# What is the name of this type of song?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 1, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831 "2007-11-01T03:52:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831/1 "2007-11-01T03:52:53Z")

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The song features different characters. The first character sings a line, or couple of lines, or verse. Then the next character sings a different line/lines/verse and the first character repeats the first line/lines/verse. Then character three sings their chunk, followed by character two and character one again.

The examples I’m familar with are comedy/novelty songs. Off the top of my head there’s the novelty song [Star Trekkin’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trekkin%27). It’s not a round, because the verses don’t overlap and the words of each person’s verse are unique.

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**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831/2 "2007-11-01T03:56:38Z")

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I think that’s a cumulative song.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831/3 "2007-11-01T05:04:50Z")

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I’ve heard “The Twelve Days of Christmas” performed in a fashion similar to what you describe.

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**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831/4 "2007-11-01T05:14:50Z")

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“The Scrotum Song” by the Asylum Street Spankers?

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**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831/5 "2007-11-01T05:40:28Z")

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Centuries ago, one might sing a motet this way, but no one calls anything a motet anymore.

Several sources imply that the technique the OP describes is now called “counterpoint”, which also had a slightly different meaning in the past.

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**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-type-of-song/424831/6 "2007-11-01T05:48:42Z")

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[QUOTE=scotandrsn]  
Centuries ago, one might sing a motet this way, but no one calls anything a motet anymore.

Several sources imply that the technique the OP describes is now called “counterpoint”, which also had a slightly different meaning in the past.  
[/QUOTE]

Ah. Misread the OP. Just found a video of “Star Trekkin’”, and that’s not counterpoint, even in the modern sense. If the lines overlapped, that would be counterpoint.

It is more like a cumulative song.