# Pop songs with good countermelodies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937 "2014-05-08T01:15:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/41 "2017-05-23T15:05:10Z")
You know the treacly Bing Crosby/David Bowie duet, “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth”? The “Peace on Earth” part was written specifically for this, as a countermelody to “Drummer Boy,” which Bowie refused to sing. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/42 "2017-05-23T15:29:12Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > You know the treacly Bing Crosby/David Bowie duet, “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth”? The “Peace on Earth” part was written specifically for this, as a countermelody to “Drummer Boy,” which Bowie refused to sing. Interesting! That is one of my favorites, with the Peace on Earth part being the better. Did Bowie write it? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/43 "2017-05-23T20:40:31Z")
In 1982, Norman Lear produced a special called _I Love Liberty_, with a number of patriotic speeches and songs. One of the sketches was Hal Linden and Michele Lee singing John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”. You know that section where the flutes and piccolos are doing one thing, while the tubas and trombones are doing something completely different? Michele Lee had one set of lyrics, to the tune that the woodwinds were playing. Hal Linden had a different set of lyrics, to the tune that the brass was playing. YouTube has a number of choirs and barbershop quartets singing other versions of the song, but I have not found a clip of that performance. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/44 "2017-05-27T02:45:18Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Interesting! That is one of my favorites, with the Peace on Earth part being the better. Did Bowie write it? Larry Grossman and Buz Kohan, who wrote the show, wrote the song expressly for it. Here’s the story behind the story: [David Bowie and Bing Crosby: The Story Behind Their Christmas Duet](http://people.com/celebrity/david-bowie-and-bing-crosby-the-story-behind-their-christmas-duet/) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/45 "2017-05-28T02:43:41Z")
I remember my friends and I trying to figure out the lyrics to [the counter song in _From Silver Lake_.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzZCy972cpo) On Jackson Browne’s first album. Haunting. And beautifully sung (by David Crosby, I’ve heard). Yeah, I’ve noticed that it’s more fun to sing along with the counter songs, too… especially while driving. ---
**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 28, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/46 "2017-05-28T04:00:07Z")
Back to the Beatles…The second simultaneous melody needn’t be sung, but could be played in an instrument, as long as it’s prominent in the sonic mix. Some would call the harpsichord-ish part in the verses of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” Paul’s typically inventive, wide-range countermelody to John’s typically smaller-range sung melody. But if we call this “countermelody,” it’s a short step to ANY (guitar) riff that is played repetitively (ostinato) during a sung verse or chorus. Stones’ “Satisfaction” – “when I’m riding in my car…” – or the Beatles’ “Day Tripper” or “I Feel Fine.” When it’s done well, there the counterpoint is complex (even if one of the melodies is simple) but serves the song, without calling attention to itself. Bach was a master at this. ---
**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 28, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/47 "2017-05-28T04:08:00Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > I guess it’s not really a ‘pop’ song, and if I understand the concept right > > _The Battle of Evermore_ > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-21AtiWV3TE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-21AtiWV3TE) I suppose, but maybe not quite: in some parts Sandy and Robert take turns singing lead (with melodies that aren’t different enough from each other to be “counter,” in my book), while in other parts they merely HARMONIZE with each other – albeit with sobetines complexly interwoven melismas that are like snippets of counter-melody. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/48 "2017-05-28T18:55:14Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I suppose, but maybe not quite: in some parts Sandy and Robert take turns singing lead (with melodies that aren’t different enough from each other to be “counter,” in my book), while in other parts they merely HARMONIZE with each other – albeit with sobetines complexly interwoven melismas that are like snippets of counter-melody. Thank you-- I’d always wondered who sang on this. THE Sandy Denny! Amazed they got her to sing (and for free, lest you think Zep’lin forgot to rip someone off). ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/49 "2017-05-28T19:48:42Z")
[Gang of Four - Anthrax](https://youtu.be/Akz2efTdJ-E?t=55) Wow, that takes me back to my college days… ---
**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 29, 2017, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/50 "2017-05-29T10:07:19Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Thank you-- I’d always wondered who sang on this. > > THE Sandy Denny! Amazed they got her to sing (and for free, lest you think Zep’lin forgot to rip someone off). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/51 "2017-05-29T18:42:46Z")
Count me among those who still aren’t sure I get the concept. For example, I don’t see how somebody could mention “Don’t Worry Baby” by the Beach Boys as a candidate, and yet nobody has mentioned “Good Vibrations.” If all it takes is for the backups to be singing semi-independently rather than just harmonizing, how about these number one hits, along with “Good Vibrations”: Kind of a Drag - Buckinghams California Dreamin - Mommas and Poppas The Shoop Shoop Song - Betty Everett Pompeii - Bastille (actually only made #2) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/52 "2017-06-02T19:47:29Z")
This song is full of 'em! This might just be the coolest song, ever. I’ll bet you’ve never heard of this band. Pinback [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lpMPJWcC1Dk/hqdefault.jpg "Pinback - "From Nothing To Nowhere"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpMPJWcC1Dk) ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/53 "2017-06-03T02:09:40Z")
[quote=“Gatopescado, post:52, topic:687937”] This song is full of 'em! This might just be the coolest song, ever. I’ll bet you’ve never heard of this band. Pinback [/QUOTE] Yes, I never heard of them, and no, that’s not the coolest song ever. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937/54 "2017-06-03T05:42:01Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Yes, I never heard of them, and no, that’s not the coolest song ever. Heretic! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-good-countermelodies/687937.md?page=2)