Top 5 Best Songs with Melodies That Aren't Words

December 12, 2008 | Filed Under Music, Top 5 | 10 Comments

I have to give credit to my roommate Zane for the idea for this one. He IMed me at work and just went off on any number of songs and pretty soon we decided it was great Top 5 material. It was an incredibly long list so we had obviously had to pare it down to five. (Sorry Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head.)

A note about the rules: These are chosen based solely on usage of gibberish alone. Therefore, songs where the gibberish is mixed with actual English words are thrown out, e.g. The Police’s De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.

  1. Crash Test Dummies—Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

    By naming this song they effectively made every Top 40 DJ’s life a nightmare. I remember hearing it for the first time, enjoying the melody like every good mid-’90s kid would, and wondering what the name of it was so I could go (*shudder*) buy a CD. I wouldn’t have believed it except for the fact that the song was about a girl who wouldn’t change in the girls’ dressing room because she had birthmarks “all over her body.”

    Crash Test Dummies—Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

    [audio:ctdmmm.mp3]

  2. Hanson—MmmBop

    I suppose the “mmm” sound is made enough to warrant two incredibly addicting melodies. Don’t knock Hanson. To me they’re kinda like the band you had to hate but secretly listened to when the song came on in the car and ten years later it’s cool similar to Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up”.

    Hanson—MmmBop

    [audio:mmmbop.mp3]

  3. Third Eye Blind—Semi-Charmed Life

    This may be the biggest stretch on the list, but I’ll be damned if I’m not walking around singing “doot doot doot” every time I hear this song.

    Third Eye Blind—Semi-Charmed Life

    [audio:3eb.mp3]

  4. The Marcels—Blue Moon

    This one was almost too easy. I can’t even remember the first time I heard this song (although I’m going to venture to say it was when I was in the car with my mom when I was young and the only thing she let us listen to was either Christian music or oldies. Which in my opinion is kind of funny because some of those oldies songs had some inappropriate material in it) but, just like every one of you, I tried to sing it back and screwed it up majorly.

    The Marcels—Blue Moon

    [audio:bluemoon.mp3]

  5. Tokens—The Lion Sleeps Tonight

    I don’t know who wrote it, and I don’t particularly care. All I know is that this song, while atop this list, also tops the “Easiest to Get in Your Head” list.

    Tokens—The Lion Sleeps Tonight

    [audio:tokens.mp3]

    6. What are YOUR favorites?