# Songs that have no discernible melody, hummable tune or chorus line **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195 "2017-05-09T13:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/21 "2017-05-09T17:42:27Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I listened to Coyote, having never heard it before, and I don’t see how anyone could call anything about it “lazy”. Definitely not “lazy” but also not in the least bit hummable. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/22 "2017-05-09T18:19:49Z")
You can hum that wicked bass line Jaco lays down. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/23 "2017-05-09T18:42:11Z")
Hmm I dunno how Coyote isn’t hummable… If you want unhummable may I present Pearl Jam’s “[Heyfoxymophandlemama](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELSAwXwvwfM)” and The Beatles’ “[Revolution 9](https://vimeo.com/13361163)” But maybe those aren’t songs. They’re art pieces. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/24 "2017-05-09T18:49:58Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Definitely not “lazy” but also not in the least bit hummable. It seems to begin with a spoken phrase when a verse begins and goes to a more melodic phrase after. It might seem a little awkward to hum the first phrase. But I think it has melodic integrity. The second phrase needed the first. After that it is very hummable: “And I’ll just be getting home with my reel to reel There’s no comprehending Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes And the lips you can get And still feel so alone And still feel related Like stations in some relay You’re not a hit and run driver, no, no Racing away You just picked up a hitcher A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/25 "2017-05-09T18:50:07Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > If you want unhummable may I present…The Beatles’ “[Revolution 9](https://vimeo.com/13361163)” That’s the kind of thing I guessed the thread was going to be about when I first saw its title. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/26 "2017-05-09T18:59:12Z")
So he intentionally structured to have narrative/ spoken bits aren’t lazy. Feh. Perhaps on example of songs that I would’ve expected to be hummable but I didn’t find that would be the big songs from **La La Land**. Yes the singing was flat but there wasn’t much hookiness in the melodies to begin with, imho. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/27 "2017-05-09T19:04:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Narration set to music is dear to the hearts of country music fans. An example is the old Red Sorvine hit [Phantom 309](http://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/13296615?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg). You might want to check that link 🙂 (Don’t worry–nothing naughty this time…unless you use Kitchen Bouquet for something other than its intended purposes.) [Try this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCeVP9WuA6I). ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/28 "2017-05-09T19:57:48Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Let’s not even bring up Bob Dylan. Let’s. _Subterranean Homesick Blues_. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/29 "2017-05-09T19:58:20Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You might want to check that link 🙂 > > (Don’t worry–nothing naughty this time…unless you use Kitchen Bouquet for something other than its intended purposes.) > > [Try this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCeVP9WuA6I). Ha! Thought I did a copy/paste, but guess not. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/30 "2017-05-09T20:53:28Z")
I thought this was going to be a Genesis-bashing thread. There’s a group who (in their pre-hit era) did a ton of gorgeous music without anything like a “hummable tune”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/31 "2017-05-09T21:23:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I thought this was going to be a Genesis-bashing thread. > > There’s a group who (in their pre-hit era) did a ton of gorgeous music without anything like a “hummable tune”. 🙂 I can hum their whole catalog (but only while Steve Hackett was a member.) ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/32 "2017-05-09T21:58:03Z")
John McCrea from Cake. Awful. Like listening to Joe Buck. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/33 "2017-05-09T22:10:21Z")
> [@yezlles](#): > > John McCrea from Cake. Awful. Like listening to Joe Buck. Love him! Just figured out Shirt Skirt Long Jacket to jam on with a friend. I get that he can be love/hate - cool. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/34 "2017-05-09T22:51:21Z")
Several Jim Stafford songs have no melody; “Swamp Witch,” has no chorus; “A Real Good Time,” has a melodic chorus–you get the picture. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/35 "2017-05-09T23:46:35Z")
_Hail, Hail_ by Pearl Jam ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/36 "2017-05-10T02:52:07Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > No it doesnt but it helps. Otherwise it becomes narration set to music. > > After all getting a tune, chorus line and melody in the song are perhaps the most difficult aspects of song writing. An achievement is when anyone can recall and hum the tune. I don’t agree. I can sit down at a piano and have a new tune, chorus, melody, bridge, etc within a few minutes. What is really really hard is coming up with some meaningful words. What the achievement is is having a tune that sticks in someone’s head long after they’ve heard it, but writing a tune per se is quite easy. If Joni Mitchell writes a song that doesn’t have a simple catchy melody then that is almost certainly a stylistic choice and nothing to do with how hard it is to write a tune. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/37 "2017-05-10T03:01:05Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I don’t agree. I can sit down at a piano and have a new tune, chorus, melody, bridge, etc within a few minutes. What is really really hard is coming up with some meaningful words. Just tested this. Yep, new song with fairly catchy tune including melody, bridge, chorus, chords etc in a few minutes. It’ll be gone by tomorrow unless I choose to keep playing it to embed it in my memory, but for now it exists. No words though. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/38 "2017-05-10T03:11:25Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Just tested this. Yep, new song with fairly catchy tune including melody, bridge, chorus, chords etc in a few minutes. It’ll be gone by tomorrow unless I choose to keep playing it to embed it in my memory, but for now it exists. No words though. If the tune’s catchy, the words only need to be marginally sensible for it to be a hit. If you really can knock out a good tune that easily, then you should hook up your talents with some musicians and lyric writers. It’s not difficult to string chords that make sense together. But to make something catchy–you may have a skill that is useful and marketable. (Unless that is what you already do for a living.) ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/39 "2017-05-10T03:21:35Z")
When I saw the OP, I had a suspicion about what he meant, but wasn’t sure beause I was unfamiliar with Coyote. So I looked it up on YouTube, and it was in fact reminiscent of what I thought the OP was describing, which is a song without balanced phrasing, a regular meter, or rhyme structure, but rather through-composed (if you can call it that, since I doubt much composition goes into it; it’s probably improvised.) Jackson Browne did this a lot, as did Paul Simon, on _Graceland_ and subsequent albums. Another example is “Foolish Love” by Rufus Wainwright, until he finally gets to the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195/40 "2017-05-10T03:31:54Z")
I’ve heard songs like this on the Christian stations. If you can’t write a decent song yourself, just sing the classics if you want to keep your audience’s interest, mmmkay? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-no-discernible-melody-hummable-tune-or-chorus-line/786195.md?page=3)