# Pop songs where the verses are 'catchier' than the chorus **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874 "2012-05-04T14:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/1 "2012-05-04T14:32:06Z")
… whether intentionally or accidentally. **Endless Love** by Lionel Ritchie and Dianna Ross comes close, As does **Fairground** by Simply Red. But they’re not “slam dunk” examples… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/2 "2012-05-04T16:37:30Z")
Lissie’s [When I’m Alone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G0_eN36QVc&ob=av2e) (album cut starts at about the 0:30 mark) has some fun syncopation in the verses that make the chorus seem rather drab in comparison. After the second main verse I sometimes find myself skipping to the next song because the fun parts are over. (edit: I don’t know if syncopation was the correct term but it should be obvious on listening what I meant) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/3 "2012-05-04T19:02:37Z")
Some songs just have a really awful chorus. I’m thinking of “Hey Ya”, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/4 "2012-05-04T19:33:43Z")
“We Didn’t Start the Fire”-Billy Joel IMO, the listing of events is more interesting than the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/5 "2012-05-04T19:35:19Z")
“Message in a Bottle” - The Police ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/6 "2012-05-04T19:53:08Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Some songs just have a really awful chorus. I’m thinking of “Hey Ya”, for instance. A few more examples of weak choruses: 1. “Boo Hoo Hoo” by Dino, Desi & Billy. 2. “Minstrel Boy” by Dylan, off _Self Portrait._ 3. [“Come On Queenie”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxLoeulIRv4) by Every Mother’s Son. Nick Lowe’s “They Called It Rock” is pretty catchy throughout, but the chorus is just minimal. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/7 "2012-05-04T20:06:42Z")
Not pop, but… _She Was A Fast Machine She Kept Her Motor Clean She Was The Best Damn Woman I Had Ever Seen She Had The Sightless Eyes Telling Me No Lies Knockin’ Me Out With Those American Thighs_ And also not from the chorus: _Working Double Time On The Seduction Line She Was One Of A Kind, She’s Just Mine All Mine She Wanted No Applause Just Another Course Made A Meal Out Of Me And Came Back For More_ ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/8 "2012-05-04T21:49:10Z")
_buh buh bum_ Jeremiah was a bullfrog! _buh buh bum_ Was a good friend of mine! _buh buh bum_ ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/9 "2012-05-04T21:53:04Z")
The current “We are Young” song. I like the sing songy talky verses but find the “we are young” part grating. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/10 "2012-05-04T22:32:24Z")
Even Ray Davies pokes fun at the chorus to ‘Autumn Almanac’ – after singing, ‘Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!’ he’ll pause in concert, and say some variation on, ‘They don’t write any lyrics better than that!’ ---
**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:** [May 5, 2012, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/11 "2012-05-05T10:30:00Z")
R.E.M. sometimes pooped out on the chorus… “Try Not to Breathe”, among others. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/12 "2012-05-05T11:03:17Z")
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ [Mary Jane’s Last Dance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowSGxim_O8&ob=av3n). Terrific bluesy verse. treacly chorus. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/13 "2012-05-05T14:02:46Z")
Not exactly what the OP is looking for, but another one for Lionel Richie is "[Say You, Say Me.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we0mk_J0zyc) It slowly trudges along as a saccharine ballad, but then all of a sudden the bridge starts kicking ass at 2:49. One DJ remarked that it’s like the bridge was beamed in from outer space. ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/14 "2012-05-05T14:11:21Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > .. whether intentionally or accidentally. But they’re not “slam dunk” examples.. I’ll go with Michael Jackson’s “Stranger in Moscow”. At least, when _I_ hum it, I hum the verses. The chorus doesn’t feel as if it belongs in the song. I can see what he was going for - a ray of sunshine amidst the gloom - but it feels underwritten. Same with “Something” by The Beatles. The chorus is fine, but it’s overshadowed by the mighty bridge. “Cars” by Gary Numan; everybody sings the verse, the chorus is instrumental. “Ghostbusters” has an odd structure - it has mini-choruses (“who can-you-call / GHOSTBUSTERS!”), but the actual chorus (“I ain’t 'fraid of no ghost”) feels like a bridge. A bridge to nowhere. Huey Lewis & the News’ “Power of Love” has an awesome _build-up_ to the chorus, but it seems to evaporate when it gets there. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/15 "2012-05-05T15:59:21Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > Huey Lewis & the News’ “Power of Love” has an awesome _build-up_ to the chorus, but it seems to evaporate when it gets there. Do you mean: “I don’t take money, it don’t take fame”? One could reasonably argue that _is_ the chorus - ending on “That’s the power of love” and going back to the verse. But you’re right, that part (with the keyboard chords) is way, way better than the guitar driven verse/whatever. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/16 "2012-05-05T16:06:44Z")
**More than This** , a lovely song by Roxy Music with a great verse melody, but an unremarkable refrain. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/17 "2012-05-05T16:14:18Z")
Neil Young - “Heart of Gold” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/18 "2012-05-05T16:21:59Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > Same with “Something” by The Beatles. The chorus is fine, but it’s overshadowed by the mighty bridge. " I agree that the bridge is the coolest part of this song, but “Something” doesn’t really have a chorus. It’s just verse and bridge. If you look closely at Beatles songs, most don’t fit into the usual pop structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge/etc… ---
**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:** [May 5, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/19 "2012-05-05T16:54:56Z")
**Never My Love,** by The Association. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-where-the-verses-are-catchier-than-the-chorus/620874/20 "2012-05-05T18:21:08Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The current “We are Young” song. I like the sing songy talky verses but find the “we are young” part grating. One may argue about whether the verse or the chorus is better, but I would say the chorus is definitely a lot CATCHIER.