The catchiest song of the 1980s, according to science
I was never very good at science at school, finding the essence of greatness in music’s lucidity far more appealing than the cold, hard facts of scientific studies. But when I discovered what the catchiest song of the 1980s was, I realised I had been harbouring a love for science all along.
In the instance of this song, its catchiness is deeply rooted in its sense of camaraderie. Sure, I may not love it for its artistic merit or emotional nuance, but I can’t deny that I have yelled out its chorus, with a friend under one arm and a pint firmly clutched in the other. And so, if science is sharing a drunken harmony with your friends, call me Isaac Newton.
I don’t have a hard time believing this remains one of the catchiest songs of the decade, for the simple reason that I can flawlessly recite it, despite having never listened to it in my spare time. But obviously, that isn’t bulletproof evidence in terms of a scientific experiment.
In 2016, St Andrews University in Scotland published a study that revealed how scientists worked on a formula they believe makes for infectious music. According to the report, the formula is “Receptiveness + (predictability-surprise) + (melodic potency) + (rhythmic repetition x1.5) = earworm”.
“If you look at the songs which emerged from the research, they all have a distinctive rhythmic fingerprint. If we remove the melody, they’re still recognisable by their rhythm alone”.
Researcher Bede Williams
A point I simply can’t disagree with when looking at what is officially the 1980s’ most catchy song. Rather unsurprisingly, it is The Proclaimers’ pub epic ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’. It’s got a foot stomper of a beat, a chorus an infant could quickly pick up on, and if that didn’t get you in the ear, then it finishes with an echoing call and response.
It’s loved by many for its charming simplicity, which was a noticeable factor from its very genesis. “We were sitting in a flat in Edinburgh, waiting to go up and play a gig in Aberdeen,” Craig Reid recalled in 2015, “We had an hour to kill before our lift, so I started playing some chords on the electric piano—and I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) came straight away.”
He further explained the process, saying, “I can’t play guitar, so I played it to Charlie, and he changed it to those Buddy Holly-type downstrums. It’s not a hard song to play. Right from the start, we knew it was catchy, but when we started playing it live, the reaction was tremendous.”
The structure of it feels so simple, and so set out to infect the ears of listeners that it almost felt like a somewhat manufactured effort from the band. You can quite feasibly imagine the call and response bridge coming into play after they had realised the hook had so much repeated potential. But it certainly wasn’t the case.
Reid explained, “I never set out to write a song with universal appeal. But it does mention working, drunkenness and travelling, so pretty much anyone can relate to it. People say they love the song for lots of reasons: its marching beat, the stop-start rhythm, that call and response bit. I think it’s a bit of everything.”
It’s a song that continues to grow legs with every passing generation. It’s made for communal settings and has quite often acted as a social neutraliser when played. People of different backgrounds stop what they’re doing to proclaim their desire to walk 500 miles for whoever it may be. Of course, that’s not going to win it any awards, but the title of ‘Catchiest Song of the 1980s’ might just do.
