Jul 17, 2009
22 normal words that would sound weird in song lyrics (at least in pop/rock and similar genres)
- Sexuality
- Pizza
- Innuendo
- Tuna
- Placenta
- Egg
- Plump
- Sloppy
- Inadequacy
- Solitude
- Spanking
- Sandwich
- Budget
- Traffic
- Potential
- Mulch
- Construction
- Any number over 20
- Urinal
- Oatmeal
- Personality
Thanks to my Twitter friends for all the suggestions.
I think innuendo would be a great song title.
There is a Queen song named Innuendo. It got to number one in the UK.
I guess tuna is right out.
Oops. I changed the second one to “construction.”
Ruh Roh! #22 was one of the best rock songs of the 80s.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/living%20colour/cult%20of%20personality_20084475.html
i think you should write a song using ALL of them.
I think it should be any number over 23. Evidence:
Simon and Garfunkel: I was 22 years when I wrote this song. I’m 23 now but I won’t be for long.
Jimmy Eat World: Amazing still it seems, I’ll be 23.
Blink 182: Nobody likes you when you’re 23.
Yellowcard: We’re almost 23 and you’re still mad at me.
Anberlin: Are you where you thought you’d be? So beautiful and only twenty-three.
Alkaline Trio: And when you’re only 23 it’s not attractive to complain about your sore back.
It’s a theory I’ve been collecting data on for a while.
Wow DrewB! I am seriously impressed by your data. This is exactly the kind of serious study our anti-intellectual church culture in the US has been missing! Love it!
Also, Starflyer’s “Fell in Love at 22″. Here’s the only youtube I could find. Don’t understand the connection w/ The Wonder Years.
What are you going to replace #19 with??? “Preposition”? “charcoal”? “Sippy” as in “sippy cup”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlpYVd8H050
oops. forgetting the link again. it’s a symptom of a bigger issue, i tell you…
http://lyricsfly.com/
Have fun finding songs that include each of those words.
my suggestion (seatpost) didn’t make the cut ;-(
#6 came to my mind in the popular Live song, Lightning Crashes:
“Solitude” also sounds like it would be awkward, but it’s in songs from Bob Dylan, Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette, Blink 182, and others, so it must not be as awkward as it would first appear.
However, I think you’ve got a definite winner in “urinal,” as long as you exclude rap…
Even though it was a lyric, placenta sounded incredibly weird in that song by Live. It always gave me the creeps when I heard it.
Funny how so many of those words WOULD work in nearly any hip-hop song.
Is that funny, or sad?
Origami.
Like in the Eve 6 song…
With others, I think #19 needs some tweaking. drewb has an impressive case for the number 23. I would take it up as high as 99.
Urinal Oatmeal is my favorite flavor
-ality words are actually quite common, aren’t they?
Three potential counterexamples to a number over 22 (or 23, drewB) in song lyrics are “25 or 6 to 4″ by Chicago, “When I’m Sixty-Four” by the Beatles, and “99 Luftballons”/”99 Red Balloons” by Nena, and covered by too many to mention.
Interesting/amusing list, though.
Mike-
THanks for listing that title/lyric. I’ve been listening to that song since I was young, and always thought they were listing a phone number- even though there were only 6 digits in it….
96 Tears by ? And The Mysterians
Josh S – thank you for correcting my mondegreen. I always thought the Live song said, “good intentions fall to the ground…”, which sounds a lot less overly informative.
I dont think I have ever heard a song with the word mulch, tuna, urinal, or oatmeal in it. I count myself lucky.
I would like to submit “sweater” in this list, but only for the “If you want to destroy my sweater” song where they enunciate the word so dramatically.
I also have to question #19. It’s doesn’t sound that weird for the Proclaimers to walk 500 miles, or for Vanessa Carlton to walk 1000 miles.
Also, I think pretty much any of these words would be okay IF the song is a parody. See, for example, “Plump” by Apologetix.
Another example of a number > 22 is Simon and Garfunkel’s “Old Friends” (“How terribly strange to be seventy”).
Also, “Traffic” is used in U2′s “It’s a Beautiful Day” (“The traffic is stuck”).
Just my 2¢.
OK, I rescind #19.
I think these words would make for an entertaining “Flight of the Conchords” song
I would LOVE to see that!
And remember, any word is fair game in hip-hop. No holds barred.
i couldn’t agree more.
A very great post!! I enjoyed the comments too!
Abraham, I know it’s probably your upbringing, which, of course, you should always be proud of, but mine was a little different, all of which is simply to say, ‘I take it you haven’t listened to much Frank Zappa.’ ;0)
#15… Crosstown Traffic > Jimi Hendrix?
Why don’t you replace #19 with “turpentine”?
Leave it to Nichole Nordeman. She could use them all and make it sound poetic.
My guess is, without doing the research, that They Might Be Giants has used at least 1/3rd of these at one time or another. They certainly wouldn’t be ‘fraid to use any of them…
switchfoot- 24 oceans.
my husband doesn’t let me say “placenta.” well, at least not at dinner (i’m a labor & delivery nurse.)
Re: #4. innuendo
Adam Ant, circa early ’80′s:
Don’t drink, don’t smoke,
What do ya do?
Subtle innuendo follows
Must be something inside.
… which makes at least as much sense as most ’80′s lyrics.
I am resolved not to think about ‘urinal oatmeal’ after I post this comment.
By the way, Bill Burns:
Exactly.
Good thing Abraham said “pop/rock and similar genres”…
I think all of these could work with church music.
#19 could be replaced by any number smaller than 1, such as percentage or fractions!
Billy Bragg had a pretty good song titled #2. My wife gets mad when I sing the lyrics:
I’ve had relations
With girls from many nations…..
Sexuality, your laws do not apply to me.
Great list!!
Sorry if mine are repeats, I didn’t take the time to read all 44 comments.
I’ve heard:
9. Sloppy – Kim Walker, How he loves us “Sloppy wet kiss”
15. Traffic – Snow Patrol (can’t remember the song) “Not just the traffic jam”
16. Potential – The Killers, Somebody told me “I’ve got potential”
19. a couple numbers over 20 – Reliant K, In Love With 80s, High of 75, etc
Those are all off the top of my head, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard some of the others. Great post though!
I think “nourish” should be added even in (maybe even *especially*) in the context of a worship song.