Never heard of them until just recently. Will Rogers said everything he knew he read in the newspapers. What might he have thought of clicking and finding an internet article on earworms?

It’s not a bad term, this trendy name given to tunes that stay stuck in the ear – tunes that loop over and over, driving people to distraction. Music is so memorable our brains just won’t let go of it. And that’s where the scientists are stepping in. Imagine the white-coated professional trying to extricate an “earworm” by Lady Gaga or Carly Rae Jepson. Ouch.

Except . . . if you know good music, music that uplifts, music that opens the doors of your mind and brings deep delight, music that fills your soul with excitement, then an earworm becomes one of life’s greatest pleasures. It’s a gift, like a double rainbow.

Look, I wouldn’t want Lady Gaga stuck in my ear either. But I would want Schubert’s ravishing melodies planted there. Or, the caramel harmonies of Brahms. Or any passage from Bach’s Brandenberg Concertos.

The great tunes from musicals can happily move in, from South Pacific and Guys and Dolls to Phantom of the Opera (now I’ve confessed!) or Les Miserables. I’m happy to have bluegrass in my ears, too. That gets you going in a flash.

What about the hymns and lullabies our daddy or grandmother sang to us? Those would be ear treasures that we never want to lose. And how about the songs our children loved to sing years ago as they danced, skipped, and played?

It’s easy to turn an earworm into an Ear-Delight. Here’s what you do. Listen to music that has something to offer. Listen to music that has melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic depth or has a shimmering palate of colors. And leave room for those nostalgic gems from our own lives, which become a legacy when passed to our children.

We’ll dig up a new can of earworms and go fishing together.