# 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:** 9
**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:** [August 2, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/161 "2019-08-02T14:27:57Z")
Had to bump again for another Beatles attack. By no means uncommon, the catchy little guitar hook leading into a first chorus was nailed quite well by The Fabs, like in the following two examples: Just after the final “yeah” in [She Loves You.](https://youtu.be/nGbWU8S3vzs?t=9) [This one](https://youtu.be/UPBd8eHQqIw?t=54) leading into the second verse of “Filling a Hole”. I know there’s tons more of these particular examples - cool if anyone can come up with any more. The quiet, somewhat jazzy bass break in [I’m Only Sleeping](https://youtu.be/BT5j9OQ7Sh0?t=115) (heh and John’s breathy “yeeeeaaahh”) A couple things in “Revolution 1”: The [extra note (or two?)](https://youtu.be/OmsXsIv2Ppw?t=202) they throw in at the end of that measure. Weird guitar peels starting at around [3:39](https://youtu.be/OmsXsIv2Ppw?t=216) that kinda remind me of a particular Star Trek sound effect. In “I Dig a Pony” - the groovy jams bookending the song, and John’s hoarse, impassioned [“I told you so!”](https://youtu.be/LpdJE7HG8Ls?t=188) As mentioned in another thread, the sublime harmonizing in [“If I (Norman) Fell”](https://youtu.be/F_80s6S_7Vw?t=56) The ‘slightly ahead’ [guitar strum](https://youtu.be/8scSwaKbE64?t=4) kicking in after the acapella beginning of “Nowhere Man”. manoman what an amazing fricking band they were - could probably come up with yet another screed post like this. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/162 "2019-08-02T18:17:57Z")
In Santanas cover of “She’s Not There” he is trading riffs with the various percussionists. In one, he does this quick Cat-Scream with the guitar that makes me go “yeah!” ---
**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:** [August 6, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/163 "2019-08-06T01:21:48Z")
Mick’s opening [Oh _yyyyeeaaahhh!"_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNP-x94-SE) at the beginning of the Stones’ rambunctious, awesome “Rocks Off”. Love the brass section in this too. A couple things from “You Can’t Always Get Want You Wanted”: [Charlie’s funky, extended drum fills](https://youtu.be/jv9sDn_2XkI?t=368) and Nicky Hopkins’s [blistering piano, here.](https://youtu.be/jv9sDn_2XkI?t=391) The snazzy [guiro](https://www.google.com/search?q=guiro&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiujIqVhu3jAhW_JDQIHRV2CTcQ_AUIESgB&biw=998&bih=706) at the beginning of [Gimme Shelter".](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJRdDhnTRoo) (Following what may well be one of the coolest tremolo/reverb-laden guitar openings ever) A couple more Beatles thingies: The [TIT-TIT-TIT-TIT](https://youtu.be/-8l3ntDR_lI?t=52) backing vocals in “Girl” (ya gotta love how John sucks in air at the beginning of that) Also the [“frere jacques”](https://youtu.be/yYvkICbTZIQ?t=60) backing vox in “Paperback Writer”. Maybe their most bad-ass lick? [Tearing it up](https://youtu.be/DbKPZd5oihc?t=84) in “I Got A Feeling”. (and Ringo’s fill coming out of it) ---
**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:** [August 6, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/164 "2019-08-06T13:52:28Z")
Another great opening is the harmonica solo of Piano Man. I always have to stop and listen to this, the intro to the best barroom song ever written. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/165 "2019-08-06T22:44:49Z")
> [@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. I came here to post exactly that! Something about it … I just have to join in. Sting, Fortress Around Your Heart: I love the chromatic changes going from verse to chorus, “walking on the mines I’ve laid AND IF I built a fortress…” I’m willing to sit through all 14 minutes of Peter Frampton’s “Do You Feel Like We Do?” just for the breakdown, into the guitar solo. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/166 "2019-08-18T23:14:24Z")
Forgot to mention about “Gimme Shelter” - there’s a very definitive piano note that, for me, totally sets the grave tone of the song, and is exactly at [:33, then :37, then :41](https://youtu.be/EJRdDhnTRoo?t=25) In the Beatles _Piggies_, one of the porcine little buggers gets musical with a two-note contribution at [1:30](https://youtu.be/RhY1x8CpWeI?t=86) In _Old Brown Shoe_ - how the piano keeps pushing the beat along (playing “ahead”, almost?) And a lot of the bass work - in the middle of the verses (“For you sweet top lip I’m in the queue / Baby, I’m in love with you”), and speedily bouncing along during the refrains (“If I grow up I’ll be a singer”) - darned amazing. In Janis’s “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart”, that sliding guitar riff right after [“Take it!”](https://youtu.be/nMDqPGAwIm8?t=55) ---
**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:** [August 19, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/167 "2019-08-19T02:02:19Z")
Missed edit window by lots Speaking of sliding riffs Bob Fripp _(Thela hun Ginjeet)_ at [5:42…5:45…5:49…](https://youtu.be/7MFb1Vv-RbY?t=334) old band of mine from '91 covering Jerk Ward’s _UFO_ at [:37…:46…:55…1:05](https://youtu.be/a1rkmo8xAxw?t=33)(more of a pick-scrape) Talking Heads’ _Warning Sign_ at [1:24 and 1:26…and then 1:32 and 1:34…](https://youtu.be/LsfXFz7-VbQ?t=73) Yes - _The Fish_ - wobbly bass slide, which I think was more of a studio gimmick, part of which involved waving the long guitar cable around like a skipping rope. At [4:05…4:15…4:27…](https://youtu.be/7NZ85Q37Obc?t=236) ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/168 "2019-08-19T07:49:55Z")
[A little flourish during a guitar solo, here at 6:22 seconds into, “It’s a Long Way There”, by The Little River Band.](https://youtu.be/BDZyG0KJqik?t=375) ---
**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 14, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/169 "2019-09-14T15:58:03Z")
(shoulda mentioned in my previous posts that half-decent headphones would be strongly recommended to get an idea of the “awesomery” of said bits.) Never-ending Beatles genuflecting: In “Baby You Can Drive My Car” I really like the ascending bass notes at [0:30, culminating in the nifty guitar hook at 0:35.](https://youtu.be/kfSQkZuIx84?t=27) In “You Never Give Me Your Money”, one of my favourite bass passages - Paul amblng away from [1:08 to 1:32](https://youtu.be/BpndGZ71yww?t=68) and the groovy guitars from [2:30 to 2:38](https://youtu.be/BpndGZ71yww?t=149) In “Hey Bulldog” - the sly, ultra-funky little guitar lick played at [0:46](https://youtu.be/M4vbJQ-MrKo?t=46) and at [1:46](https://youtu.be/M4vbJQ-MrKo?t=102), as well as someone’s cool “yup” after the “Big man” lyric at[1:33](https://youtu.be/M4vbJQ-MrKo?t=92) ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/170 "2019-09-15T03:45:07Z")
Two songs come immediately to mind, more for lyrical reasons than instrumental: In _The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_, Mr. Lightfoot asks, “Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?” In Dire Strait’s _Industrial Disease_, Mark Knopfler opines, “Two men say they’re Jesus; one of them must be wrong…” Just the deadpan way he delivers the line. Cracks me up just thinking about it and typing it out here. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/171 "2019-09-15T14:35:44Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > In Dire Strait’s _Industrial Disease_, Mark Knopfler opines, “Two men say they’re Jesus; one of them must be wrong…” Just the deadpan way he delivers the line. Cracks me up just thinking about it and typing it out here. I love that line! It’s so … logical. ---
**Author:** ![LegendHasit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/legendhasit/32/8246_2.png) [@LegendHasit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegendHasit)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/172 "2019-09-16T00:02:13Z")
Prince’s [When Dove’s Cry](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=when+doves+cry+prince&&view=detail&mid=B5D7B8590BB75A715B5BB5D7B8590BB75A715B5B&&FORM=VRDGAR): When he sings “Touch if you will my stomach, Feel how it trembles inside” his little moaning grumble that follows in the background around 1:57. Bruce Springsteen/Patti Smith’s [Because the Night](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=because+the+night+natalie+merchant+mtv+unplugged&view=detail&mid=8158E6922A5B71EB47918158E6922A5B71EB4791&FORM=VIRE) sung by Natalie Merchant (MTV Unplugged Version): When she sings “Take Me Now, Take \*Me \*Now” on the second “Me” her accented yearning pleading around 2:32. Cyndi Lauper’s [The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cyndi+lauper+the+goonies+%27r%27+good+enough&docid=608016305642016076&mid=EC5F4FACCCA5E70DD243EC5F4FACCCA5E70DD243&view=detail&FORM=VRAASM): The Phil Collin’s/In the Air Tonite Drum solo starting at 5:09. What a fun video from the Goonies. Sean Astin just a baby. I miss the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/173 "2019-09-16T02:03:51Z")
The way “Shoobie-doo” segues into “Candy-O” on the Cars album ‘Candy-O’ is electrifying. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/174 "2019-09-16T18:06:09Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > The way “Shoobie-doo” segues into “Candy-O” on the Cars album ‘Candy-O’ is electrifying. Definitely! ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/175 "2019-09-16T18:37:56Z")
Right at the end of Jimmy’s how-is-that-even-_possible?!?_ speed-run solo on “[Heartbreaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUFGJvYlPFk),” there’s that one accidental pull-off (or maybe “accidental flick-off”?) at 2:43. Nice to know he’s human after all. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/176 "2019-09-16T18:39:28Z")
I have dozens of small bits I like, in classical / orchestral music. I just can’t describe them in words, this is really difficult. I might find time indexes in youtube videos of the pieces. But then, some of my favorite moments are found only in certain recordings of the music, and might be missed / glossed over / or otherwise not captured because of the nature of artistic expression in classical music. Argh: Once again, classical music just doesn’t fit well in this internet era. (Don’t get me started on the iPod-ization / Amazon-ification of digital music and how it messes things up terribly. Such as, I’m just looking for this one passage from the recording. No, don’t apply fade in/ fade out dynamics for that “song.” Don’t, for the love of god, sort this one CD of a 4-CD opera set differently than the others, mysteriously having it classified by one of the singers rather than Wagner’s Die Walkure, Disc 3. This one CD should be in the “Wagner” bucket like the others, not “Kirsten Flagstad.” Kee-rist.) (Sorry) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/177 "2019-09-23T19:51:49Z")
Here’s one that I like, the opening guitar and mandolin chords on “Friend of the Devil”. From the Grateful Dead album _American Beauty._ [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XacvydVrhuI/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgVSg-MA8=&rs=AOn4CLBIkPFD79VDR5PcuXSVBXmpSRXurw "Grateful Dead - Friend of The Devil") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XacvydVrhuI) ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/178 "2019-09-30T02:23:05Z")
Live versions of “Suspicious Minds” … the horn section and the drums are just awesome! Cued to the part I’m talking about: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb0Jmy-JYbA&t=2m59s) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/179 "2019-09-30T04:24:17Z")
The point in “Istanbul” where the melody switches to “The Streets of Cairo”: _Even old New York was once New Amsterdam._ Followed by _Why they changed it I can’t say, People just liked it better that way._ Hell, the whole song is a trip! :o ---
**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 7, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368/180 "2019-10-07T15:46:23Z")
Kris Kristofferson’s little laugh after “We take our own chances and pay our own dues” (laugh), where you know the singer is The Silver Tongued Devil [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-itty-bitty-bits-you-love-in-certain-songs/831368.md?page=10)