# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Khadro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Khadro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/41 "2007-02-19T22:16:33Z")
The Nine Inch Nails song Dead Souls has the line “ **Conquistadors** that took their share”. I have not heard that in another song before. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/42 "2007-02-19T22:17:46Z")
There’s plenty in Gilbert and Sullivan songs… “… with many simple facts about the square of the hypoteneuse.” from _Pirates of Penzance_ You gotta admit, you don’t find “hypoteneuse” much outside of math class or _The Wizard of Oz_ Connubially: from _The Mikado_ ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/43 "2007-02-19T22:22:07Z")
The other Bonzo posts reminded me of my favorite song of theirs, [Keynsham](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/bonzo-dog-band-keynsham-lyrics.html), which features the word “Hexachloraphene” ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/44 "2007-02-19T22:27:23Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] Jim Morrison mentions bungalows not once but twice, in “LA Woman” and “Roadhouse”. I can’t recall anyone else using the word even once. [/QUOTE] The Beatles. “Hey, Bungalow Bill, what did you kill? Bungalow Bill.” My entry is sycophants. I think it’s a Joan Jett and the Blackhearts song, but I could be wrong. “…and the sycophants who like to make romance to the ugly sound of them telling you that you’re wonderful and you pretend…” ---
**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, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/45 "2007-02-19T22:27:40Z")
Paul Simon has “Kodachrome.” The musical “Candide” has “What a day, what a day for an auto-da-fe” ---
**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, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/46 "2007-02-19T22:32:00Z")
[QUOTE=Khadro] The Nine Inch Nails song Dead Souls has the line “ **Conquistadors** that took their share”. I have not heard that in another song before. [/QUOTE] Except the Procol Harum tune titled “Conquistador,” which uses the word about once per verse. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/47 "2007-02-19T22:32:35Z")
In Cake’s “Hem of Your Garment” the line “I am intrinsically no good” begins every verse. And in the Dropkick Murphy’s “Spicy McHaggis Jig” it uses the term “schlong” musically. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/48 "2007-02-19T22:32:36Z")
[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 don’t know how big of a Dan fan you are, but pretty much every one of their songs would qualify for this thread. This band probably has the greatest vocabulary in rock (The Decemberists might come in at second place.) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/49 "2007-02-19T22:35:31Z")
From “Cry Me a River”: "Told me love was too **plebeian** /Told me you were through with me, an’… ". ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/50 "2007-02-19T22:35:50Z")
That big internet hit from Tism, of a few years back, had a couple of very uncommon words: Everyone else has had more sex than me. _Our lives have to die Of that there’s no help My favourite way to end them Is the orb-weaver spider’s whose **pedipalp** Enters the female **pudendum**._ > **[Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me](https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/bunny)** > > Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me, a Flash Animated video by Bernard Derriman (Flash animation, music, Nothing nasty, just animated bunnies reporting in their chests the number of times they had sex. Still, the lyrics are not NSFW) ---
**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, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/51 "2007-02-19T22:36:38Z")
[QUOTE=bluethree] My entry is sycophants. [/QUOTE] Try Nirvana’s “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” or Dirty Pretty Things’ “Blood Thirsty Bastards.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/52 "2007-02-19T22:38:18Z")
[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] Sorry Jackmannii, > [@](#): > > chorus: Hey, Torquemada, whaddaya say? > Torquemada: I just got back from the auto-da-fé. > chorus: Auto-da-fé, what’s an auto-da-fé? > Torquemada: It’s what you oughtn’t to do but you do anyway. –Mel Brooks, The Inquisition ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/53 "2007-02-19T22:38:51Z")
I think the Indigo Girls’ song Closer To Fine might qualify here. It contains: insatiable, definitive, “a poster of Rasputin” and prostrate. Their self-titled debut album is pretty wordy in general, and I was kind of impressed with some of the unexpected phrasing even with fairly common words. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/54 "2007-02-19T22:41:55Z")
[QUOTE=Khadro] The Nine Inch Nails song Dead Souls has the line “ **Conquistadors** that took their share”. I have not heard that in another song **before**. [/QUOTE] Ahhh, yes, good old Nine Inch Nails – recorded that song way back in 1965. Way before Joy Division 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/55 "2007-02-19T22:43:30Z")
Tom Lehrer, “Vatican Rag”: _get in line in that **processional** step into that small **confessional** … 2-4-6-8. time to **transsubstantiate**!_ And of course, the song repeatedly uses the word “genuflect.” Blondie, “Accidents Never Happen”: _Like the Magi on a hill I can **divinate** your presence from afar_ ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/56 "2007-02-19T22:51:58Z")
This possibly deserves its own thread, but you guys should check out [the World’s Hardest Lyrics Quiz.](http://www.triviaone.com/trivia/music/1word.htm) It’s 26 song lyrics from Top 30 songs between 1965 and 1989. Each lyric consists of **just one word,** and all would be worthy mentions in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/57 "2007-02-19T23:02:48Z")
[QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] Try Nirvana’s “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” or Dirty Pretty Things’ “Blood Thirsty Bastards.” 😉 [/QUOTE] Not to mention the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Annie-Dog.” I have contributions to add from my favourite band, The Weakerthans: [QUOTE=A New Name for Everything] When the one-ways **collude** with the map that you folded wrong… Make your face the flag of a **semaphore**. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=The Prescience of Dawn] I don’t want a second chance to turn my stuttering reluctance into romance, with these documents and kindergarten anthems, with my drunken **liturgies**. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Pamphleteer] I’m weary with right-angles, **abbreviated** daylight, and waiting for a winter to be done. I walk this room in time to the beat of the **Gestetner** , contemplate my next **communique**. The rhetoric and treason of saying that I’ll miss you. I am your **pamphleteer**. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Watermark] Stand still. Let me scrub that **brackish** line that you got when something rose and then receded. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Aside] **Circumnavigate** this body of wonder and uncertainty. Armed with every precious failure, and amateur **cartography** , I breathe in deep before I spread these maps out on my bedroom floor. [/QUOTE] They also have a song about penguins and Antarctica. I could probably keep quoting them all day. God, I love me some Weakerthans. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/58 "2007-02-19T23:25:51Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] The song is Polythene Pam, but Polythene and Polyethylene are the same thing. [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s why I said the point stands. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/59 "2007-02-19T23:36:22Z")
[QUOTE=Yeeter] Also, the Police mention “scilla and charybdis” in their song “Wrapped Around Your Finger.” That has to be pretty rare. [/QUOTE] On _this_ board, you spell that “scilla”? Pray for me, St. Pollykarp! ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/60 "2007-02-20T00:23:11Z")
There are plenty of examples in Rush lyrics: “Spirit Of Radio”, first line: _Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion **unobtrusive** _ “Vital Signs”, towards the end: _Everybody need reverse **polarity.** _ “Between The Wheels”, beginning of song: _Soaking up the **cathode rays** _ “Freewill”, middle of song: _All **preordained** _ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846.md?page=4)