The 'Psy'chology of Gangnam Style

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make: Gangnam Style is growing on me.

I know, I know, Psy's horse-riding dance craze should be long dead, right? But it seems I'm not the only one succumbing to the K-pop hit. As of Friday, the official film clip managed to clock up 1 billion views. That's right folks: more than Justin Beiber's Baby (and yes, it grieves me that that is the appropriate comparison).

I was one of the first (okay...maybe one of the first 100 000...) to help Psy towards his 1 billion views, after hearing the phrase "gangnam style" being tossed around on social media. Uncharacteristically, I decided to keep up with the times and investigate.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't a chubby Bond-wannabe hollering "AYYYYY SEXY LADIES" while executing dubious dance moves and being straddled by a groin-thrusting man in an elevator. More than a little disturbed, I vowed to run screaming the next time I heard it, but the fast-rising ubiquity of Psy and his deranged antics meant that this would have forced me into hermitage.

Source.

Some 5 months later, I've heard the blasted thing at least twice a week - in supermarkets, clothes stores, TV advertisements, parties, pubs, gyms - and with every encounter my brain screams "WHY?!!! Why is a fat man in sunglasses responsible for the most popular dance tune of 2012?" And, more importantly, why the hell am I starting to like this ear worm of a song, that I should loathe on principle if nothing else?

That's right. One fine Gangnam Style-inflicted day, I caught myself thinking "Well this is kind of fun".

You see, successful singles are all about timing and tension - and Gangnam Style is an impeccable tease of a song.  Of course it was going to go viral. The bouncy beat hooks us in with its dance potential (who cares what Psy's rambling on about anyway?), then acquires a manically escalating pulse in a sort-of aural version of strobe lights, which in turn explodes into...

...

"OPPA GANGNAM STYLE".

Admit it, you just sang that line in your head.

Don't get me wrong; the whiny beat gets horribly grating, I wouldn't spend a dollar adding this one to my iTunes library, and the weirdness of the music video is NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT OKAY. I'm still among those who groan and wring my hands when the first pulsations of the opening bars permeate a party or pub...

But it gets harder and harder not to sing along.