# Pop/rock songs that are deceptively hard to sing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703 "2011-10-25T02:37:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/41 "2011-10-26T18:29:12Z")
I was at karaoke and I thought “one” by U2 might be a nice easy song to sing. Wrong. The words aren’t the hard part, its trying to mimic the feeling in the song. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/42 "2011-10-26T20:07:49Z")
> [@Stauderhorse](#): > > I’m sure tons of people have tried to sing “Don’t Stop Believing” only to find they couldn’t hold the really long notes. Anytime I’ve heard it done on karaoke nights it gets butchered pretty badly. I can sing the _hell_ out of that song at karaoke – but then, I’m a chick. 😃 > [@Ponch8](#): > > The high-pitched screeching in “What’s Up” by the 4 Non Blondes must be pretty difficult to execute. I’ve tried singing it when I was by myself but never in front of anyone else. I’ve performed that song (with a band, not at karaoke): what’s deceptive is that the part you’re talking about is actually neither particularly high-pitched nor screechy, it’s just _loud_. And, therefore, not very difficult. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/43 "2011-10-27T00:15:22Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > “Mr. Jones” I can see, but “Paranoid” surprises me. I will say that there’s something “deceptive” about Ozzy’s voice, in that he doesn’t _sound_ like he’s singing as high as he actually is. So you think, “that sounds easy”, and then you try it and suddenly find you can’t hit the notes. Sammy Hagar, same thing. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/44 "2011-10-27T01:55:47Z")
If one is trying to faithfully reproduce the original, then “Johnny B. Goode” belongs on this list, since most people don’t realize that the last chorus is rhythmically different than the preceding two, or if they do realize it they are incapable of reproducing it. In the first two choruses, the first, “Go!” falls on the downbeat, and the “Go, Johnny, go!” begins on the upbeat at the end of the measure. The last chorus has the first “Go!” of each phrase begin on the upbeat before three and leading directly into the rest of the phrase, except for the final, “Johnny B. Goode”, which reverts to the original rhythm. (I probably screwed up the explanation a bit; if someone more musically inclined wants to explain it better, please feel free). It’s my go-to song for live band karaoke, and the first time I sang it I got a raised eyebrow and an appreciative nod from the lead guitarist when I sang the final chorus _a la_ Chuck Berry. I’d like to think I didn’t completely cock up the rest of the song either. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/45 "2011-10-27T02:12:43Z")
“All I want” by Toad the Wet Sprocket is deceptively hard to sing…in fact it was so hard to get right in the studio that the band almost left it off the album. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/46 "2011-10-29T06:36:51Z")
For me, most of Boz Scaggs’ hits are deceptively difficult to nail. If you go to a karaoke bar that shows you automatic feedback of pitch you can see just how much you miss by. I’m always slightly over or slightly under the changes. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/47 "2011-10-29T13:00:38Z")
I used to sing the backup female vocals for Pink Floyd’s The Great Gig in the Sky for my band, and got accused of lip synching more than once. That cover took us almost 3 months to perfect. I find trying to sing along to [Rammsteins Stirb Nicht Vor Mir](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB8gVc4xij0) hard, the make voice and the female voice are just different enough to switch between very much like Joan Baez and Jeff Shurtleff in [Drug Store Truck Driving Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K2OZUgGqkw). [It doesn’t help that she and I have different base keys to our voices.] ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/48 "2011-10-29T13:09:11Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Yeah, Lennon’s voice is the closest to mine, so I do him a lot at karaoke. I can pretty easily manage “Revolution”, The Beatles’ version of “You Really Got A Hold On Me”, “Twist And Shout”, etc. But “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” is murder, and I can imagine “(Just Like) Starting Over” would be hard - his voice is all over the place on that one. Oh, and the other one was “Oh Yoko.” Easy to sing sitting on the couch (even in C-sharp), hard to sell the falsetto into a mike over a full band and (a) not sound goofy and (b) not pass out. It’s only marginally pop music, I guess, and probably doesn’t get karaoke’d much, but I find it really hard to sing Nick Drake. I’m not sure why. He’s a guy with a low voice who seems to hang at the top of his range a lot, but there’s something about his melodies that just sound wrong when sung by somebody else. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/49 "2011-10-29T17:24:23Z")
I’d also add Jack White to the list of singers whose work is generally hard to reproduce. I don’t know how many utterly dreadful renditions of “Seven Nation Army” I’ve had to endure. I heard one last night which was actually pretty decent. I was astonished. > [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I can imagine “(Just Like) Starting Over” would be hard - his voice is all over the place on that one. I don’t find it too bad, when dropped by one half-step. It’s just a little tricky to get the timing on the transitions between verses - “It’s been too long since we took the time” et al. I’ve also been using a somewhat unconventional trick for “Imagine” – sing it to the tune of “Folsom Prison Blues”. They fit together almost perfectly. Fortunately it’s a little too ironic for people to lynch me over a song about love and pacifism. ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/50 "2011-10-30T06:35:30Z")
My downfall at karaoke was Toto’s “Africa”. It was that change in pitch for “Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you” that got me Every Single Time. I can do high, but that sudden shift is apparently beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/51 "2011-10-30T07:51:15Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > “Tonight” from West Side Story is deceptive; not difficult but it keeps going up and up. If you start in the middle of your range instead of at the bottom, you’re going to be in big trouble about five or six bars in. If we’re including musicals, I know from experience that a lot of Sondheim is notoriously hard to perform . . . like Amy’s part in [_(Not) Getting Married Today._](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrRDrz53Q1E) The amazing soloist is Beth Howland. Nobody ever performed this song better. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/52 "2011-10-30T17:26:58Z")
‘Music’ John Miles [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnO3LwkANXw) Couple of key changes here and there, but its the way it keeps going up and steadily up, and with some power in the voice.You can probably sing quite a lot of it, but you’ll find some bits quite difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/53 "2011-10-30T19:02:38Z")
> [@SleepyDuck](#): > > My downfall at karaoke was Toto’s “Africa”. It was that change in pitch for “Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you” that got me Every Single Time. I can do high, but that sudden shift is apparently beyond me. That whole Kilimanjaro/Olympus/Serengeti line strikes me as very difficult. ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/54 "2011-11-03T02:44:49Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > That whole Kilimanjaro/Olympus/Serengeti line strikes me as very difficult. To sing, or to make sense of? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703/55 "2011-11-03T03:40:09Z")
Got one: (disclaimer: not a singer, but I play this on Hammond a la JOS or McGriff). “What’s Goin On.” Not only can I barely remember the whole form, but getting through all the horn hits and timing, and _voicing_ is tough, for such a popular tune that everyone knows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-that-are-deceptively-hard-to-sing/600703.md?page=2)