# Weirdest Top 10 Singles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190 "2008-10-09T17:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/41 "2008-10-10T04:49:45Z")
Boy Named Sue? Macarenna ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/42 "2008-10-10T05:03:05Z")
“Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads (Billboard Hot 100 #9) is pretty freaking weird. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/43 "2008-10-10T05:22:15Z")
“Don’t Worry Be Happy,” an a cappella song featuring only the sound of Bobby McFerrin’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/44 "2008-10-10T05:43:44Z")
The US and UK #1 songs on my birthday were both pretty weird: “Brand New Key” by Melanie “Ernie (The fastest milkman in the west)” by Benny Hill ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/45 "2008-10-10T06:01:57Z")
Tubthumping by Chumbawumba [The lyrics…](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/chumbawamba/tubthumping_20031113.html) ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/46 "2008-10-10T09:02:02Z")
This must be up there… [Toast - Streetband](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WJmKStqugMc) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/47 "2008-10-10T09:16:24Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > “My Ding-a-Ling” by Chuck Berry, 1972. Strangely enough, Berry’s only #1 hit. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/48 "2008-10-10T09:18:39Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Strangely enough, Berry’s only #1 hit. It had that cross-over market with closet ding-a-ling players, which helped a lot! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/49 "2008-10-10T09:40:23Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Edmund_Fitzgerald). Weird subject matter, weird song. Maritime pop tunes are a little unusual now. I find this one a little less weird than the _oeuvre_ of Roger Whittaker. More recognizably rock/pop songs in this genre might be Looking Glass’s “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” and the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B.” Region-specific hits are a bit less common in the post-MTV age, but used to be friggin’ huge. Chicago blues, Philly soul and Cleveland Polka have taken serious body blows in the era of Clear Channel-type radio chains. I think maritime pop mighty have been an early casualty of media homogenization. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/50 "2008-10-10T12:23:32Z")
Helen Reddy’s “I Am Women” was even a weirder topic for a top 10 song. I guess it was in the right place at the right time. Nobody has mentioned McArthur Park, which charted not once but _TWICE_? If that’s not a weird song, I do not know what one is? ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/51 "2008-10-10T12:33:03Z")
[Beck’s “Loser.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loser_(Beck_song)) Loved it the first time I hear it, thought “hey, I better remember who this is and find it at the local indie record store, I’ll undoubtedly never hear it again otherwise!” Little did I know… it #10 on US pop charts, #1 on modern rock. Which meant hearing it every half an hour on the radio for several months straight. Like a few other songs listed here, the lyrics are way out there; the music is pretty bizarre, too. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/52 "2008-10-10T12:42:32Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > I’d say “One Night in Bangkok,” a song from a musical which makes no sense whatsoever outside the context of that musical. Also “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from _Evita_, a song about an Argentina dictator’s wife that most people had never heard of. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/53 "2008-10-10T13:12:36Z")
[“Sing”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_(The_Carpenters_song)), the song started out as a Sesame Street Song, the Carpenter’s recordeed it andd it hit Number 3 on Billboard, Number 1 on the adult Contemporary Chart. It’s not necessarily a weird song, its circumstances just seem weird. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/54 "2008-10-10T13:20:24Z")
anyone remember “Midnight at the Oasis”? I always thought that was pretty weird. Again, I don’t know how high it got on the charts. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/55 "2008-10-10T13:25:41Z")
And speaking of “Tusk” what was the purpose of the marching band besides sounding frecking cool?? ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/56 "2008-10-10T14:26:21Z")
> [@Mike\_Fun](#): > > Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” hit #2 in the UK and is far weirder than anything else on this list. Og, I love this song! (But y’all knew I was strange, right?) I’m also partial to that Flobot song, but only because it’s been connected with Doctor Who. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/57 "2008-10-10T17:09:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Nobody has mentioned McArthur Park, which charted not once but _TWICE_? If that’s not a weird song, I do not know what one is? Whoa, I forgot about that one. Definitely weird, as far as lyrics go. A guy crooning mournfully about his cake being left out in rain and “all the sweet cream icing melting down!”. Yeah, I know, it’s supposed to be symbolic and metaphoric, but still, it’s weird. “I don’t think that I can take it, 'cause it took so long to bake it, and I’ll never have that recipe agaaaaaaaain!” Please, don’t ask me why I remember those lyrics… ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/58 "2008-10-10T17:22:10Z")
> [@freekalette](#): > > Og, I love this song! (But y’all knew I was strange, right?) > > I’m also partial to that Flobot song, but only because it’s been connected with Doctor Who. How has it been connected with Dr. Who? ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/59 "2008-10-10T19:06:38Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > How has it been connected with Dr. Who? Fanvid. :o [Link, with option to download.](http://flummery.livejournal.com/26300.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/60 "2008-10-10T19:13:36Z")
> [@BaneSidhe](#): > > And speaking of “Tusk” what was the purpose of the marching band besides sounding frecking cool?? Isn’t that enough? Lindsey Buckingham had a lot of great songs in him. Too bad most of them featured a nasal nutjob on vocals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190.md?page=4)