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

childish gambino - redbone

Oh another band where I usually love their verses but jate their main chorus:

The Police

They usually lock in these kickass grooves in the verses but they turn all awkward and pop-driven in the chorus.

See I’m quicker in thinking examples of bands that have choruses I hate with verses I love.

xxxxxpost:

No, they're equally well known. I seem to remember, for one, an episode of Family Guy referencing the chorus as part of the dialogue in one episode - none of the verses.

Like I said previously, I think Scritti's "Absolute" has the least memorable chorus most people will have to go play it and go "Oh, there it is.."

"Friday I'm in Love" - The Cure

lol

yeah it does seem there are a number of ways to come at this thread. For instance, there are a ton of rap songs with memorable verses/lines and choruses that are just a title being repeated or a sample being scratched. Or a song like Springsteen's "Rosalita" where the chorus is catchy enough, but whose really memorable part is the verse about the record company giving him a big advance.

No, they're equally well known. I seem to remember, for one, an episode of Family Guy referencing the chorus as part of the dialogue in one episode - none of the verses.

and there's never ever been a time that somebody referenced the verses of I'm Too Sexy without referencing the chorus...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EA8MhCBTp4

that's one of a million examples

"Allentown"

'I'm Too Sexy' and 'Absolute' are both working off the title being the first word of verses rather than the chorus - there's a probably a whole 'nother thread for that but suddenly interested in much older examples.

Yeah I guess there's a subset of this thread with songs where the song title and hook are the first word or line of the song.

The Police

They usually lock in these kickass grooves in the verses but they turn all awkward and pop-driven in the chorus.

'Invisible Sun' very much fits the bill.

some Pumpkins songs off the top of my head: Cherub Rock, Zero, Today, Pennies, Tonight Tonight, Galapagos, The Everlasting Gaze, Crush, Tristessa, I of the Mourning...

I agree with a lot of these but definitely not Cherub Rock. The "Who wants honey?" choruses and "Let me out" bridges are the best parts of the song!

the lovely but obscure "Can You Heart Me Now" by Emmylou Harris. Chorus is just mortar to the verses' bricks

Hear not Heart. The song is not about Twitter I promise

Every other part of 'Hey Ya' is a bigger hook than the chorus.

Also I'm pretty sure that if you asked a sample of people to sing 'Irreplaceable' then more people would default to the "to the left, to the left" bit than the actual chorus.

Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" and "After the Gold Rush" come to mind.

/some Pumpkins songs off the top of my head: Cherub Rock, Zero, Today, Pennies, Tonight Tonight, Galapagos, The Everlasting Gaze, Crush, Tristessa, I of the Mourning.../

I agree with a lot of these but definitely not Cherub Rock. The "Who wants honey?" choruses and "Let me out" bridges are the best parts of the song!

I legit can barely remember the chorus to the Breeders' "Cannonball" but I think most people remember that bouncing ball bass line in the verses.

good one. Hey Ya as well.

David Bowie - Let's Dance

'Invisible Sun' very much fits the bill.

"Can't Stand Losing You" is the one I thought about first. What kind of chorus is that anyway.

Let's Dance is the best answer yet.

Uptown Girl as well.

Let's Dance is the best answer yet.

― Matt DC, Monday, October 9, 2017 11:05 AM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I literally couldn't remember if this song even had a chorus and had to look it up.

Beatles - If I Needed Someone (seeing the "Had you come some other day" part as the chorus)

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, October 7, 2017 6:46 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I always thought the chorus of "I Can See For Miles" was brilliantly soaring -- surely more memorable than the verses (which indeed build tension like crazy).

I like the verses to Pour Some Sugar on Me, kinda hate the chorus

ah yes, what a hookless, forgotten chorus

read the original post. the criteria is merely verse > chorus

a lot of grateful dead does this for me, they'll get a nice choogle going (bertha) or groove (eyes of the world) and then have a really lame chorus like they put it in because songs need to have choruses

Erykah Badu - ... & On

read the original post. the criteria is merely verse > chorus

― rip van wanko, Monday, October 9, 2017 12:45 PM (forty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes but it also says "unmemorable by comparison," which...well the song is called pour some sugar on me not hit me like a bomb

or love is like a bomb

whatever.

acually the "take the bottle" refrain is the strongest hook imo

I suspect a lot of Smiths songs might qualify.

"This Charming Man" arguably does, if you consider the "a jumped-up pantry boy..." section to be the chorus.

a lot of Smiths songs have the primary hooks in the verses, or don't have choruses so much as variations on the verse melodies (Cemetry Gates, Boy with the Thorn in His Side, Barbarism Begins at Home, What She Said, How Soon is Now).

I mean "What She Said" is essentially a loop, save for the instrumental breaks at ~:48 & ~1:48

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.

https://i.imgur.com/aUy629N.gif

there is a light

Girlfriend in a Coma for sure. “Do you really think she’ll pull through?” memorable but not as much as the verse. Though this may be an easy one because I think generally whatever section of the song has the title in it will be more memorable.

Another one: “Under Pressure”

thread title is more interesting to me than just "verse I like better than chorus" but clearly the tide is against me on this one

Def Leppard - "Photograph"

No

That has to be the single wrongest answer here!

WTF...the chorus to Photograph is the payoff!