# Song with numbers in the chorus \[ed. title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048 "2012-08-29T16:59:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/1 "2012-08-29T16:59:33Z")
I’ve heard this recently a few times; the refrain ends with a heavily stressed set of numbers, like a telephone number–Two Six Eight Four Three Six Nine, or something. Anyone know the title? ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/2 "2012-08-29T17:08:02Z")
Well, if you’re sure it was the Police, maybe “Murder by Numbers.” If you’re not sure it was the Police, I’d guess “Jenny” by Tommy Tutone. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/3 "2012-08-29T17:11:10Z")
I was thinking “Jenny” too but it really doesn’t sound much like the Police, although it is from the same period. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/4 "2012-08-29T17:13:44Z")
Yep, sounds like Murder by Numbers by the description… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1Wp-SZSBkjk/hqdefault.jpg "the police - murder by numbers.wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wp-SZSBkjk) ETA: it was the B-Side to Every Breath you Take. “Murder by numbers - 1, 2, 3; it’s as easy to learn as your A, B, C’s…” Good song. One of favorites of theirs… ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/5 "2012-08-29T21:26:57Z")
The refrain in _Murder by Numbers_ is “'cause it’s murder by numbers, 1,2,3… it’s as easy to learn as your ABCs…” I find it hard to reconcile that with “a heavily stressed set of numbers, like a telephone number–Two Six Eight Four Three Six Nine, or something” I know the OP said it was a Police song, but I’m betting it’s _[Jenny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg_YueZ4fi8&feature=related)_ “eight-six-seven, five-three-oh-nine…” Having just listened to it, I can see how the music might sound Police-ish…but the vocals are clearly “not Sting” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/6 "2012-08-29T21:42:39Z")
[Invisible Sun](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIylUcGDi-Y), maybe? It starts out with Sting counting to six. ---
**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 29, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/7 "2012-08-29T22:22:59Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Well, if you’re sure it was the Police, maybe “Murder by Numbers.” > > If you’re not sure it was the Police, I’d guess “Jenny” by Tommy Tutone. This is my guess. Doesn’t sound like the Police, but is the only song I could think of that fits the description. ETA: Oh, since it [hasn’t been linked yet.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkpGQUflBwU) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/8 "2012-08-29T22:37:57Z")
He’s probably confused because the standard police car is a two tone. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/9 "2012-08-29T23:23:07Z")
I’m think it’s “Invisible Sun.” It starts with a very slow and distinct count of 6 interspersed with music. One of their songs that isn’t as well known as it should be, IMHO. Give it a listen: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NIylUcGDi-Y/hqdefault.jpg "INVISIBLE SUN-The Police") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIylUcGDi-Y) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/10 "2012-08-30T06:19:11Z")
I tried playing the melody on my Melodica, and I got: F-B-A-G-F-E-F-D. It’s sung in a rather exuberant manner, by a mixed chorus. I hope that helps. (The B is the highest note.) (YouTube stuff doesn’t play well on my computer–too much buffering.) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/11 "2012-08-30T06:34:15Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I tried playing the melody on my Melodica, and I got: > F-B-A-G-F-E-F-D. It’s sung in a rather exuberant manner, by a mixed chorus. I hope that helps. (The B is the highest note.) > (YouTube stuff doesn’t play well on my computer–too much buffering.) As an aside it would be awesome if there was a websire you could type “F-B-A-G-F-E-F-D” into and have it play the notes for you. Just sayin’. ---
**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 30, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/12 "2012-08-30T10:07:17Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > As an aside it would be awesome if there was a websire you could type “F-B-A-G-F-E-F-D” into and have it play the notes for you. > Just sayin’. [This will do you one better](http://www.melodycatcher.com/). You can type in the notes (although you need to specify the octave, so “f2 b2 a2 g2 f2 e2 f2 d2” for our example) and it will search its database to try to find a match. No hits on that melody that work with the information given in the OP. Whatever it is, that melody isn’t Jenny. There is some similarity in the contour of it, but Jenny is more like “C#-C#-D-D-C#-C#-B-C#-B-A.” It doesn’t fit with “Murder by Numbers,” either. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/13 "2012-08-30T11:19:58Z")
Are you sure they weren’t saying “Ee oh, ee oh, ee oh oh oh oh”? Seems like all of their songs had that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/14 "2012-08-30T12:15:01Z")
This reminds me of _Warsaw_ by Joy Division: it starts off, not with a 1-2-3-4 call, but a “3 5 0 1 2 5 go!” The chorus simply consists of “3 1 g” repeated several times. I mention it because Joy Division and early Police are fairly similar: intelligent, energetic punk/postpunk. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/15 "2012-08-30T13:00:49Z")
Could it have been Invisible Sun? It has number in it as well. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/16 "2012-08-30T13:14:34Z")
The Time (with Morris Day, remember him?) had “Seven seven seven ninety-three eleven” but it doesn’t sound anything at all like the Police, The Time being a Prince related group. The Police always sounded a little bit like a reggae/lite punk fusion to me. I’m betting on the Tutone song. From Wiki (about The Police): > [@](#): > > Although the early style of the group has been classified as punk rock, Allmusic Guide argues that this was only true “… in the loosest sense of the term”; the Guide states that the band’s “… nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock was punky” and had a “punk spirit”, but it “wasn’t necessarily punk” Wiki labels Tommy Tutone as “a power pop band.” I could see a little cross over confusion with certain Police songs. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/17 "2012-08-30T13:16:33Z")
BTW, today, I’m listening to every Police song I own. Not as research for this thread, simply because their music is cool. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/18 "2012-08-30T14:20:24Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I tried playing the melody on my Melodica, and I got: > F-B-A-G-F-E-F-D. It’s sung in a rather exuberant manner, by a mixed chorus. I hope that helps. (The B is the highest note.) > (YouTube stuff doesn’t play well on my computer–too much buffering.) So - wait: did you listen to Murder by Numbers and rule it out? …and while Jenny has chanting numbers at the very end, Tommy Tutone doesn’t sound much like Der Stingle, so hard to connect those dots, near as I can tell… I am not in a position to play through the chords you picked out…may be able to try this at home… ---
**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 30, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/19 "2012-08-30T14:51:38Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So - wait: did you listen to Murder by Numbers and rule it out? > > …and while Jenny has chanting numbers at the very end, Tommy Tutone doesn’t sound much like Der Stingle, so hard to connect those dots, near as I can tell… > > I am not in a position to play through the chords you picked out…may be able to try this at home… (Those aren’t chords–that’s his approximation of the melody line.) The reason I don’t think it’s “Murder By Numbers” is because the melody he plucked out has way too much step-wise movement, whereas the Murder By Numbers chorus melody is mostly Sting bouncing down and up a fifth, it’d be something like “B-B-B-E-E-B-B-E” (with the B being higher than the E). This is assuming he is transcribing the chorus. The notes given don’t correspond to any melody I could think of, but there’s a vague chance it’s some rough approximation Jenny, with a lot of wrong notes. If you made all the Fs F#s in his tune, and made the first four notes “F#-F#-G-G” instead of “F-B-A-G,” then it’s a first order approximation of “Jenny.” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048/20 "2012-08-30T15:25:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > (Those aren’t chords–that’s his approximation of the melody line.) > > The reason I don’t think it’s “Murder By Numbers” is because the melody he plucked out has way too much step-wise movement, whereas the Murder By Numbers chorus melody is mostly Sting bouncing down and up a fifth, it’d be something like “B-B-B-E-E-B-B-E” (with the B being higher than the E). > > This is assuming he is transcribing the chorus. The notes given don’t correspond to any melody I could think of, but there’s a vague chance it’s some rough approximation Jenny, with a lot of wrong notes. If you made all the Fs F#s in his tune, and made the first four notes “F#-F#-G-G” instead of “F-B-A-G,” then it’s a first order approximation of “Jenny.” Got your logic; thanks. I will say, rather sheepishly, that off the top of my head, I believe I play Jenny with F# D A B as the chords underneath the signature riff which starts with a partial A chord up at the 5th fret and resolves on a partial B chord, kinda like what EVH uses to ping harmonics in Panama… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-with-numbers-in-the-chorus-ed-title/633048.md?page=2)