# Songs that are too repetitive **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325 "2011-04-14T03:13:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/61 "2011-04-14T23:22:37Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > I have the same problem with The Police. The last third of every song is Sting repeating one phrase over and over and over and over… My brother pointed this out about 20 years ago, and I haven’t been able to listen to them since. Well I do like some of their songs, but I’m not going to purchase any of their stuff. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/62 "2011-04-15T01:54:15Z")
came in to say the Byrds Turn, Turn, Turn; however, while listening to it on y/t I counted ‘only’ 5 stanzas, one being instrumental. I could’ve sworn it was at least 7 or 8… ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/63 "2011-04-15T01:57:18Z")
Just heard this one tonight. I actually shut the damn song off because it got so freaking annoying. It seriously repeats the same line for what seems like the last four minutes of the song. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pNoj-PZbcO8/hqdefault.jpg "One Nation under a Groove - 1978 Parliament Funkadelic") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNoj-PZbcO8) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/64 "2011-04-15T02:05:44Z")
Get your sexy on Go ahead, be gone with it [Repeat 6 times] ---
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/65 "2011-04-15T02:09:56Z")
When Wycleff Jean first told me he would be Gone 'Til November I was like: “Oh, sorry to hear that. I’ll really miss you.” Then he just kept telling me the same damn thing over and over. By the end I was yelling: “You Fuck! I get it already. You know what, don’t come back.” ---
**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:** [April 15, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/66 "2011-04-15T02:23:03Z")
> [@LaurenIpsum](#): > > “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child. When I first heard it on the radio, my reaction was, “This is a song? Just the words “say my name” over and over and over?” There are more words than just that. But mainly, the instrumentals of that song are ingenious. One of the better pop songs of that year (1999) which was basically the last gasp of good pop music on the mainstream radio. [Give it a careful listen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyCGGQMcSVo) - there is a surprising amount of interesting melodic, harmonic and rhythmic stuff going on behind the vocals (the lyrics are pretty horrible.) All of the good things about the song, like most R&B and rap songs, are the work of geeks in the studio, not the main act, who are totally uncredited and unrecognized. My nomination is _I Want To Get Away_ by the hack Lenny Kravitz, one of the most repetitive and _worst_ songs of that time period. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/67 "2011-04-15T02:28:40Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > There’s a band called The Smithereens. > > They had some modest success - biggest song was probably “Only a Memory”. > > What bothered the piss out of me was that all their “hits” ended with the singer (Pat Nunzio ?) repeating the title over and over and over… > > I pointed this out to a friend of mine who loved the band. He came back ans said I ruined the band for him because he would fixate on their repetitions. > > So I nominate all of The Smithereens’ popular tracks. Oh, thank you. Now I’m going to have _Behind the wall of sleep Behind the wall of sleep Behind the wall of sleep_ stuck in my head all night long. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/68 "2011-04-15T03:45:57Z")
Eh, I’ve always loved the Smithereens and their repetition doesn’t ruin their songs for me. Anyway, I’d better decide if I should stay or go. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/69 "2011-04-15T05:16:09Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > George Harrison set the bar high with “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You” and Weird Al did his follow up to it with “This Song’s Just Six Words Long” > [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Back in the late 1980s when I was stuck working in a place where they played the local pop music pap, I once counted the number of times that Debbie Gibson (Deborah nowadays) said “Shake your Love”. It was something like 46. In contrast George Harrison only repeated the same phrase 26 times. To be fair, that’s not really George’s fault. As Weird Al pointed out in his version, “I never wrote the lyrics” (that is, somebody else wrote the song). George did, however, set the bar remarkably high with The Beatles and his song _Blue Jay Way_, in which he repeats the same phrase 42 times. The phrase? “Don’t be long”. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/70 "2011-04-15T06:04:54Z")
Annie Are You OK? Are You OK Annie? ---
**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:** [April 15, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/71 "2011-04-15T13:20:46Z")
I’m fine. Why do you ask? By my count, [Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats](http://www.metrolyrics.com/jellicle-songs-for-jellicle-cats-lyrics-cats.html) uses the non-word “Jellicle” 77 times, the line “Jellicle songs for jellicle cats” 19 times, and the words “cat” or “cats” 49 times. Beat that! ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/72 "2011-04-15T13:52:55Z")
Doesnt Phil Collins “sing” “just one more night” something like 52 times? That the number floating around in my head. I think to be fair about comparing songs for most repetitive you also need to take in the consideration the length of the song and how many other non-repetative words are in there. Anybody here really good with songs and spreadsheets? ---
**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:** [April 15, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/73 "2011-04-15T13:57:22Z")
Dylan’s Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 uses “They’ll stone you” five times in each of the five verses, a total of 25 times. Maybe Dylan should have written two much verses to reflect the title a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/74 "2011-04-15T14:12:07Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’m fine. Why do you ask? You’ve Been Hit By You’ve Been Hit By A Smooth Criminal ---
**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:** [April 15, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/75 "2011-04-15T14:29:55Z")
HIJACK RANT: Someone posted “Annie are you OK?” in the thread about my broken arm. Seeing it repeated in this thread made me google it. I am so fucking glad I never heard that song, and so fucking glad the singer is dead. I never liked Michael Jackson, and this song makes me want to murder him. ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/76 "2011-04-15T17:33:32Z")
That’s what I like about you That’s what I like about you That’s what I like about you ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/77 "2011-04-15T17:41:17Z")
I can win this thread with the worst song ever played on the radio: > [@](#): > > Right About Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Check It Out Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Right About Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Check It Out Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Right About Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Check It Out Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Right About Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Check It Out Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Right About Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Check It Out Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Right About Now > The Funk Soul Brother, Right About Now > 'bout now > 'bout now > 'bout now > [repeat forever] ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/78 "2011-04-15T18:14:51Z")
Even when they’re as repetitive as this, we don’t want you posting lyrics in full. Thanks, **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/79 "2011-04-15T18:34:40Z")
Rage Against the Washing Machine, “Killing in the name”. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-are-too-repetitive/578325/80 "2011-04-15T21:00:24Z")
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