# Songs that lists things **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251 "2014-02-13T15:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/1 "2014-02-13T15:23:51Z")
What songs, at least to a fairly decent extent, list things, ie have _enumeration_? Some starting examples: We Didn’t Start the Fire, Billy Joel It’s the End of the World, REM Though it’s overall less pronounced in it, American Pie has an element of listing things off too. What others? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/2 "2014-02-13T15:26:24Z")
50 ways to leave your lover. Popsicles and icicles. My Favorite things. And I guess Do Re Mi from the same movie. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/3 "2014-02-13T15:33:04Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > What songs, at least to a fairly decent extent, list things, ie have _enumeration_? “Enumeration” made me think you wanted _numbered_ lists; and the first thing that came to mind was the Traveling Wilburys song “Seven Deadly Sins” (“Sin number one was when you left me…”). From the examples you gave, I see the lists don’t have to be numbered. You can find some other examples in this 2009 thread, which is similar but not as specific: [“We Didn’t Start the Fire” type songs](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=521212) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/4 "2014-02-13T15:37:47Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “Enumeration” made me think you wanted _numbered_ lists; and the first thing that came to mind was the Traveling Wilburys song “Seven Deadly Sins” (“Sin number one was when you left me…”). That use didn’t occur to me, I just meant the one from Merriam-Webster: “to name (things) one after another in a list,” which is how I’ve heard it used in literary conversation. Thanks for pointing me to that other thread! ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/5 "2014-02-13T15:52:57Z")
_Life Is A Rock_–Reunion ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/6 "2014-02-13T15:54:37Z")
Done Too Soon- Neil Diamond ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/7 "2014-02-13T16:07:23Z")
The end of “Hardware Store” by Weird Al Yankovic is a list of things you can buy at hardware store, plus a few oddities. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/8 "2014-02-13T16:27:49Z")
The Righteous Brothers “Rock and Roll Heaven” is a list of rock stars who died young. George Jones’ “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” is a list of classic country singers. Bobby Troup’s “Route 66” features a long list of cities and towns along the actual highway Route 66. There’s also Ko-Ko’s “I’ve Got a Little List” song from Gilbert & Sullivan’s _ **The Mikado** _, which is a list of people he’d like to kill. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/9 "2014-02-13T16:32:44Z")
Johnny Cash’s _I’ve Been Everywhere, Man_. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/10 "2014-02-13T16:32:50Z")
“Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3” by Ian Dury. Also, arguably, his “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.” ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/11 "2014-02-13T16:38:39Z")
There was this 80s college-radio type song called “80 lines for 40 women” (or something) where the singer runs through all the women he’s slept with. I first heard it in high school and thought it was so cool. I heard it again some time later and realized it was the most awful, d-bag, embarrassing song of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/12 "2014-02-13T16:39:35Z")
“List” songs always make me think of Cole Porter (as does anyone carrying a hod of coal) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/13 "2014-02-13T16:43:45Z")
Violent Femmes-“Kiss Off” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/frBWvyE_N9I/maxresdefault.jpg "Violent Femmes -- Kiss Off") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frBWvyE_N9I) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@I\_Made\_French\_Toast\_For\_You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Made_French_Toast_For_You)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/14 "2014-02-13T16:45:16Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > There was this 80s college-radio type song called “80 lines for 40 women” (or something) where the singer runs through all the women he’s slept with. I first heard it in high school and thought it was so cool. I heard it again some time later and realized it was the most awful, d-bag, embarrassing song of all time. This reminded me to mention _52 Girls_ by **The B-52’s**. (Not a song about women they slept with…AFAIK) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/15 "2014-02-13T16:51:16Z")
88 lines about 44 women - The Nails People who died - Jim Carroll ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/16 "2014-02-13T16:56:44Z")
Some “enumeration” songs: The bridge to “The Book of Love” (“In Chapter 1 you love her, you love her with all your heart, in Chapter 2 you tell her you’re never ever ever gonna part…”) “Rock Around the Clock” (“We’ll have some fun when the clock strikes one…”) “Twenty Flight Rock” (“One flight, two flight, three flight, four…”) “Three Days” (“Three days filled with pain and sorrow/Yesterday, today and tomorrow”) “Helplessly Hoping” (“They are one person, they are two alone, they are three together, they are four for each other”) And then there’s the songs listing days of the week, such as “Stormy Monday” (“Well, they call it Stormy Monday but Tuesday’s just as bad/Wednesday’s worse and Thursday’s oh so sad”), “Friday I’m In Love”, and “Friday On My Mind”. And months of the year (“Calendar Girl”) And years (“In the Year 2525”) Oh yeah, and I expected one of the first three posts to mention Tom Lehrer’s “The Elements”! ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/17 "2014-02-13T16:56:58Z")
Neighbourhood - Space \*song about his neighbours in the various apartment units. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/18 "2014-02-13T16:59:04Z")
[Pepper](http://youtu.be/g4WUlNSx_Wk) - Butthole Surfers [People Who Died](http://youtu.be/xAKoU_W_mf8) - The Jim Carroll Band [88 Lines About 44 Women](http://youtu.be/oai3mUL-T-I) - The Nails ETA: D’oh! Ninja-ed by **QuickSilver**! ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/19 "2014-02-13T17:00:08Z")
Sweet and Tender Hooligan - The Smiths - lists the people killed by a ‘sweet and tender hooligan’. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251/20 "2014-02-13T17:01:37Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > [Pepper](http://youtu.be/g4WUlNSx_Wk) - Butthole Surfers > > ETA: D’oh! Ninja-ed by **QuickSilver**! That’s the one I couldn’t think of! :smack:🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-lists-things/681251.md?page=2)