# Most Unlikely or Unusual Popular Song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 26, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902 "2022-06-26T18:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/121 "2022-06-29T21:16:38Z")
As it said, it’s from the musical “Chess”. I love the musical, though it’s rarely performed nowadays. IMO the song doesn’t make much sense outside of the context of the musical. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/122 "2022-06-29T21:20:18Z")
Bangkok, Oriental city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty… nm ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/123 "2022-06-30T01:18:59Z")
[Episode of Blonde](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrGOpYV2HA) is quite an atypical Elvis Costello song; aside from the chorus it lives somewhere between singing, rap, and recitation. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/124 "2022-07-01T00:10:59Z")
Since the OP’s link has _They’re Coming To Take Me Away_ (which I still have the 45 of) I’ll have to give another shout out. How about [Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb](https://youtu.be/MT9QZBGyXjU) by Edd “Kookie” Byrnes & Connie Stevens from the TV show _77 Sunset Strip_. Then there’s [See You Later Alligator](https://youtu.be/1Hb66FH9AzI), as done by Bill Haley and His Comets. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/125 "2022-07-01T02:23:48Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > IMO the song doesn’t make much sense outside of the context of the musical. “One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble” Well, obviously, it’s about hookers and STIs. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/126 "2022-07-02T14:42:58Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > “One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble” > > Well, obviously, it’s about hookers and STIs. 😉 Hey, I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine 😄 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/127 "2022-07-02T17:37:44Z")
[The Ballad of Thunder Road](https://youtu.be/tdwUpxkfSJw) by Robert Mitchum. The actor. The theme song from one of his movies. But the version in the movie was sung by someone else. It charted in 1958 … and then charted _again_ in 1962. Total 21 weeks on the chart. Then a duo covered it and it made the country chart in 1967. There’s a million acts out there that would’ve killed to spend 21 weeks on the BB Hot 100. (There’s a bunch of bad “The Ballad of …” songs out there that charted.) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/128 "2022-07-03T22:58:17Z")
I’m listening to _They’re Coming to Take Me Away_ right now! It’s streaming on the revival “station” of the rock station I listened to as a kid. I’m going to click thumb’s up on it. BTW, that Mitchum song I gave also appeared on the channel yesterday which is why I thought of it. They have a _deep_ playlist. None of that crappy 40 song playlist too many oldies stations have. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/129 "2022-07-04T01:47:02Z")
You want spoken word, I got it right here. You want long, I got it right here. You want a song that isn’t just remembered, but still gets played on the radio more than 50 years after it came out, I got it right here. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zPx2t7xoF1k/hqdefault.jpg "Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant Massacree lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPx2t7xoF1k) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/130 "2022-07-04T02:13:28Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > As it said, it’s from the musical “Chess”. I love the musical, though it’s rarely performed nowadays. IMO the song doesn’t make much sense outside of the context of the musical. Great intro, too bad the initial 1:47 doesn’t get played on the radio. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CIB3bEh2Wag/hqdefault.jpg "Murray Head - One Night In Bangkok (Extended Mix).wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIB3bEh2Wag) ---
**Author:** ![Fortyfold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7c8e57/32.png) [@Fortyfold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortyfold)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902/131 "2022-07-04T05:01:51Z")
There was a song in the UK that became a surprise hit in 1980, it was only the second song on the B side but became the bands best known tune. It was about someone trying to order beer in a pub. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/R8g4dBRmwUU/maxresdefault.jpg "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8g4dBRmwUU) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-or-unusual-popular-song/966902.md?page=6)