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

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