Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do
The chorus rhymes, but the verses do not.
Leonard Cohen - Suzanne
Some of it rhymes, most of it doesn’t, and the parts that do seem more like coincidence than intentional.
Pearl Jam - Jeremy
If memory serves, nothing in this song rhymes.
Radiohead - Karma Police
There aren’t really that many lyrics in this song as most of them are just repeated. Two of the lines kind of
rhyme ("…girl" → “…ill”), but really only because of the way they are sung.
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
The pre-chorus and chorus rhyme, but the verses are really just a spoken word story.
Ras Kass - The Nature of the Threat
Some of it rhymes, some of it doesn’t, but that fact that any of it doesn’t rhyme is fairly unique in the hip-hop genre.
Robert Wyatt and Soft Machine stopped writing rhyming lyrics by their second album (I’m not sure about their first). Wyatt continued throughout his songwriting career to write songs without rhyming.
I don’t feel like going through my music list right now, but a large chunk of the music I listen to does not use end rhyme. Since you mentioned Pearl Jam, I don’t think most of their songs rhyme.
If I give up the seat I’ve been saving To some elderly lady or man Am I being a good boy? Am I your pride and joy? Mother please if you think say I am
And if while in the course of my duty I perform an unfortunate take Would you punish me so Unbelievably so Never again will I make that mistake
This feeling inside me could never deny me The right to be wrong if I choose And this pleasure I get From say winning a bet Is to lose
When I’m drinking my Bonaparte Shandy Eating more than enough apple pies Will I glance at my screen And see real human beings Starve to death right in front of my eyes
Nothing old, nothing new, nothing ventured Nothing gained, nothing still-born or lost Nothing further than proof, nothing wilder than youth Nothing older than time, nothing sweeter than wine Nothing physically recklessly, hopelessly blind Nothing I couldn’t say Nothing why 'cos today Nothing rhymed
This feeling inside me could never deny me The right to be wrong if I choose And this pleasure I get From say winning a bet Is to lose
Nothing good, nothing bad, nothing ventured Nothing gained, nothing still-born or lost Nothing further than proof, nothing wilder than youth Nothing older than time, nothing sweeter than wine Nothing physically recklessly, hopelessly blind Nothing I couldn’t say Nothing why 'cos today Nothing rhymed
There was an Old Man of St. Bees
Who was stung in the arm by a wasp.
When asked, “Does it hurt?”
He replied, “No, it doesn’t,
But I’m so glad it wasn’t a hornet.”
You have a number of songs like Oscar Brand’s A Clean Song, which has two rhyming lines at the very end. You are expecting a rhyme (often an unprintable word) which doesn’t happen.
I was listening to my copy of Best of John Lee Hooker yesterday when I first opened this thread, and thought that a lot of his songs would fit. He does a lot of that half-singing, half-talking thing, and often sounds like he’s ad-libbing the lyrics. One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer is another example.
