# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/101 "2019-05-10T14:28:23Z")
In the Slim Harpo version of [I’m a King Bee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrS5HwjbsBM) when he says “Well…buzz a while” at around 1 minute. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/102 "2019-05-11T00:03:24Z")
I air drum the drum fill at the end of the Pixies “Here Comes Your Man” no matter where I am. The pause after “waited on the thunder” before “woke last night to the sound of thunder” on Night Moves. the very end of Neil’s “The Needle and the Damage Done” where the last strum of the guitar just kinda of hangs there, like you expect another down strum (as a very basic guitar player I know the last 2 strums are up) I could think of many more if I tried. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/103 "2019-05-11T00:08:31Z")
> [@Clarisse\_McClellan](#): > > Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ > > Opening guitar riff but also “All the vampires walkin through the valley > Move west down Ventura Boulevard” > > I look forward to the harmony in “Ventura Boulevard” every time. Oh! Reminds me of Willie’s “Red Headed Stranger” and the harmony on “We’ll stroll hand in hand again.” It’s the only harmony in the whole song. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/104 "2019-05-11T00:28:58Z")
Perfect endings: that bird at the end of Layla, and Janis’s evil laugh at the end of Mercedes Benz. I love this thread. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/105 "2019-05-11T14:02:06Z")
The OP gives you a big “thank you.” Tom Paxton’s Born on the Fourth of July (about paralyzed Vietnam war veteran Roy Kovic) has this marvelous verse: In my wheelchair for life My mechanical wife I’m supposed to be cheerful and stoic. I’m your old tried-and-true Yankee Doodle to you. Clean cut (dramatic pause) _paralyzed_ and heroic. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/106 "2019-05-12T16:46:06Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > About 2:20 into Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” the drum riff is just perfect. > > [https://youtu.be/\_Uu12zY01ts?t=940](https://youtu.be/_Uu12zY01ts?t=940) > Two notes in Yes’s “Yours in No Disgrace” at just the right time, at 8:12 into the over 9 minute song. > > [https://youtu.be/1fUudna1Xuw?t=485](https://youtu.be/1fUudna1Xuw?t=485) Some versions of Fat Bottomed Girls have a quick, “clap clap” during a brief pause. I can’t find it on Youtube, but here is the Glee version [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EEVaxtC430M/maxresdefault.jpg "GLEE - Fat Bottomed Girls (Full Performance) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEVaxtC430M) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/107 "2019-05-12T16:54:23Z")
Two things that I love singing along to whenever the song comes up: Those “Rha da dant da’s” in The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be” (aka “I would walk 500 miles”). “Little old lady got mutilated late last night” from Zevron’s “Werewolves of London”–not the sentiment, but all those Ls. ---
**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 12, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/108 "2019-05-12T18:13:24Z")
Some bits off the the top of my head include the following Beatles bits: Interplay between groovy baseline and lead guitar lick in this [“Deer Prudence”](https://youtu.be/wQA59IkCF5I?t=130) bit. [Galloping bass](https://youtu.be/EAWdj2BBpo0?t=64) in “Old Brown Shoe”. (heh - or is that guitar?) Jon Anderson’s little “woo-do-ooo-ya” (or whatever) at exactly [3:10](https://youtu.be/DwPWGUhEtP0?t=185). Two bits here from The Folksmen: Guest’s baaah-ing sheep-like [“Welllllllllllll”](https://youtu.be/HDR9Xh0GPeQ?t=26) and Shearer’s [“E…A…O’s”](https://youtu.be/HDR9Xh0GPeQ?t=94) For a super tiny bit - John’s “ooo” segue (from refrain to verse) at exactly [1:52](https://youtu.be/AMSiHdrHl0g?t=109) The Skids (eventually became Big Country, I think) - total night and day tempo (everything!) change at exactly [0:52](https://youtu.be/PRplm4U7sf8?t=45) The wonderful Seth Putnam going “No way!” (followed by sublime guitar licks that pan between left and right channels) at exactly [46:51](https://youtu.be/YN39bvtMJ3s?t=2808) ---
**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:** [May 12, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/109 "2019-05-12T20:54:17Z")
The Eagles’ acapella close harmon on _Seven Bridges Road_. ---
**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 12, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/110 "2019-05-12T23:52:34Z")
Figured I’d maybe read the thread, this time: > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > In the same vein as your second example, the insane seque from “Friends” to “Celebration Day” on _Led Zeppelin III_. Yes, always a great segue. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Fleetwood Mac: On the first line of the chorus, the female voices sing “You can go your own way,” and the man kicks in “GO YOUR OWN WAY.” I love the way he sings it. In that song, I like Lindsay’s [scorching guitar noodling (3:22)](https://youtu.be/6ul-cZyuYq4?t=200) at the end of his solo. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Hall & Oates “Private Eyes” (clap, clap) they’re watching you. I love the clap, clap. Speaking of claps, I like the ones in in “O-bla-di, O-bla-da” [at the five second mark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J9NpHKrKMw), and how they double up with the snare at the beginning of [Cinnamon Girl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREf47BPe5w). > [@UltraVires](#): > > The guitar riff in Boston’s “More Than A Feeling.” It really should be illegal to play in the car because when I look down I am doing 87mph. Heh, the mutated “Louie Louie” riff.🙂 > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > In The Simple Minds’ _Don’t You Forget About Me_… 3:43. Ah yes, the hi-hat/snare interplay, there, makes it one of my all time favourite drum fills. Snazzy as fuck. > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > In high school, I had that same problem with “Synchronicity II” by the Police. I actually took the tape out of my car. 🙂 Same feeling. Hated “Top Gun”, but always thought that “Sync II” would’ve enhanced some of the flight scenes. (As well as Genesis’s “Duke’s End”.) Just a couple more of what I’m sure there’s tons: The cough in VU’s “Who Loves the Sun” at [1:05](https://youtu.be/DgGuTicdtyg?t=62). I guess they tried to edit it out for the remastering:(, but you can still just _barely_ hear it, with headphones. (btw - headphones are an imperative for the guitar-panning splendour in the AxCx number, in my previous post, #156). The sneaky, slightly farty bass(?) (or farfisa?) riffs all throughout Zep’s “Custard Pie”, most notable here at exactly [0:30](https://youtu.be/VVP3g1-Wq_0?t=27). I looooove the flowing guitar riff at [0:19](https://youtu.be/7Ay8tPN8Rys?t=14) in Steely Dan’s “King of the World”. Don’t know why this tune gives me goose bumps - maybe it’s the way The Turtles sing the chorus in a major key at [1:41](https://youtu.be/f09itrlXcic?t=91) and then shift the chorus into a minor, more “heartwrenching” key at 1:58. (heh - or maybe it’s the louche swagger to the drumming that’s doin it for me.) Steve Gadd’s [fills](https://youtu.be/fG2seugAgnU?t=411) in the “Aja” title track. Actually - frick it - the rest of his drumming outro-ing the song, especially that totally hoppin, salsa-inflected beat carried mainly on the cup of the ride: scrumptious. John Wetton goin “WOO!” at [8:29](https://youtu.be/ZaD7gk7BTwU?t=503) in “Fracture”. Jimi’s wavering guitar at beginning of “Foxey Lady” (here, in this [pretty cool Miami video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PVjcIO4MT4%22)) Billy’s [ack-kack-kack-kack’s](https://youtu.be/cJtL8vWNZ4o?t=28). The epic, suspense-building opening minute or so of IMO Queen’s RAWKINGEST number, [“You Are Here”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OSd17ko3O4). More farty goodness - the farfisa organ at the beginning of IMO Stevie Wonder’s catchiest number, [“Boogie On Reggae Woman”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylQMhYqSntk). Two ZZ top drum fills from “La Grange” at [1:09](https://youtu.be/d3v9WWUkA8c?list=PLaXY8SSzS0ZO_skWQ0U9C14iVRgyT36iQ&t=66) and [2:20](https://youtu.be/d3v9WWUkA8c?list=PLaXY8SSzS0ZO_skWQ0U9C14iVRgyT36iQ&t=134). ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/111 "2019-05-27T23:13:15Z")
The seven note ascending guitar lick by Waddy Wachtel at the end of Warren Zevon’s When Johnny Strikes Up the Band. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/112 "2019-05-28T13:27:38Z")
In The Head and the Heart’s “City of Angels,” the part where the background singers join in with “everywhere I go” right at the 3-minute mark. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/113 "2019-05-28T14:44:04Z")
"Robbing people with a …(blam) (blam) six (blam) blam) gun (blam) (blam) " “I fought the law” by The Clash Also, “uuuurgghhhhh” in Faith no Mores’s version of “Easy” ([see 1:53 in the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPzDTfIb0DU)) Also, the comet exploding in “the whole of the moon” by The Waterboys ([see 3:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TON3PORRDQ)) ---
**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:** [May 28, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/114 "2019-05-28T18:06:22Z")
I was so impressed with the crashing sounds in Rumor Has it (CRASH) that I made a point of finding out who sang it. Adele. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/115 "2019-05-28T18:25:55Z")
Weird Al’s “eBay”. Even over 15 years after it came out I still laugh every time I hear him sing “I’m highest bidder!” ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/116 "2019-05-28T19:06:22Z")
Tom Waits’ [Jockey Full of Bourbon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vEBPYfy1GM). About 1:44 there’s that BAP BAP! on the drum that make the whole album worth buying. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/117 "2019-05-28T20:07:36Z")
The band Space have a great song called “The Ballad of Tom Jones”. It’s a male/female duet about a couple who have grown to hate each other, but everytime they’re about to break up/literally kill each other, a Tom Jones song accidently starts playing and they are in love again. At 2:41, there’s this exchange: Female singer: I used to call Satan Male singer: I called you Cruella de Ville Female singer: But now you call me your Delilah Male singer: And now I’m not your Lucifer Female singer: And I am just a pussycat There is _something_ about the way the female singer sings that last line, that makes me… um, feel all tingly in my pants region. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/k9zL9wlMvZE/hqdefault.jpg "Space - Ballad Of Tom Jones") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9zL9wlMvZE) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/118 "2019-05-28T20:33:29Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > " > Also, “uuuurgghhhhh” in Faith no Mores’s version of “Easy” ([see 1:53 in the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPzDTfIb0DU)) Drats! I was hoping to be the first to mention that. :mad: 😃 Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - “I Hate Myself for Loving You” I love her "Oow"s and grunts. Kenny Loggins - “If It’s Not What You’re Looking For” Right before the guitar solo he sings a line and then [a guitar plays a high pich note which fades out](https://youtu.be/rXSaDNWxuOA?t=127). It kind of sounds like a continuation of Loggin’s voice. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/119 "2019-05-28T21:48:51Z")
The “doo doo doo doo doo doo” at the very end of Duran Duran’s “Rio.” (No, I’m not making a Doper inside joke. I’m serious - as soon as I saw the thread title, I recalled my middle school friend and I remarking in this fact. Decades before the SDMB!). ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/120 "2019-05-29T03:06:30Z")
In the studio version for Easy Money by King Crimson, I absolutely love two very quick triplets on the woodblock toward the end as the intensity of the song crescendos. Robert Fripp is apparently _extremely_ aggressive at getting studio versions of his songs off youtube and other sites. I did manage to find one stuido version video on dailymotion. Unsurprisingly, the best part of the song (mere seconds before the two triplets) is fucked up and jumpy with skips, which is probably why it’s allowed to stay up. (Also the sound quality sounds slightly messed up compared to the version from the CD I own, but I guess that’s the “remastered” part.) If you like the song and that’s the only version you have, you’d almost certainly seek out and purchase a clean version. Here’s the link to it on Dailymotion: [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2g8sga](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2g8sga) The two triplets I’m talking about get played at 6:15. The whole woodblock section starting at 6:01 is fantastic, and the skips/jump happen around 6:09 to 6:12 and utterly destroy the through-line of one of the great crescendos of prog rock. The entire song is phenomenal and worth a listen if you haven’t heard it before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368.md?page=7)