September 30, 2011

"History of Lyrics That Aren't Lyrics."



Hey, you missed "Papa Oom Mow Mow" and the doo doo songs... Police... and Stones...

Anybody remember when Yale Law Journal devoted a page to reprinting the sheet music of "De Do Do De Da Da" to make a point about the indeterminacy of law or some such trendy critical theory concept?

30 comments:

Nihimon said...

"doo doo" songs?

Do you mean "doo wop" songs?

Ann Althouse said...

"Do you mean "doo wop" songs?"

No.

Ipso Fatso said...

If you want nonsense lyrics here is the original version of

Rubber Biscuit.

Once you are at utube, push the time up to 25 seconds to get past the stupid intro of the guy who posted it.

coketown said...

The first song I was old enough to remember the first run of is Seal's "Kissed by a Rose." But that wasn't 1993, as the video says. It only became popular because of its inclusion in the 1995 Batman movie, and according to the Wiki it was released a year earlier as a single.

Also, why isn't Arcade Fire included in this video? I've listened to several of their albums and haven't found "lyrics" in any of them.

Ipso Fatso said...

The girl in the video has a really good voice. It was fun to watch. It would have been cooler to an old guy like me if they had included some stuff from the early 60s or 50s but hey they are young. Good job.

edutcher said...

They missed one, largely because it's Country:

Giddyup A Oom Papa Mow Mow, Giddyup A Oom Papa Mow Mow, Hi O Silver A Wayyyy.

Elvira

Which also has a great opening line:

Eyes that look like Heaven,
Lips like cherry wine

That's The Blonde - especially when she used to wear her blue-green contacts.

Ipso Fatso said...

Well, if you want nonsense lyrics, here is in my opinion, the greatest rock and roll song from the 1950s

Little Demon by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Fred4Pres said...

R-A-A-A-A-A-C-I-S-T.

Anonymous said...

Heh. I enjoyed that.

Fred4Pres said...

It was very good.

But of course, non use of English and lyrics is a political statement against the patriarchy and class imperalism. You are mocking that. Or at least smiling and smiling is not serious.

It is almost always raaaaacist.

Geoff Matthews said...

This looks like a really bad art school project.
Really bad.

sorepaw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I heard TWO distinct "That was awesome" comments at the end..

It better not have come from the piano player ;)

Lucien said...

What about the glossolalia in Dead Can Dance songs?
Also aren't there some lyrics in the Lord of the Rings soundtrack sung in Elvish?

(Or is it just an Elvish impersonator?)

Rabel said...

Talented young woman trying to make it as an indie artist.

You should give her a link in the main post:
http://janelui.com/

Lovely voice, irrepressibly cute.
Works for me.

sonicfrog said...

Nice Bass....

JackOfClubs said...

Jeez. Why does history always have to start in the '60s? Have these people never heard of "Sing song kitty kitchee cry me oh"? Or "Hey, nonny nonny"? Or, for that matter "Brekekekex Brekekekex Koax Koax"? (Although admittedly the last one is not exactly a song.)

Joe said...

These aren't lyrics, but sounds and that is the essence of singing--even if a lyric is an intelligible word, the overall sound it makes is what makes an impact.

Kirk Parker said...

Strong Bad begs to differ. (Be patient, you have to sit through the first 7 items on his Bottom Ten list, but some of them are funny, too!)

Bob_R said...

Sorry Althouse. History is written by the winners - even when the y have won a "bad song" contest.

William said...

They say music expresses what there are no words for. But singers have to make a living.

jr565 said...

A fake band doing a fake hit in a classic movie from the 80's. Otis Day & The Nights:

Shama Lama, Shama Lama ding dong
You put the poo mow mow oh oh oh oh
back into my smile child baby
that is why, that is why
you are my sugar de dee doo (yeah)

jr565 said...

actually I heard that Shama lama ding dong is actually an otis redding, and while I've never heard his version I could see him writing the song, since he uses a lot of nonsense lyrics in his songs. (Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa, your turn, fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa as but one example)

But Otis Day was definitely a fake band.

viator said...

The Swingle Singers
Flight of the Bumblebee

YouTube

and the originals

"Prelude And Fugue No.1 In C BWV 846"

YouTube

veni vidi vici said...

There's also the entire catalog of Yes' album-side-length opii.

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