# Is there a name for this hyper-annoying singing style? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704 "2014-01-02T15:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/41 "2014-01-07T23:11:15Z")
A friend of mine dubbed it Twee-tarded ---
**Author:** ![PK58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@PK58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PK58)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/42 "2014-03-26T00:58:51Z")
I call it just off the boat from Ireland sound lol Drive me nuts!! ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/43 "2014-03-26T01:27:27Z")
This is one of the many things I hate about a lot of indie music. It’s always sounded to me like the singer has a throat full of phlegm. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/44 "2014-03-26T01:32:57Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Regina Spektor sometimes sounds close to that, to me…maybe in [Fidelity](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wigqKfLWjvM&list=SP45FE615740733CF8)? > > Anyway, if she qualifies, her Wikipedia entry says her music is associated with the “[anti-folk scene](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-folk),” although that seems to be about ironic content, not sound _per se_. Well early in Regina’s career hear recordings were almost all piano and voice, and her singing style had much more range. [Check out this song.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGLex6jcDg) (By the way, what genius produced “All You’ve Got Time”? Where did he get his backing track from, rejected Toto sessions?) ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/45 "2014-03-26T02:20:12Z")
They are compensating because they can’t sing. Country music twangers use a similar technique. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/46 "2014-03-26T03:22:59Z")
Annoying as it is, I think I’d still take it over the nose singing. You know, the ones who sound like they are doing impressions of Pee Wee Herman. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/47 "2014-03-26T04:30:32Z")
I call it Starbucks music ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/48 "2014-03-26T17:03:17Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Heh, I like that and what’s funny is if I said “She has that damn waify singing voice,” I’ll bet most people will know what I’m talking about. Sign me up! Down with waify. I watch The Voice, and whenever a contestant sings like that one of the coaches will say she (it’s invariably a female singer) has a “quirky” voice. They’ll often also say that “there’s no one out there like that right now” which makes me want to throw something through the TV screen. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/49 "2014-03-26T17:47:28Z")
As long as you all leave Kristin Hersh out of this convo, no one will get hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Jamie\_Douglas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/53a042/32.png) [@Jamie\_Douglas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamie_Douglas)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/50 "2014-09-29T17:23:35Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I’d like to be able to more easily dismiss it. > > It seems every indie/faux-indie singer-songwriter girl under the age of 30 is singing with a remarkably annoying, breathy voice with an unnecessary twang in it that is at times punctuated with scratchiness. They sing softly and every vowel sounds like “ow,” as though the singer is suffering as much as I am every time I hear it… Hahaha! I found this forum by doing a Google search about “folk girls sound the same” to try to get a similar answer! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/51 "2014-09-29T18:15:40Z")
Since this thread got revived I will post this link about a song in a commercial that I hate that uses this singing style. [http://tvcommercialssongs.com/fancy-feast-cat-food-love-served-daily/](http://tvcommercialssongs.com/fancy-feast-cat-food-love-served-daily/) The most annoying thing about it is that it’s a commercial so it plays constantly, although I admit I am seeing less of it lately. It’s not so much the breathiness but the mispronounciation of words that drives me nuts. Here’s the lyrics: > [@](#): > > I must confess when I wear this dress > I feel like dancing the whole night with you > ‘Cause you are the one I could see having fun with > Not just for the night but for the rest of my life > Doo doo doo… On “confess” and “this” she stretches out the “s” sounds so it sounds like she’s a singing snake. Then “dress” which normally rhymes with “confess” is pronounced “drey-ess”. “With you” is more like “wit-oo” And the “of” in “rest of my life” is more like “o” and then “life” is drawn out. Also, I just feel like the song is a weird choice for a cat food commercial. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/52 "2014-09-29T18:20:41Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > A perfect example: the host’s 5th-favorite cover of 2013 was a cover of [Daft Punk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NV6Rdv1a3I)’s “Get Lucky” by [Daughter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Cp55MvX54). Listen to the bridge (starting about 0:31 or 0:33 in each version). The cover artist makes no attempt whatsoever to sing “we’ve…come too far…to give up…who we are” with more than one note. It completely destroys the spirit of the song. No joke about that being a perfect example. It’s so over the top as to be indistinguishable from parody. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/53 "2014-09-29T18:24:40Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I _hate_ this style of singing. I call it the “I’m just a girl” voice. Makes me nuts. Ok, now I know \*exactly \*what you mean. (I refused to listen to any of the clips because, well…) I can’t decide if this annoys me more or less than the mini-divas going “whoh-oooh-oh-oh-ooaaaah-oh” in their songs. Also, “I’m so Fancy”, because it’s stupid and an earworm. Oops, sorry. Back to the Breathy Sad Girls. You know, as a legit asthmatic who took vocal lessons _to try to not sound breathy_, those breathy chicks annoy the crap out of me. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/54 "2014-09-29T18:28:11Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > A perfect example: the host’s 5th-favorite cover of 2013 was a cover of [Daft Punk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NV6Rdv1a3I)’s “Get Lucky” by [Daughter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Cp55MvX54). That version of the song makes me want to throw myself into a well. She made “Get Lucky” _ **depressing** _, which is quite a feat. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/55 "2014-09-30T02:57:26Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Very annoying. She’s on my list. (Not the good one.) You have a good list? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/56 "2014-09-30T04:50:49Z")
The style has deep roots. You could say [Barbara Mason](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JGPcOkebXc) and [Julie Driscoll](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXH56hotLSA) were predecessors, though neither leaned on this trick exclusively. Listen to [Dusty Springfield](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCVxPEPx5Y) demonstrate how to sing like a sad girl but also like a real singer. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/57 "2014-09-30T14:35:20Z")
I dunno, I don’t love this singing style, but it’s almost a relief coming on the heels of all the melisma girls. What I want to know is how Kat Edmonson got ahold of the dress my gandmother gave me for Christmas in 1966? I cried for a week. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/58 "2014-10-02T14:29:43Z")
> [@Vashbul](#): > > The style has deep roots. You could say [Barbara Mason](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JGPcOkebXc) and [Julie Driscoll](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXH56hotLSA) were predecessors, though neither leaned on this trick exclusively. I see what you;re getting at, but I would never describe these women as singing like Sad Breathy Girls. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/59 "2014-10-02T14:48:40Z")
Wait… does [Suzanne Vega](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0df0racc3vk)also count? Because I like Suzanne Vega. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704/60 "2014-10-03T03:23:41Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I _hate_ this style of singing. I call it the “I’m just a girl” voice. Makes me nuts. I will call it this from now on. Thanks! I used to listen to ABC Radio National (Australia) every morning, loved everything about it, but the “musical interludes” exclusively became “I’m just a girl” type songs. It’s as though they were seeking out the most bland, inoffensive and generic music for people who don’t really like music, but still attempting to be hip in some way. I started dreading when Fran Kelly would introduce a song. Sometimes it would even be a boy singing. Always with the lone guitar, or even worse, a ukelele. Eventually I switched to News Radio - no music at all. And to banks and insurance companies, please stop using these songs to make you seem all floaty and whimsical. It’s so irritating. > [@Vashbul](#): > > The style has deep roots. You could say > Listen to [Dusty Springfield](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCVxPEPx5Y) demonstrate how to sing like a sad girl but also like a real singer. I don’t think this is really the genre - this is a beautiful sad song by a top singer , with violins and piano. Thank you OP, for giving me this chance to vent. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-hyper-annoying-singing-style/677704.md?page=4)