Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads that just won’t go away. They sneak into your subconscious. They are epic earworms that you find yourself humming uncontrollably, singing in the shower, or tapping the beat to with your foot or ballpoint pen when you should be working. Sometimes they even keep you awake at night. Whether they are current hits, one-hit wonders, movie soundtrack gems, holiday favorites, or songs from your youth, their catchy vocals, riffs, hooks, and choruses seem to linger for days.
Here, those songs find a home, no matter the genre. Here, those epic earworms are revisited, explained, and celebrated. Here, you may find the song that haunts you tomorrow. Here is today’s unescapable epic earworm of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: Incubus — “Drive”
Music video for “Drive” by Incubus, Courtesy of Epic/Immortal
California-based alt-rockers Incubus got their start in 1991, but they didn’t break through until their third album, Make Yourself, came out in 1999. The album’s first single, “Pardon Me,” reached Number Three on the Billboard Alternative chart, and the follow-up, “Stellar,” topped out at Number Two. However, it was the third single, “Drive,” that really saw the band’s popularity take off in November of 2000.
“Drive” landed in the Top Ten of six Billboard charts and gave the band their first Number One single. It charted in five other countries as well, and finally took the band international. The song won a Billboard Music Award for “Modern Rock Track of the Year” and was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award and a MuchMusic Video Award.
Incubus Drawing Incubus
The award-nominated music video for “Drive” was based on the famous lithograph by renowned artist M.C. Escher entitled “Drawing Hands.” The lithograph featured two hands drawing each other, which the music video animates at the very beginning. Next, though, an animated hand begins sketching lead singer Brandon Boyd, and it is revealed that it is Boyd’s hand drawing himself. The video alternates between the sketch pad and the real world, with Boyd drawing himself and band members to life. What most people didn’t know, though, is that Boyd and drummer Jose Pasillas spent more than 50 hours drawing the sketches that would make up the animation for the video.
The “Drive” New York City Needed
On September 11, Incubus was in New York City when their hotel shook from the impact of a hijacked plane crashing into the World Trade Center. The band’s tour was scheduled to start just three days later. While most acts canceled their shows that week, Incubus did not. Their shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom were among the first major events to take place after the tragedy. “Drive,” at its core, is a song about fear. It is about how fear drives people’s lives and decisions, and it is about imagining what life would be like if one chose not to live that way. The song took on added meaning after 9/11, especially at those first shows in New York City.
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