# Looking for na-NAH na-NAH song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2010, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429 "2010-10-17T09:45:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/1 "2010-10-17T09:45:53Z")
I don’t even know if it has lyrics, as I can only think of a very small part of it. There’s a part were na-NAH na-NAH is spoken (in 3 pickup eighth notes and the downbeat of the first measure) followed by a melody that I’ll render in C: D-F–FEC, with the dashes indicating held notes. Instinctively I want to play it a half step higher, but I don’t know if that means anything. I tried Musipedia, but it only seems to have classical tunes in its repertoire. Can y’all help? I’ve got it stuck in my head, and I want to know the rest of it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/2 "2010-10-17T09:55:37Z")
I hope it’s not [this travesty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m9n5Uv0bp0) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/3 "2010-10-17T10:08:29Z")
How about [this one?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsaTElBljOE) ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/4 "2010-10-17T10:13:17Z")
[Muppets?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ACvC6lBkI) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/5 "2010-10-17T11:39:54Z")
**Aspidistra** ’s got it. Originally from an Italian [skin flick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah_N%C3%A0_Mah_N%C3%A0). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/6 "2010-10-17T12:35:43Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > [Muppets?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ACvC6lBkI) God does that ever bring back childhood memories. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/7 "2010-10-17T12:50:52Z")
\*\*Close to the Edit \*\*by **Art of Noise** , more famous for its video than the song, has a pseudo-spoken part that is similar to what the OP describes. Video [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sFK0-lcjGU) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/8 "2010-10-17T12:53:47Z")
Yip. **Aspidistra** got it. I guess it’s an M. It doesn’t sound he’s scatting the right tune, though. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/9 "2010-10-17T12:59:30Z")
Wow. I can’t believe there are people so unfamiliar with such a classic! Suddenly the world makes no sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/10 "2010-10-17T18:48:56Z")
The song was also used memorably in [this Dr Pepper commercial.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXwOIPt9ZQM) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/11 "2010-10-17T19:35:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Yip. **Aspidistra** got it. I guess it’s an M. It doesn’t sound he’s scatting the right tune, though. I heard a DJ once parody that song by singing “Phenomena, doo,doo, doodoodoo…”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/12 "2010-10-17T19:46:40Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I heard a DJ once parody that song by singing “Phenomena, doo,doo, doodoodoo…”. 😃 [Strangest thing I’ve ever heard.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Mc55P1i9g&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/13 "2010-10-17T19:59:16Z")
When I heard the DJ do that it was around 1984. So I guess that, ahem, phenomenon, has been circulating for quite a while. Still: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-na-nah-na-nah-song/557429/14 "2010-10-18T00:10:30Z")
My wife and I, along with some friends, were once driving from Chicago to Minneapolis and when we passed Menomonee, WI, one of us (time has mercifully blurred the identity of the offender) began singing this song using, of course, Menomonee as the main line. This was the same trip, BTW, where my wife and her friend got addicted to singing “Day-O” at the drop of a hat.