune”。
demonstrate
表示“显示；表明”，英文解释为“to show or make make something clear”举个🌰：
These numbers clearly demonstrate the size of the economic problem facing the country.
这些数字清楚表明了该国经济问题的严重程度。
Among the most popular earworm tunes in the study were Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, Don't Stop Believing by Journey and, rather ironically, Can't Get You Out Of My Head by Kylie Minogue.
在这项研究中，最受欢迎的洗脑歌曲是Lady Gaga的《Bad Romance》、Journey的《Don't Stop Believing》，以及颇具讽刺意味的Kylie Minogue的《Can't Get You Out Of My Head》。
◉ A musical mystery 音乐之谜
It is a common assumption that earworms are generally songs that get more radio time and spend more time in the charts, which the study scientifically confirms, but it goes further in investigating the actual elements of the song that make it catchy in the first place.
一个普遍的假设是，“洗脑音乐”通常是那些在广播中获得更多时间并在排行榜上停留更多时间的歌曲，这项研究科学地证实了这一点，但它进一步研究了使歌曲起初具有吸引力的实际因素。
charts
通常复数，表示“每周流行唱片排行榜”，英文解释为“a list, produced each week, of the pop music records that have sold the most copies”，如：to top the charts (= to be the record that has sold more copies than all the others) 名列每周流行唱片排行榜第一，举个🌰：
The album went straight into the charts at number 1.
这张专辑一进入每周流行唱片排行榜便占首位。
catchy
catchy /ˈkætʃi,ˈketʃi/ 表示“（乐曲、名字、广告）引人注意的；容易记住的”，英文解释为“If you describe a tune, name, or advertisement as catchy, you mean that it is attractive and easy to remember.”如：a song with catchy lyrics 歌词琅琅上口的歌曲。
To do this, most frequent earworms of the participants were entered into a database and compared to songs that had never been reported as an earworm at all. It showed songs that matched in popularity together with how long since they'd been in the UK charts.
为此，参与者最频繁出现的洗脑音乐被输入到一个数据库中，并与那些完全没有被反馈为洗脑音乐的歌曲进行比较。它显示了在受欢迎程度上相匹配的歌曲以及它们在英国排行榜上出现的时间。
The melodic features of the tunes were then analysed, revealing that earworm tunes were typically those with ‘common global melodic contours’ i.e. songs that have overall melodic shapes common in Western pop music.
然后对这些歌曲的旋律特征进行了分析，发现洗脑的通常是那些具有“共同的全局旋律轮廓”的歌曲，即具有西方流行音乐中常见的整体旋律形态。
melodic /mɪˈlɒdɪk/
上文出现melody，此处melodic作形容词，表示“旋律优美的，悦耳的； 旋律（上）的”，英文解释为“very pleasant to listen to；relating to the tune in a piece of music”。
contour
contour /ˈkɒntʊə/ 表示“轮廓；外形；曲线”，英文解释为“the shape of a mass of land or other object, especially its surface or the shape formed by its outer edge”。
“We now also know that, regardless of the chart success of a song, there are certain features of the melody that make it more prone to getting stuck in people’s heads like some sort of private musical screensaver” Says Dr Jakubowski, who conducted the research at Goldsmiths, University of London.
“我们现在还知道，无论一首歌曲在排行榜上是否成功，旋律的某些特征使它更容易让人记住，就像某种私人音乐屏保一样”，在伦敦大学金史密斯学院（o conducted the research at Goldsmiths, University of London）进行研究的雅库博夫斯基博士（Dr Jakubowski）说。
be prone to
表示“易于（受某事物影响或做某事）的”，英文解释为“To be prone to something, usually something bad, means to have a tendency to be affected by it or to do it.”举个🌰：
For all her experience as a television reporter, she was still prone to camera nerves.
尽管有丰富的做电视记者的经验，她仍然倾向于在镜头前紧张。
A classic example of a common contour pattern is heard in Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, where the first phrase rises in pitch and the second falls. This makes the tune easy to remember and has been exploited in many other nursery rhymes, but also in pop music. For example, the opening riff in Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5, also follows this pattern.
在《一闪一闪亮晶晶》（Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star）中有一个常见轮廓模式的典型例子，其中第一乐句的音调上升，第二乐句的音调下降。这使得这首曲子很容易记住，并在许多其他童谣（nursery rhymes）和流行音乐中得到利用。例如，魔力红（Maroon 5）的Moves Like Jagger中的开头部分也遵循这一模式。
phrase
熟词僻义，表示“乐句；乐节”，英文解释为“a small group of notes forming a unit of a tune”。
pitch
表示“（尤指乐音的）音高”，英文解释为“how high or low a sound is, especially a musical note”。
nursery rhyme
表示“儿歌，童谣”，英文解释为“a short and usually very old poem or song for young children”。
riff
表示“（流行音乐或爵士乐的）重复段”，英文解释为“a short repeated pattern of notes in popular music or jazz”。
◉ No worming out of this one
In addition to the melodic shape, the other ingredient to the earworm formula is the unusual interval structure. The aim of this is to surpass the listener's expectations of an average pop song, showing unexpected leaps or more repeated notes than usual.
除了旋律形态之外，“洗脑音乐”的另一个要素是不寻常的音程结构。这样做的目的是超越听众对普通流行歌曲的期望，表现出意想不到的跳跃性或比平时更多的重复音符。
ingredient
1）表示“（成功的）要素，因素”，英文解释为“one of the parts of something successful”举个🌰：
Trust is a vital ingredient in a successful marriage.
信任是婚姻幸福的重要因素。
2）表示“（尤指烹调用的）原料”，英文解释为“Ingredients are the things that are used to make something, especially all the different foods you use when you are cooking a particular dish.”举个🌰：
Coconut is a basic ingredient for many curries.
椰子是多种咖喱菜的基本成分。
formula
1）表示“惯例；配方；处方”，英文解释为“a standard or accepted way of doing or making something”举个🌰：
There's no magic formula for success.
成功没有窍门儿。
2）表示“公式，方程式”，英文解释为“a mathematical rule expressed in a set of numbers and letters”举个🌰：
He developed a formula for calculating the area of a triangle.
他发明了计算三角形面积的公式。
surpass
surpass表示“优于；超过”，英文解释为“If one person or thing surpasses another, the first is better than, or has more of a particular quality than, the second.”举个🌰：
He was determined to surpass the achievements of his older brothers.
他决心超过他的几位哥哥的成就。
“Our findings show that you can, to some extent, predict which songs are going to get stuck in people's heads based on the song's melodic content,” says Jakubowski. “This could help aspiring song-writers or advertisers write a jingle everyone will remember for days or months afterwards.”
“我们的研究结果表明，在某种程度上，你可以根据歌曲的旋律来预测哪些歌曲会在人们的脑海中停留，”雅库博夫斯基说。“这可以帮助有抱负的作词家或广告商写出一首每个人都能记住数天或数月的短歌曲。”
jingle
jingle /ˈdʒɪŋɡəl/ 表示“（广播或电视广告中容易记住的）短歌，短曲”，英文解释为“a short simple tune, often with words, that is easy to remember and is used to advertise a product on the radio or television”。
Of course, there are a whole plethora of other reasons as to why a song may get stuck in your head, such as meaningful lyrics, a reminder of a memorable experience, or maybe even the structure of your brain.
当然，还有一大堆其他原因可以解释为什么一首歌会在你的脑海中停留，例如有意义的歌词，对一个难忘经历的提醒，甚至可能是你的大脑结构。
a plethora of
plethora /ˈplɛθərə/ 表示“过多（过量）某事物”，英文解释为“a plethora of sth formal a very large number of something, usually more than you need”，如：a plethora of suggestions 一大堆建议。
The authors conclude that studies of earworms can help elucidate how the brain works, and improve our understanding in how perception, emotions, memory and spontaneous thoughts behave in different people.
作者总结说，对洗脑歌曲的研究可以帮助阐明大脑是如何工作的，并提高我们对感知、情绪、记忆和自发想法在不同人身上的表现的认识。
elucidate
elucidate /ɪˈluːsɪˌdeɪt/ | 表示“阐明；解释”，英文解释为“to explain something or make something clear”举个🌰：
I don't understand. You'll have to elucidate.
我不懂，你得解释一下。
spontaneous
表示“自发的；非筹划安排的；非勉强的”，英文解释为“happening or done in a natural, often sudden way, without any planning or without being forced”举个🌰：
His jokes seemed spontaneous, but were in fact carefully prepared beforehand.
他讲的笑话似乎是即兴的，但实际上是事先精心准备好的。
谢谢你看到这里呀
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2015年2月8日
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