Word(s) that only ever appeared in one (hit) song, ever.

ugh that last sentence got away from me in the editing process

Can we maybe talk about "Vindicated"?

dashboard confessional vindicated lyrics https://g.co/kgs/c1GDza

"Crevice" in "Chestnut Mare" by the Byrds, which was a hit in the UK if not in the US.

He probably should have said "crevasse" there, even though that part of the song sounds like a hallucination where anything goes

Heard "Don't Sleep in the Subway" on the radio today: "wherefore."

"Wherefore art thou Romeo" in If I Only Had a Heart from The Wizard of Oz.

Probably not the only song that quotes that line, I'd imagine.

Although actually the line in "Subway" is "...whys or wherefores", so you win.

I’m quite certain "bescumber" hasn’t ever been used outside of Scott Walker's "Fetish".

Hard to walk into a CVS without hearing that one!

Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" has "coagulatin'".

"Steed" in "Daydream Believer"?

Also, though it was by no means a hit record, the lyrics to Peter Sinfield's Still contain several words I had to look up: "woad", "cruets", "speiss" and "cochineal".

Those last four probably made an appearance in a Cocteau Twins song sometime.

I find it amazing the "prerogative" pops up in not one but two huge hits songs, at least.

"Snorting" in "Drive-In Saturday" - an apt word given Bowie's recreational habits at the time.

not a "hit" i guess but i think it's played on classic-rock stations in america a lot - personally i'd never heard it 'til a coupla years ago - but billy joel's "captain jack" contains the word "masturbate" which i'd probly never heard on the radio before

respect

"Creasin'" in "Mixed Emotions" by the Rolling Stones.

Haha, I’d never looked at the lyrics to “Mixed Emotions” before. That is an unexpected lyric. “To-ing” and “fro-ing” from the same song might qualify too.

There is a choral song that we performed in my high school choir that includes “toing” and “froing” but I cannot remember much beyond something like

“oh vidroshki’s herds you wander
through the matra hills and yonder
hunting toing and froing”

the bass melody still stuck in my head but no dice googling. not sure it counts anyway, since not a hit song— just made me think of it.

"To feel a pulsing from chanter to mountain"

Spandau Ballet - Musclebound

Queen's March Of The Black Queen: "Everything you do bears a will and a why and a wherefore"

Not sure it was a hit per se but Clifford T. Ward's 1973 single "Wherewithal" includes a couple of likely candidates: "wherewithal," "nonpareil"

I don't know where this thread stands on possibly invented words, but Rosie Vela's "Magic Smile" (top 30 hit on the UK and US AC charts) has "keenovay", which I think she said at the time was an Indigenous term for sexual congress.

Oh boy, do I have a thread for you:

Rusted Root Neologisms

ommaway

oombasayou

bubadasayoububadeeyon

Does "Dynasty" appear outside "Kiss"?

“TV Party” (EP version)

Was "TV Party" a hit song?

'Percentage' in "Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac

%-age is in Traffic "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys," well-known but not exactly a hit.

I wonder if any other hit songs contain the name 'Adolf', other than Games Without Frontiers.

The Hitler Rap (To Be or Not to Be)

Whereas Britt ...

Two contenders from Ray Stevens' Mr. Businessman (US #28): 'sinuses' and 'harlot'.

It also opens with 'itemise', but ofc that word was revived a generation hence by the Manics. A two hit word maybe?

"Bonaparte" in Gilbert's Nothing Rhymed?

Bonaparte also in the polish national anthem...

"Bonaparte's Retreat" was a #4 hit for Kay Starr, US Billboard 100, 1950. Later a minor hit for Glen Campbell.

I was recently doing an NYT crossword and got the clue "oil-based paste mentioned in 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.'" Plasticene.

This led me on a slight detour through some Elvis Costello lyrics that include Bakelite and cellophane ("No Action" - not a hit - and "Watching the Detectives" - which reached #15).

"The Other End of the Telescope" barely charted but has a line about "a shellac of Chopin."

"Cellophane," beyond "Lucy" and "Watching the Detectives," also pops up in the opening line of SR-71's "Right Now" (#2 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart).

"hen fap"

Doctor C., upon reflection, "cellophane" is also in "Abacab."

In this regard it may be one of the more common uncommon words in hit songs.

To stick with the topic of industrially useful chemical compounds, "Tramp the Dirt Down" includes "tarmacadam," which may be its only appearance.

How do we feel about proper names? Sting has Krushchev and Pinochet; Costello has Chamberlain and Oswald.

Benny Hill's "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" has 'clatter', 'milkcart', 'pasturized', 'macaroon', 'crumpets', 'goldtop'.

... no. 1 single in the UK btw.

In general proper names might be a little too 'easy,' but they can be still fun imho. "Khrushchev" is on both "Killer Queen" and "We Didn't Start the Fire," sadly.

Surely "pasteurized" shows up somewhere else --- isn't in some sneering 60s and/or new wave song about the minds of people with dumb mainstream ideas, etc.?

Bravo for finally unseating "macaroon" from "Sweet City Woman," which I put forth almost ten years back!

How about "anaesthetized" from "Radio Radio"?

Or, rather, "anaesthetize"?

tbh 70's UK novelty hits (like "Ernie") are a gold mine for this thread, just off the top of my head there's "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" by Brian and Michael - another no. 1, folks - yes, you read that right, matchstalk.

"Anaesthetize" has a couple of appearances upthread, I fear.

Two contenders from Ray Stevens' Mr. Businessman (US #28): 'sinuses' and 'harlot'.

The single didn't chart, but "harlot" appears in Dylan's "Jokerman", which received a lot of airplay and is probably his best-remembered song of the 80s.

If we're counting compound nouns, Nine Inch Nails' Wish is probably the only song that won a Grammy to include the word "fist fuck".

Electroencephalograph

"Makings," in Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster (Jammin')." A much bigger hit than its present-day profile would suggest.

Nope, from Lou Christie's #1 hit "Lightning Strikes":

Listen to me, baby, you gotta understand
You're old enough to know the makings of a man

Damn!

Fish in a barrel here, but "hermeneutic" in Scritti Politti "Lover to Fall".

Hit single?

Fair point, though it seems like that ship has sailed several times upthread.

sideboard - Chas & Dave

I think Chas & Dave have quite a few of these.

“Sideboard” in “Come Together” also

But did that reach the dizzy heights of No. 55* in the charts like "The Sideboard Song" did?

(It only reached 55? What the hell?!?!)

Chas & Dave's "Snooker Loopy" (No. 6 in the charts) has:

snooker
baize
boggles
Taff
gaff
barnet
sod

The lyrics for Snooker Loopy are so precise and expressive. I love them.

'boggles' is in Starshaped by Blur (not a single, though)

"well-thumbed" in Bowie's "John I'm Only Dancing"?

Surely surely ba-burly this has already been mentioned, but in case not:

virtually every single word in "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis (U.S #6)

'jugulate' in Lisztomania

also, 'Lisztomania'

but was it a hit? yeah, sort of

It peaked at #11 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart in the US[1] and as well as #15 in Belgium.[2] ... The song came in at #4 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2009,[3] making Phoenix the first French band to finish in the top 5 of the Hottest 100.

Also not a single but Gilbert has a 'The Mind Boggles' from his self-titled 2018 album - making this maybe the third or fourth time he's been mentioned here by me or houdinisaid.

Women of Country thread made me think of "Easy from Now On" and the word "fandangle"

Heard "Don't Sleep in the Subway" on the radio today: "wherefore."

Also has "deflated".

"allegorically" in Edwyn Collins' 'A Girl Like You'.

― PaulTMA, Thursday, December 3, 2009 7:04 AM (thirteen years ago)

Also, how about "metaphorically"?

Has any song besides White Town's "Your Woman" used the word Marxist, let alone "highbrow Marxist ways?"

― mike a, Thursday, January 24, 2008 1:43 PM

Just saw the video, wondered the same thing, and was compelled to check this thread… (late by 15.5 yrs)

Not the same but Bros' When Will I Be Famous has 'Karl Marx' (I'm guessing Marx is more common than Marxist).

'Dostoevsky' in Belle & Sebastian's 'This is Just A Modern Rock Song'.

Thankfully not a hit song.

xxp (to myself) Worth noting that personal (and ILM EOY poll!) fave "High School in Jakarta" went to #2 in Indonesia and #9 in Malaysia – and its lyrics, of course, include the phrase "Marxist girl with marijuana"

'time' by david bowie contains the word WANKING

not really a hit song tbf but it was on a hit album and off the top of my head i can't think of any other songs that feature that vile term

'I'm a wanker' (as in wanking, not the insult) is the chorus of Ivor Biggun and the Red Nosed Burglars' 1978 No. 22 chart smash "The Winker's Song (Misprint)"

Er, what is "wanking" if not a term to describe masturbating?

Wanker not wanking

I doubt that.

Has anyone other than the mighty Train ever had a hit song containing the words “soy latte”?

I don’t know but there is a lyric on the verve’s “comeback album” that goes:

“New York, I was Judas
She said 'A latte, double shot for Judas'”

Madonna's American Life hit number 37 on the Top 100. Does that count?

I'm drinking a soy latte
I get a double shotte

Also "mocha chocolate latte" in #1 "Lady Marmalade"

j/k

regret to inform you that the word "latte" appears in train's "drops of jupiter"

I think that's where the conversation started.

It also has Tae Bo in it, though I've heard of Tae Bo or, indeed, this song.

xp ah yes, my bad

is "aenima" by tool a hit?

(xxp) never heard of, that is

Good question. Do we define "hit" in terms of chart performance and/or radio play? Or familiarity with the general populace?

I am an adult American urban human who is reasonably well-versed in popular rock and roll music. I have never willingly heard a song by Tool (or Primus or Dream Theater or a thousand other bands with fervent followings).

By now, I think "Familiarity" has taken hold. But, bonus points for an actual chart hit...

"Tae Bo" is actually an even better pull from that same song (although I could see a rule where "proper nouns" don't count)

Jay-Z bragged about doing Tae-Bo on Girls, Girls, Girls (US #17) and Nas dissed him for it on Ether.

"Proofread" in Zebra Katz's "Ima Read"?

Forgot--"hit song." Well, it was a big hit in my house.

From "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes":

Thrill me to the marrow

"Pitchfork" appears in one hit song.

"Combine Harvester" by The Wurzels.

I thank you.

― Mark G, Monday, 6 June 2011 09:27 (twelve years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Which also has "gaiters", "wurzels" and "gallivanting".

The Wurzels' "I Am a Cider Drinker" has "britches", "tadpoles" and "newts"

("scrumpy" appears in both songs so is disqualified.)

Meanwhile their minor (#32 hit) "Farmer Bill’s Cowman" has "smock", "broody", "faggots" (the foodstuff), "squelching", "drake", "muck", "shovel", "milking", "ploughman" and "Somerset".

isinglass
noun
1. a kind of gelatin obtained from fish, especially sturgeon, and used in making jellies, glue, etc. and for fining real ale.

Blossom Dearie "Surrey With the Fringe On Top".