I have a song stuck in my head. It messes with my chess. What should I do?

(I am currently at ~1700 USCF level.)

Any comments are appreciated!

which song?

Listen to more music. Maybe you'll get a different song stuck in your head.

Amputation might be the only cure.

Often times, I find that having a song stuck in my head actually IMPROVES my game, lol

I can at least change that song for you: just think about "last christmas..."

What I just did might be considered immoral.

Read The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. He struggled with the same issue.

It's easy to get a song out of your head just by always singing something different when it comes. That breaks the association patterns that cause it.

 Modern science can help people with songs  playing in their heads. 

This machine for example.

Personally I'd suggest something with lots of trombone. IF you could get enough people to collaborate , like here

control alt delete

Having a song stuck in our head is just a different  kind of ''fooling yourself'' 

But If you want to know what ''fooling yourself'' is like, there are a couple songs on that topic . 

Have you considered lobotomy?

Can't believe how much silly advice people give for this situation (not necessarily on this forum). I've always loved psychology and there are a few ways to get a song "un-stuck" but it primarily depends on why it got stuck in your head in the first place. Generally speaking: some of these may help:

1) Probably the most common way a song gets stuck in your head and how to get rid of it: Usually it isn't even the entire song that gets stuck in your head, it is only one part. The tune, that one line, I forgot the lyrics here and so on. The reason it gets stuck in your head is because our brains do not like things unfinished. Sometimes the cause was that you heard a song begin but didn't hear the end and other times, it gets stuck in your head because you don't remember the next portion of the song. To get it "un-stuck" just play the song again from start to finish, with importance on hearing the end of the song, and your brain won't feel this loop of incompleteness, so you won't keep remembering the song.

2) Another common way a song gets stuck in your head is when you hear a song you are positive or neutral towards: you then hear it and it gets stuck in your head. In this case, play other songs you like a lot and the effect may cancel the first song; you likely won't get the second stuck in your head and will forget about the first one.

3) You hear an annoying song/tune you hate (negative towards), but it gets stuck in your head. In this case, listen to it once more (I know, I know, it is annoying, but its an investment to get rid of it in your head) with the mindset that you will find better songs (less annoying). After you hear the annoying song, then try listening to a song you like and your brain will often times contrast the two: realize the one you liked before as superior and indirectly it should dismiss the annoying one.

Side note to mention is that what Jerry tells George about Schumann is not true and probably just done for his own entertainment. Schumann was institutionalized later in life (and did claim to hear sounds), but it wasn't from music. In fact, Schumann always suffered from mental illness and claimed that music was actually a therapeutic thing for him that made the "ringing [sounds] in his head go away."

When i used to bowl well i used to hum a Strauss waltz and it helped me with

Timing and release of the ball . . .

Thanks you just reminded me. . . I will try it with chess . . .

I'll try it tomorrow again when i bowl . . .

Yep 76 trombones or at least  a bunch of any kind of instruments all connected together 

And just  move on like Hank Snow did with his song  ...

Jimmy Smith did also, coincidentaly with exactly the same song 

Gee, thanks a lot, Ron - Now I have the velvet fog's song stuck in my head...