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

I had never heard Prefab Sprout before the other day, but apparently I have a very word-for-word memory for lyrics quoted in ilm threads, because I was getting my hair cut a few days ago, heard the word "infrared" in the song that was playing in the salon, and thought, "Ah, this must be 'Faron Young' by Prefab Sprout."

"Naugahyde" in "Randy Scouse Git" by the Monkees, or "Alternate Title" as it was called on the UK where it was a number 2 hit.

*in the UK

heard the word "infrared" … and thought, "Ah, this must be 'Faron Young' by Prefab Sprout."

This is pretty damn impressive, tbh.

The Beach Boy's "Custom Machine" has naugahyde in it; wasn't a single, but Bruce (Johnston) & Terry (Melcher)'s cover was and it charted at #85.

'Naugahyde' is in "Powerful Stuff" by the Fabulous Thunderbirds, featured on the Cocktail soundtrack and a #1 US Album Rock hit in '89.

Just in case ABBA's "No Doubt About It" gets released as a single": "forbearance".

'Nefisa' by Earthling is probably the only pop single ever to namecheck Frantz Fanon.

prisencolinensinainciusol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VsmF9m_Nt8

Ayes

I have been very sure since about 1985 that Mark King sings the word 'conked' in Something About You, but it's carved, of *course* it is, it even sounds like carved, wtf brain?

sericulture

Ha, queue up to say what that one is.

Surely, someone besides Crowded House has used "deluge," but nothing occurs to me at the moment.

'Hubcap'* from "Bang A Gong"

*No, the Sleater-Kinney song of the same name doesn't count

― C. Grisso/McCain, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 23:30 (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Family, "Strange Band"

Man and his hubcaps, flashing the highway
Shielding his eyes, from the heat of the sun

Surely, someone besides Crowded House has used "deluge," but nothing occurs to me at the moment.

Jackson Browne, "Before the Deluge"

Jackson Browne, "Before the Deluge"

Well, that was easy LOL

But not, to my surprise, "Here Comes the Flood" by Peter Gabriel. It must be Peter Hammill who used it somewhere.

Have we abandoned the “hit song” criterion?

I was wondering that, Peter Hammill has certainly neve had a hit single!

Looks like that Jackson Browne song is a 6-min. album track (not a single)

another Kate Bush entry

BFPO in Army Dreamers

(also possibly "aerodrome")

Hi, thread originator here..

I did mean it to signify songs that we might have had a reasonable chance of hearing.

And, of course, the bigger the 'hit' the greater the metaphorical score .

^ Praises to you.

"Rolleiflex" in Jobim's "Desafinado". Not sure if that's a hit, but it was covered by a zillion people and everyone knows it.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Dienstag, 30. Juli 2013 04:28 (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think this is an outstanding example.
https://idiotic-hat.blogspot.com/2013/12/rolleiflex.html

(i only posted the Kate Bush after hearing it on national radio, so not guilty yr honour)

Rubbish by Carter usm was on totp and sounded like it'd have something relevant here, but they've gone back to using live vocals and it was a bit too muddy to make out

like Domestos and chlorofluorocarbon

Peter Hammill has certainly neve had a hit single!

I was just trying to find the source of the sung "deluge" I hear in my head.

minestrone/ parmesan/ lasagne/ constipated/ Pluto/ Pisa/ crepe suzette ("Life Is a Minestrone')

'minestrone' is also in Weird Al's 'Lasagna'

'Pisa' in also in Cole Porter's 'You're the Top', a song which also contains proper names and cheeses that may not occur in other popular songs.

I wanna say check the Beastie Boys' catalog for the others

"Lasagna" did not chart, afaict.

Bachi in "Lady Eleanor" by Lindisfarne.

"Bachi playing magician sitting lotus on the floor
Belly dancing beauty with a power driven saw"

"bronchi" in "Afternoons & Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies (made it to #2 in the Icelandic charts!)

It was certainly a hit in Canada. Their single "Swimming in Your Ocean" uses the word "aloft" in its chorus, which can't be too common.

guess you forgot about “Aloft-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!”, the very foundation of rock-n-roll.

"Coax" in Rod Stewart's "Maggie May".

"Coax Me" is a song by Canadian rock band Sloan. It was released as the lead single of their second album Twice Removed. The song peaked at #30 on the Canadian RPM Singles Chart, spending 12 weeks in the top 100.[1][2]

...but "Coax Me" includes the lyric "Cajole me", which probably hasn't appeared elsewhere.

Is that line in "Maggie Mae" supposed to refer to her, or "his love" as a discreet entity? Does it mean:

- My love (i.e. Maggie), you didn't have to coax (me)
- You didn't have to coax my love

???

I always heard it the second way - inverting a sentence so the object comes first is common in poetry and even in colloquial speech sometimes. Leaving the object out altogether is weirder; besides, it seems unlikely that he would refer to Maggie as "my love" at this point, when he wishes he'd never seen her face, unless it was bitterly ironic.

You're probably right, it puts a chill on the song for me though.

Yep, the second way.

Naiveté in Find the River?

^Looks like it was only a hit in Iceland (#3); but if we’re counting it, I would go for “coriander,” “bergamot” or “vetiver”!

'telephoto' - The Divine Comedy, Generation Sex
'NHS' - The Divine Comedy, Becoming More Like Alfie

I just sort of picked two of his at random because it was him that got me thinking of it again but for instance Absent Friends has 'inky', 'woodbine' and 'Laika'

"ciggies" in "Looking For Linda" by Hue & Cry.

maybe 'Fulham' (Ian Dury, What a Waste)

"Wishbone" - Eve Boswell, "Pickin' a Chicken" (UK #9, 1955)
"Dewlap" - Georgie Fame, "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" (UK #1, 1968)
"Bagsy" - Gilbert O'Sullivan, "We Will" (UK #16, 1971). Andy Williams rang Gilbert asking to change that line when he covered the song as he didn't know the word.
"Larceny" - Kid Creole and the Coconuts, "Stool Pigeon" (UK #7, 1982)

"Larceny" appears in "Star 69" by R.E.M., which, if not an unqualified hit, did okay on a couple of US airplay charts.

"Wishbone" appears in "Short End of a Wishbone" by Haywire which went to #56 in Canada in 1990.