SOME PEOPLE ARE AFRAID ILM IS TURNING INTO THE TVTROPES OF MUSIC, SO HERE'S A CATCH-ALL THREAD WHERE WE CAN DOCUMENT THE THEMATIC/SONIC/COMPOSITIONAL LINKAGES BETWEEN SONGS WITHOUT HAVING TO START A NEW THREAD FOR EACH AND EVERY TROPE THAT POPS INTO OUR HEADS DURING MOMENTS OF DESPERATE BOREDOM
― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Monday, 12 February 2018 01:44 (four years ago) link
songs where a woman corresponds with her husband under an assumed identity and arranges a liaison with him as a test of his marital fidelity:
Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Piña Colada Song)Kate Bush - Babooshka
― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Monday, 12 February 2018 01:45 (four years ago) link
"some people"
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Monday, 12 February 2018 01:45 (four years ago) link
Songs that are not John Cage's 4' 33"
― calstars, Monday, 12 February 2018 02:26 (four years ago) link
Songs in which Instrumentation is or is not used
― calstars, Monday, 12 February 2018 02:27 (four years ago) link
Songs in which the vocalist audibly takes a drag on a cigarette between verses:
Sandy Denny - "No End"
― J. Sam, Monday, 12 February 2018 02:28 (four years ago) link
this would be a good thread to collect all of the disparate 'songs where' threads, cause i can never find any of them.
― hoooyaaargh it's me satan (voodoo chili), Monday, 12 February 2018 02:34 (four years ago) link
songs where you can't find what you're looking for
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K89RsKaEO7I
― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Monday, 12 February 2018 02:41 (four years ago) link
songs written by a non-famous family member of the recording artist:
Grizzly Bear - MarlaThrowing Muses - Sinkhole
― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Monday, 12 February 2018 02:46 (four years ago) link
Songs by 90's-era American indie bands about 80's-era British female singers:
Unrest - "Cath Carroll"June & the Exit Wounds - "Cathy Dennis"
― henry s, Monday, 12 February 2018 15:27 (four years ago) link
Songs by 90's-era American indie bands about 80's-era British female singers
Black Tambourine - Throw Aggi Off the Bridge
(about Aggie and Stephen Pastel)
― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Monday, 12 February 2018 19:50 (four years ago) link
the plot thickens!
― henry s, Monday, 12 February 2018 20:04 (four years ago) link
songs where the narrator is so miserable that even the sight of children playing fails to cheer his burdened heart:
Rolling Stones - As Tears Go ByPearl Jam - BlackScreaming Trees - Winter Song
― the yolk sustains us, we eat whites for days (unregistered), Sunday, 22 April 2018 22:26 (four years ago) link
Lol
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Sunday, 22 April 2018 22:38 (four years ago) link
young girl: hahaha wheeee I love playing in the puddlesMark Lanegan, grunger: HOW CAN YOU BE SO CAREFREE WHEN MY SOUL IS LITERALLY DYING 😢😢😢
― the yolk sustains us, we eat whites for days (unregistered), Sunday, 22 April 2018 22:40 (four years ago) link
songs that in off whacking with which trailer
― j., Sunday, 22 April 2018 23:38 (four years ago) link
lol i have been bumping a lot of these
― flappy bird, Monday, 23 April 2018 00:08 (four years ago) link
songs where the narrator is so miserable that even the sight of children playing fails to cheer his burdened heart
How could you leave off The Chi-lites, Have You Seen Her
― lana del boy (ledge), Monday, 23 April 2018 08:37 (four years ago) link
and Chicago, Make Me Smile
― Lee626, Monday, 23 April 2018 09:16 (four years ago) link
Songs in which, it is not I who is mad, it's you normals!
Elton John - Madman Across the WaterBonzo Dog Band - My Pink Half of the DrainpipeSupertramp - Asylum
― Hideous Lump, Tuesday, 24 April 2018 03:48 (four years ago) link
Songs where the singer is bored of music:
Cat Power - Colors and the Kids
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 24 April 2018 04:28 (four years ago) link
songs where a singer expresses disdain for being put on a pedestal as artist
ionnalee- samaritan
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Tuesday, 24 April 2018 06:14 (four years ago) link
London CallingDon't Look Back in Anger
?
― ad homineminem (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 24 April 2018 08:47 (four years ago) link
much better to have a catch-all thread, good job
― niels, Tuesday, 24 April 2018 17:04 (four years ago) link
Eminem - Marshall Mathers
― 808s & Deep States (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 24 April 2018 17:16 (four years ago) link
Ani DiFranco - Little Plastic Castle
People talk about my imageLike i come in two dimensionsLike lipstick is a sign of my decling mindLike what i happen to be wearingThe day that someone takes a pictureIs my new statement for all womankindAnd i wish they could see us nowIn leather bras and rubber shortsLike some ridiculous new team uniformFor some ridiculous new sportQuick someone call the girl policeAnd file a report
And i wish they could see us nowIn leather bras and rubber shortsLike some ridiculous new team uniformFor some ridiculous new sportQuick someone call the girl policeAnd file a report
― ... (Eazy), Tuesday, 24 April 2018 17:19 (four years ago) link
"Where Is My Mind"
― ... (Eazy), Tuesday, 24 April 2018 17:22 (four years ago) link
Neil Young - On The Beach
^ arguable, but i think he touches on the need for an audience and how frustrating that is - possibly more ambivalent??
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Tuesday, 24 April 2018 17:24 (four years ago) link
songs where the strength of the protagonist's relationship is evaluated based upon their awareness of their lover's potato preferences:
Gershwin - Let's Call the Whole Thing OffSia - Sweet Potatoes
― ilxor-com-dog-meat-drawer-7-840-x-600.jpg (unregistered), Friday, 3 August 2018 03:36 (four years ago) link
Songs in which the Beatles wish you a Happy Birthday
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Friday, 3 August 2018 04:20 (four years ago) link
Songs in which the singer reads off a phone number:“867-5309/Jenny” — Tommy Tutone“Group Sex” — Circle Jerks“The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry” — Fiery Furnaces
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Friday, 3 August 2018 04:30 (four years ago) link
^Brenda Lee - Bigelow 6-200
― ilxor-com-dog-meat-drawer-7-840-x-600.jpg (unregistered), Friday, 3 August 2018 04:37 (four years ago) link
Transylvania 6-5000
― calstars, Friday, 3 August 2018 04:39 (four years ago) link
Oh snap!
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Friday, 3 August 2018 04:40 (four years ago) link
Songs in which the boys are back in town:
Thin Lizzy - The Boys are Back in Town
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Friday, 3 August 2018 07:03 (four years ago) link
roxy music - remake/remodel ... "CPL 593H!"
― visiting, Friday, 3 August 2018 07:06 (four years ago) link
scraping foetus off the wheel - DI-1-9026
― visiting, Friday, 3 August 2018 07:10 (four years ago) link
isaac hayes - good love ... "call good love 69-9-69"
― visiting, Friday, 3 August 2018 07:26 (four years ago) link
squeeze - "853-5937"
are there any phone-number songs yet that have modern 8, 10, or 11 digit numbers?
― Lee626, Friday, 3 August 2018 08:19 (four years ago) link
City Boy – 5705
― the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Friday, 3 August 2018 08:24 (four years ago) link
Not a phone number, it was the registration number of Bryan Ferry's car.
― Father Ted in Forkhandles (Tom D.), Friday, 3 August 2018 08:48 (four years ago) link
songs written by a non-famous family member of the recording artist:Grizzly Bear - MarlaThrowing Muses - Sinkhole― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Monday, 12 February 2018 02:46 (five months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― how to diss a peer completely (unregistered), Monday, 12 February 2018 02:46 (five months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Lyn Paul - The Waiting Game (Doreen Belcher)
I know. I do.
― Mark G, Friday, 3 August 2018 10:21 (four years ago) link
"Maybe Baby" had some lines written by Buddy Holly's mom.
― Sam Weller, Friday, 3 August 2018 10:40 (four years ago) link
George Harrison's "Piggies" had one line he couldn't fill, needed to rhyme with "lacking". His mum suggested "What they need's a damn good whacking" which is the "WHOA" line in the song.
― Mark G, Friday, 3 August 2018 11:09 (four years ago) link
Isn’t this every Cat Power song?
― grawlix (unperson), Friday, 3 August 2018 11:30 (four years ago) link
POLL: Songs Written By The Artist's Mom
― Sam Weller, Friday, 3 August 2018 11:44 (four years ago) link
Harry Nilsson, "Little Cowboy"Harry Nilsson, "Marchin' Down Broadway"
― Father Ted in Forkhandles (Tom D.), Friday, 3 August 2018 12:07 (four years ago) link
Jeremih - 773 LOVE
― ant banks and wasp (voodoo chili), Friday, 3 August 2018 12:36 (four years ago) link
This doesn't count but Hoyt Axton's mom wrote "Heartbreak Hotel."
― devil's avocado (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 3 August 2018 12:42 (four years ago) link
"Backwards Town" by the Grapes of Wrath"Hometown" by Joe Jackson
The Kinks have a trilogy of songs about girls who come to grief in the city, but only "Big Black Smoke" explicitly mentions the "country life" that she is leaving. They also have "Village Green", where the singer "sought fame", then misses the small town.
― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 21 May 2022 12:50 (eight months ago) link
"Get to the city and it's horrible" also = Gram Parsons, "Streets of Baltimore."
― Doris Day and the Time (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 21 May 2022 15:37 (eight months ago) link
Eilen Jewell, "Blow it All Away"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfpoKzpQ4_E
Let's just keep driving you and meI like your soft voice and your pleasant companyWe can pull each other out of this dusty little townMake a new start somewhere maybe settle down
― Doris Day and the Time (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 21 May 2022 15:46 (eight months ago) link
btw that is a pretty good song. I played it in a bar recently
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8l_od0G488
― Doris Day and the Time (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 21 May 2022 15:51 (eight months ago) link
Richard Marx - Hazard
― mookie wilson shaggin balls (Neanderthal), Sunday, 22 May 2022 23:23 (eight months ago) link
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
― bendy, Tuesday, 24 May 2022 01:50 (eight months ago) link
songs which are ruined by a singer singing in a faux-accent that's annoying as fuck
― Gymnopédie Pablo (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:41 (eight months ago) link
think that was just sold as "Sting's Greatest Hits" in other countries.
― Portrait Of A Dissolvi Ng Drea M (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 16:05 (eight months ago) link
Green Day to thread
― Doris Day and the Time (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 16:06 (eight months ago) link
songs where the chorus seems endlessly stitched together
example - Shania Twain - Man, I Feel Like a Woman
― Gymnopédie Pablo (Neanderthal), Friday, 10 June 2022 14:57 (seven months ago) link
“cut to the feeling” has a similar feel
― Creature Catcher (Live) (morrisp), Friday, 10 June 2022 15:57 (seven months ago) link
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).
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 10 June 2022 17:52 (seven months ago) link
"Take a Chance on Me," as well? (I didn't read it negatively, btw – I love that Shania song)
― Creature Catcher (Live) (morrisp), Friday, 10 June 2022 17:53 (seven months ago) link
That's an odd one because the verse is the main hook, but the "other part" does have three sections.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 10 June 2022 18:02 (seven months ago) link
Live & Let Die
― Portrait Of A Dissolvi Ng Drea M (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 10 June 2022 18:05 (seven months ago) link
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(?)
― Creature Catcher (Live) (morrisp), Saturday, 11 June 2022 05:46 (seven months ago) link
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).
― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 11 June 2022 14:41 (seven months ago) link
Ah gotcha (I wasn’t thinking that the stitched-together pieces necessarily had to be heterogenous)
― Creature Catcher (Live) (morrisp), Saturday, 11 June 2022 15:06 (seven months ago) link
I'm not sure if I'm understanding this right, but what comes to mind is "Green Light" by Lorde.
― Lily Dale, Saturday, 11 June 2022 15:15 (seven months ago) link
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
― Creature Catcher (Live) (morrisp), Saturday, 11 June 2022 16:52 (seven months ago) link
I used to love karaoking that due to the bridges alone.
Good call
― Gymnopédie Pablo (Neanderthal), Saturday, 11 June 2022 17:09 (seven months ago) link
songs where the 7" version is a classic and the 12" remix is unspeakable and should never be played again
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 9 September 2022 20:33 (four months ago) link
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"
― Fash Gordon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 03:50 (one month ago) link
“Hound Dog”
― Wet Legume (morrisp), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 04:16 (one month ago) link
ahh yes very good one!
― Fash Gordon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 04:18 (one month ago) link
"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.
― Fash Gordon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 04:19 (one month ago) link
“All Along the Watchtower,” maybe (a case where the iconic cover influenced even the original artist’s live performances of the song)
― Wet Legume (morrisp), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 05:02 (one month ago) link
Tainted Love.
― Vernon Locke, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 05:19 (one month ago) link
"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
― Ye Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 12:58 (one month ago) link
^excellent!
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 13:08 (one month ago) link
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.
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 13:24 (one month ago) link
"Louie Louie"
― Josefa, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 20:12 (one month ago) link
"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.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 23:11 (one month ago) link
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.
― Vexatious litigant (morrisp), Sunday, 15 January 2023 15:30 (three weeks ago) link
House of the Rising Sun
― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 15 January 2023 20:20 (three weeks ago) link
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.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 16 January 2023 03:13 (three weeks ago) link
Songs which announce individual sections
Wire - Map Ref 41N 93W ("CHORUS!")Prince - Loose! ("GUITAR SOLO!")
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 23 January 2023 01:09 (two weeks ago) link
Can I take it to the bridge
― The Myth of Sisyspacek (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 23 January 2023 02:04 (two weeks ago) link
“Play it for me guitarist”
― calstars, Monday, 23 January 2023 02:47 (two weeks ago) link
“C’mon Steve, get ir”
― calstars, Monday, 23 January 2023 02:48 (two weeks ago) link
Second verse, same as the first
― Vernon Locke, Monday, 23 January 2023 03:32 (two weeks ago) link
and that's a good line to take it to the bridgeand they're coming to the chorus now
― ledge, Monday, 23 January 2023 07:21 (two weeks ago) link
Middle eight!! (public image limited, don't ask me)
― ledge, Monday, 23 January 2023 07:30 (two weeks ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKDTOiNqdE
― Alba, Monday, 23 January 2023 07:32 (two weeks ago) link
Rock me, Joseph Alberto Santiago
― The Myth of Sisyspacek (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 23 January 2023 13:00 (two weeks ago) link
Denim – The Great Pub Rock Revival ("Synthesizer solo!")
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Monday, 23 January 2023 14:49 (two weeks ago) link
This is surely its own thread already, but Weird Al does "drum solo!" on the "Polka Your Eyes Out" medley.
― got it in the blood, the kid's a pelican (Doctor Casino), Monday, 23 January 2023 17:05 (two weeks ago) link
Hit singles that begin really dissonant and/or atonal
OMD - Maid of OrleansAdam & the Ants - Prince CharmingThe Cure - The CaterpillarFamily - In My Own Time
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Wednesday, 25 January 2023 05:27 (one week ago) link
I suppose Purple Haze
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Wednesday, 25 January 2023 05:28 (one week ago) link
The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me
(which I guess is just following the example of The Beatles - I Feel Fine)
― got it in the blood, the kid's a pelican (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 25 January 2023 12:37 (one week ago) link