The first time I heard this about five months ago, I instantly knew that it would be my summer anthem. It’s simple, catchy and fun! Can’t even help but write the lyrics along with the music.

This just in from the Washington Post:

A few years ago, it was “Call Me Maybe,” played so relentlessly that an alternative title materialized on YouTube: “Call Me Never.” This summer it’s “Shut Up and Dance.”
“This woman is my destiny,” Walk the Moon croons, “She said ooh ooh ooh . . .” and you can hear the rest by opening the door to any mall: “Shut up and dance with me.”

Tunes have spun on repeat since the days of Greek choruses, but now social scientists are trying to explain how these songs become so viral and addictive. Some studies pin it on background singers. Others tie it to high pitches. One attempted to find a link to our gross domestic product.

The newest explanation — and one attracting considerable scholarly interest — looks at lyrics and how the brain processes them. After studying every Billboard hit since 1958, researchers at the University of Southern California have discovered that a song’s popularity is tied to the simplicity of the lyrics and how often they are repeated, exposing the brain’s weakness for plainness.

“Tempo does not appear to matter,” the USC researchers wrote in the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Psychology. “While every artist strives to create a catchy hook, they may also consider striving to write a coherent song in which the chorus is repeated frequently while utilizing a limited vocabulary.”

Walk the Moon seems to have hit upon the perfect lyrical lexicon in “Shut Up and Dance,” four simple words repeated 12 times, though for DJs, lifeguards and mall security guards, after hearing it for the 60th time, it can feel like an echoing albatross.

Evan Reitmeyer, a Washington-area DJ, is asked to play the song at almost every wedding he works.

“It’s so simple and so repetitive,” he said. “The first time I heard it, I said, ‘That’s a hit.’ You can just tell right away.”

Source: Rosenwald, M. (2015, July 16) Why do you keep hearing ‘Shut Up and Dance’ everywhere you go? Here’s the scientific answer. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/why-do-you-keep-hearing-shut-up-and-dance-everywhere-you-go-heres-the-scientific-answer/2015/07/16/32c921f8-2655-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html