# Spoken hits that aren't Rap. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403 "2015-01-31T04:33:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/61 "2015-02-03T18:33:02Z")
“[Hot Rod Race](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Rod_Race)” (#29 for Tiny Hill) “[Hot Rod Lincoln](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Rod_Lincoln)” (#9 for Commander Cody) “[Transfusion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfusion_(song))” (#8 for Nervous Norvus) “[An Open Letter to My Teenage Son](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Lundberg)” (#10 for Victor Lundberg) ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/62 "2015-02-03T19:41:19Z")
Definitely not a hit, but, “Legend of the U.S.S. Titanic” by Jamie Brockett. The chorus is sung, but the “verses” are spoken words. It’s about a prize fighter who was not allowed on the Titanic because he was black, and a possible explanation for its sinking. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/63 "2015-02-03T20:48:01Z")
Many examples from _Cake_, but I guess the hit-est example would be [The Distance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GORDBKl8ibY). ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/64 "2015-02-03T20:57:15Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > \ Body Count is still together?!? I was listening to those guys in high school, and – well, I haven’t been in high school in a really long time. \ Yes, though, to make you feel even older, three of the original five members are dead. ETA: Making the band name pretty appropriate! ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/65 "2015-02-03T21:12:51Z")
[“Subterranean Homesick Blues”](http://vimeo.com/72540087) is pretty much as close as you can get to rap/hip-hop while technically being bluesy folk/rock. Had it been made 50 years later, though, it’d probably be called rap. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/66 "2015-02-03T21:21:33Z")
Wait… page 2 and no mention of “[I’m Too Sexy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_Too_Sexy)” by Right Said Fred? Or did I miss something? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/67 "2015-02-03T22:54:49Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Wait… page 2 and no mention of “[I’m Too Sexy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_Too_Sexy)” by Right Said Fred? Or did I miss something? Yep, you missed the universal agreement to forever wipe that atrocity from our collective memories. Someone will be with you shortly to assess the appropriate penalty. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/68 "2015-02-04T00:18:19Z")
I have this fragment… from a country song… “Should you go first and I remain…” I don’t know. Ferlin Husky? Who knows that line? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/69 "2015-02-04T00:19:44Z")
I think Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner” kinda lands somewhere in the middle. It’s rhythmic and melodic, but it seems like much of it is…spoken tunefully rather than sung. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/70 "2015-02-04T03:38:38Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > [“Subterranean Homesick Blues”](http://vimeo.com/72540087) is pretty much as close as you can get to rap/hip-hop while technically being bluesy folk/rock. Had it been made 50 years later, though, it’d probably be called rap. IMHO, both rap (and SHB) are descended from [Talking Blues](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_blues). To me SHB is still more blues-rock rather than rap precursor but can easily be turned into rap in much the same way as Run-D.M.C.'s version of Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way:’ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4B_UYYPb-Gk/maxresdefault.jpg "RUN DMC - Walk This Way (Official HD Video) ft. Aerosmith") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_UYYPb-Gk) I think it’s all about really hammering the spoken beat with help from a chorus/backup. Now there’s a backseat\*\* lover\*\* That’s always under\*\* cover\*\* And I talk til my daddy\*\* say\*\* Said you ain’t seen\*\* nuthin\*\* Til you’re down on her **muffin** FWIW here’s “First Aid Kit” rapping Subterranean Homesick Blues: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8jhSCc8umEA/hqdefault.jpg "First Aid Kit rapping Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues (P3 Guld 2013)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jhSCc8umEA) Johny’s in the **basement** Mixing up the **medicine** I’m on the **pavement** Thinking about the **government** ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/71 "2015-02-04T03:48:55Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > I think Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner” kinda lands somewhere in the middle. It’s rhythmic and melodic, but it seems like much of it is…spoken tunefully rather than sung. There is the bit at the end about, “I am thinking of your voice,” where she’s singing. Beautifully too. Though that’s on the DNA remix, and I’m not sure if it’s on her original song. Reading the O.P.: wasn’t this pretty much Johnny Cash’s entire gig? Though the line between spoken and lightly sung is a hazy one, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/72 "2015-02-04T04:21:20Z")
I cruised the original posts and didn’t notice Ed Ames “Who Will Answer?” Not only did he protect Ol Daniel but he had a Hell of a voice as well. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/73 "2015-02-04T11:18:41Z")
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned [Uneasy Rider](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=952h-AJ3Bcg) by Charlie Daniels. Here are a few others: [One Piece at a Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWHniL8MyMM) by Johnny Cash [Wild Wood Weed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyY-6oh0Ow8)by Jim Stafford ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/74 "2015-02-04T14:31:21Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > I have this fragment… from a country song… “Should you go first and I remain…” I don’t know. Ferlin Husky? Who knows that line? Found. Beyond the Sunset by Hank Williams. Also, The Baggage Coach Ahead by Doc and Chickie Williams et al. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/75 "2015-02-04T15:41:32Z")
Red Sovine and “Giddyup Go”? More just spoken it did hit Billboards #1 slot for a while. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/76 "2015-02-04T16:20:33Z")
Sheryl Crow’s _All I Wanna Do_ is mostly spoken. And I am not sure how to categorize what Jennifer Lawrence is doing on _The Hanging Tree_, melodic speaking? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/77 "2015-02-04T18:07:47Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The past sixty years there have been isolated instances of mostly-spoken poetry with musical accompaniment on the radio. In the early years there was crap like [Jimmie Dean’s sausagefest, “Big Bad John”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN3exiuyQJc&spfreload=10). See that’s one of the greatest songs of all time, so you lost me there.😛 ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/78 "2015-02-04T19:39:07Z")
Big Bad John! I’ll second that. Country songs like that developed the style. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/79 "2015-02-04T19:42:42Z")
Hey, if anyone does look up “In the Baggage Coach Ahead” (Doc/Chickie Williams), brace yourselves. It’s appalling and sad. Back in Appalachia, our mothers used to play it to watch us cry. I also recall Little Becky’s Christmas Wish being used for that purpose. It came much later than Baggage Coach. It was an anti-war song. (Vietnam) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403/80 "2015-02-05T15:49:49Z")
Forgive me if there was an earlier mention of this, but we must not forget that masterpiece of trashy garage rock, [“Little Girl”](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=little+girl+syndicate+of+sound+youtube&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=08592D463A819E70F65E08592D463A819E70F65E) by the Syndicate of Sound. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spoken-hits-that-arent-rap/711403.md?page=5)