It's possible to have a piece of music chronically stuck in your head for a lifetime—anyone who played Tetris at a young age can attest to that. Videogame music seems to be particularly good at taking up permanent residence in our minds—whether that's a feature of game music, or a result of hearing the same tracks looping for hours upon hours is uncertain, but it's probably more of the latter.
Either way, we all have that one song that insists on converting all unused mental energy into a private head orchestra. For this week's question, we want to know what that song is for you: What piece of game music is always stuck in your head? Our answers are below, and we look forward to reading yours in the comments. Or maybe we don't, because they're gonna get stuck in our heads, too.
Andy Chalk: Doom E1M2
DUH NUHNUH NUH NUH NUH NUHNUH NUHNUHNUHNUH. And that's really all I have to say about it. Andrew Hulshult did a pretty rockin' cover a few years ago.
Wesley Fenlon: Vamo Alla Flamenco
Honestly, there's probably no song in gaming that I've found myself whistling more than the Super Mario Bros theme. But seeing as that's a console game, I'm going to go with a song from Final Fantasy, which now has quite a PC presence. Vamo Alla Flamenco from Final Fantasy IX is just so catchy. It's a whimsical, playful song that perfectly channels the spirit of that game. The perfect song to do a twee heist to (in the game, you're actually performing a fake swordfight in the middle of a Shakespearean tragedy, before absconding with the princess).
I doubt Wes Anderson has ever played a Final Fantasy game, but he'd love this song. It also works in many renditions, but I'm particularly partial to the piano collection version. Hard to beat a fully orchestrated live performance, though.
James Davenport: Haunted by the hunt
I wrote a whole article on how Monster Hunter: World's music is driving me up the wall. I love it, but I can't escape it. Over the weekend I tried muting the music, but I still hear it in Astera. I throw on podcasts while hunting now, as if they'll make a difference. Nope. I still hear it my most private, vulnerable moments. My cat still hates me. I need to take my own advice and just accept my catchy new life.
Jody Macgregor: A New Vegas act
Songs are apparently more scarce than boxes of BlamCo Mac & Cheese in the irradiated wasteland of the Fallout games, because the radio stations all have a pretty limited selection (unless you download mods for them, of course). I've got 'I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire' by The Ink Spots stuck in my head right now, and the whole time I played Fallout: New Vegas I had Johnny Guitar by Peggy Lee looping in my skull. "Play the guitar/Play it again, my Johnny..."
Philippa Warr: Loco Roco
It's not a PC game, but even just you asking this question has got the Loco Roco tune in my head.
Tyler Wilde: Marching to hell
Truthfully, it's the title screen music in the SNES version of Chessmaster, which is obviously the greatest piece of videogame music ever made. But my runner up is Hell March from Red Alert. The whole song doesn't get stuck in my head, mind you, just the opening bass and the indeterminate shout of the drill sergeant looping forever.
My second runner up is of course the Battlefield 1942 theme: Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! Buda dum da dum dum! (Brrrr, brrr br br brrrrr) Buda dum da dum dum!
Samuel Roberts: Fuckin' Bubsy
Of the many laughed-at cynical platforming mascots of the '90s, Bubsy certainly deserves the most derision. I was a tragic Genesis-owning child of the '90s: my parents couldn't afford Sonic and Knuckles but could afford Bubsy, which I feel says a lot about class back then. I only played the first Bubsy, and never got much further than the first three or worlds, because it was pretty unfair and kind of bad. Its biggest offence aside from its protagonist is the music that plays during the first level, which seeps into your brain, and remains there forever. Perhaps I can one day experience this horror again with the ultra-cheap Bubsy Two-Fur pack on Steam.