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

"Fancy" (Money, Money, Money - ABBA)

Ah but you forgot "Fancy Pants" the 1975 smash hit by Kenny.

"Parallelogram" ("Motorhead" by Motorhead)
"Mesmerised" ("Leaving Me Now" by Level 42)

"Pompatous" ("The Joker" by the Steve Miller Band)

I never knew about Fancy Pants.

"Zebedee" ("Magic Roundabout" by Jasper Carrott)

someone must've said "fancy that" in a hit song once. maybe jay-z.

I want hard facts.

I did start The dearth of lyrics talking about "fancying" people but nothing on there is a hit single.

"I fancy this, I fancy that" ("Cool For Cats" by Squeeze)

"fancy" is also in Fit But You Know It by The Streets

xposts

wondering if any other UK hit other than Kraftwerk's mentions 'Autobahn'.

"Chip Shop" - Jilted John

^^^There's a guy works down the....

"Checkers" ("MacArthur Park")

"Filibuster" - Birdhouse in Your Soul

"Looptid", from Digital Underground's "Humpty Dance":

I get stoopid, I shoot an arrow like Cupid
I use a word that don't mean nothin', like 'looptid'.

"Underpass" (There Is A Light That Never Goes Out)

"Checkers" ("MacArthur Park")

-- Dingbod Kesterson, Monday, 21 January 2008 12:08 (30 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

REM - Man On The Moon

Ah yes.

Alba xpost - you forgot "Underpass" by John Foxx.

"Alabaster" (Shoplifters Of The World Unite)

Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost of Tom Joad, also.xp

I never knew about Underpass. I am bad at this game.

Is "Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmm" the only hit single to use the word "birthmarks"?

"Buck-toothed" (Ask)

Underpass also known as Underpants! cause that's what it sounds like he's shouting, ho ho.

"Alabaster" also in "Wrapped Around Your Finger"

"anaesthetised" (Placebo 'Bitter End' - tho i know Girls Aloud use it in the present tense on 'No Good Advice')

not a hit per se but 'underpass' also in well known 'Warm Leatherette'

"Peckham" ("'Ullo John Gotta New Motor?")

http://www.vinyltap.co.uk/gallery/ha/haleas5000934812935510.jpg

"Apropos" - Sheryl Crow 'All I Wanna Do'

"Buck-toothed" (Ask)

-- Alba, Monday, 21 January 2008 12:12 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

^^^"bucktooth" is used on "La Pastie De La Bourgiese", which was the lead track on B&S's top 40 "3, 6, 9 Seconds Of Light" EP.

"Peckham" ("'Ullo John Gotta New Motor?")

-- Dingbod Kesterson, Monday, 21 January 2008 12:15 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

^^^Goldie Lookin' Chain - You Knows I Love You

rebuffed
cordon bleu
parsons (green)

all from 'you will always find me in the kitchen at parties'

argh palmers green i mean

"Underpass" is surely represented in John Foxx' "Underpass" as well.

"The Clapping Song" has "materialize" and "rowboat". Any joy there?

Not a hit song as such, but there's an early Elton John song entitled "Grimsby" which includes the line "No Cordon Bleu can match the beauty of your pies and peas."

D12 - My Band "acapellas"

missy doesn't pluralise that in 'lose control'

Caramba's "Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot" is crowded with words that have only ever appeared in that particular song:

Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Num
Deba uba zat zat
Num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Num
Deba uba zat zat
Num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa
HAH
A-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa
HAH
A-num num
A-num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
A-huh zoot a-huh
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
Num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
Deba uba zat zat
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
a-num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
deba uba zat zat
HAH
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Duuh
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
HAH
A-num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num
HAH
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
HOH
Hubba hubba zoot zoot
Hubba hubba mo-re mo-re
Deba uba zat zat a-num num
A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num A-hoorepa hoorepa a-huh-hoorepa a-num num A-num

Did Orinoco ever appear in another song but "Orinoco Flow"?

Not in the Womble song.

"clarify" and "classify" - 99 red balloons

Abacab
Paranoimia (mentioned in the song iirc)
Paninaro

"Classify" is in "Pop" by N'Sync

(That Caramba song may not have been a worldwide hit, but it was huge in Scandinavia)

Interactive (Bis, 'Kandy Pop')
CD-Rom (Will Smith, 'Just The Two Of Us')
Will Oldham (Biffy Clyro, 'Saturday Superhouse')

someone gonna write a song with all these words in so we can launch it top 40 (must beat that shitty Lloyds song)

CD-Rom (Will Smith, 'Just The Two Of Us')

^^^Busta Rhymes - Fire It Up

Busta sez 'CD-Rom' in 'Fire It Up'

"Firestarter" ?

"Get Busy" has "percolate" and "oscillate"

Born Slippy gauntlet:

succulent
derailed
high-density

Scaramouche
Fandango
Bizmillah

fandango also in Whiter Shade of Pale

Of course.

"Vestal Virgins"...?

More possiblities from another overblown epic:

Bustle
Hedgerow

"Pig skin" - paranoid android

"Pig skin" - In the End - Linkin Park

System of A Down - Chop Suey, "Self-righteous"

who'd a thought it

xp

surely Prince is not alone with 'Corvette'?

^^^Eiffel 65 - Blue

think we did this before but there really aren't that many hits mentioning 'the internet'. Mousse T's 'Horny' was the first one I recall.

Has any other hit song mentioned "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"?

kate nash probably

For some reason I'm sorta proud I can write that word correctly without checking the spelling from anywhere.

"Defecating" - Fugees, Ready or Not

"Haver" - Proclaimers - 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)'

No doubt there's several other words/places in their songs, Kilmarnock/Stranraer/Leith for starters.

There may be some words in "The Logical Song" that haven't been used a lot in other lyrics.

Queen's "Machines (Or Back To Humans)" may not have been a hit, but it's surely the only lyric ever that has included the word "parahumanoidarianised"

Is "West End Girls" the only international hit song to mention "Finland"?

Well, I guess that Monty Python song wasn't a hit. :)

Oh yeah, I've heard that one. Probably wasn't a hit, yes.

Continuing on the them, Tricky's "Christiansands" is probably the only well-known (outside Finland) tune to mention Helsinki.

"Heck-a-slammin'" - Prince: "U Got The Look"

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" surely most be the only hit song to mention mosquito and albino?

Maybe even "rammin'" from same song.

xpost

Tricky's "Christiansands" is probably the only well-known (outside Finland) tune to mention Helsinki.

Surely the only international hit tune to mention Kristiansand anyway ;)

Bolton,
Barnsley,
Nelson,
Colne,
Burnley
Bradford,
Buxton,
Crewe,
Warrington,
Widnes,
Wigan,
Leeds,
Northwich,
Nantwich,
Knutsford,
Hull,
Sale,
Salford,
Southport,
Leigh,
Derby,
Kearsley
Keighley
Maghull,
Harrogate,
Huddersfield,
Oldham, Lancs,
Grimsby,
Glossop,
Hebden Bridge,

It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North.

Brighouse,
Bootle,
Featherstone,
Speke,
Runcorn,
Rotherham,
Rochdale,
Barrow,
Morecambe,
Macclesfield,
Lytham St. Annes
Clitheroe,
Cleethorpes,
The M62,

It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North.

Pendlebury,
Prestwich,
Preston,
York,
Skipton,
Scunthorpe,
Scarborough-on-Sea,
Chester,
Chorley,
Cheedle Hulme,
Ormskirk,
Accrington Stanley,
and Leigh,
Ossett,
Otley,
Ikley Moor,
Sheffield,
Manchester,
Castleford,
Skem,
Doncaster,
Dewsbury,
Hali-fax,
Bingley,
Bramall,
Are all in the North.

It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North.

It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North,
It's Grim Up North

PICK THE CHANGE OUT OF THAT LOT

Most of those cities have probably been mentioned in other songs too. Only not at the same time.

"cities"

someone must've said "fancy that" in a hit song once. maybe jay-z.

-- blueski, Monday, January 21, 2008 4:01 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

lol @ the idea of an American using that phrase

Surely this thread hasn't gotten this far without a mention of the word "prerogative".

Yeah, Jay-Z's not the kind of guy who'd drop camp-ass British expressions into his lyrics. xp

"Tractatus" immediately springs to mind, in Gettin and Havin and Holdin by Scritti Politti

Y'know that bit in the thread title where it says "hit", right?

99 Palavers But A Nincompoop Bain't Being One Of Them

Ah yes, I forgot about the 'hit' element. Still, you can't argue with managing to squeeze the word Tractatus into any song!

i came to this thread to say Ilkley a la Grim Up North
damn you Noodle ..
however, i cant see too many people using the word : parthenogenesis other than the glorious Shriekback ?

Nemesis was a hit for them wasn't it ?

Is "Ossie's Dream" by Chas and Dave the only song to contain the word "blinder"?

There's a good 60 percent of "It's Grim" that I'd be very surprised if they'd ever been in another hit song. I'm looking at you, Lytham St Anne's.

i saw Old Man Gartside in the pub on Saturday, should've grilled him on Wittgenstein

"Nemesis" by Shriekback rose to the dizzy heights of #94 in June 1985.

"Moot" ("Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield)

"True like the Tractatus" is kind of a joke that keeps on giving.

Re. "Ossie's Dream" - surely "trembly" is a nonce word there too?

"Defecating" - Fugees, Ready or Not

Defecating also mentioned in a Bowie song, I think We Are The Dead

Yeah, probly several dozen Metal songs too. None of which were hits.

Faith Hill's "This Kiss" has "pivotal moment," "unthinkable," "unsinkable," and "centrifugal motion"; are all of those words in other hits? (And if so, where?)

Ricky Skagg's '80s country hit "Heartbroke" has "impending goodbyes," "consolation," "sheer madness," and "human condition."

Both deserve credit for a bunch of possibilities where you wouldn't expect them, if nothing else.

(Supertramp's "Logical Song" has plenty of multisyllabic words, but none of them as rare as the ones above, I don't think.)

"Fancy" - the Kinks
use of defecate - Pink Floyd, "The Trial" (something something "fills me with the urge to defecate")

So, I guess not *that* uncommon.

"Jacques Derrida" (yes, it was a hit, kind of)

There was even an act called Fancy. A German 80s Europop act kind of influenced by Italo disco and partly famous across continental Europe for songs such as "Slice Me Nice" and "Chinese Eyes".

PRS, Philippa, pencil case, fountain pen, luvvie (The Beautiful South, 'Song For Whoever')
Shite (The Beautiful South, 'How Long's A Tear Take To Dry')
Sandra Bullocks/sweaty bollocks (The Beautiful South, 'Don't Marry Her')
Crow's feet (The Beautiful South, 'Prettiest Eyes')
Anorexic (The Beautiful South, 'Perfect 10')

petrochemical - Laurie Anderson O Superman

Manfred Mann via Springsteen's "Blinded By the Light" has "caliope," "dictaphone," "silicone," and "moonstone."

Actually, early Springteen lyrics might have a bunch of these, come to think of it...

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" also has "albino" in addition to the ones I've already mentioned.

"Pringles" - Half Man Half Biscuit, Twenty Four Hour Garage People.

"Horace" ("Diary Of Horace Wimp" - ELO)

(in terms of hit songs, i.e. not including Bonzo's "Intro & Outro")

The word "fancy" also appeared in "Fancy" by Bobbie Gentry (among several other hits), fwiw.

"Fuck me" - Don't Marry Her (Beautiful South)

2Touch Me I'm Sick" never charted, did it? That's got "fuck me" in it as well.

How about "shindig" from that RHCP song which seems to be background music every time I turn on the TV (can't stop, addicted to the...)?

I'm sure there are more "bustles" out there (Try a Little Tenderness starts with one, I think), and as far as "internet" goes, did Beyonce's mother not teach her better than that?

Yeah, there's quite a few fuck me songs, Wayne County, oh, and others. But the Beautiful South one charted. And had sincerity, rather than in a Gordon Ramsay sense, or like they just dropped a wine bottle or something.

email - "get here" by her out of Tears for fears..

Wicket-keeper (Pavement, 'Carrot Rope')
Ventolin, asthma, French bread, 24-hour garage, service station (Super Furry Animals, 'Hermann Loves Pauline')
Vermillion, dartboard (Super Furry Animals, 'Demons')

Ultravox - "Vienna": pizzicato?
Was "Eisbär" a hit in Germany? Come to think of it, Peter Schilling's "Major Tom": stabilisers?

Gordon Ramsay's Wonderful World Of Pop:
"Fucking Imagine, Yes?"
"Fucking God Save The Queen, Yes?"
"Fucking You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve, Yes?"
"Fucking Save Your Kisses For Me, Yes?"

"Rock The Casbah" most likely has maybe 3-5 otherwise unused words, I'd bet. All of 'em Arabic.

"Taumatawhakatangihangakoayauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukypokaiwhenuakitanatahu" ("The Lone Ranger" by Quantum Jump)

what "Boogiemen" ? (xpost)

"Muezzin" and possibly "Bedouin" may be relevant here.

xp Some people here have a very bizarre idea of what constitutes a "hit song." (Unless "hit song" in England just means "any song ever recorded.")

I was told the words "finger fucking" appeared (and was played unedited on the radio) in a Blondie hit, though I can't recall which one.

"Macarena"!

I can only think of one instance of the word 'dawdle' in a hit record:

"...Daily, except for Sunday, you dawdle into the cafe where you meet her each day..."

Sparks - this town aint big enough

xp Some people here have a very bizarre idea of what constitutes a "hit song." (Unless "hit song" in England just means "any song ever recorded.")

It means any song which made the UK singles chart is what it means.

"anaesthetise" [UK spelling sic] was also in "radio radio" -- re: someone's placebo comment 500 posts ago.

I'm pretty sure that "Columbo" only appears in Bill Howard's ribtickling 1975 hit "King Of The Cops."

I'm pretty sure that "Columbo" only appears in Bill Howard's ribtickling 1975 hit "King Of The Cops."

-- Dingbod Kesterson, Monday, 21 January 2008 15:11 (9 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

Mark B and Blade - Ya Don't See The Signs

Which got to #23 in May 2001, for any confused middle-aged American music critics wandering around this thread.

It's a tough concept to grasp, aye.

I can only think of one instance of the word 'dawdle' in a hit record: Sparks - this town aint big enough

Lovin' Spoonful's "Darling Be Home Soon" used it. (OK, dawdled, pedants.)

"Rolled up a woolie and I watched Columbo" from The New Style, by the Beastie Boys.

xpost

I had a feeling that the Beasties might have something to say in that department.

Yeah, they probably have a few. "Sabotage"?

"Commiserating" from Blink 182's All the Small Things

Also, going back to RHCP, I can't think of any other hit songs that have the word "Wisconsin" in them.

"Hollaback Girl" ?

Psychosomatic?

I have the feeling that Going the Distance by Cake is made entirely of these, but I really don't want to go look up the lyrics. I think dude had a rhyming dictionary AND a thesaurus open on that one, though.

The notable exception from this song is the word "bowel" which, thank you Will Smith.

Lipstuck, Grebos, Crusties - The Only Living Boy in New Cross, Carter USM
Klaus Barbie, Leigh-on-Sea, Abodeless, Rachman - Sherrif Fatman, Carter USM
Chloro-Fluoro-Carbon, Domestos - Rubbish, Carter USM

"Engenders" ("Jenny Ondioline" by Stereolab)

"hit" was "French Disco" so I submit "Bubble withdrawal"

In fact, that I submit that phrase as never appearing anywhere else, ever!

You never heard the remix of "Heal The World" then?

"Victrola" - CCR's Looking out my back door (if counts as a hit single? I still hear it occasionally on our local rock station.)

"Belisha Beacon" - Radiohead's My Iron Lung - and er, "My Iron Lung" probably isn't used that often either.

I believe that CCR song was one of their half-dozen Number Two singles

"Has any other hit song mentioned "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"?"

"Super Band" by Kool & the Gang (#17 on Billboard's soul charts in '77).

- "superficial" (Anita Baker, "Giving You The Best That I've Got")
- "foolhardy," "thereafter," "portrayin'" (Bob Kuban & the In-Men, "Look Out For The Cheater")

"vegemite," "combie," "chunder" -- Men At Work, "Down Under"
"wallabies," "cockatoo," "abos," "platypus," digeridoo" -- Rolf Harris, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport"

(In the U.S., anyway -- In Australian hits, for all I know, those words show up all the time.)

Is Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" the only U.S. hit to contain the word "pissing"? (Patti Smith's "Pissing in a River" was never a hit anywhere, I'm pretty sure; nor was the Beastie Boys' "Stop That Train," where they're "pissing on the third rail.")

And I doubt it was, but if Elvis Costello's "Busy Bodies" was ever a hit somewhere, it's got "concertina."

"Debonair" -- "When Smokey Sings" (probably the only hit song to *begin* with "debonair," at least...)

Before Dignbod says,

"I should be so debonair, I threw my glass in the air"

Oh what a shame, Roy Wood.

"Buck-toothed" (Ask)

-- Alba, Monday, 21 January 2008 12:12 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

^^^"bucktooth" is used on "La Pastie De La Bourgiese", which was the lead track on B&S's top 40 "3, 6, 9 Seconds Of Light" EP

buck teeth also mentioned in the glorious U.G.L.Y. by Daphne and Celeste.

"Apple Crumble" - Abc - That Was Then But This Is Now

"Gas fires of the refinery" Bruce Springsteen Born In The USA

"Victrola" - CCR's Looking out my back door

Also appears in "Dim All the Lights."

"Alabaster" also in "Wrapped Around Your Finger"

-- ledge, Monday, January 21, 2008 7:12 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Link

"scylla and charybdis"

I do these with friends as scavenger hunts. Spot the hit song that used each of these words:

accomplished
as yet
carbon (at least two answers)
gunnin'
inclement
James Taylor
misconstrued
prefix
tumble
vibes
whippoorwill

Nabokov.

Carbon=1/2 of Modest Mouse's recorded musical output.

Nabokov.

-- chap, Monday, January 21, 2008 1:54 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

pronounced correctly = 0

Precocious = "Bette Davis Eyes"

Oppenheimer (Sting's 'Russians')

arapahoe (Spitting Image - the Chicken Song)

Deacon Blue's "He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now" mentions Oppenheimer, but that wasn't a single. The album ("Raintown") was a pretty big hit though.

Oh, let me get my hands On your mammary glands - smiths, 'handsome devil'

Precocious = "Bette Davis Eyes"

B-b-but "precocious" was used in "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"! As a rhyme, yet.

plebeian

"James Taylor" was in Cimarron's "Rings."

Also, I'll submit "anarchy."

mmmbop

"I do these with friends as scavenger hunts. Spot the hit song that used each of these words:

as yet"

Sam Cooke, "Another Saturday Night" (which also mentioned "deliverance")

"tumble"

You call THAT an unusual word?!? Already, Top 40 hits by Culture Club and Ziggy Marley come to mind...

As far as "misconstrued," the only place I remember hearing that was in a Swamp Dogg song that was nowhere near a hit ("The Baby Is Mine").

"Precocious = "Bette Davis Eyes"

B-b-but "precocious" was used in "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"!"

B-b-but "Supercalietcetera" wasn't a hit!

"accomplished" = "Becoming more like God" Jah Wobble.

"inclement" = "With a litte Luck" McCartney/Wings

"tumble" = "Big Apple" Kajagoogoo

Also, I'll submit "anarchy."

-- If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, 21 January 2008 20:00 (23 minutes ago) Link

Wasn't "April 26, 1992" a rock hit in America?

"Birdlike" in Kiss Kiss by Chris Brown

"Aoteaora" Six Months in a Leaky Boat by Split Enz

oops, Aotearoa actually.

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" hit #66 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart, actually, so I cede the point.

B-b-but "Supercalietcetera" wasn't a hit!

Maybe it wasn't released as a single (or was it?), but you can't deny it's one of the best known songs of the 20th century.

(x-post)

But it does raise the question, why the fuck did Kim Carnes have to use the clunky rhyme "pro blush" when perfectly good words like "ferocious" and "atrocious" exist?

"gavotte" in "You're So Vain"

Has there ever been a hit with 'cunt' in it? I can't think of one. There are probably some hip-hop singles though.

"strutter" in "Strutter" by Kiss.
"colitas" in "Hotel California" by The Eagles.
"Debussy" in "Left To My Own Devices" by the Pet Shop Boys (probably loads more PSB songs with unusual words).
"stricken-bound" in "Chorus" by Erasure.
"towel" in "Geno" by Dexy's Midnight Runners.
"tarry" in "Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile)" by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel.
"Yukatan" in "Hit My With Your Rhythm Stick" by Ian Dury & The Blockheads.
"flamingo" in "Pretty Flamingo" by Manfred Mann.

"towel" in "Geno" by Dexy's Midnight Runners.

"Thank You" by Dido

"Country House" by Blur is probably the only chart topper ever to cite Balsaz.

There is an East 17 song which mentions wanting to be your towel.

Brr.

"Beelzebub" (and probably various Italian opera words) - "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen

"Moet et Chandon" (and possibly "extraordinarily," "fastidious," "etiquete" and/or "gelatin," though probably not all of the above) -- "Killer Queen" by Queen

""tumble"

You call THAT an unusual word?!? Already, Top 40 hits by Culture Club and Ziggy Marley come to mind... "

And how could I have forgotten the Stones (whose "Tumblin' Dice" is WAY superior to these other two songs I alluded to above)?

"fuzzy" in "All Shook Up" sung by Elvis Presley.
"milkround" in "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" by Benny Hill.
"sabre-toothed" in "Metal Guru" by Marc Bolan.
"flyer" in "January" by Pilot.
"helmet" in "Space Oddity" by David Bowie.
"combine harvester" in "The Combine Harvester" by The Wurzels.
"mull" (in the Gaelic sense) in "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings.

"gunnysack"? (Johnny B. Goode)

"fuzzy" in "All Shook Up" sung by Elvis Presley.

"Filthy/Gorgeous" by Scissor Sisters.

"contradiction" and "chameleon" in "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club.
"reflex", "bruise", and "Renoir" in "The Reflex" by Duran Duran.
"reet" in "Reet Petite" by Jackie Wilson.

"reflex" is in fondly remembered Will Smith movie tie-in smash "Wild Wild West"

"Spaghetti-Os" -- "This One's For the Girls," Martina McBride

(xpost) So it does - although all I can remember is Cartman's "wiki-wiki-wiki-wild-wild-west-artemus frog" version. And the giant mechanical spider.

"reet petite" is in "Jackie Wilson Said" by Dexys.

"bruise" - Natasha Bedingfield "I Bruise Easily"

"bruise" - Natasha Bedingfield "I Bruise Easily"

-- ailsa, Monday, 21 January 2008 23:59 (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

"Bruise/Pristine/Serene/We were born to lose"

sorry, that was a response to snoball claiming it was just in The Reflex.

^^^ Ah, so it ("reet petite") does (appear in that Dexy's song), right at the beginning of the song too! (several xposts)

"shroud", "backwash", "carbon", and "alignment" from "Sound Of The Crowd" by Human League.
"capitalise" and "socialistic" from "Yellow Pearl" by Phil Lynott.

Ah but Dexy's got it wrong and sang "It was real you see"..

I've just gone and listened to the record and it does sound like "it was real you see". Excuse anyway for the TOTP "Jockey Wilson" clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eCOll4T-zo

what about the Van Morrison version? I'm sure that's reet petite as well.

Errrrr, I don't have the VM version, so I had to search on the 'Tube for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDnxmGzQ2Mo
Yep, Van the Man definately sings it as "reet petite". Kevin Rowland's not exactly known for singing clearly - took me ages to work out what he was singing on "Geno"!

"placenta" - "Lightning Crashes" / Live

copacetic - Local H ("Bound for the Floor")

Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie wasn't really a hit song. The lead track was A Century Of Fakers. I stand by my buck-toothed.

Luftballons, all 99 of them. Nena.

"camber sands" "harold robbins" and "mantlepiece" all from Squeeze ("Pulling Muscles")

^^^mussels

"Double jeu" and "Yherushalaim" in Army Of Lovers' "Crucified",

"Filet mignon" in Ciara's "1,2 Step",

"Bourgeoisie" in Madonna's "Music".

"Et cetera" in Eleanor by The Turtles

"Hypermediocrity" - "Emerge" by Fischerspooner

I love that there are other fans of that Cymarron song here.

Here were the rest:
accomplished - dunno that Jah Wobble song; I was going for Tavares, "It Only Takes a Minute"
carbon - "Ride the Tiger" and "Woodstock"
gunnin' - "Do It Again"
misconstrued - "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"
prefix - Smokey/Miracles, "Yesterlove"
vibes - Jefferson Starship, "Miracles"
whippoorwill - "Phila. Freedom"

"Depoliticise", "linoleum", "bompalompalomp", "ramalamadingdong" in Le Tigre's "Deceptacon".

"ramalamadingdong" is also in "ramalamadingdong" Rocky Sharpe and the Replays.

"Sericulture" from Being Boiled by Human League

(I suspect) "Argonauts" from Birdhouse In Your Soul by They Might be Giants

"Toulouse" from State of the Nation by New Order.

xp to Joseph mcCombs

'whippoorwill' appears in 'I'm So Lonesome I could Cry'

vibes - Jefferson Starship, "Miracles"

"One (Always Hardcore)" by Scooter

Sericulture is good...
Also from the League 'dehumanisation (is a very big word, it's been around since Richard the third)' can't remember the song.......

Has "backhander" ever been used elsewhere than in Scritti Politti's "Perfect Way"?

Scritti Politti may have others that fit in this thread too. Although "Aretha Franklin" has been namechecked in at least one Steely Dan hit as well.

Anyway, "Chocolate Cake" by Crowded House is the only song that namechecks Andrew Lloyd Webber, or at least the only one expressing the wish that Lloyd Webbers trousers fall down when he bows to the queen and the crowd. :)

"Mork and Mindy"

Doo-wah-diddy-diddy-dum-diddy-doo

C'mon, does wacky jibberish really count?

Mogey-pah

copacetic - Local H ("Bound for the Floor")

There was a song called "Copasetic" by The Rulers, available on the Club Ska '67 comp. I don't know if that counts as a hit. It's a crucial song.

'oceanography' In The Navy

"tardis" in "Doctorin' The Tardis" by The Timelords.
"twister" in "Man On The Moon" by REM.

"salute" in "School's Out" by Alice Cooper.

"excitations" in "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. The things I will do to avoid work...

"For those about to rock, we ______ you" AC/DC

What's that flyin up there
is it a bird?
is it a plane?
or is it a _____
(Chubby Checker, let's twist again)

"bosh bosh bosh, loadsamoney" in "Doctorin' The Tardis" by The Timelords.

"hookah", "chessboard", "mushroom", "caterpillar", and "doormouse" in "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane.

"skibobble" in "I Wish" by Skee Lo.

"Notwithstanding" and "contractual" in Legal Man by B&S
"Brewers droop", "gut lord" and "porklife" in Parklife by Blur
"Terylene" in Filmstar by Suede

And I'm not sure this counts, but
"Cemetry" and "plague-arise"

Didn't Loadsamoney have a hit song called Loadsamoney? (x-p)

What's that flyin up there
is it a bird?
is it a plane?
or is it a _____

The answer is Twister, innit?

Twister was also mentioned in "Man On The Moon" by R.E.M.

"caterpillar"

ever heard of a little number by The Cure called THE CATERPILLAR

"One night in Bangkok" has a chessboard in it.

"Asp" shows up in Man on the Moon. Only three letters! Now wracking brain for an unmatched two-letter word.

"One night in Bangkok" has a chessboard in it.

Not in so many words.

oh, just checked and it's "chess boys" so OK.

Do acronyms count? Ice-T, "OG"

Do acronyms count? Ice-T, "OG"

-- dad a, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 15:28 (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Shitload of rap hits contain this, most notably "Cold As Ice" by MOP

All from the same song:
Cornflake
Eggmen
Walrus
Custard
Crabalocker
Fishwife
Priestess
Texpert
Semolina
Pilchard
Eiffel Tower
Edgar Allen Poe

And even then I don't count nonsense words such as "Goo goo goo joob"

I'm sure some of those are not unique.

cornflake girl, for one

"Tintinabulation"

(Wait, I blew it by not doing a spell check first.)

"eloquence" from When Smokey Sings by ABC
"Vermissimilitude" from Vermissimilitude by Teenage Fanclub

is there a song, other than My Perfect Cousin by the Undertones which mentions Subutteo?

phil collins

"Cheese on toast"

"Brewers droop"

Nope. Dire Straits' "Industrial Disease."

Noddemix.

When Paul McCartney mentioned paparazzis in "The World Tonight" it was before the Diana incident. It may not be unique now, but I believe it was then.

Has any song besides White Town's "Your Woman" used the word Marxist, let alone "highbrow Marxist ways?"

Manics maybe?

"salute" in "School's Out" by Alice Cooper

Well, Tom T. Hall had "Salute To A Switchblade," but I guess the country Top 40 doesn't count.

"love" in that one song by wet wet wet.

"For Those About To Rock" by AC/DC was a pop hit anyway. The next line in the chorus is "We salute you".

"intoleration"

REO Speedwagon, "Time For Me To Fly"

"Abhor" ("Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant).

hanson - mmmbop

MMMbop tick a ta ba do ba
dubi da ba do ba
tick a ta ba doo
yeah eh yeah
MMMbop tick a ta ba do ba
dubi da ba do ba
tick a ta ba doo
yeah eh yeah

Kurosawa-Barenaked Ladies "One Week"

to the guys at the top of this thread:
"FANCY" BY REBA McENTIRE~! HELLO!?

i mighta been born just plain white trash
BUT FANCY WAS UH MA NAME!!

the pretenders - brass in pocket
"reet"

groos
ELO - "don't bring me down"

the pretenders - brass in pocket
"reet"

Jackie Wilson beat them to it by more than 20 years.

Now wracking brain for an unmatched two-letter word.

Om (Across the Universe)?

zigazig-ha

'progenitorship' in 'The Attic' by Van Dyke Parks. Probably a handful also from his Song Cycle. 'Hackamore'?

'snozzed' in Mike Doughty's 'I Hear Them Bells'? ("you snooze you lose, well I snozzed and lost" - totally pulls this off!). Maybe that doesn't count, since it's slang.

I'm guessing The Fall and maybe Jandek have some.

'haplocanthosaur' on Pere Ubu's 'Petrified'. They probably have heaps too.

My favourite use of unusual words used in song = 'Parallelograms' by Linda Perhacs. The title word takes the cherry.

quadrahedral/tetrahedral... semi-parabolic (?)

sorry, overlooked the 'hit' part of thread q.
Only the Mike Doughty could fit anywhere into that from my stabs.

Om (Across the Universe)?

Moody Blues had an "Om" too.

"Mitsubishi Zero" and "Red Star Belgrade"
from Billy Bragg's "Sexuality"

"Equilibrium"
from "Falling to Pieces", Faith No More

"Hijacking your equilibrium/Midnight snacks in the mauesoleum" Beck, "Sexxlaws"

I'm sure quite a few dodgy Eurodance #28 for one week hits may disprove this, but:

"Eurobeat" ("Twisting By The Pool" by Dire Straits).

"Kidnapped" (Tom Petty: "Refugee")
"Pudding" (Pink Floyd: "Another Brick in the Wall Part Two")
"Leonid Brezhnev" (REM: "It's the End of the World...")

Ah, but "Black Pudding Bertha" by the Goodies ("She's the queen of Northern Soul!").

Also, "I Like My Baby's Pudding" (ooer, sounds a bit rude) by Wynonie Harris.

"Pudding on the Ritz"?

'Asunder' in Kate Bush's- Running Up That Hill

And these are the days
When our work has come asunder
And these are the days
When we look for something other

U2 - Lemon

"Pudding" (Pink Floyd: "Another Brick in the Wall Part Two")

You playing album versions again?

Asunder's in 3 girl rhumba, but I guess that wouldn't qualify as a hit.

"Alabaster" (Shoplifters Of The World Unite)

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Nabakov - "Don't Stand So Close To Me"

"Alabaster Lady" by Carole King.

10cc:

'bullhorn' ("Rubber Bullets")
'Milton' (as in John) ("The Dean and I")
'Getty', 'Rothschild' ("Wall Street Shuffle")
'toupees and threepees' ("Silly Love")
'minestrone' ("Life Is a Minestrone!")

"Minestrone" - "Bangers And Mash" by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren.

'Paisley' (as in the town) (Hue & Cry, "Looking For Linda")

Apposite time to cite "The Glasgow Underground Song" by Francie and Josie:

"There's Partick Cross and Cessnock,
Hillhead (pronounced HillHEED) and Merklands Street,
George's Cross and Govan Cross where all the people meet,
West Street, Shields Road, the train goes round and round" etc.

There's also "Paisley Park" by Prince (okay, it's not about the town, but it's still the same word).

Yeah, was going to say...

Also "Letter From America" by the Proclaimers wraps up Bathgate, Linwood, Methil, Irvine, Lochaber etc. Not to mention "Sunshine On Leith."

And "HAVER"!

There's also "Paisley Park" by Prince (okay, it's not about the town, but it's still the same word).

Which isn't a hit single

I thought Paisley was mentioned in "These Streets" by Paolo Nutini, but he only mentions a couple of specific streets in Paisley, not Paisley itself.

18 Prince & The Revolution Paisley Park May 1985

Which isn't a hit single

It was in the UK:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley_Park_%28song%29

Damn, x-post.

Ha ha, I musta forgot all about that!

<i>"Pudding" (Pink Floyd: "Another Brick in the Wall Part Two")

You playing album versions again?

-- Mark G, Tuesday, February 5, 2008 10:40 AM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Link</i>

Hey man, American classic rock radio (at least the stations I know) ALWAYS plays the "eat your meat" part!

'Bon marché' (Steely Dan, "Haitian Divorce")

"Wakka" ("Ooh Wakka Doo Wakka Day" by Gilbert O'Sullivan).

"Camisas" ("Favourite Shirts" by Haircut 100).

Is "Mo Money, Mo Problems" the only hit record with the word "flagrant" in it?

Was "People Who Died" a hit? Can't be many others that mention hepatitis or leukemia.

c'puter says no.

What about Capt. Beefheart's "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish"? Was that a hit?

21 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Trout Mask Replica Dec 1969

So, yeah.

Somehow or another, big awkward words just DO NOT have the same effect in all these obscure art-rock songs that some of you guys have started naming. You EXPECT five-dollar words in some song by Jim Carroll, 'cause hell, he's a poet in the first place! And if Van Dyke Parks uses the word "progenitorship" in a song, his audience probably wouldn't even have to look that up!

But it's way more shocking to hear funny words in some out-and-out mainstream pop or soul song (even if it didn't make the charts). Laura Lee's "Separation Line" is a moving southern soul ballad that was never a hit, true - but I always love to hear that line about how she no longer needs her mother's jurisdiction. Or Rick James (not mainstream, but close) singing about coming home horny and intoxicated in his hit "Give It To Me Baby." It sounds more left-field in songs like those than it does in some R.E.M. tune.

(Say, where was Beefheart's "Octafish" a hit? Pluto?)

Rick James (not mainstream, but close) singing about coming home horny and intoxicated in his hit "Give It To Me Baby"

"I'm the fear you tasted/ Well intoxicated/ Psycho somantic addict insane"

psychosomatic - prodigy, breathe

(Say, where was Beefheart's "Octafish" a hit? Pluto?)

-- Rev. Hoodoo, Tuesday, 5 February 2008 17:18 (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Hull.

Antibiotics - Alanis M., "Thank U"
Eclectic - The Cars, "Hello Again"
Horton Hears A Who - Deee-Lite, "Groove Is In The Heart"

Sussudio - Phil Collins

Has it gotten this far without mentioning "My Prerogative"?

Or for that matter, Foster Sylvers'"Misdemeanor?"

several Missy Elliott tracks

Has it gotten this far without mentioning "My Prerogative"?

-- bendy, Tuesday, 5 February 2008 23:48 (Yesterday) Link

"The best thing about being a woman/Is the prerogative to have a little fun"

I don't guess "Verisimilitude" (Teenage Fanclub) was a hit.

I'd be surprised if there's a song other than Ween's "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)" that mentions "spinal meningitis".

"Spo-Dee-O-Dee" from "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" by Stick McGhee

"Buffalo Stance" by Neneh Cherry

"The Discovery Channel" from Bloodhound Gang's "The Bad Touch"

"Longines Symphonette" from They Might Be Giants' "Birdhouse in Your Soul"

"Zipperhead" from Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl"

"JavaScript" from Weird Al's "White & Nerdy"

In Jessie's Girl Rick Springfield says the word "moot."

I remember hearing it and looking it up in the dictionary when I was younger

Beach Boys: "My four-speed dual-quad positraction 409."

"placenta" -- live, lightning crashes

"Buffalo Stance" by Neneh Cherry

Buffalo gets a mention in Buffalo Gals by Malcolm McLaren.

What about "Reaganomics" in "Money's Too Tight to Mention" by Simply Red?

And "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley (xp).

Confining myself to UK Top 40 singles, which is the only way something like this can work (and not counting neologisms c.f. "Instinction" by Spandau Ballet):

"Arran" (Nik Kershaw "The Riddle")
the entire lyrics of "Gaudete" by Steeleye Span
I suspect "fare thee well" from the same band's "All Around My Hat"
"Grasmere" (The Smiths "Panic", and probably some of the other place names in that most conservative of radical songs and most radical of conservative songs)
"Videotheque" (erm, "Videotheque" by Dollar)
possibly "Engels" and probably "The Archers" (The Style Council "Life At A Top People's Health Farm")
and is there another Top 40 single bar "Come to Milton Keynes" that mentions said new town? There might be, but not one that I know.

A cache of Divine Comedy, unsurprisingly:
"woodshed" (Something for the Weekend)
"unrefined" (Becoming More Like Alfie)
possibly "hay fever" (Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count: I would say "pollen count" itself but it isn't actually in the lyrics)

And even more Manics:
"Miller and Mailer", "Plath and Pinter" (Faster)
"lebensraum, kulturkampf, raus raus, fila fila" (Revol: also most/all of the political figures mentioned in that song)
"carrion" (She Is Suffering, though pronounced in the Sid James sense)
"kaffir" (the South African equivalent of the n-word used in "Kevin Carter")
and the title itself of "La Tristesse Durera"

"carrion" (She Is Suffering, though pronounced in the Sid James sense)

"Carrion" by British Sea Power

Confining myself to UK Top 40 singles, which is the only way something like this can work (and not counting neologisms c.f. "Instinction" by Spandau Ballet):

I suspect "fare thee well" from (Steeleye Span)'s "All Around My Hat"

In America, Jerry Butler's "He Will Break Your Heart" started off with "fare thee well, I know you're leaving."

"carrion" (She Is Suffering, though pronounced in the Sid James sense)

What about "Carrion, My Wayward Son?" ***KIDDING!***

Dean Martin - That's Amore, "tarantella"

and "pizzabella" or whatever he sings.

There *must* be a UK Top 40 single other than Midnight Star's "Headlines" which mentions "chitter-chatter", surely?

and is there another Top 40 single bar "Come to Milton Keynes" that mentions said new town? There might be, but not one that I know.

Milton Keynes is not mentioned in song "Come to Milton Keynes"

Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as... (parklife!)
And morning soup can be avoided if you take a route straight chrough what is known as... (parklife!)
Johns got brewers droop, he gets intimidated by the dirty pigeons - they love a bit of it. (parklife!)
Whos that gut lord marching? you should cut down on your porklife, mate, get some exercise! (parklife!)

Chorus:
All the people
So many people
And they all go hand in hand
Hand in hand through their parklife

Know what I mean?

I get up when I want, except on wednesdays, when I get rudely wakened by the dustmen. (parklife!)
I put my trousers on, have a cup of tea, and I think about leaving the house. (parklife!)
I feed the pigeons, I sometimes feed the sparrows too.
It gives me a sense of enormous well-being. (parklife!)
And then I'm happy for the rest of the day,
Safe in the knowledge there will always be a bit of my heart devoted to it.

Chorus

Parklife - parklife!
Parklife - parklife!
Its got nothing to do with your vorsprung durch technik, you know.
Parklife - parklife!
And its not about you joggers who go round and round and round...
Parklife - parklife!

Oh where to start?

I always heard Dustman (singular) which is obviously in "My old man's a vorsprung durch technik" Lonnie Donegan....

"Gut" is in "Air Force Ones" by Nelly ("Cop 'em, gut 'em and change the laces")

"Pigeons" is in "No Pigeons" by the much-missed Sporty Thievz

Mark G is right. And I didn't realise it. And it's probably my favourite Paul Weller single.

"brewers' droop" is a good one. "Parklife" itself is a deliberate neologism so doesn't count. "sparrows" in the singular at least (are we really going to be that pedantic?) is in, er, "The Sparrow" by The Ramblers.

Another three:

"Sherpa Tenzing" (probably) and "Buff Manila" (surely, though it's barely articulated): Saint Etienne "Pale Movie"
"Twickenham", where the whisky came from in Scott Walker's "Jackie" (it's Clermont-Ferrand in the original)
"Hastings" and "Tyrolean" (and that probably isn't all): Murray Head "One Night In Bangkok"

"Hastings": Murray Head "One Night In Bangkok"

"...I was walking down Hastings Street"

---John Lee Hooker, "Boogie Chillen," 1949 (#1 on Billboard's R&B chart)

"beagling", "punting", "rucking" - Marillion "Garden Party" (there are other words in that song which may well not appear on any other hits, but I'm not quite so sure). All very UK-specific references as well, which simplifies things still further.

Of course, certain latterday pop people have done such things themselves, and without the Big Changes would have done a lot more. But they don't like to talk about it.

And how could I forget "straafed". And possibly "rugger". And surely "Cam" (in the context of the river). I could go on.

In fact, it pretty much shuts this thread down. But I can't think of another UK Top 40 single apart from "October Swimmer" by JJ72 which mentions Helsinki. Or October, for that matter (though I may have missed something really obvious ... but it's just such an *un-pop* month).

Something obv?

Howabout "The Calendar Song" by the Trinidad Oil Company?

gets a mention in Buffalo Gals by Malcolm McLaren.

But "stance" can't be all that common.

and before anyone says, "Dance Stance" doesn't etc...

Is FC Robin C?

euphoric, incessantly - Mariah Carey, "Heartbreaker"

Dingbod - seeing how I know who you are, I'll concede - yes, I am.

The thing is that ages ago I had "Garden Party" down as the ultimate song for a phantom thread like this, but had posted here several times before I remembered it. Of course, the songs it's pastiching didn't appear on the singles chart, with one exception - which reminds me, how many other hit singles bar Genesis's first mention "lawnmower" or, indeed, "wardrobe" itself?

Away from toffism, in relief:
"Yehudi Menuhin" (Sparks "Amateur Hour")
"beverage" (The Scaffold "Thank U Very Much")

"wardrobe" is in Babies by Pulp.

hurdy gurdy - "Hurdy Gurdy Man"

Thanks, Ailsa. "lawnmower" is still open though.

Another October song (and every month) to answer my own question: "Calendar Girl" by Neil Sedaka.

Der Kommissar - Falco or After the Fire, take your pick.

But "stance" can't be all that common.

-- kingkongvsgodzilla, Friday, 8 February 2008 09:46 (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

Hot Chip's "Ready for the floor"

Silent "Lucidity" by Queensryche

"advantageously" in "Not So Manic Now" by Dubstar - although that was written by another band, right?

no that was them. you probly thinkin of their cover of st swithin's day

well I'm not sure, Alan - I've no idea who the original band were, but I found this on the web, apparently the lyricist was a guy called David Harling who used to work as a psychiatric nurse. The text below comes from an email written by Harling, to a guy in Colchester:

This text is taken from an email written to me by David Harling.

'Not so manic now' attempts to capture something of the mundanity of everyday existance, and so tells a tale of one persons stuggle beyond this.

My writing the song was triggered by working with a gentleman who had killed his neighbour. In brief what happened was that he was living in some high rise flats with his family when one day his wife announced she was leaving him and taking the children with her.

Over the following months, he became more and more depressed which in turn led him to develop a psychotic depression.

He lost all sense of reality and over a period of days began to believe that his neighbour, who happened to be a body builder, had kidnapped his family and killed them.

The twist was that in the depths of his psychosis he began to develop the delusional belief that the noises he could hear from the upstairs flat were those of his neighbour 'grinding the bones' of his dead family.

In actual fact his neighbour was using body building equipment.

(Emily again - weird or what?? I can't find any trace of a pre-Dubstar version of this song, though.)

"Romford" - Underworld "Born Slippy"

(there was - and I think this might have been the worst record ever made - "The Romford Rap" by Chas and Dave, but mercifully it didn't make the Top 40)

"Daddy's doing Sister Sally
Grandma's dying of cancer now
The cattle all have brucellosis <--------
We'll get through somehow" -- Warren Zevon

Toxic - "Toxic"?

Cheney; Ovulating - "Without Me"

La Isla Bonita has "Tropicaly"

'Hubcap'* from "Bang A Gong"

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

Flux-capacitor - that song by Busted.

pesos, waffle-house, damning, boy-shorts, doubling
- R Kelly feat Usher 'Same Girl'

dresser, spatula, unheard, sniggles, midget,
- R Kelly 'Trapped in the Closet'

"EINS-ZWEI-DREI-VIER!!!"

(ahem)

Delaware, Perry Como

Inspired by a recent listen to Thriller:

"the doggone girl is mine"

^^^ "Glad All Over" by the Beatles

Ah, forgot about that one. And theres probably 846 different country songs I haven't heard that use "doggone".

"Glad all over" is either "by the Dave Clark Five" or "recorded for a radio 1 session", so either way wasn't a hit.

"Doggone" also appears in Marvin Gaye's "I'll Be Doggone."

"Midget" also appears in Sly & the Family Stone's "Stand."

How about "fruitless"? (Peter Gabriel, "In Your Eyes")

the word "agrophile" appears in Alice Cooper's "Dead Babies"...perhaps not a big "hit", but we all know the song...so there...

and just what the hell is an "agrophile"?

"Snakes On A Plane" = that Kanye song where he says "Snakes On A Plane"

I'm guessing "You're So Vain" is the only hit song to reference Nova Scotia...and Saratoga, for that matter...

Nova Scotia's also in Translator's "Everywhere I'm Not."

Was that a hit single?

I had thought it was, but now that I check, it wasn't. Still comes up on SF radio every once in a while, though.

It should've been, though.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AQ9TfJjKHUM

"designated driver": Montell Jordan, "This is How We Do It"

"reaper"...you know the song...

It's not a pop hit (yet), but the use of "thus" in Rick Ross & T-Pain's "The Boss" must be very rare indeed, and possibly unique in its genre.

"hen fap" in Kanye West's "Gold Digger"

"academia" - Saint Etienne, He's On The Phone
"piscean" - The Sundays, Summertime

in terms of hip-hop (and perhaps more widely), "bakery" and "fakery" - Three 6 Mafia "Poppin' My Collar"

and although it was probably never used in any other context by anyone ever, so it shouldn't really count, "knockatize" in "Pigeons" by Genesis (if only because it's probably the best thing they did)

"Jacques Derrida" by Scritti Politti has some great words in it, like "Cashanova", "Rapacious", "Assuage" and last but not least "Bop sh'day-o" (according the lyric site I'm looking at), which also appears in "The sweetest girl", sort of.

How about grody, from Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl?"

If that's how you spell it....

"academia" - Saint Etienne, He's On The Phone

"Academia Blues" - Perfect Skin, Lloyd Cole

"shtick" - Barry White, "Never Never Gonna Give You Up"

"TVC15", not much of a word.

But it counts.

Re. Scritti: is "Wood Beez" the only hit to include the word "intravenous" (again I suspect there may be several dozen rap-related responses to that)?

Is it not in "Just like a pill" pink?

Good call.

http://www.spinaltapfan.com/atozed/images/intravsm.jpg

"symbolic" as featured during a verse of that earth's-core-shakingly massive hit tune "Mr. Jones", performed by Counting Crows.

"antediluvian" - Donovan, "Atlantis"

is "Wood Beez" the only hit to include the word "intravenous"

Partial credit to Stars of 45 for beginning the titling of their Beatles medley "Intro: Venus ..."

er, Stars ON 45 ...

"Chromium steel" - "Allentown."

I'm guessing "You're So Vain" is the only hit song to reference Nova Scotia...and Saratoga, for that matter...

"Gavotte"

Santeria by Sublime.

Gavotte was mentioned earlier.

"reaper"...you know the song...

Prince used "reaper" in Let's Go Crazy.

"EINS-ZWEI-DREI-VIER!!!"

Not exactly it, but "Der Kommissar" opens with the line "Zwei drei vier, one two three, it's easy to see..."

And though technically not part of the lyrics, Kraftwerk do count in "Eins-Zwei-Drei-Vier" on "Showroom dummies".

"reaper"...you know the song...

Prince used "reaper" in Let's Go Crazy.

OK, same song: "redefine"

When you said "you know the song", my first thought was Don't Fear The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. Sorry.

"funky cold medina"

xpost: that was the song I had in mind...(good catch re: Prince)...

The B-52s had a bunch of these:

"Give Me Back My Man" - "Korvettes"
"Dance This Mess Around" - "limburger"
"Rock Lobster" - "earlobe," "lobster," "noseguard," "tanning butter," "stingray," a bunch of other crustaceans
"Quiche Lorraine" - "appliques"

"Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" - "somersets"

I'm guessing "You're So Vain" is the only hit song to reference Nova Scotia

Well, you'd be wrong then, since the Proclaimers' Letter From America contains the line "the day you sailed from Wester Ross to Nova Scotia".

"Whore"

in "You little thief" Feargal Sharkey...

"Whore" appears in lots of songs.

"Wake Up (Time To Die)" by Pop Will Eat Itself
"Four Winds" by Bright Eyes
"Shamrocks and Shenanigans" by House of Pain

To name just a few....

As well as at least one huge hit, Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer."

RE: "Wrapped Around Your Finger": Scylla and Charybdis.

'masturbation' - "Give Peace a Chance"

Of course, if anyone at the Beeb had noticed, it would probably have been banned...

(yeah, prompted by the original songwords going up for auction)

is there a song, other than My Perfect Cousin by the Undertones which mentions Subutteo?

"All I Want for Christmas Is a Dukla Prague Away Kit" by Half Man Half Biscuit. Not really a hit though.

"Mesmerised" has somehow avoided debunkation so far: it occurs in every song by The Cure, or at least "The Walk"

In addition to the ones that February C mentions above, Marillion's "Garden Party" also has "queueing cumbers" IIRC, but I suppose that falls into the deliberate-neologism bin.

Has anyone made a song featuring "hapax legomena"? :)

it occurs in every song by The Cure, or at least "The Walk"

er wait no, I think I mean another one! Um.

Take it to the "word(s) that appear in every song apart from one, ever" thread.

"The Caterpillar"! That's it.

"Wuthering" Heights by Kate Bush

There's a lot to choose from in "We Didn't Start the Fire," so I'll just pick one: "Panmunjom"

The same goes for "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)": "Leonid Brezhnev"

Parthenogenesis as part of Shriekback's Nemesis.

"Underwhelmed", Sloan

"Alabaster Lady" by Carole King.

Quote "Wrapped Around Your Finger" by The Police:

"I will turn your face to alabaster, when you find the sermon is your master".

"Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"

Not a hit song (although familiar to a larger number of people than most hit songs have ever been, it can be argued)

I guess Acker Bilk's "Summer Set" doesn't count against.

"Pønkebassgitar" (Delillos - Min beibi dro avsted)

"Pønkeruckelektrikgitar" The Members - Sound of the Suburbs

"Checkers" ("MacArthur Park")

"Knees" (MacArthur Park)

"Watch it bring you to your sha,na,na,na,na,na,na,na,na,knees, knees"

Loadsa knees!

"California Dreaming" for a kickoff.

I was beginning to doubt 'knees' as I wrote. Scritti are mentioned above, and are probably a safe bet, though. How about "negation" in 'First Boy in This Town (Lovesick)' which was a single, though whether it was actually a hit?

"Pønkebassgitar" (Delillos - Min beibi dro avsted)

That particular spelling of "beibi" may also be unique.
(Probably a lot of unique words in the entire "big four" of Norwegian 80s rock - maybe apart from Jokke, who wrote about more "down to earth" subjects)

"Vestibule" - My ding-a-ling, Chuck Berry

Great choice from first post on this thread, but no longer valid after 38 years -- "vestibule" is also in "Love Is A Beautiful Thing" by Phil Vassar, which topped the country chart (and I'm pretty sure also crossed over to the pop chart) earlier this year.

Prince: Musicology

Was the Tragically Hip's "Bobcaygeon" a 'hit' in Canada? It won a "single of the year" Juno and still gets radio play. Anyway, I don't know of any other hits that reference Bobcaygeon.

Show me a song with "anaconda" other that that one song by that rapper guy.

"nadir" used by Metallica in Blackend.

Mariah Carey using "fathomed" in "We Belong Together"

BARRACUDA!

from "Barracuda" by Heart, and "Summer Fun" by the Barracuda's right?

what is "Summer Fun" by the Barracuda's right?

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:2ecpuIn2MmVKzM:http://recordcollectorsoftheworldunite.com/artists/barracudas/summer7uk.jpg

In Boogie Down Productions' "My Philosophy" KRS-One says, "a lot of MC's like to use the word dramatical," but I can't think of anyone who does other than him. That was a hit, right?

Les Sexareenos - everybody sexareeno!

Surely 'Everywhere' by Fleetwood Mac is the only pop song to use the word "peculiarly". Double deffo.

Have to sadly rule out a bunch of things from upthread (having sat and read this whole thing):

"Foolhardy" is in "One Dyin' and a Buryin'" (#10 country, #34 Hot 100) by Roger Miller, in addition to the Bob Kuban & The In-Men song.

"Anaesthetize" has already been ruled out but here's another: REM's "Bad Day"

"gunnin'" is probably in tons of things and certainly is in "Method Man."

"whippoorwill" is also in "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home?" by Joe South.

"contradiction" shows up in "Walking Contradiction" by Green Day in addition to "Karma Chameleon." Green Day also gave us "masturbation" in "Longview."

Eiffel Tower was brought up for some reason and was also in "I Can See For Miles" by the Who.

"Stance" is in "Drop" by the Pharcyde (#5 on the US rap charts, #4 US dance), not just "Buffalo Stance."

pesos, waffle-house, damning, boy-shorts, doubling
- R Kelly feat Usher 'Same Girl'

"Pesos" is in "Banditos" by the Refreshments. "Waffle House" must be in some country songs.

"stingray" is in that Jimmy Ray song, not just "Rock Lobster."

Also not just in Rock Lobster: "lobster," which features prominently in the Red Lobster scene of "Big Ole Butt" by LL CooL J.

Speaking of LL, though, I think he might have a unique word with "locusts" from "Deepest Bluest (Shark's Fin)."

"shih tzu" -- "Brand New Girlfriend," Steve Holy (#1 country single, 2005)

"reciprocity" : Lauryn Hill 'Ex-Factor'

"flatulant" in frankly, mr. shankly.

Debunked: "anarchy" also shows up in Sheryl Crow's "Every Day Is A Winding Road."

"Orthopaedic Shoes"

(Rock and roll baby, the Stylistics)

"reciprocity" : Lauryn Hill 'Ex-Factor'

Damn you, beaten to the punch!

"Verisimilitude"

Teenage Fanclub - Verisimilitude

"samin'"

"These Boots Are Made For Walking"

Wire and Brian Eno are helpful here.

Cartologist: Map Reference, Wire
Maisonettes: Cindy Tells Me, Brian Eno

One would imagine John Cale would also have a bunch. But I just don't have the energy....

John Cale has "hits"? (I dunno, maybe he does in Wales.)

And where were Wire's "Map Reference" and Eno's "Cindy Tells Me" hits? (Not being sarcastic; just curious. I might want to move there.)

Coolerator -- Chuck Berry, "You Never Can Tell"

Sort of appalled that "kaopectate" isn't in here yet.

Didn't see the "hit" part of thread title.

But I guess you don't remember the summer of '74, when all the kids just couldn't get enough of Mother Whale Eyeless.

A twofer in Sweet Home Alabama: "Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers." Shoals? Swampers?

Andy Griffith: Drake - Best I Ever Had

Dukedom ("Duke of Earl").

xp, Nah, the Bellamy Brothers got to Andy Griffith long before Drake did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6JrAcuHsJ0

Thanks for the correction, I can vaguely remember hearing part of that song before.

Milli

"appointed" -- Bill Withers, "Use Me Up"
"vegetable" -- Michael Jackson "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"

Currently on the charts -

"lycanthropy" - Shakira, "She-Wolf"
"Windex" - Mariah Carey, "Obsessed"

I believe that Love Is A Wonderful Colour by Icicle Works contains the 'word' unrelentless

"cockatoo" -- Rolf Harris, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport"

Turns out this is also in "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil (which also features the words "Kentmore West" and "Yuendemu.")

has "Tyson Beckford" appeared in any songs other than blessid union of souls' "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)"?

amadeus

The Hombres, Let It All Hang Out": "Eatin' a Reuben sandwich with sauerkraut." I didn't know they made them any other way!

Turtles "Elenore" has to be the only hit song that has "etcetera" in the chorus

"Automo-bills" Destiny's Child - Bills, Bills, Bills

"Orthopaedic Shoes"
(Rock and roll baby, the Stylistics)

There are some orthopaedic shoes in a Belle & Sebastien b-side. Not sure if it was a hit.

There's that song by the Smiths that has etcetera in it. Can't remember which one it is. Pretty sure that it's a rip-off of "The Town I Live In" by Jackie Lee because Morrisey uses it in a pretty similar way.

womanizer womanizer oh you're a womanizer

Sweet and Tender Hooligan

xpost

Ah yes. Great song. Not a hit song though, nor was Jackie Lee's song, so I guess "etcetera" stands for now.

I know it's a two-year old post i'm responding to, but FANCY PANTS, C'MON!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Qu0Arjtfg

"gurgle" in Streetband's "Toast".

Doubtful that it was a hit, but "columnated" in Beach Boys - Surf's Up