# "Second verse, same as the first!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578 "2005-08-04T16:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/1 "2005-08-04T16:10:15Z")
Is there a name for the sort of song that consists pretty much of nothing more than repeating one verse over and over again, often either louder or softer than the previous sing-through? OTTOMH I’m thinking of songs like John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Henery the Eighth, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/2 "2005-08-04T16:12:31Z")
“annoying”? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/3 "2005-08-04T16:21:36Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > …Henery the Eighth,… Odd you would mention that song right now. This Sunday is the 40th anniversary of it reaching #1 on the Billboard chart in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/4 "2005-08-04T16:31:46Z")
At a slower pace, there’s the Beatles’ _I Want You/She’s So Heavy_. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/5 "2005-08-04T16:49:07Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > “annoying”? ditto ;j ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/6 "2005-08-04T19:41:04Z")
“I’m So Glad”, Eric Clapton “Na-na-na-na (Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye)”, Steam and of course, the children’s song, “The Song That Never Ends”. _This is the song that never ends, It just goes on and on, my friend We started singing it not knowing what it was and we’ll go on singing it Forever, just because – this is the song that never ends,…_ ---
**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:** [August 4, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/7 "2005-08-04T19:54:58Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > “Na-na-na-na (Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye)”, Steam\* That doesn’t qualify. “Kiss Him Goodbye” has two verses (“He’ll never love you, the way that I loved you…” and (“He’s never near you, to comfort and cheer you…”) and a chorus (“Na Na Na Na…”) Pretty typical pop structure. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/8 "2005-08-04T20:37:44Z")
OK, examples are good, but is there a name for the genre? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/9 "2005-08-04T20:43:07Z")
No matter how young a prune may be He’s always full of wrinkles. A baby prune is like his dad But he’s not wrinkled quite so bad. We have wrinkles on our face– A prune has wrinkles everyplace! No matter how young a prune may be He’s always full of wrinkles. A baby prune … Nope, I don’t know if there’s a name. Kids’ songs, I’ve always assumed. My kids laughed so hard when I came out with the prune one. I’ve got a million goofy songs from going to camp every year as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/10 "2005-08-04T20:43:35Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > OK, examples are good, but is there a name for the genre? A “round”? Like Row, Row Row Your Boat, which just goes 'round and 'round? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/11 "2005-08-04T21:13:40Z")
I thought about rounds, but doesn’t a round involve the staggered start? ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/12 "2005-08-04T21:39:26Z")
Not quite in the same league as some of the above, but the atrocious “Hey Jude” by some hairy, drugged-up Scousers goes on rather too long for my liking. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/13 "2005-08-04T21:50:48Z")
I immediately thought “Judy is a Punk” [by the Ramones](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/6100/ramones1.htm#Blitzkrieg%20Bop) would fit this category. (It even has the “second verse, same as the first” line.) However, that song has a “third verse, different from the first” so it doesn’t qualify. So, I’ll name “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” instead. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/14 "2005-08-04T22:19:53Z")
This thread made me think of what I saw on Craig Ferguson a couple nights ago. Apparently, someone bought the original lyrics to “All You Need Is Love” and Craig was amazed that you would even have to write the lyrics down. “‘All you need is love/all you need is love/all you need is love/love is all you need’ It’s like forgetting the chorus of ‘Hey Jude’.” ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/15 "2005-08-06T01:42:34Z")
Monty Python’s [I Like Traffic Lights.](http://www.serve.com/bonzai/monty/songs/ILikeTrafficLights) ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/16 "2005-08-06T03:39:24Z")
In the case of “Henery the Eighth” the term would be poorly researched. [Harry Champion’s song](http://207.44.240.63/~lyricsp/alpha/songs/i/imhenerytheeight.shtml) consisted of three verses, none sung by Herman’s Hermits, and the chorus, which we all know. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/17 "2005-08-06T03:50:09Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > “I’m So Glad”, Eric Clapton You skipped Skip James. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/18 "2005-08-06T04:19:01Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Is there a name for the sort of song that consists pretty much of nothing more than repeating one verse over and over again, often either louder or softer than the previous sing-through? OTTOMH I’m thinking of songs like John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Henery the Eighth, etc. “camp bus songs” “drive-the-counselors-crazy songs” (Just guesses. Name that genre!) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/19 "2005-08-06T17:31:58Z")
From a recent _Simpsons_ rerun: \*One two, tie your shoe Three four, pick up the floor Five six, don’t play tricks Seven eight, clean your plate Nine ten, start over again! \* Damn that Ruffi! ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578/20 "2005-08-06T21:55:11Z")
I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way. [sub](Isn’t there a rule about quoting entire lyrics in Cafe Society?)[/sub] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-verse-same-as-the-first/315578.md?page=2)