Just Another Filipino’s LSS | Daily Prompt: Earworm

What song is stuck in your head (or on permanent rotation in your CD or MP3 player) these days? Why does it speak to you?

In the Philippines, especially with the Tagalog folk in Manila, they’d recognize this better as LSS.

Huh? What’s LSS? Last Song Syndrome. I don’t know who came up with that but it’s what we’re familiar with.

Why did we get stuck with “LSS” instead of “earworm”? I have two guesses. First: we, as a people, love acronyms. Second: “earworm” doesn’t sound anything that our daily hygiene would like to be complimented or accompanied by.

For the record, it’s the election season here, which means that politicians are putting their spin on the local Top 40 hits to classic tunes to further their recall (read: LSS) on the people via campaign jingles, which range from Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” to “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” I will spare you the gory details. I don’t want the number of casualties increasing.

My LSS is just like almost anyone else’s: unpredictable, misunderstood, and amazing and terrible at the same time. What makes mine different? It’s not just one song. Even I don’t get it why it is. So, without further ado, in random order, just another Filipino’s LSS:

• Symphony No. 9 (Ode to Joy) by Som Sabadell Flash Mob – it’s inspiring, rousing, and the kids love seeing the video 
• Lights Out, Words Gone by Bombay Bicycle Club – appeals to my eclectic taste 
• Summer Parade by Depapepe – this makes the current heat wave more bearable 
• A Thousand Miles by Boyce Avenue and Alex Goot – bittersweet chocolate 
• Silhouette of a Romance by Ryou Kunihiko – revives my love for the long-gone Victorian Era 
• Hot Rod Hearts by Robbie Dupree – good road trip song 
• I’d Really Love to See You Tonight by Dan Seals – it just makes me terribly nostalgic 
• Ticket to Ride by Tiago Iorc – a song my parents and I could listen to without any arguments 
• Minuet in Fingerstyle by Alex Kabasser – classic with a modern twist 

• Poetry and Aeroplanes by Teitur – “no more happy songs of heartbreak”