There was a commercial not long ago that used “O Superman” as the music. My personal favorite from the album, which I do have, is “Example #22.”
How about Elton John’s ode to Princess Diana, his remake of “Candle In The Wind”?
Well, if incomprehensible is the key, let’s stay in the 1960’s.
Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) reached #12. Supposedly it was a satircal answer to Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, but actually charted much higher.
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)made it into the top ten. Up to that point, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition was a county-folk group.
The Doors’ The End starts with pretty straightforward lyrics about Jim Morrison’s breakup with his girlfriend. Then it gets to the second verse. . .
Finally, in 1971 controversial talk show host Les Crane recorded an obscure poem called Desiderata, which became an international hit.
Cliff Richard had a hit in the UK (in 1999!) with a version of the Lord’s Prayer, sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. I won’t provide a link, because it’s horrible.
1963 gave us the Singing Nun with Dominique. It was so popular it “inspired” TV producers to come up with The Flying Nun.
Paul Hardcastle’s anti-war song “19”, the lyrics of which were largely audio samples from a documentary on the Vietnam War and PTSD. It was #1 in the UK for five weeks in 1985; in the US, it hit #15 on the main chart, and #1 on the dance chart.
I’ll have to give a listen to some of those already posted, when I get home, but the song that I’ve always found to be curious as existing in the Pop Hits genre is:
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Do you have a cite for that? The Flying Nun was based on a novel called*** The Fifteenth Pelican***.
I suppose somebody could have decided “let’s do a nun show because this Dominique is so big!” and they went and found the novel, but I’ve never heard that.
Baz Luhrmann- "Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
Is that disqualified under some criteria?
Heck, I can think of a lot of songs from around '96-99 (for some reason) that were on top 40 radio that I thought were pretty odd or at least quirky, though I’m not sure they fully fit. A lot of random weirdness, odd and pretentious titles,etc.
Timothy, about mine cave-ins and underground cannibalism topped out at #17 in 1971.
The Cliff Richards Millenial version or the 70’s Pop version by a Sister Janet Mead?
They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They're_Coming_to_Take_Me_Away,_Ha-Haaa!Nope, I was just remembering how it seemed from my youth. Since there was a four year period between the song and the show, I appear to have erred. Sorry 'bout that. It’s still an odd song to chart, though.
Here’s another candidate (it hit #23 in the US in 1972!)
“Once You Understand” by Think
Edited to add: Here’s a good way to locate lots of weird songs - U.S. One-hit wonders
Yes, that one is quite an experience to listen to. It came to mind immediately but I couldn’t recall the title.
To continue the torture: How about “An Open Letter to My Teenage Son” by Victor Lundberg, which reached number 10 in 1967? (Wikipedia points out that “There were also at least seven “response” records: Keith Gordon’s “A Teenager’s Answer”, “A Teenager’s Open Letter To His Father” by Robert Tamlin, “Letter From A Teenage Son” by Brandon Wade, “A Letter To Dad” by Every Father’s Teenage Son”, “Hi, Dad (An Open Letter To Dad)” by Dick Clair and “An Open Letter To My Dad” by Marceline." Coincidentally, I just heard the Brandon Wade one for the first time ever this evening.)
I always thought Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” was a weird hit (#6 UK, #8 US). I’m not a fan of their work, but “Tusk” is pretty awesome (and awesomely bizarre).
“Mmm mmm mmm mmm” by Crash Test Dummies is among the weirdest hit songs that I recall. Apparently the song hit #1 on several charts among multiple countries, #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #2 in the UK.
Ben, Michael Jackson’s 1972 love ode to a rat.
#1, US (1 week)
#7, UK (Because they’re more rational)
#1, Australia (8 weeks… WTF, Australia???)
“Angie Baby” by Helen Reddy, number 1 on Billboard in 1974. Here are the lyrics. And here’s the wikipedia synopsis:
Sister Janet