# Songs that contain words not commonly found in song lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846 "2007-02-19T19:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/21 "2007-02-19T20:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dan Norder] The band They Might Be Giants probably wins this one in all categories, with words like “obsequious” (“Turn Around”), “argonauts” (“Birdhouse in Your Soul”), “monotreme” (“Mammal”) and so forth strewn all over their work. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah? How about Phish: > [@Phish](#): > > I’m building you a pyramid with limestone blocks so large > I had to drag them from the mountaintop > You’ll need a 2-car garage. Or > [@Phish](#): > > I’d like to go to your house > and gather up all the prickly hairs from all your razors > And weigh them, > > What do you say? > > Five pounds? > > Six pounds? > > Seven pounds? ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/22 "2007-02-19T20:51:20Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] I have never heard the words “tourniquet”… [/QUOTE] Evanescence has a song called "[Tourniquet](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/evanescence/tourniquet.html) ". To add to the thread, I’d say Sting’s shown some interesting vocabulary over the years. How’s about, \*“A shoal of nightstars hang fire in the nets,” \*to begin? (From [The Soul Cages](http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/sting-lyrics/the-soul-cages-lyrics.html)) ---
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/23 "2007-02-19T20:53:21Z")
Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative”. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/24 "2007-02-19T20:56:56Z")
[QUOTE=want2know] “Lucy in the Sky” contains the word _plasticene_ . [/QUOTE] At least two Oasis songs (“Shakermaker” and “Little James”) mention plasticene. Then again, I’m sure their intent was to remind the listener of the Beatles. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/25 "2007-02-19T20:59:30Z")
It may not really count, but I’ve always had to give Weird Al props for “Ebay”, if only for the fact that he used the word “tchotchkes”. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/26 "2007-02-19T20:59:56Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] How often is Somerset Maugham mentioned in any song? [/QUOTE] To continue on the “really strange name dropping”: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”, which features the lines _It’s no use, he sees her He starts to shake and cough Just like the old man in That book by Nabokov._ My favorite Pretentious Eighties Lyric is in Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over”: _Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup._ I can’t think of too many artists that would ever use “deluge.” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/27 "2007-02-19T21:07:54Z")
[QUOTE=Only Mostly Dead] To continue on the “really strange name dropping”: The Police “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”, which features the lines _It’s no use, he sees her He starts to shake and cough Just like the old man in That book by Nabokov._ [/QUOTE] Not a radio hit (though in a perfect world it would have been), but how about Van Der Graaf Generator’s “When She Comes”: _And the lady with her skin so white Like something out of Blake or Burne-Jones…_ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/28 "2007-02-19T21:08:35Z")
You…you wiseapples! O.K., so “tourniquet” has been used elsewhere in a song lyric. More Bonzo Dog Band possible semi-uniqueness: using and rhyming “minotaur”: _Like a sacrifice for the minotaur All together in the Blood Rush Hour! C’mon fish-face, you got the power!_ (from “Busted”) And in the category of unusual body parts references, we have the following from “Canyons of Your Mind”: _In the canyons of your mind I will wander through your brain To the ventricles of your heart, my dear I’m in love with you again_ ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/29 "2007-02-19T21:14:02Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] More Bonzo Dog Band possible semi-uniqueness: using and rhyming “minotaur”: [/QUOTE] Sorry, I’m gonna be a wiseapple again. The Incredible String Band: _A minotaur gets very sore, His features they are such a bore, His habits are predicta-bull, Aggressively re-li-a-bull, bull bull…_ (“The Minotaur’s Song.”) ---
**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:** [February 19, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/30 "2007-02-19T21:17:13Z")
She’s got Bette Davis eyes. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/31 "2007-02-19T21:23:10Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Also, the Steely Dan song “My Old School” contains the word oleanders- of all the songs that mention flowers, how many mention that one? [/QUOTE] I could have sworn REM had a song with oleander in it, but it’s not coming up in searching. My friend pointed out the rarity of pooh-pooh in songs, from Rent: You need a place to do it It’s what we always dreamed about Think twice before you \*\*pooh-pooh \*\* it “No time for revolving doors” was always a favorite lyric of mine. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/32 "2007-02-19T21:31:35Z")
I totally fell in love with Queen the first time I heard the line “Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?” When, soon thereafter, the exclamation “Bismillah” was used, I was ecstatic. Lyrics with semi-obscure words tickle me, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” has a bunch of oddities in it. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/33 "2007-02-19T21:33:39Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] I could have sworn REM had a song with oleander in it, but it’s not coming up in searching. [/QUOTE] You’re probably thinking of “Find the River,” which has the similar sounding “coriander”, also a pretty uncommon word. On second thought, that entire verse is a garden of oddities, so to speak: _There is nothing left to throw Of Ginger, lemon, indigo, Coriander stem and rose of hay._ Not a lyric, but there is (was) a [band named Oleander](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleander_%28band%29). ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/34 "2007-02-19T21:34:54Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] Well, Placenta has already been mentioned, but _Rattlesnake_ by Live mentions "ennui’. “Big Black Nemesis…Parthenogenesis” - Shriek Back, _Nemesis_. [/QUOTE] Pete Townshend used the word “ennui” in the song “Exquisitely Bored” on one of his solo albums. I think it was _All the Best Cowboys have Chinese Eyes_ . ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/35 "2007-02-19T21:39:17Z")
How about Robert Pollard (of Guided by Voices and various other solo/collaborative projects)? He’s got to be the king of long-winded, unlikely song titles. Some examples: “Man Called Aerodynamics,” “The Ascended Master’s Grogshop,” “Big Chief Chinese Restaurant,” “Burning Flag Birthday Suit,” “Deathtrot and Warlock Riding a Rooster,” “Christian Animation Torch Carriers,” and “My Valuable Hunting Knife.” ETA: Almost forgot one of my personal favorites, “Soul Train College Policeman.” ---
**Author:** ![Yeeter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/96bed5/32.png) [@Yeeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeeter)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/36 "2007-02-19T21:43:37Z")
**BAD RELIGION** songs have pretty good vocab words, like superlative, prescience, progeny, supplicate and dichotomy. Also, the Police mention “scilla and charybdis” in their song “Wrapped Around Your Finger.” That has to be pretty rare. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/37 "2007-02-19T22:03:27Z")
[QUOTE=Only Mostly Dead] You’re probably thinking of “Find the River,” which has the similar sounding “coriander”, also a pretty uncommon word. [/QUOTE] Thank you! Yes, I felt like it was off Automatic for the People. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/38 "2007-02-19T22:03:48Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] I have never heard the words “tourniquet”\* and “auto-da-fe” in any recorded song other than _Tent_, by the Bonzo Dog Band. [/QUOTE] Marilyn Manson has a song called Tourniquet, and it’s mentioned in Machine Head, by Bush. I think the word just appealed to the depressing rockers of the '90s. 😉 And as for auto-da-fe, there’s The Inquisition, from the Mel Brooks movie History of the World, Part 1. Best part of the whole song, I think: “_Hey Torquemada, whaddaya say?_ I just got back from the auto-da-fe _Auto-da-fe? What’s an auto-da-fe?_ It’s what you oughtn’t to do, but you do anyway.” [QUOTE=Stratocaster] _Polythene_ Pam, that is. But the point stands. [/QUOTE] The song is Polythene Pam, but Polythene and Polyethylene are the same thing. Radiohead has a song called Polyethylene, Parts 1 & 2. Part 2 is one of their greatest B-sides. Anyway, you could do a whole thread like this just about Bad Religion. > [@Modern Man](#): > > I’m one big **myoma** that thinks A myoma, turns out, is a tumor made up of muscle tissue. > [@Generator](#): > > I’ll remain **unperturbed** by the joy and the madness > [@Anesthesia](#): > > the cops will never prove **complicity** now And I spent so much time previewing this post to check more BR songs that someone else mentioned them before I did. Whoops. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/39 "2007-02-19T22:14:39Z")
Bad Religion uses a fair number of uncommon words in their lyrics. And, as mentioned in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=408882), lead singer Greg Graffin has a Ph. D. From [Fuck Armageddon, This is Hell](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/badreligion/fuckarmageddonthisishell.html): We’re living in the denoument of the battle’s gripping awe, So what’s the use of being good to satisfy them all? From [The Answer](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/badreligion/theanswer.html) : and he was quick to write his revelation but as they were scutinized and but if you’ve got enough naivete and you’ve got conviction From [Struck a Nerve](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/badreligion/struckanerve.html): In negative disposition As I’m bombarded by superlatives Realizing very well that I am not alone Introverted I look to tomorrow for salvation But I’m thinking altruistically ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/40 "2007-02-19T22:16:32Z")
Jim Morrison mentions bungalows not once but twice, in “LA Woman” and “Roadhouse”. I can’t recall anyone else using the word even once. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846.md?page=3)