Songs where the real hook is in the verse and the chorus is unmemorable by comparison

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xxpost:

Ah, so it was! Not that this makes your post about 'Peaches' any less incorrect.

more Allegro-like (Turrican), Saturday, 7 October 2017 19:28 (seven years ago) link

I ate at a restaurant called Peaches the other night and the moment we left my brain went straight to "Peaches COME from a CAN" so...yeah.

Feel like this thread is gonna end up way too broad for me but I have probably an idiosyncratic, and inarticulable, concept of what counts as a "hook."

Doctor Casino, Saturday, 7 October 2017 20:18 (seven years ago) link

whoa I'd never considered that about "Peaches"

they have another song called "Mach 5" that's kind of the same way

frogbs, Saturday, 7 October 2017 20:37 (seven years ago) link

glenda collins - something i gotta tell you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMMlQ3TroCc

Week of Wonders (Ross), Saturday, 7 October 2017 20:49 (seven years ago) link

Semisonic - secret smile

Might be because the song title is in the opening verses instead of the chorus but everyone I know remembers the verses instead of the chorus.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 7 October 2017 22:07 (seven years ago) link

Again, that is the chorus!

more Allegro-like (Turrican), Saturday, 7 October 2017 22:20 (seven years ago) link

hmm, first one that comes to mind is "range life" -

I want a range life
If I could settle down
If I could settle down
Then I would settle down

just a real classic verse, and i can barely remember all the choruses which all have different lyrics

Karl Malone, Saturday, 7 October 2017 22:24 (seven years ago) link

lol

Doctor Casino, Saturday, 7 October 2017 22:25 (seven years ago) link

The Animals - We Gotta Get Out of This Place
The Who - I Can See For Miles

^ both of these have awesome verses that really build in tension followed by disappointingly weedy choruses

plp will eat itself (NickB), Saturday, 7 October 2017 22:46 (seven years ago) link

just to further derail the thread, I submit "The Road" by Fastball xp

rip van wanko, Saturday, 7 October 2017 22:49 (seven years ago) link

this is totally Def Leppard's "Animal"

fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Saturday, 7 October 2017 22:50 (seven years ago) link

As for BYARM, I like the song but I'm not even sure it has a hook at all.

― Doctor Casino

whoa, I don't agree at all. I think this is a good example of a song being known equally for its verse & chorus hooks. Guess I would err on the chorus just because it's pretty simple & they're shouting the name of the song.

flappy bird, Sunday, 8 October 2017 01:24 (seven years ago) link

What is the chorus of "Black Dog"? That song has a fairly unconventional structure. Are people thinking of the "Oh yeah/...Whoa baby, darlin' won't you do me now" section?

With "Don't Stop Believin'", the chorus is the "Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard..." bit, right? I don't really find that unmemorable. I think the "on and on and on" refrain is probably the most memorable part of the song.

No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Sunday, 8 October 2017 15:04 (seven years ago) link

No way
Don’t Stop Believing is a long build up to one of the most memorable choruses in rock history.

President Keyes, Sunday, 8 October 2017 16:19 (seven years ago) link

Again, that is the chorus!

― more Allegro-like (Turrican), sábado 7 de octubre de 2017 23:20 (yesterday)

What? No way the chorus goes “So use it and prove it” and so on, no?

✖✖✖ (Moka), Sunday, 8 October 2017 16:39 (seven years ago) link

With "Don't Stop Believin'", the chorus is the "Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard..." bit, right?

This is an interesting one because that section strikes me more as a pre-chorus that the song has to go through twice before finally getting to the chorus. I just don't know if "Don't stop believin'/Hold on to that feeling/Streetlight people" is actually the chorus or if it's the last verse.

timellison, Sunday, 8 October 2017 16:44 (seven years ago) link

Ok I finally have a good one!

Dido - Thank You

Everyone knows the openig verse due to the Eminem’s Stan. The chorus feels very saccharine and forced.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Sunday, 8 October 2017 16:46 (seven years ago) link

*the sample in Eminem’s stan.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Sunday, 8 October 2017 16:46 (seven years ago) link

xxpost:

That's the coda.

more Allegro-like (Turrican), Sunday, 8 October 2017 16:49 (seven years ago) link

Dido is a good one

fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Sunday, 8 October 2017 17:10 (seven years ago) link

I was gonna say "Kids in America" but retracted it cos even though I hate that chorus, it's not unmemorable (and I may be in the minority).

fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Sunday, 8 October 2017 17:12 (seven years ago) link

That's the coda.

Yeah, a chorus is a repeated section, by definition!

No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Sunday, 8 October 2017 17:13 (seven years ago) link

I mean, it's tricky because these terms were used with different meanings in the early 20th century, with blues and Tin Pan Alley forms, but, generally, with verse-chorus forms, I think of the verse as a repeated section where music is repeated with changing text and a chorus as a repeated section where both the music and text are repeated. It can get fuzzy, though.

No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Sunday, 8 October 2017 17:21 (seven years ago) link

Dido has been mentioned. What is this world coming to.

rip van wanko, Sunday, 8 October 2017 17:29 (seven years ago) link

I suppose in the case of Don't Stop Believin' we may remember the coda as the chorus because it's serving the function that would normally be reserved for the chorus. The chorus often acts as something like the core or essence of the song, the part which is supposed to reveal the song most directly and which the verse is supposed to lead up to. It's where you usually find the title.

jmm, Sunday, 8 October 2017 17:40 (seven years ago) link

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It doesn't function like a coda usually does.

No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Sunday, 8 October 2017 17:43 (seven years ago) link

Oh dammit someone mentioned Dido before me, it’s true. I give up. I suck at this game.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Sunday, 8 October 2017 19:09 (seven years ago) link

“Plainclothes Man” - Heatmiser

flappy bird, Sunday, 8 October 2017 21:06 (seven years ago) link

Chainsmokers - "Selfie". Instrumental chorus counts, right? Can't remember the melody at all, except that it sounds like something they made in three minutes so that their song could have a chorus

Vinnie, Monday, 9 October 2017 00:18 (seven years ago) link

Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City, if we're saying all that "but at night it's a different world" crap is actually the chorus.

めんどくさかった (Matt #2), Monday, 9 October 2017 00:40 (seven years ago) link

Wow, why hate on that of all things?

timellison, Monday, 9 October 2017 01:49 (seven years ago) link

Yeah, what Tim said.

more Allegro-like (Turrican), Monday, 9 October 2017 02:08 (seven years ago) link

The Cars early singles have huge number of hooks per song but think Let's Go and Good Times Roll could fit.

that's not my post, Monday, 9 October 2017 02:26 (seven years ago) link

I LOVE THE NIGHT LIFE BABY

Erotic Wolf (crüt), Monday, 9 October 2017 02:33 (seven years ago) link

Right Said Fred "I'm Too Sexy"

Erotic Wolf (crüt), Monday, 9 October 2017 02:36 (seven years ago) link

^ Great example

flappy bird, Monday, 9 October 2017 02:37 (seven years ago) link

No it isn't!

more Allegro-like (Turrican), Monday, 9 October 2017 03:17 (seven years ago) link

“Live Forever”

Eazy, Monday, 9 October 2017 03:17 (seven years ago) link

QUESTIONABLE AT BEST

rip van wanko, Monday, 9 October 2017 03:30 (seven years ago) link

Ok guys I think I finally got one:

Spice Girls - Wannabe

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 9 October 2017 03:51 (seven years ago) link

The whole song is catchy but everyone knows the opening verse. Right?

I dare you make a test right now with the person next to you tell them to sing it and they’ll all sing the verse instead of the chorus.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 9 October 2017 03:52 (seven years ago) link

that bit is almost like a secondary chorus though

it's repeated a number of times throughout the song

Number None, Monday, 9 October 2017 03:55 (seven years ago) link

Goddamit I can’t get a single one

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 9 October 2017 04:10 (seven years ago) link

tom tom club - genius of love

not that the chorus is unmemorable as much as the verses rule

Week of Wonders (Ross), Monday, 9 October 2017 04:12 (seven years ago) link

I think some of us are coming at the premise of this thread in different ways. Are we talking about subjectively more memorable or what part the song is more well known for in the culture at large? Because there's no way that catwalk shit from "I'm Too Sexy" is more memorable or well known than the verses. Same goes for "Wannabe" - I'd argue both the verses & choruses are equally memorable.

flappy bird, Monday, 9 October 2017 04:36 (seven years ago) link

Because there's no way that catwalk shit from "I'm Too Sexy" is more memorable or well known than the verses.

They're equally well known.

more Allegro-like (Turrican), Monday, 9 October 2017 05:11 (seven years ago) link

im with flappy bird here, most people born since 1990 have probably never even heard the chorus to that song

bodak horseman (voodoo chili), Monday, 9 October 2017 05:25 (seven years ago) link

I’m evidently having trouble with it too... seems like in really popular songs everything is memorable and some of them are actually two chorus with no verses. I think an essier thread for me would be songs where you like the verse but hate the chorus.

Wonderwall for me, but again that opening verse is probably a second chorus as it’s repeated later in the song. I like the verse (chorus2 whatever) but hate the main chorus.

The Beatles (specially McCartney songs) have this effect with me too... i usually love all their verses but they tend to have terrible saccharine main choruses that ruin the song for me (Hey Jude, Let It Be, Across the Universe to name a few... lovely verses (or second choruses if you prefer) but can’t stand the chorus).

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 9 October 2017 05:51 (seven years ago) link

Another one where I think the verses are lovely but hate the stupid cheery mood of the chorus:

Paul Simon - 50 ways to leave your lover

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 9 October 2017 05:52 (seven years ago) link

Almost every Stone Temple Pilots famous songs do this to me too. Love the verses but feel like skipping the chorus... come to think of it almost every grunge related band has this love verse/hate chorus effect on me. Verses in grunge tend to be very vulnerable and melancholic but they usually go to shit once they get turned into angsty bombastic rage in the chorus.

Some people love it, I usually don’t

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 9 October 2017 05:57 (seven years ago) link

'Baker Dick' is a different story, ofc.

more Allegro-like (Turrican), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 16:52 (seven years ago) link

Many people confusing instrumental chorus with memorable riffs in that thread tho.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 16:54 (seven years ago) link

The Smiths have no hooks. Their music is just frantic rhythm guitar with Morissey sort of meandering between the third and fifth notes of the chord.

I think this would be more melodically active than what often happens, which is Morrissey meandering between the first, third, and fifth scale degrees (or third, fifth, and modal seventh in minor keys) regardless of the chords.

No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 17:02 (seven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVTzT3FmxhI

Apologies if this has been posted before somewhere here

Fine Toothcomb (sonofstan), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 18:59 (seven years ago) link

I think this would be more melodically active than what often happens, which is Morrissey meandering between the first, third, and fifth scale degrees (or third, fifth, and modal seventh in minor keys) regardless of the chords.

― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Tuesday, October 10, 2017 12:02 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You're absolutely correct, I wasn't really thinking clearly when I posted

IF (Terrorist) Yes, Explain (man alive), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 19:03 (seven years ago) link

ahah, great comments/video about Moz !

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 09:39 (seven years ago) link

The oddest place I can think of for a hook is Cut Some Rug by The Bluetones, where it's the bassline on the bridge, which isn't even that high in the mix.

mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 10:32 (seven years ago) link


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