Naive Harmonies

There's a fine line between catchy and annoying. There's plenty of song hooks that feel great when they dig in and the trip back for more is done for pleasure, but there are times when the return to a song is made because something is so irritating that repeat listens are almost done out of some sort of pop masochism. Sometimes it works out, like when LCD Soundsystem's "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" bugged me into putting it on repeat, and I wound up with a new favorite band. But other times...

Get Well Soon, "If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting"
(mp3 removed)
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The annoying part of this song is obvious. It's a straightforward brooding tune...until the cheering section, done with irritating affectations. It's so jarring, such a bizarre contrast to the rest of the song that it almost made me mad the first time I heard it, almost considering the song ruined. But the brooding and the cheering merge and intensify as the song goes, until what had bugged the living shit out of me starts giving me chills, specifically at around the 3:29 mark.

Like with any other hooks that use irritation as bait, I have absolutely no idea whether this will turn into a favorite song or a momentary magnetic attraction that weakens to the point where it has absolutely no pull at all. That's in the future. Right now, I keep going back for more.