# What are the itty-bitty bits you love in certain songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 19, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368 "2019-03-19T14:23:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/361 "2023-09-05T01:54:42Z")
At precise-amundo [21:28](https://youtu.be/kZgH4rmvvZo?t=1277) Mike Watt once again proves he’s one of the most superlative bassists in all human imagination with this descending nine-note run, capping off that passage. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/362 "2023-10-04T23:55:21Z")
At the end of the first solo in “Southern Man”, Neil Young does a [fine stringbend.](https://youtu.be/m5FCcDEA6mY?t=185) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/363 "2023-10-14T00:51:13Z")
Wonderfully melodic but at the same time a tad _triste_ keyboard outro in Zeppelin’s “Thank You”. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/364 "2023-10-29T02:51:22Z")
Hopefully getting these Led Zep bits out of my system, two more from Robert Plant, audibly breathing in in “Heartbreaker”, at [3:40](https://youtu.be/e5O4073zCKA?t=217) and in “The Ocean” at [2:36.](https://youtu.be/oqAmnEKlIZw?t=150) ---
**Author:** ![martyg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@martyg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martyg)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/365 "2023-11-02T04:50:14Z")
After the skronky sax solo in Pere Ubu’s “Laughing” David Thomas mimicks the sound of the skronk. It’s very natural sounding because David’s voice is skronky as well, but I can’t hear it without laughing. I told David about it and he was very appreciative that I could lock into the humour in the band, because they’ve got this reputation of serious old curmudgeons. He expressed that he didn’t know why people didn’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/366 "2023-11-02T06:30:08Z")
Yeah, there’s like, seven trillion awesome bits from _Modern Dance_ to _Songs of the Bailing Man_ (ok maybe a bunch off _New Tenement Year_. Not sure if you caught the following from earlier in this thread (understandable if not, considering this is dredged up from four years ago) (heh, speaking about DT’s squaks during “Laughing”)… whole buncha Pere Ubu: David Thomas squakings followed by more goofy laughing at [3:39](https://youtu.be/HTbthYig5PQ?t=216) in “Laughing”. Cool ascending guitar run at [1:03](https://youtu.be/mk1sqOpPn3E?t=59) in “Street Waves”. Creepy backing vocals (“…must have _BEEN?!?!?!?!?_”) at [1:12](https://youtu.be/SqnG3qLFBLw?t=66) in “49 Guitars and One Girl” (youtube got the song title wrong). Sound of cars passing overhead in an underpass(?) [at 0:17…0:22…](https://youtu.be/M1vjTzjbX9k?t=11) in “Heaven”. Sonic goat belchings in “Misery Goats” at [0:29 and 0:34](https://youtu.be/fCR9Kva6JOQ?t=26). Headphones a must for this one - won’t hear otherwise. Fun jaw harp accompaniment too. One pretty darned groovy bass line starting at [1:57](https://youtu.be/8TaW_glWy6g?t=109) in “Go”. In “Small Was Fast”, goofy backing vocals {“jungles, jungles, too many jungles” ) (?) commencing at [1:00](https://youtu.be/7kx1IEI4aI8?t=51). Guitar strum repeated at intervals in “Petrified” at [0:06…0:12…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRaoKKYQAt0&list=PLtoyDPSKaUgPjrafDR7ycaq2X_82c8TN9&index=3). Backing vocal (“but it wasn’t where it wasn’t at”) at [0:28](https://youtu.be/16B9ZaT1LSc?t=21) in “George Had a Hat”. ---
**Author:** ![martyg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@martyg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martyg)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/367 "2023-11-02T07:25:19Z")
You forgot how how when “Thriller!” suddenly stops you go over to check the stylus expecting a massive dustbunny and it’s clean as a whistle. ---
**Author:** ![martyg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@martyg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martyg)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/368 "2023-11-02T07:55:39Z")
More that I didn’t see here yet: The cough in Jefferson Starfish’s (or whatever their name is that year) “Crown of Creation”. Another Jefferson Starfish one, the weird amp groan when the bass solo kicks in during “The Last Wall of the Castle.” It’s NOT in the mono version and I was super disappointed. Yoko Ono “AOS”, the scream that kicks off the band flourishing. More Yoko, toward the very end of “Two Virgins”: Yoko: AAAAAAAAK!!! John: That’s right dear, spit it up. Yoko: Das troo!!! John: It _is_ true dear, you’ve won a major prize. Carl Palmer’s reaction to his timing mistake in ELP’s “The Sherriff.” Mott The Hoople “Born Late '58”: 2-3-4 clunk **NOOOOOOO!!!** No one other than me is going to know this one. White Colours “Neoism Now!” on the 2nd side of the tape about 30 minutes in there is a wonderful little prog song, a real lost gem. There’s no tracklist for the entire 90 minute tape. I just call the song “The Video Song” but the lyrics are (imagine a really heavy Dutch accent): “I only … want to … enjoy … life!!! But … everysingss I do … becomes … WEEDIO!!!” Second verse is equally great: “I promise … to my mum … that I will never … never die!! . But you know … it’s so hard to keep … promises!!! The only … the only solution!!! … is!!! … WEEDIO!!!” This is why I love industrial cassette culture. Controlled Bleeding “Any Questions? / C. U. M.” The moment when the rock music suddenly stops and you get this massive noise wall that pegs your meter, you can subtract 16db at any point and you won’t change the sonic picture. The massive noise wall, then starts ping-ponging like mad. Soft Machine “Slightly All The Time” the shift from the fast 11/8 riff to the half tempo 9/4 section. Todd Rundgren “Baby Let’s Swing” (the common medley version) at the edit point where the entire song suddenly goes a quarter-tone flat. Another Rundgren “Sounds Beyond Ears” section of “Cosmic Fire” when it suddenly kicks in as the Shepard Tone of “Sights Beyond Eyes” starts to fade. Gong “General Flash of the United Hallucinations” The surprise sudden shout. Gong “Glad Stoned Buried Fielding Flash And Fresh Fest Footprints In My Memory” The moment when the generator packs up. And songs that you think you’ve found where “one” is (the first beat of the bar) but the moment when your brain finds the correct “one.” Jefferson Starfish “Won’t You Try Saturday Afternoon”, Devo “Girl U Want”, David Bowie “Fashion” and there’s a million more escaping me, but I love songs that do this. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/369 "2023-11-02T14:08:29Z")
> [@martyg](#): > > You forgot how how when “Thriller!” suddenly stops you go over to check the stylus expecting a massive dustbunny and it’s clean as a whistle. Yeah, not following you there. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/370 "2024-05-16T01:52:21Z")
Two Beatles bits: Single guitar note [@1:42](https://youtu.be/l8WMGBuNaus?t=98), adding a little punch, there, in “Magical Mystery Tour”. [At 3:52](https://youtu.be/tAe2Q_LhY8g?t=229), in “I Want You”, George throws in a little jazzy atonal thing. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/371 "2024-05-24T13:47:02Z")
> [@Labtrash](#): > > I listen for “squeaks” from the re-positioning of the guitarist’s fingers. Is there a musical term for this? I was going to mention this but I checked back upthread and found that it had already been discussed. Though this goes back a long way in this thread, I love this as well. To me they’re like seeing individual brush strokes on a painting. ---
**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 24, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/372 "2024-05-24T14:05:32Z")
I used to hang with a keyboardist who was nuts for “patches.” One patch was Finger Squeaks, which he’d insert into various places in a “guitar” track. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/373 "2024-05-24T14:18:21Z")
That’s something I like about classical music recordings. You sometimes hear some ambient noise of a chair creak, a page turn or other sound and it makes me realize that the piece I’m hearing sounds just like it would in person. No engineered effects or artificially-generated sounds. ---
**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 24, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/374 "2024-05-24T14:29:38Z")
Two examples for you (one I’m sure you know about): At the end of The Beatles’ _A Day in the Life_, you can hear someone “shush” the orchestra and also hear the air conditioning getting progressively louder. On the soundtrack to **Carrie** (1976 — Pino Dinaggio), there is a solo flute on one of the tracks and you can hear them inhaling for Each. And. Every. Note. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/375 "2024-07-10T00:23:15Z")
In _Baby You’re a Rich Man_, Paul plays his grooviest bass during the “you keep all your money in a big brown bag…” line. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/376 "2024-07-11T20:51:11Z")
In [“American Patrol” as recorded by The Glenn Miller Orchestra](https://youtu.be/R0FkML_FJfk?si=vThBUKxWc0RMah-P&t=95), I love the part where fluttering clarinets take over after a big brass climax. It sounds so goofy and anachronistic, as though someone turned a style dial back a decade or two in the middle of the song. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/377 "2024-07-11T20:56:29Z")
In the guitar solo of Easy Like Sunday Morning: after the first four notes, the musician does a short slide up the neck that’s just perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/378 "2024-07-11T21:44:28Z")
I have always loved the Evacuation track from the soundtrack of the 1980s movie The Killing Fields. The embassy evacuating is visually and acoustically urgent . The music does exceptionally well at imitating the mechanistic sound of the helicopter blades. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/379 "2024-07-12T12:27:22Z")
> [@martyg](#): > > Jefferson Starfish Loved the whole post, but this especially. A mistake for “Starship,” or a gently mocking personal pet name for that band? (Reminds me of a friend who, in the mid-90s, mentioned “Bootie and the Ho-fish.”) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/380 "2024-07-12T12:35:50Z")
> [@Labtrash](#): > > I listen for “squeaks” from the re-positioning of the guitarist’s fingers. Is there a musical term for this? Did I mention this wonderful book/website in 2019? Warning: Your weekend may disappear as you obsessively enjoy this site. > **[What Goes On - The Beatles Anomalies List](http://wgo.signal11.org.uk/wgo.htm)** > > What Goes On, The Beatles Anomalies List [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368.md?page=20)