Songs where the real hook is in the verse and the chorus is unmemorable by comparison

I was gonna say "Kids in America" but retracted it cos even though I hate that chorus, it's not unmemorable (and I may be in the minority).

That's the coda.

Yeah, a chorus is a repeated section, by definition!

I mean, it's tricky because these terms were used with different meanings in the early 20th century, with blues and Tin Pan Alley forms, but, generally, with verse-chorus forms, I think of the verse as a repeated section where music is repeated with changing text and a chorus as a repeated section where both the music and text are repeated. It can get fuzzy, though.

Dido has been mentioned. What is this world coming to.

I suppose in the case of Don't Stop Believin' we may remember the coda as the chorus because it's serving the function that would normally be reserved for the chorus. The chorus often acts as something like the core or essence of the song, the part which is supposed to reveal the song most directly and which the verse is supposed to lead up to. It's where you usually find the title.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It doesn't function like a coda usually does.

Oh dammit someone mentioned Dido before me, it’s true. I give up. I suck at this game.

“Plainclothes Man” - Heatmiser

Chainsmokers - "Selfie". Instrumental chorus counts, right? Can't remember the melody at all, except that it sounds like something they made in three minutes so that their song could have a chorus

Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City, if we're saying all that "but at night it's a different world" crap is actually the chorus.

Wow, why hate on that of all things?

Yeah, what Tim said.

The Cars early singles have huge number of hooks per song but think Let's Go and Good Times Roll could fit.

I LOVE THE NIGHT LIFE BABY

Right Said Fred "I'm Too Sexy"

^ Great example

No it isn't!

“Live Forever”

QUESTIONABLE AT BEST

Ok guys I think I finally got one:

Spice Girls - Wannabe

The whole song is catchy but everyone knows the opening verse. Right?

I dare you make a test right now with the person next to you tell them to sing it and they’ll all sing the verse instead of the chorus.

that bit is almost like a secondary chorus though

it's repeated a number of times throughout the song

Goddamit I can’t get a single one

tom tom club - genius of love

not that the chorus is unmemorable as much as the verses rule

I think some of us are coming at the premise of this thread in different ways. Are we talking about subjectively more memorable or what part the song is more well known for in the culture at large? Because there's no way that catwalk shit from "I'm Too Sexy" is more memorable or well known than the verses. Same goes for "Wannabe" - I'd argue both the verses & choruses are equally memorable.

Because there's no way that catwalk shit from "I'm Too Sexy" is more memorable or well known than the verses.

They're equally well known.

im with flappy bird here, most people born since 1990 have probably never even heard the chorus to that song

I’m evidently having trouble with it too... seems like in really popular songs everything is memorable and some of them are actually two chorus with no verses. I think an essier thread for me would be songs where you like the verse but hate the chorus.

Wonderwall for me, but again that opening verse is probably a second chorus as it’s repeated later in the song. I like the verse (chorus2 whatever) but hate the main chorus.

The Beatles (specially McCartney songs) have this effect with me too... i usually love all their verses but they tend to have terrible saccharine main choruses that ruin the song for me (Hey Jude, Let It Be, Across the Universe to name a few... lovely verses (or second choruses if you prefer) but can’t stand the chorus).

Another one where I think the verses are lovely but hate the stupid cheery mood of the chorus:

Paul Simon - 50 ways to leave your lover

Almost every Stone Temple Pilots famous songs do this to me too. Love the verses but feel like skipping the chorus... come to think of it almost every grunge related band has this love verse/hate chorus effect on me. Verses in grunge tend to be very vulnerable and melancholic but they usually go to shit once they get turned into angsty bombastic rage in the chorus.

Some people love it, I usually don’t

childish gambino - redbone

Oh another band where I usually love their verses but jate their main chorus:

The Police

They usually lock in these kickass grooves in the verses but they turn all awkward and pop-driven in the chorus.

See I’m quicker in thinking examples of bands that have choruses I hate with verses I love.

xxxxxpost:

No, they're equally well known. I seem to remember, for one, an episode of Family Guy referencing the chorus as part of the dialogue in one episode - none of the verses.

Like I said previously, I think Scritti's "Absolute" has the least memorable chorus most people will have to go play it and go "Oh, there it is.."

"Friday I'm in Love" - The Cure

lol

yeah it does seem there are a number of ways to come at this thread. For instance, there are a ton of rap songs with memorable verses/lines and choruses that are just a title being repeated or a sample being scratched. Or a song like Springsteen's "Rosalita" where the chorus is catchy enough, but whose really memorable part is the verse about the record company giving him a big advance.

No, they're equally well known. I seem to remember, for one, an episode of Family Guy referencing the chorus as part of the dialogue in one episode - none of the verses.

and there's never ever been a time that somebody referenced the verses of I'm Too Sexy without referencing the chorus...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EA8MhCBTp4

that's one of a million examples

"Allentown"

'I'm Too Sexy' and 'Absolute' are both working off the title being the first word of verses rather than the chorus - there's a probably a whole 'nother thread for that but suddenly interested in much older examples.

Yeah I guess there's a subset of this thread with songs where the song title and hook are the first word or line of the song.

The Police

They usually lock in these kickass grooves in the verses but they turn all awkward and pop-driven in the chorus.

'Invisible Sun' very much fits the bill.

some Pumpkins songs off the top of my head: Cherub Rock, Zero, Today, Pennies, Tonight Tonight, Galapagos, The Everlasting Gaze, Crush, Tristessa, I of the Mourning...

I agree with a lot of these but definitely not Cherub Rock. The "Who wants honey?" choruses and "Let me out" bridges are the best parts of the song!

the lovely but obscure "Can You Heart Me Now" by Emmylou Harris. Chorus is just mortar to the verses' bricks

Hear not Heart. The song is not about Twitter I promise

Every other part of 'Hey Ya' is a bigger hook than the chorus.

Also I'm pretty sure that if you asked a sample of people to sing 'Irreplaceable' then more people would default to the "to the left, to the left" bit than the actual chorus.

Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" and "After the Gold Rush" come to mind.

/some Pumpkins songs off the top of my head: Cherub Rock, Zero, Today, Pennies, Tonight Tonight, Galapagos, The Everlasting Gaze, Crush, Tristessa, I of the Mourning.../

I agree with a lot of these but definitely not Cherub Rock. The "Who wants honey?" choruses and "Let me out" bridges are the best parts of the song!