Most hit rock and pop songs feature a chorus which alternates with the versus, sometimes with a bridge or instrumental solo thrown in. It’s comparatively rare for a #1 single not to have a chorus. I can think of only two: “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot (though it’s arguable whether the latter can be considered a rock or pop tune – I’ve seen it classified as folk).
Can anyone else think of any rock or pop singles without a chorus which topped the pop charts?
I don’t listen to rap, but could it be said that a lot of those songs don’t have a chorus?
Googling around, I found these:
Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
David Bowie - The Width of a Circle
Queen - The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, Bijou
Pink Floyd - Time
Deep Purple - Fools
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Black Sabbath - Supernaut
Neil Young - Thrasher
Elton John - Indian Sunset
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
Yes, it hit #1. And of course, it has no chorus, because it has no lyrics at all. There’ve been a lot of instrumental #1s, though none recently, including the “Chariots of Fire” main title theme, “Rise” by Herb Alpert, the theme from SWAT, and the disco version of the Star Wars Theme/Cantina Song.
Limiting it to songs that hit #1 - though these days there’s a lot of “#1” positions a single can get to - is what really makes this a toughie. It may surprise many of you to hear that these songs were all Billboard #1 hits:
“Here Comes The Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze (Who?)
“The First Night” by Monica
“Wild Wild West” by The Escape Club
“This Is the Night” by Clay Aiken
Scanning through a list of 80s #1 hits, these jump out at me:
“It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” by Billy Joel
“Every Breath You Take” by the Police
You might consider “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits to be chorus-less, as well
I should add, though, that a lot of Beatles tunes (Eight Days a Week, Lady Madonna, A Hard Day’s Night, etc.) don’t have what would be traditionally considered your typical chorus or refrain. In fact, dedicated Beatles musicologist Alan W. Pollack considers all those songs to be in verse with bridge format, and I agree with him. (Which is why I originally checked in to see how he classified those particular songs, because I don’t consider those repeating lyrical and musical hooks to be choruses per se.)