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 song of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: The Breeders — “Cannonball”
In 1989, Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses decided to start a side project while their bands both had taken some time off. The result was the Breeders, an alternative rock band that also included members of Slint and Perfect Disaster, and eventually Deal’s sister, Kelley. The band was mostly unsuccessful until after the Pixies split, and Deal made the Breeders her full-time gig.
In 1993, the band released their second studio album, Last Splash. The album would become the Breeders’ biggest success, largely because of the popularity of its lead single, “Cannonball.” The epic earworm was the Breeders’ only Top Ten hit, peaking at Number Two on the Billboard Alternative chart. Buoyed by the hit single, Last Splash would be certified platinum.
The Anti de Sade
In 1996, Kim Deal sat down with David Holthouse, a reporter from the Phoenix New Times. The interview was interrupted by the squeal of Deal’s fax machine. She told the reporter that a magazine in (Great) Britain keeps sending her the same question about authors inspiring her music. Deal would tell the New Times reporter that she does not read much, but one author did inspire a song. The author was the Marquis de Sade, and the song was “Cannonball.”
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, was a French nobleman, libertine, author, and political activist who had some rather unsavory views on religion, the treatment of others (especially women), politics, and a host of other subjects. He was imprisoned multiple times for his works and his actions. “Cannonball,” as it turns out, was Deal’s way of making fun of the man and rebuking his beliefs. The music video does not present the song as a real thinker, but in reality, the epic earworm was much deeper than it has been given credit for.
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