This is a problem. It’s a real problem. It’s not the biggest problem we have right now, I’ll gladly concede that much, but still, the point stands: Once you hear the song “Ja Ja Ding Dong” from Eurovision Song Contest, the new Ferrell-McAdams movie that is burning up Netflix, you will have an impossible time getting it out of your head. It burrows in there with its little teeth and claws and hooks itself to particularly sturdy parts of your brain. It’s not so much an earworm as it is an eartick, holding on for dear life as you try to pluck it out of there. Luckily, I am here to help. I, too, suffered this fate, living with “Ja Ja Ding Dong” lodged into my brain for days on end. And I have a simple, easy tip for getting it back out as soon as you’re ready.
I’ll get to that in a minute, though. The first thing you need to know is that they did this on purpose. Everyone involved openly admits it. The writers of the song, Gustaf Holter and Christian Persson, said as much, telling Vulture they “wanted it to be super-cheesy, but also incredibly catchy at the same time,” and adding “’stupid-catchy,’ we call it.” Well, my friends and tormentors, you did it. Congratulations.
I think there are two parts to its catchiness. The first is the call-and-response of it all. It sounds like a real song you’d hear in a real pub in real Iceland, with its “Ja Ja” prompt followed by its “DING DONG” chant. This is the chunk of it that really gets in there. I bet, if you live in a bustling city or along the main drag in a smaller town, you could stick your head out the window right now and shout “Ja Ja!” and at least one person would shout “DING DONG” back at you. If it doesn’t work today, give it a week. If it doesn’t work in a week, try yelling “WILL YOU PEOPLE PLEASE WATCH THE EUROVISION MOVIE ON NETFLIX! COME ON!” It’s a good movie. It’s fun. They will thank you. Eventually.
The second part of its catchiness is the naughty lyrics. Hoo boy, are they naughty. Not since “Let’s Duet” from Walk Hard has a fun and peppy little fake movie song made the 11-year-old child in me chuckle this much. I mean…
Jaja ding dong (Ding dong)
My love for you is growing wide and long
Jaja ding dong (Ding dong)
I swell and burst when I see what we’ve become
Jaja ding dong (Ding dong)
Come, come my baby, we can get love on
Jaja ding dong (Ding dong)
When I see you I feel a ding-ding dong
The song itself sounds so sweet and innocent that you can almost be lulled into a trance where you forget how dirty the lyrics are. It could be an issue if you have children who are, say, 8 and 11 years old and hear it one single time. This brings us to a quote from the director of the film, David Dobkin, also from the Vulture piece: “I played it one time in my house — one time! — and my 11-year-old and 8-year-old were singing it for weeks.”
It is very funny to picture two young children being as obsessed with the song as this bearded maniac, a tortured soul and my favorite character in this movie, possibly any movie.
I can relate to this man. Anyone who has seen the movie can. There are other goods songs in there, too. “Double Trouble” is legitimately fun and bouncy, and could have been the for real song of the summer in that small late-90s slice of time when Ace of Base owned the charts. “Volcano Man” is preposterous on every level and still might end up on multiple playlists I listen to in my car. This is one of the reasons Eurovision Song Contest works as a movie, and it’s the same reason that Walk Hard and Popstar worked as music biopic satires: The humor lands better when the songs are good. These songs are good. All of them. But I only want to hear “Ja Ja Ding Dong.”
This brings us, finally, to the simple trick I’ve discovered to get the song out of your head. You’re going to kick yourself when you realize how easy it is. All you need to do it sit in a quiet spot in your home, close your eyes, and th-
AHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
YOU FOOL
THERE IS NO GETTING “JA JA DING DONG” OUT OF YOUR HEAD
IT STAYS THERE UNTIL IT WANTS TO LEAVE
YOU DO NOT CONTROL “JA JA DING DONG”
NO ONE DOES
SING IT WITH ME
SUBMIT
JA JA
DING DONG
JA
JA
DING
DONG
PLAY JA JA DING DONG
PLAY JA JA DING DONG
LISTEN TO MY SWEET FURIOUS BOY
