Frazz by Jef Mallett for May 17, 2024

So, if it’s someone else’s song, does he write new lyrics for it? Like “Born to be Mild”?

In fact, what works for me is looking up the lyrics… all of them… and singing quietly along with the youtube. Once my subconscious knows how it ends, the earworm dies…

Oh man. This is so true. I never wrote a song until recently and now that I’ve started I wake up in the middle of the night and write stuff down. You know you’re lost when you start solving the fiddly bits in your dreams.

“The old song with a few new lines” The Who

Amen

What do you do when you appear to have a PERMANENT earworm, and it’s “All The Young Dudes”?

That is why you never leave your car until the current song is done on the radio.

You hum the song in front of somebody else and get it stuck in their head instead.

Well, Mr Harris at long last. I miss seeing the characters that once showed up to provide different viewpoints and interactions with Frazz et al. Also miss the really large Sunday scenes of a mass of kids doing all kinds of stuff on the playground. They were just a joy to see.

Reminded me of my early years and of the enjoyment I experienced as middle school teacher, when there were days of planned outdoor activities that never went according to plan, because the students had better ideas of what was fun and what wasn’t.

I also agree with Mr. Harris. Adding other viewpoints to one’s thinking usually brings better returns.

I think of another song. The 1812 Overture works pretty well.

If this was a comic about ear worms, these comments would be on target.

Everyone thinks creatively – just in different ways, about different things, and at different times.

I start singing (in my head – I am a terrible singer so I don’t want to subject anyone to the cacophony) Amazing Grace and that works. Seriously. No joke.

There is a job that needs to be added to the SOC List of Occupations: “Song Exorcist”. It may not exist yet, but the main outlines of the job are absolutely clear.

For some stupid reason, woke up today with Gaston’s Song from the animated Beauty and the Beast tripping across my brainpan. Brought up the vid with lyrics on my phone and sang along. I good, now.

I heard that chewing gum can solve ear worms. I tried it once and it seemed to work. You had to chew the gum for a pretty long time. I decided that I would rather have an ear worm than chew flavorless gum.

OK, I’m keeping track. This is #2 in the 2024 list of Frazz strips that have anything to do with his supposed talents as a songwriter. And it arrived in May. Based on past experience, I expect 2.4 more of them by the end of this year.