Lyrics that sound like gibberish

[Nobody]

We've had lots of mondegreen threads, but I was thinking; What about songs where not only do you not hear the right lyrics, but your brain can't even make up fake ones? The words sound garbled or otherwise unintelligible to you.

A good example is Pearl Jam's "Even Flow". Unless you hear the song a bunch of times it sounds like Eddie's mumbling the verses.

For me I'll also add The Black Crows "Hard to handle". I understand most of the lyrics, and even though I know he's singing, "Cause mama I'm sure hard to handle, now
Gets around" To me the words are blurred together and sounds like gibberish.

So what songs have lyrics that you can't make out without looking them up?

[Senegoid]

Originally Posted by Nobody

We've had lots of mondegreen threads, but I was thinking; What about songs where not only do you not hear the right lyrics, but your brain can't even make up fake ones? The words sound garbled or otherwise unintelligible to you.

<snip>

So what songs have lyrics that you can't make out without looking them up?

My nominations:
"Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" by the Hollies
"Strange Brew" by Eric Clapton

Honorable mention: Portions of "Smoke Over Water" by Deep Purple.

Not to mention the infamous "Louie Louie" as recorded by the Kingsmen, already much discussed in the contemporary literature: Straight Dope column, Feb. 5, 1982 and snopes, May 24, 2007

[Ashes, Ashes]

Ina Gadda Da Vida. Isn't that one where nobody knows the lyrics?

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by Senegoid

Not to mention the infamous "Louie Louie" as recorded by the Kingsmen, already much discussed in the contemporary literature: Straight Dope column, Feb. 5, 1982 and snopes, May 24, 2007

Ah yes "Louie Louie" is an excellent example.

Originally Posted by Ashes, Ashes

Ina Gadda Da Vida. Isn't that one where nobody knows the lyrics?

Off the top of my head
In a gadda da vida baby, don't you know that I love you.
In a gadda da vida honey, don't you know that I'll always be true.
Oh won't you come with me, and take my hand.
Oh won't you come with me, and walk this land.

Then again, when I think of the song, all I can think of is the Slayer heavy metal cover on the "Less than Zero" soundtrack.

[Alessan]

The Queen song "Headlong" starts with the lyrics "And you're rushing headlong...". For years, I was sure the words were "Anti-Russian hand dog", and wondered what the hell the song was about.

Also, I wanted an anti-Russian hand dog. It sounded like a cool thing to have.

[nudgenudge]

To be honest I have this problem at some point with about 50% of all songs. One example that springs to mind is Nirvana's Lithium. For the life of me I couldn't work out what he was singing after

I'm so ugly, but that's OK, 'cause so are you

The next line sounds like

Brookham ears

I couldn't think what it was supposed to be, so I just sang that in my head for many years. I finally looked it up. It's "Broke all mirrors". That American pronunciation or "mirrors" threw me.

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by nudgenudge

To be honest I have this problem at some point with about 50% of all songs. One example that springs to mind is Nirvana's Lithium. For the life of me I couldn't work out what he was singing after

I'm so ugly, but that's OK, 'cause so are you

The next line sounds like

Brookham ears

I couldn't think what it was supposed to be, so I just sang that in my head for many years. I finally looked it up. It's "Broke all mirrors". That American pronunciation or "mirrors" threw me.

Just out of curiosity what country do you live in and how do you pronounce the word?

[nudgenudge]

Originally Posted by Nobody

Just out of curiosity what country do you live in and how do you pronounce the word?

UK (England, to be precise), and I pronounce it "mirrahs". Some Americans pronounce it in a way that sounds similar to "meers", to me. More like "meerers", but the first and second Rs almost merge.

[Freudian Slit]

"Broke all mirrors"? I always thought it was "Book of years."

My first thought on reading the OP was Super Bass by Nickie Minja.

[nudgenudge]

Definitely "broke our mirrors" (not "all"), according to several lyrics websites I just checked.
But I think I misread the OP, so apologies for that. I thought we were looking for lyrics for which we couldn't find plausible words.

[Nobody]

No problem. Mainly I'm looking for songs where you can't make out what they're saying just by listening. The words sound garbled, all run together, or in other ways impossible, or almost impossible to make out unless you've been told the words, read liner notes, or looked them up on-line.

[WordMan]

Wasn't part of the movie Jumping Jack Flash something about Whoopie Goldberg trying to make out what Mick Jagger was saying in that song? He is considered pretty unintelligible when he is selling and strutting hard...

[Lilacs]

Originally Posted by Senegoid

My nominations:
"Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" by the Hollies
"Strange Brew" by Eric Clapton

Yes to the first. I still have no clue what is being sung. And I love the Hollies.

Somehow, I do understand the lyrics to Strange Brew. It was Cream not just Clapton.

For years, I had no idea the title of this song was Happenings Ten Years Time Ago. It was just gibberish to me.

[Thudlow Boink]

It's unintelligible
I just can't get it through my skull
It's hard to bargle nawdle zouss???
With all these marbles in my mouth

-Weird Al's parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

[Jophiel]

90% of the Mazzy Star catalog is semi-incoherent mumbling. So Tonight That I Might See is as good an example as any.

On the other end of the 90's chick alt-rock tempo spectrum is the "chorus" of Letter to Cleo's Here & Now.

[Cubsfan]

Pretty much all Deftones and White Zombie songs. Thunderkiss 65 is unintelligible.

[Justin_Bailey]

Something something something /
Born in the USA! I was born in the USA! /
Something something something yellow man

That's patriotic, right?

[Barkis is Willin']

Informer by Snow is pretty notorious for being so difficult to understand that you can't even really make up anything. It doesn't even sound like words, just badabadabadabada.

[ZipperJJ]

"Even Flow" is perfect diction compared to "Yellow Ledbetter".

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

A current commercial emphasizes that Elton John sings "Rocket Man" -- somewhat incomprehensibly.

[KneadToKnow]

I know I skimmed this thread quickly, but is it possible that I'm really the first to mention the WKRP in Cincinnati closing theme?

Granted, they sound like gibberish because they are, but still ...

[cjepson]

One of the great things about the Internet is that now we can find out what the hell those guys were singing back then. One line I could never get was from the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City": "Despite the heat it'll be all right".

"In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry was a particularly tough one. Lines like "You can stretch right up and touch the sky", "You can make it, make it good in a lay-by", and "We're no threat, people, we're not dirty, we're not mean" totally stumped me.
(By the way, in a previous thread I mentioned MetroLyrics' hilariously wrong attempt at the lyrics.)

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally Posted by Thudlow Boink

It's unintelligible
I just can't get it through my skull
It's hard to bargle nawdle zouss???
With all these marbles in my mouth

-Weird Al's parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Even after Weird Al mocked the song it wasn't until recently that it occurred to me to go online and look up the lyrics.

Wow.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

"3x2=6" By Vanity 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9gZak_0KXo
"Saturday Night" by Herman Brood and His Wild Romance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mEjmWnihrc
(Links broken because some of from the Vanity vid are borderline nsfw.)

[kayaker]

Shooby Taylor.

[Pábitel]

Originally Posted by Nobody

Off the top of my head
In a gadda da vida baby, don't you know that I love you.
In a gadda da vida honey, don't you know that I'll always be true.
Oh won't you come with me, and take my hand.
Oh won't you come with me, and walk this land.

Then again, when I think of the song, all I can think of is the Slayer heavy metal cover on the "Less than Zero" soundtrack.

Yes, but the point is that the original title of the song was In-the-Garden-of-Eden. Even the band went with the gibberish title that the slurred words suggested when the lead singer mouthed them.

[emmaliminal]

In the department of "Lyrics that sound like gibberish because they are" is "Nobody Understands Me," by Sandra Boynton, as sung by Meryl Streep (sample here), on the album Philadelphia Chickens.

[banjoDavid]

Inna Gadda Da Vida - Was Originally In the Garden of Eden, but filtered through a gallon of cheap red wine, this was the gibberish that became the hit.

Louie Louie by the Kingsmen - was recorded in a studio with ONE mic hanging from the ceiling, the lead singer had to stretch up and shout to be heard above the cymbal crashes.

English accents to American ears made Cream, Stones, Beatles and other band's syntax not very clear.

I read an interview in a recording trade publication, (Mix Magazine?), and a rock engineer confessed that he treated the vocals as just another element in the mix, thus mixing them too low in my opinion.

I produce mostly American folk, Irish folk, and bluegrass. I mix the vocals so even listening at low volumes, you can hear the singer's poetry.

It's a DELIBERATE choice.

David

[Alessan]

Originally Posted by Exapno Mapcase

Even after Weird Al mocked the song it wasn't until recently that it occurred to me to go online and look up the lyrics.

Wow.

Kurt Cobain wrote the song as a joke - he even stole the famous riff from Boston's "More Than a Feeling". I think he was more suprised than anyone that it became a monster hit.

[JXJohns]

John Mellencamp Small town. Pretty understandable lyrics until this part in bold:

But I've seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town???
Now she's small town just like me

Until I looked up the lyrics for this thread I had no idea that is what was being sung.

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

"Even Flow" is perfect diction compared to "Yellow Ledbetter".

Wow, he sings slowly and he's still difficult to understand. I think he needs to work on his enunciation.

[Greg Charles]

Mares eat oats
And does eat oats
And little lambs eat ivy
A kid'll eat ivy too,
Wouldn't you?

[FordTaurusSHO94]

Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up, I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid, hu-blah-blah-blah

-Green Day

[Superdude]

Most things by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[Justin_Bailey]

Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up, I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid, hu-blah-blah-blah

The next line is "Am I just stoned?" Which isn't garbled at all.

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

The next line is "Am I just stoned?" Which isn't garbled at all.

I have to go with FordTaurusSHO94 on this one. That's what it sounds like to me also.

[Novelty Bobble]

Anything by the Cocteau Twins.

Beautiful but barmy. I just googled for a link and it threw up this beauty. I think I just fell in love all over again.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

The group Yes had a penchant for impenetrable lyrics. From Siberian Khatru:

Sing, bird of prey;
Beauty begins at the foot of you. Do you believe the manner?
Gold stainless nail,
Torn through the distance of man
As they regard the summit.

It gets more opaque from there, IMHO.

[mnemosyne]

Pretty much anything by The Mars Volta. I love them, but they are nearly incomprehensible, and even when you do figure out what word is being said, it rarely makes sense in context with the words that came before and those that came after!

The song I first fell in love with is Eriatarkas...here's the chorus...I think.

Trackmarked amoeba lands craft
Cartwheel of scratches
Dress the tapeworm as pet
Tentacles smirk please
Flinched the cocooned meat
Infra-recon forgets

[BaneSidhe]

How about "It's The End Of The World As We Know It [And I Feel Fine]"?

[Nobody]

Originally Posted by BaneSidhe

How about "It's The End Of The World As We Know It [And I Feel Fine]"?

That's an excellent example.

[Superdude]

Originally Posted by BaneSidhe

How about "It's The End Of The World As We Know It [And I Feel Fine]"?

Good one. What's the Frequency, Kenneth? is another REM example.

[Derleth]

Originally Posted by BaneSidhe

How about "It's The End Of The World As We Know It [And I Feel Fine]"?

LEO! NARD! BERN! STEIN!

Maybe it's time I had some time alone.

[Boyo Jim]

Killer Queen by Queen, for the win. I just found this lyrics page, and what I always thought was "Morgatron" (whatever the fuck that is) seems to be "Wanna Try?".

It was a HUGE hit and nobody understood half of it.

[Pixiesnix]

It's for songs like those that videos
like these were made.


*second link is possible NSFW

[Little Nemo]

"Song 2" by the aptly named Blur.

I got my head shaved
By a jamochey (?)
It wasn't easy
But nothing is

And I always thought "Well, I don't think I've ever had a jamochey shave my head so I guess I can't call him on this."

But I suspecting I might have the lyrics wrong, I looked them up:

I got my head checked
By a jumbo jet
It wasn't easy
But nothing is

Really? Because that doesn't make much more sense than what I thought I was hearing.

[Little Nemo]

Another one would be "Everything Zen" by Bush.

I always though the chorus was "I don't believe in Hell since Daniel". It's actually "I don't believe Elvis is dead, yeah".

But in a song whose actual lyrics include the lines "Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow/Dave's on sale again" and "Raindogs howl for the century/A million dollars a steak" I think my lyrics make just as much sense as Gavin Rossdale's.

[Batsinma Belfry]

This thread is hilarious!

I nominate Safety Dance. After the first couple of lines, I can only make out the last word of each sentence.

[Little Nemo]

Then there's Captain Beefheart. The man who wrote the following lyrics in various songs:

Men let your wallets flop out,
and women open your purses,
Cause a man or a woman without a big eyed bean from Venus
Is suffering with the worstest of curses

Well I used to go to school
With a little red box
And I used to have my pig go with me
We walked for blocks
I don't wanna kill my china pig
His tail curled five times in a circle round
It's glazed

I feel like a glass shrimp in a pink panty
With a saccharine chaperone
Make invalids out of supermen
Call in a shrink
And pick you up in a girdle

I wanna find me a woman who'll hold my big toe till I have to go
I wanna find a blue swirl plastic ocarina
About five miles long
And play with them sweet potatoes all night long

Making love to a vampire with a monkey on my knee
The pond shined dry like a lady's compact
Lilies leaped like flat green hearts with white hearts
Squirting yellow pollen cocks

A jack rabbit raised his folded ears
A beautiful sagebrush jack rabbit
And an oriole sang like an orange
His breast full of worms
And his tail clawed the evening like a hammer
His wings took to air like a bomber
And my rain can caught me a cup of water

Well my cigarette died when I washed my face
Dropped some drops in an ashtray hit a wrong place
Woman at my blinds to see spiders spinning lines
It's as safe as milk it's as safe as milk

Now she's the Sheriff of Hong Kong gone
I bite the end of her sash
And she's off in a flash
And we're long gone gone
To Hong Kong Kong

Momma still knew she was the one
She was the one who stole the pie from old Momma Eye
Window bare rocking chair groaning like a grizzly bear
And the ice cream man searching high and low
For his a la modes for his a la modes

Maybe not gibberish. But you get the feeling that Don Van Vliet was hearing things the rest of us weren't.

[Sunshine and Smiles]

How to Dress Well - You Won't Need Me Where I'm Goin'. He kind of does a lo-fi take on R&B, so by the time he really gets going in this song you've got no idea what he's saying.

Crystal Castles - Alice Practice. Video game sounds and the distorted, shouty vocals of Alice Glass. Sounds like gibberish.