# Song identification, PLEASE help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406 "2010-08-06T15:33:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 6, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/1 "2010-08-06T15:33:05Z")
I heard a distinctive song when I was at CVS. CVS is a 24 hour pharmacy. The song playing was an adult-contemporary type song. There was a female vocalist. She had the Sarah McLachlan type voice, quite distinct sounding with a possible European accent to it. The main lyric I kept hearing repeated several times sounded like “honey-” and then another, one syllable word. It could have been “honey bell,” “honey bear” (doubt it) or any number of other words containing the word “honey,” although it sounded to me almost like she was saying “Honeywell” (electronics company.) Doubt it. Other details about the song: it had a very, very prominent brass and horns section, much like the Beatles albums Sgt. Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour, which took over the song for the final 30 seconds of it or so. The last part of the song has no vocals and is just the instrumental section playing a riff. It sounded more like a recent indie/college rock song that might be played on the local alternative station than the type of song you’d expect to hear at a pharmacy. I thought I heard the line “let’s go dancing” at some point in the song’s lyrics. The lyrics flowed consistantly, rather than being sparsely placed throughout the song. They sounded like more “wordy,” Joni Mitchell type lyrics than just the typical simple and repetitive lyrics in a lot of mainstream music. The song had a rather similar rhythm and flow to If Looks Could Kill by Camera Obscura. Had the same sound as Camera Obscura, The Sundays and several other female-vocalist alternative rock groups of the 1990s. Had a very mid-90s or early 90s sound to it. No, CVS did not have a list of songs (I asked them.) Thanks in advance for the help, because this has really been driving me insane and I must know. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/2 "2010-08-06T16:51:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I heard a distinctive song when I was at CVS. CVS is a 24 hour pharmacy. The song playing was an adult-contemporary type song. There was a female vocalist. She had the Sarah McLachlan type voice, quite distinct sounding with a possible European accent to it. The main lyric I kept hearing repeated several times sounded like “honey-” and then another, one syllable word. It could have been “honey bell,” “honey bear” (doubt it) or any number of other words containing the word “honey,” although it sounded to me almost like she was saying “Honeywell” (electronics company.) Doubt it. > > Other details about the song: it had a very, very prominent brass and horns section, much like the Beatles albums Sgt. Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour, which took over the song for the final 30 seconds of it or so. The last part of the song has no vocals and is just the instrumental section playing a riff. It sounded more like a recent indie/college rock song that might be played on the local alternative station than the type of song you’d expect to hear at a pharmacy. > > I thought I heard the line “let’s go dancing” at some point in the song’s lyrics. The lyrics flowed consistantly, rather than being sparsely placed throughout the song. They sounded like more “wordy,” Joni Mitchell type lyrics than just the typical simple and repetitive lyrics in a lot of mainstream music. > > The song had a rather similar rhythm and flow to If Looks Could Kill by Camera Obscura. Had the same sound as Camera Obscura, The Sundays and several other female-vocalist alternative rock groups of the 1990s. Had a very mid-90s or early 90s sound to it. > > No, CVS did not have a list of songs (I asked them.) Thanks in advance for the help, because this has really been driving me insane and I must know. Actually, they most likely do have a list of songs, just don’t know where it is or how to access it. A lot of in-store music systems, like Muzak, are delivered via satellite dish. There are many channels to choose from, and each channel has a program that it rotates thru, just like an automated DJ at a radio station (that’s what it is, after all). So, if you can find what channel they listen to, you can prolly look up the current playlist for that channel. If they have Muzak, you can look up their playlists for all their channels right at [www.muzak.com](http://www.muzak.com). ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/3 "2010-08-06T17:38:04Z")
My WAG, though it doesn’t fit your description except for the female vocal and ‘honey’ lyric: ‘Honey Child’ by Eddi Reader. Link to an [unofficial YouTube vid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YQIRcpXsqg). ---
**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:** [August 7, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/4 "2010-08-07T00:28:07Z")
Not it, I’m afraid. I think my only recourse may be to go to CVS again. Although I’m surprised that any song mainstream enough to be on CVS muzak radio would be so hard to identify (a very busy lyrics forum failed to.) :smack::smack::smack: ---
**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:** [August 10, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/5 "2010-08-10T02:41:47Z")
Went to CVS and listened for 30 minutes or so…didn’t hear the song again. I think the only hope of me ever knowing what song it was is either to hear it again, or if some extremely good samaritan here on this board will tell me, which is what I hope to accomplish by prolonging this thread once more. A small reward of some kind will be given to whoever can tell me the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/6 "2010-08-10T22:37:44Z")
Have you tried looking it up at [lyrster.com](http://www.lyrster.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/7 "2010-08-10T22:40:52Z")
“Honey Pie” by the Beatles??? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/8 "2010-08-11T01:48:00Z")
Even though this isn’t it, it’s a nice song anyway. The Hush Sound: [Honey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1nhljdqf0E) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/9 "2010-08-11T02:18:22Z")
Well, GuanoLad, if we are just going top post pretty songs with the word ‘honey’, I submit [Duffy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnDC6Mt5ulQ) (I actually do hope that’s what the OP is looking for. ETA: Just read the OP more thoroughly and realize Duffy doesn’t match at all. But enjoy anyways, anyone who digs that sort of thing. Good luck to the OP. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/10 "2010-08-11T02:57:51Z")
Was it _“Let’s Go Dancing, Honey Pail”_ from the album “Twenty-Four Hours of Pharmacy” by Sarah McLachlan with Camera Obscura? Sorry, been up for days and I’m punchy. Good luck–I’ve had songs bug me for ages… ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/11 "2010-08-11T03:06:58Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Was it _“Let’s Go Dancing, Honey Pail”_ from the album “Twenty-Four Hours of Pharmacy” by Sarah McLachlan with Camera Obscura? You win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/12 "2010-08-11T03:13:37Z")
I can’t help you, but welcome back to the board. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/13 "2010-08-11T04:00:16Z")
Whenever I think “Sarah McLachlan type voice” I think Tori Amos though almost every fan of Tori Amos I’ve met seems to disagree. So in that light, was it [Tori Amos “Honey”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPhm0iPII_4)? I can’t find a link to the studio version, so I can’t say about the horns and such, but the lyrics do kind of “flow consistently” through the song. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/14 "2010-08-11T04:10:00Z")
Don’t think it’s the Tori Amos song unless I heard a version with a different melody and lyrics. It was upbeat with a consistent “swinging” beat, similar to [Black and White Town](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRir5AyF6dQ) by The Doves. The song was highly “produced” sounding, very loud and orchestrated, with a brass and horns section similar to the George Martin sound. The last 30 minutes or so of the song is just an instrumental. I am positive that the main lyrical hook is “honey”-something, i.e. a second, one syllable word after the word “honey.” Not just “honey” by itself. Thanks everyone who answered and attempted to help. I appreciate it greatly and hope there will be more attention to this thread and that someone will find the answer. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/15 "2010-08-11T04:10:29Z")
Yeah, it sucks that in what’s probably one of your first threads back, we haven’t helped you one wit (unless you count keeping your spirits up with smart-ass “suggestions”). But my footnote was supposed to give you hope: I really did, last weekend, walk past a woman with a guitar (well, ok, a hippie-- think Ani DeFranco, but _more_ disheveled). Twenty feet later, I slowly pivoted made my way back as if in a trance. There. There was the tune that’d been hovering just inside my inner ear for at least twelve years. With lyrics, so now I could google them! So hang in there. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/16 "2011-06-05T23:31:43Z")
Well, the song has been found (by people on another forum.) The song is [Summer Is The Champion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gtyaZRD4fc&feature=player_embedded#at=82) by the great Laura Viers (who I had known of and liked even before I heard the song - I had no idea it was her.) The song is every bit as mysterious and alluring as it was when I first heard it. Listen for yourself. (Tell me if my description of the song in the OP and in posts beyond is on the mark or what?!) ---
**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:** [June 5, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/17 "2011-06-05T23:43:36Z")
Another very, very similar song: [This Is The Day](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmMSdhEDXrk) by ivy. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/18 "2011-06-05T23:56:55Z")
I knew it was Laura Viers, but it had been solved by the time I saw this thread. That’s a great summer song. She’s been slogging around for many years, was one of the first people I followed on MySpace back in 2006, so I’m happy about her recent and upcoming success. > [@Flip\_Pancake](#): > > My WAG, though it doesn’t fit your description except for the female vocal and ‘honey’ lyric: > > ‘Honey Child’ by Eddi Reader. Link to an [unofficial YouTube vid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YQIRcpXsqg). Isn’t that one of the most wonderful songs in the history of wonderful songs? That whole album ([Mirmama](http://www.amazon.com/Mirmama-Eddi-Reader/dp/B00000203C)) is great too. There’s not a bad song on it. I bought it when it was first released and it’s still one of my all-time favorite albums. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/19 "2011-06-05T23:59:42Z")
It was solved 20 minutes ago! I wish you’d seen this thread earlier! You guys have no idea what a perplexing mystery this was…I would literally lie awake in bed thinking about this song, wondering who it was, and wondering if I was ever going to figure it out…was I doomed to be tormented by this forever? Would I ever know? I’m not crazy about the first 30 or so seconds of the song, but everything after that is good. It is very alluring. Never in a million, billion years would I have ever guessed that the word coming after “honey” was “wax.” I tried so many other combinations but that one never would have occurred to me. What a cryptic and mysterious and oddly erotic vision Veirs conjures with her forked tongue and weird words. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-identification-please-help/549406/20 "2011-06-06T00:12:33Z")
Sorry, we just got home. I posted in another thread earlier from the place we were at, using their Wi-Fi. I didn’t peruse all the Subject Lines earlier so I didn’t see this thread. I very rarely know “Identify this \_\_\_” answers so I wish I’d seen it too. Glad it got solved!