# 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:** 6
**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 20, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/101 "2007-02-20T16:43:21Z")
Evita also has “Don’t Cry for me Argentina” and the delightful “Buenos Aires”: And if ever I go too far it’s because of the things you are Beautiful town, I love you. And if I need a moment’s rest, give your lover the very best Real eiderdown and silence. How many songs rhyme anything with “eiderdown”? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/102 "2007-02-20T16:47:02Z")
Voltaire’s “Snakes” from The Devil’s Bris refers to the “endocrine lining.” (I’d include the specific lyric, but lyrics websites seem to be uniformly shady and I don’t have the album handy ATM.) ---
**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 20, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/103 "2007-02-20T16:50:22Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] How many songs rhyme anything with “eiderdown”? [/QUOTE] Off the top of my head, “A Pillow of Winds” by Pink Floyd and “Mother of Pearl” by Roxy Music. ---
**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 20, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/104 "2007-02-20T16:57:16Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Other uncommon words in Bonzo lyrics: tickertape mustachioed binoculars sideboards ennui gorgonzola chilblains Nimrod supersonic pre-fabricated concrete coal-bunker exuberance serviettes uproot benefactor hexachloraphine [/QUOTE] Not to mention… belladonna drainpipe alsatian Mallarme equestrian rhino house ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/105 "2007-02-20T17:13:51Z")
Did everybody forget ‘Supercalafragilisticexpialadocious’? Were you trying to? ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/106 "2007-02-20T17:23:12Z")
My long time favorite, from Eve of Destruction recorded by The Grass Roots “Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like **coagulatin’** ” was deposed by Bruce Hornsby singing “Its just a little hand trick A little **prestidigitation** ” in Spider Fingers [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] Other than the Beatles in The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, you mean. . . [QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] How many songs rhyme anything with “eiderdown”? [/QUOTE] Polaroids by Shawn Colvin: “Wrap me in eiderdown Lace from your wedding gown” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/107 "2007-02-20T19:48:23Z")
We’re three pages into this thread and no one’s mentioned the former Mr. Robert Zimmerman yet? “Ballad of a Thin Man” has: \*“Anyway they already expect you To just give a check To tax-deductible charity organizations” \* and _“You’ve been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books”_ “Desolution Row” has: _“And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot Fighting in the captain’s tower While calypso singers laugh at them And fishermen hold flowers”_ Those are just a few samples. This thread could probably go several more pages on Dylan’s songs alone. ---
**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 20, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/108 "2007-02-20T20:10:57Z")
More Kinky–The Ballad of Charles “Texas Tower” Whitman He didn’t choke or stab or slit them Not our Charles Joseph Whitman… Sitting up there with his 34 Magnum Laughing wildly while he bagged 'em. ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/109 "2007-02-20T20:11:07Z")
In a thread where They Might Be Giants has already been mentioned, I am surprised and pleased to be the first to mention **The Decemberists** , who have far too many lovingly verbose lyrics to quote, except for this one which has been stuck in my head all morning, from _The Legionnaire’s Lament_: _“Medicating in the sun pinch-doses of laudanum longing for the old fecundity of my homeland”_ Laudanum _and_ fecundity in the same stanza! My other suggestion is **The Ramones** , who invented the word “questioningly” for their song of the same name. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/110 "2007-02-20T22:21:24Z")
MC Frontalot is renowned for this kind of thing. **Braggadocio** : I stand 77 feet tall, I got eight balls and all’a’y’all are subject to my **thrall** I act appalled when in receipt of less than the highest honor some day I’ll be both revered & passe like Madonna I’m all in effect, people tend to **genuflect** when I enter rooms, 'cause all dopeness is **subsumed** I spell the doom of the hip-hop subgenre you used to prefer the geekish rhythm intersection with the **predilections** that I’ve **incurred** you say “word?” With a **surfeit** of beats I’m unlikely to run out plus I’m so bright it’s like **redundant** to have the sun out one out of each ten brags is **hyperbolic** it’s all inconsequential, you’re just here to hear my tongue frolic ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/111 "2007-02-20T23:12:51Z")
“We could entertain each one with our theosophies” Blondie – \*(I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear \* ---
**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:** [February 21, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/112 "2007-02-21T02:50:57Z")
NailBunny, I believe The Decemberists were mentioned before in this thread. They do have lots of great words. [QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] **Equipoise** … lots of words there. Some fairly unremarkable, I would argue. Like “tragic.” [/QUOTE] Absolutely true, but my point was that the sheer number of interesting/unusual (even if not remarkable) words made her a fascinating case. Ok, to me only, I guess. _slinks away_ ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/113 "2007-02-21T03:01:47Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I was always a little tickled at the line in _Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat_ when Joseph sings: “I shall now take them all for a ride; After all they have tried fratricide” Fratricide. Not a word used in everyday conversation, eh? OK, now that you’ve gotten the geekiest response possible to this thread, let’s commence with the non-Broadway examples. [/QUOTE] My brother used to say it a lot. But not anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/114 "2007-02-21T03:36:14Z")
Then there’s Tom Lehrer’s [The Element Song](http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html) in which he rattles them all off, including Curium, Cesium, Beryllium, Scandium, Manganese, Molybdenum. Dysprosium, Ytterbium, etc. Sure it’s not a rock song, per the OP, but since musicals and other Lehrer lyrics have been cited, I thought I’d drop one in, and guess that probably for most of those elements, it is their only song appearance. For real rock charting artists, there’s Al Stewart, from “Year of the Cat” On a morning from a **Bogart** movie In a country where they turn back time You go strolling through the crowd like **Peter Lorre** Contemplating a crime He has a song about **Josephine Baker** , and another about **Nostradamus** Then there’s this verse from “Road to Moscow” All summer they drove us back through **the Ukraine** **Smolensk** and **Viasma** soon fell By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of **Orel** Closer and closer to Moscow they came - riding the wind like a bell **General Guderian** stands at the crest of the hill ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/115 "2007-02-21T03:37:50Z")
_you look like a perfect fit for a girl in need of a tourniquet but can you **save me** _ Aimee Mann soundtrack **magnolia** **Before the Deluge** Jackson Browne ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/116 "2007-02-23T02:27:22Z")
> [@Frank Loesser](#): > > The average unmarried female > Basically insecure > Due to some long frustration may react > With psychosomatic symptoms > Difficult to endure > Affecting the upper respiratory tract. > > … > > You can spray her wherever you figure the streptococci lurk > > … > > The female remaining single > Just in the legal sense > Shows a neurotic tendancy, see note: > Chronic organic symptoms > Toxic or hypertense > Involving the eye, the ear, the nose, and throat. > > … > > A person can develop la grippe, > La grippe. > La post nasal drip. > With the wheezes > And the sneezes > And a sinus that’s really a pip! Nobody ever wrote 'em again like Loesser… ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/117 "2007-02-23T03:41:54Z")
“South America, Take It Away” by Bing Crosby also contains “sacroiliac”. Tom Waits should qualify for something. Tarantella. Ticonderoga, skinnybone, grazier, canebrake… ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/118 "2007-02-23T03:58:21Z")
Do proper names count? “Left to My Own Devices” by Pet Shop Boys **Che Guevara** and **Débussy** to a disco beat ---
**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 23, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/119 "2007-02-23T06:49:25Z")
Just heard one- Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man In Paris” has **unfettered**. ---
**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 23, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846/120 "2007-02-23T14:06:07Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Just heard one- Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man In Paris” has **unfettered**. [/QUOTE] Joni was also the answer to one of my entries in the Rock Lyrics Game thread I linked to in post #5 (no one guessed). The words were **keyloids, sterilized, broadcasting,** and **hot-wire**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-contain-words-not-commonly-found-in-song-lyrics/392846.md?page=7)