# Rock songs with chants in them **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122 "2007-05-30T22:35:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/21 "2007-05-31T04:14:15Z")
Ain’t No Sunshine - Bill Withers And I know I know I know I know I know, etc. I believe it’s 17 “I know’s” in a row ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/22 "2007-05-31T04:32:46Z")
“Wir fahr’n fahr’n fahr’n auf der Autobahn…” is repeated many times in that Kraftwerk piece. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/23 "2007-05-31T04:37:42Z")
Does the “Rain Chant” from **Woodstock** count? > [@](#): > > Whoa, wo-oh-oh-oh-ohhh!!! (repeat) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/24 "2007-05-31T05:09:02Z")
[QUOTE=Jackknifed Juggernaut] I’m trying to compose a list of rock songs that have chants in them. Basically, when a line is repeated over and over consecutively. [/QUOTE] I think you’ve just described about half of Coil’s catalogue 🙂 For example, looking at the album _…and the ambulance died in his arms_ (chosen because it’s the one on top of the pile of CDs): In the track “Triple Sun Introduction”, Jhonn chants “Triple suns…Triple suns…” over and over again. In the track “Snow Falls into Military Temples”, Jhonn chants “Snow falls into military temples…Snow falls into military temples…” over and over again. In the track “Triple Sons and the One You Bury”, Jhonn chants “Triple sons…Triple sons…” over and over again. I think this is also the track where he chants “I took a sip from a cup of mercury…I took a sip from a cup of mercury…” over and over again. In the track “The Dreamer is Still Asleep - The Sonambulist in an Ambulance”, Jhonn chants “The sonambulist in an ambulance…The sonambulist in an ambulance…” over and over again. Admittedly, this album isn’t totally representative because it’s a live album and they were going for a more ritual approach, but you get the idea. Other bands…hmmm… “Assassins of Allah” by Hawkwind has the line “Hashish, hashish, hashish, hashisheen…” over and over again. “Storm Chant of the Skraelings” by Robert Calvert (off the concept album _Lucky Leif and the Longships_) consists mainly of “Yah wah ney ho, yahnah wahnah rahney ho, ney hey awah ney, rah hey hey rahnah nehey yoh.” This isn’t really a chant qua chant, but “I C Water” by Psychic TV has a line something like the following running on repeat throughout a good chunk of some live versions: “Seven-tenths of the Earth’s surface is water. Seventy percent of you is water. Water is the source of all life. That’s what I’m talking about; water.” Yoiking is by definition chanting, so folks like Wimme and the Girls From Angeli have chanting as a significant portion of their output. Can’t give any transliterations since I don’t know Lapp. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/25 "2007-05-31T05:10:41Z")
“Run Straight Down” by Warren Zevon has this as a chant throughout the entire song: (4-Aminobiphenyl, hexachlorobenzene Dimethyl sulfate, chloromethyl methylether 2, 3, 7, 8-Tetrachlorodibenzo- para-dioxin, carbon disulfide) (Dibromochloropane, chlorinated benzenes, 2-Nitropropane, pentachlorophenol, Benzotrichloride, strontium chromate 1, 2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane) They’re all carcinogens. ---
**Author:** ![Whifton\_Polekitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/97f17d/32.png) [@Whifton\_Polekitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whifton_Polekitty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/26 "2007-05-31T05:41:15Z")
Bauhaus, “Spirit”. The last four or five days of the song is them chanting that they love their audience. I loved the song in high school but now can skip over it with practised fingers. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/27 "2007-05-31T05:49:51Z")
Yaaaaaaay yay-e-yay yeah, whiplash Yaaaaaaay yay-e-yay yeah, everybody Yaaaaaaay yay-e-yay yeah, all right Yaaaaaaay yay-e-yay yeah, feelin’ good Yaaaaaaay yay-e-yay yeah, gettin’ high Yaaaaaaay yay-e-yay yeah, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah _When Electricity Came To Arkansas_ by **Black Oak Arkansas** (any transcription errors are probably mine 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/28 "2007-05-31T06:00:26Z")
_All you need is love._ ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/29 "2007-05-31T06:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=Junior Spaceman] A bunch of Ramones songs have what you’d call chants, but you might as well start with track one, side one, record one, ‘Hey Ho Let’s Go’ from **Blitzkrieg Bop** [/QUOTE] I came in here to mention them. I just heard their “I Don’t Wanna Be A Pinhead No More” on the radio today, and it’s got two. There’s the “gabba gabba we accept you” and the “D-U-M-B everyone’s accusing me!” chants. That’s actually one of their better uses of chants. I really don’t like it in their song “Commando”. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/30 "2007-05-31T06:29:24Z")
_Primitive (The Way I Treat You)_ by **Ambulance Ltd.** - “relax, don’t think about, the way I treat you”, repeated in a sort of talking/singing cadence towards the end of the song. Said lyrics are also the last line of each verse. _Peaches and Cream_ by **Beck** - “Keep your lamplights trimmed and burning” _One Way Or Another_ by **Blondie** - counterpoint at the end of the song with “One way or another I’m gonna getcha, I’ll getcha, I’ll getcha getcha getcha getcha” and “Where I can see it all, find out who ya call” _Happy New Year_ by **Camera Obscura** - counterpoint at the end with the male voice repeating “Do you have to wear a frown like that/you could have hit me with a baseball bat” behind the female lead’s lines - which then changes to “do you have to” from the female voice answered by “yes I do” from the male repeated several times. _Water Colours Into The Ocean_ by **Destroyer** (side project of the New Pornographer’s frontman Daniel Bejar) - the title of the song is repeated around 15 times before the end. _Come On Eileen_ by **Dexys Midnight Runners** - “come, on Eileen, to-loo-rye-ay” repeated behind the lead vocals during the bridge which increases in tempo. _The Nature Anthem_ by **Grandaddy** - the entire song is composed of “I want to walk up the side of a mountain, I want to walk down the other side of a mountain/I want to swim in the river and lie in the sun, I want to try to be nice to everyone” repeated for three and a half minutes. Surprisingly, it’s still a good song. _King of the Rodeo_ by **Kings of Leon** - “Good time to roll on” chanted repeatedly at the end of the song (it’s hard to understand what he’s saying - I had to look it up.) _Summer Babe_ by **Pavement** - “every time I sit around, I find I’m shot” _Lovely_ by **Wagon Christ** - “Lovely, we’re so lovely, we’re so lovely,” repeated over and over again throughout the song. (I don’t actually expect anyone to know this song, but I’ve included it because I like it.) ---
**Author:** ![MerryMagdalen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@MerryMagdalen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MerryMagdalen)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/31 "2007-05-31T09:21:09Z")
[Current 93’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_93) **Crowleymass** , which I’m not sure counts as a rock song. There’s a chant at the end which I can’t understand, but the producer was Icelandic and the group is British… But it sure as hell is fun to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/32 "2007-05-31T10:11:24Z")
Well, there’s that chant on that song from Pink Floyd’s Meddle, I believe it is Fearless. It was about 10 years until I found out that it was a football chant and it completely blew my mind. Google tells me that the song fades into “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which is a song from Carousel, a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Now, you’ve forced me to pull out the Ipod and listen to it, just to confirm. Mind you, this is not a bad thing. OK, I guess the fans are theoretically singing, but it sounds like chanting to me. Here’s a YouTube [video](http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=EDY3&id=78213) showing the Liverpool FC fans singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Indeed, now that I listen to Fearless, I can make out the fans chanting “Liverpool” at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/33 "2007-05-31T10:28:20Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Queen - _We Will Rock You_, _Another One Bites the Dust_. [/QUOTE] Also, _Radio Gaga, A Kind Of Magic, Bicycle Race, We Are The Champions_ and probably lots of others I can’t immediately bring to mind, even _Bohemian Rhapsody_ has chanted parts. It might be quicker to list the Queen songs that _don’t_ contain chanting. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/34 "2007-05-31T13:22:39Z")
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps” (“Wait…they don’t love you like I love you”). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/35 "2007-05-31T13:27:24Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Vader’s Little Pal] A longer one, but I think it qualifies: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, “I love Rock ‘n’ Roll” _I love Rock ‘n’ Roll/put another dime in the jukebox baby/I love Rock ‘n’ Roll/so come on and take your time and dance with me_ (repeat) [/QUOTE] Damn you! And damn your friggin’ ear worm as well! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/36 "2007-05-31T13:52:00Z")
[QUOTE=duality72] KLF- _Doctorin’ the Tardis_ [/QUOTE] Which is really a remix of Garry Glitter’s “Rock & Roll”. dah-dah-daaaaah-da “HEY!” dah-dah-da ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/37 "2007-05-31T13:59:17Z")
The Association’s _Requiem for the Masses_ has the Latin chants in it. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/38 "2007-05-31T14:02:41Z")
There’s a song by Hawkwind called “Reefer Madness” on that subject. In the middle, there’s a spacey, freakout kind of section that has a barely intelligible chant in it, which eventually comes to the fore, long enough for you to tell that they’ve been whispering “your mom is gonna know…your mom is gonna know…” over and over. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/39 "2007-05-31T14:05:43Z")
Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday night’s all right. (Elton) ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122/40 "2007-05-31T14:44:25Z")
Queen “Find… Me…Somebody to lo-ove…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-chants-in-them/406122.md?page=3)