Top 5 Best Songs with Melodies That Aren't Words
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.
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
What are YOUR favorites?
I love mmmBop! And I secretly love Hanson. I still have them in my iTunes…. But please don’t tell anyone.
Well, technically it DOES have a couple of words (those being “Bobby McGee”), but the portion of “Bobby McGee” where Janis goes “la da daaa, ladaadaa-aaa, la da daaa dadaa daadaa, laaa da daa da daaaa nah, Bobby McGee”…etc. But honestly, she sounds wasted enough that even the “Bobby McGee” parts don’t really sound like words. And there is more gibberish in that part than there is in the Blue Moon intro. :p So I think it should count, dangit!
Don’t you hate it when you suddenly can’t remember the name of a song? At ALL? Or even a significant enough line to search it on Google? UGH.
It is from the 60s or 70s, and has a melody of “doot”. Man, and I used to know all the words too. I could hum it for you?
There is also the song Moo by the Judys. But does that count? Because the only word in the song is Moo. 4 minute song, nothing but Moo. It is awesome!
Walk on the Wild Side – Lou Reed. Do all the Doos count as a melody though? Or just the underlying base line? Either way – not normal words.
Mmmbop is also pretty awesome. In that Paula Abdul Straight Up sort of way.
Christine, is it “Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash?
Well obviously you know that I love “Semi-Charmed Life”. However, I think it’s more than just a stretch – the words “I want somthing else to get me through this…” etc. are, in my opinion, part of the chorus.
Kat I’m with you partially. I think we decided on uninterrupted strings of gibberish as the qualifier. One could also consider that pre-chorus because it is different enough.
All good songs and examples. I wish Crash Test Dummies would come back.
Oh, and I’ll never forget the first time I heard mmmbop. I was in the car with my best friend and I heard this song and was like, “Oh, I love this girl!” I still love the song and Hanson.
I kinda think Zombie by the Cranberries should be on this list, though.
Semi Charmed Life is a personal fave but I love all things Third Eye Blind. A song with an even better usage of gibberish would have to be Blue by Eiffel 65. A throwback fo sho.
…with the theme song to Nickelodeon’s “Doug” as a close 6th.