SONGS WHERE/SONGS THAT/SONGS WITH/SONGS IN WHICH

"Get to the city and it's horrible" also = Gram Parsons, "Streets of Baltimore."

Eilen Jewell, "Blow it All Away"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfpoKzpQ4_E

Let's just keep driving you and me
I like your soft voice and your pleasant company
We can pull each other out of this dusty little town
Make a new start somewhere maybe settle down

btw that is a pretty good song. I played it in a bar recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8l_od0G488

Richard Marx - Hazard

My favorite take on this theme is Gerty - Lower Moreland. Such a great (autobiographical) name for a town one would feel the need to escape from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNBE7IqXg8k

songs which are ruined by a singer singing in a faux-accent that's annoying as fuck

think that was just sold as "Sting's Greatest Hits" in other countries.

Green Day to thread

songs where the chorus seems endlessly stitched together

example - Shania Twain - Man, I Feel Like a Woman

“cut to the feeling” has a similar feel

Not sure if "stitched together" implies a negative judgment, but I'd say ABBA's "The Name of the Game" does this very well. The chorus has four parts (one, two or three of which could arguably be called bridges, but they appear after both of the full choruses).

"Take a Chance on Me," as well? (I didn't read it negatively, btw – I love that Shania song)

That's an odd one because the verse is the main hook, but the "other part" does have three sections.

Live & Let Die

xp Not sure I get what you mean about the verse being the main hook; pretty sure it’s the big ol’ chorus that launches the song(?)

You're right, I guess that is the chorus, but I wouldn't call it "stitched together" because it's all one musical idea/melodic pattern except for the four bars at the end (with the spoken word bits).

Ah gotcha (I wasn’t thinking that the stitched-together pieces necessarily had to be heterogenous)

I'm not sure if I'm understanding this right, but what comes to mind is "Green Light" by Lorde.

How about songs with awesome, multipart bridges? (sorry if I’ve already done this… I love bridges)

“Father Figure” is the gold standard for me:

https://i.imgur.com/HU4HEtJ_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

I used to love karaoking that due to the bridges alone.

Good call

songs where the 7" version is a classic and the 12" remix is unspeakable and should never be played again

songs that are remade a million times, but pretty much every remake is based on one iconic cover of the song and not the original.

some obvious ones:

Tears for Fears - "Mad World"
Leonard Cohen - "Hallelujah"
The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd Original Cast Recording - "Feeling Good"

“Hound Dog”

ahh yes very good one!

"Feeling Good" I guess is a special case because the song originated on Broadway and music lovers who didn't give a shit about musical theatre reacted to the Nina Simone/Hal Mooney version as if it were the original.

“All Along the Watchtower,” maybe (a case where the iconic cover influenced even the original artist’s live performances of the song)

Tainted Love.

"Blue Bayou"

"You Don't Know Me"

That is, I think most people cover the Linda Rondstadt and Ray Charles versions more than the originals

^excellent!

Not enough covers for this topic probably, but the B-side of “Blue Bayou,” “Mean Woman Blues,” was originally sung by Elvis Presley in the movie Loving You.

"Louie Louie"

"Fever" (Peggy Lee version is normally the one copied)

Frank Sinatra is probably responsible for many of these, e.g. "I've Got You Under My Skin." He was always taking tunes from the 1920s/30s and swinging them up and making them more fun, and of course that's the way most people like to play them today.

a case where the iconic cover influenced even the original artist’s live performances of the song

“Respect” Is another of these:

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and "TCB" are not present in Redding's 1965 version, but he incorporated Franklin's ideas in his later performances with the Bar-Kays.

House of the Rising Sun

a case where the iconic cover influenced even the original artist’s live performances of the song

Billy Bragg has apparently sung the Kirsty MacColl verse during A New England since she died.

Songs which announce individual sections

Wire - Map Ref 41N 93W ("CHORUS!")
Prince - Loose! ("GUITAR SOLO!")

Can I take it to the bridge

“Play it for me guitarist”

“C’mon Steve, get ir”

Second verse, same as the first

and that's a good line to take it to the bridge

and they're coming to the chorus now

Middle eight!! (public image limited, don't ask me)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKDTOiNqdE

Rock me, Joseph Alberto Santiago

Denim – The Great Pub Rock Revival ("Synthesizer solo!")

This is surely its own thread already, but Weird Al does "drum solo!" on the "Polka Your Eyes Out" medley.

Hit singles that begin really dissonant and/or atonal

OMD - Maid of Orleans
Adam & the Ants - Prince Charming
The Cure - The Caterpillar
Family - In My Own Time

I suppose Purple Haze

The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me

(which I guess is just following the example of The Beatles - I Feel Fine)

Pop songs where a drumkit is only fully deployed well into the second half.

The Sundays - Can't Be Sure
Julia Jacklin - Lydia Wears A Cross

This doesn't feel like it should be terribly rare, tbh, so I'd appreciate suggestions/reminders...