# Most Original Song Concepts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430 "2018-01-11T22:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/1 "2018-01-11T22:03:09Z")
I was listening to the radio the other day when Eminem’s “Stan” came on. It’s a song I’ve always enjoyed listening to, but this time I heard it I realized how unique of a song concept it is. The song is laid out in a series of four letters, three from an Eminem superfan named Stan, and one from Em himself to this superfan. The key thing for me is that it’s not necessarily the subject of the song that’s so unique, but the delivery of the song. What are some other cool song concepts that you can think of that aren’t “A person singing about something.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/2 "2018-01-11T22:16:48Z")
Weird Al-[_Bob_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUQDzj6R3p4) Every line is a palindrome. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/3 "2018-01-11T22:44:58Z")
Rilo Kiley – A Man/Me/Then Jim is a story told in three verses, each one from a different point of view. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/4 "2018-01-11T22:51:08Z")
Rush’s instrumental [YYZ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdpMpfp-J_I) (named for the code for Toronto Pierson International Airport, the band’s “home airport”) begins with the band playing the Morse code for the letters YYZ. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/5 "2018-01-11T23:20:17Z")
I’m not sure that a song in the form of letters is so unique: That’s also the structure of “Killkelly Ireland”, for instance. Oh, and I fixed the typo in the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/6 "2018-01-12T00:13:46Z")
Thank you for that. I tried reporting it but the button wasn’t working, nor was it allowing me to edit my post for whatever reason ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/7 "2018-01-12T00:27:34Z")
Devin Townsend’s concept album _Ziltoid the Omniscient_ – about a space alien’s search for the universe’s ultimate cup of coffee. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/8 "2018-01-12T03:01:34Z")
Every song in West Side Story. There is a particular chord/interval in music – the tritone – which is considered something to avoid at all costs. Bernstein said, “screw that” and used it throughout the score. The best example are the first two notes in “Maria,” but it’s used all over the place. Bernstein’s use of it led it to be used more commonly in songs like “Purple Haze” and “The Simpsons” theme. But it was revolutionary when he used it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/9 "2018-01-12T03:02:17Z")
Bach wrote a fugue where the notes are the letters of his last name (“h” meant something — b-flat? — in baroque-era Germany). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/10 "2018-01-12T03:08:55Z")
Someone called Captain Beefheart on the phone to jabber about some blimp. He recorded it, and composed music to accompany it. I guess a musical setting to beat poetry isn’t that unusual, really. Someone already mention “Bob”… okay, how about this? A few years ago, someone put a map of the world on a page of sheet music, and played it. It’s prettv terrible music, I have to say. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/11 "2018-01-12T03:24:33Z")
Bohemian Rapsody? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/12 "2018-01-12T06:12:51Z")
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” was pretty groundbreaking for its time. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/13 "2018-01-12T06:39:54Z")
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict by Pink Floyd ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/14 "2018-01-12T07:29:33Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Every song in West Side Story. > > There is a particular chord/interval in music – the tritone – which is considered something to avoid at all costs. Bernstein said, “screw that” and used it throughout the score. The best example are the first two notes in “Maria,” but it’s used all over the place. > > Bernstein’s use of it led it to be used more commonly in songs like “Purple Haze” and “The Simpsons” theme. But it was revolutionary when he used it. Hmm, I will have to look that up tomorrow. When I was in school, the music teacher was entranced with the odd rhythm used in “America.” But it didn’t seem all too weird to me–I couldn’t have named it, but it didn’t seem as fancy as was made out. Wikapedia is calling it basically a 6/8 contra 3/4, but that’s not how we learned it. To me, it was simply an Austrian waltz time superimposed upon a march…(and we learned it as something inane like 12/8) but it was supposedly special. Anywho, right or wrong, I still remember every trill and nuance of that song because I had to hear it so many times. Edit: For non-musicians, here’s the rhythm : 1-2-3 /4-5-6 /7…8…9…1-2-3/4-5-6/7…8…9… That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/15 "2018-01-12T07:36:05Z")
> [@Elemenopy](#): > > Hmm, I will have to look that up tomorrow. When I was in school, the music teacher was entranced with the odd rhythm used in “America.” But it didn’t seem all too weird to me–I couldn’t have named it, but it didn’t seem as fancy as was made out. Wikapedia is calling it basically a 6/8 contra 3/4, but that’s not how we learned it. To me, it was simply an Austrian waltz time superimposed upon a march…(and we learned it as something inane like 12/8) but it was supposedly special. Anywho, right or wrong, I still remember every trill and nuance of that song because I had to hear it so many times. > > Edit: For non-musicians, here’s the rhythm : 1-2-3 /4-5-6 /7…8…9…1-2-3/4-5-6/7…8…9… That’s it. Edit again: I think this is the wrong thread.:o ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/16 "2018-01-12T08:02:24Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > A few years ago, someone put a map of the world on a page of sheet music, and played it. It’s prettv terrible music, I have to say. Similarly, the painting The Last Supper has music hidden in it if you overlay the five staff lines on it and note the positions of bread rolls (being held and on the table). ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/17 "2018-01-12T08:59:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Every song in West Side Story. > > There is a particular chord/interval in music – the tritone – which is considered something to avoid at all costs. Bernstein said, “screw that” and used it throughout the score. The best example are the first two notes in “Maria,” but it’s used all over the place. > > Bernstein’s use of it led it to be used more commonly in songs like “Purple Haze” and “The Simpsons” theme. But it was revolutionary when he used it. I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. The tritone was already in common use in blues and jazz. Blind Blake’s “West Coast Blues,” for example, is a rag in C major with many examples of the tritone. Although it boils down to just the F# and C of a D7 chord and the B and F of a G7 chord, his picking patterns were arranged so that these notes would coincide. Blake recorded it in 1926, and what Bernstein did in 1960/61 had more to do with bebop, which made even greater use of the tritone. There was a time when the tritone was to be avoided, but I think it was over a century ago. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/18 "2018-01-12T09:37:24Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Bach wrote a fugue where the notes are the letters of his last name (“h” meant something — b-flat? — in baroque-era Germany). More accurately, “h” means “b” in German, and “b” means “b flat”, and still does to this day. Always good for some confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/19 "2018-01-12T11:06:32Z")
From a lyrics perspective, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones ‘Nevermind Me’ might well qualify. It’s about being mugged and encouraging the listener to feel sympathy for the mugger, not the singer, as the mugger has a harder life. “What was taken I won’t miss or I’ll replace Nevermind me. I’m alright” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430/20 "2018-01-12T11:31:05Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Someone called Captain Beefheart on the phone to jabber about some blimp. He recorded it, and composed music to accompany it. > > I guess a musical setting to beat poetry isn’t that unusual, really. Someone already mention “Bob”… okay, how about this? > > A few years ago, someone put a map of the world on a page of sheet music, and played it. It’s prettv terrible music, I have to say. Similarly, the Ben Folds Five song “Your Most Valuable Possession” is a message that Ben’s father left on Ben’s answering machine, set to music. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-original-song-concepts/806430.md?page=2)