# What is the oddest song/piece of music you've ever heard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524 "2016-12-24T11:04:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/41 "2016-12-28T05:33:39Z")
[Mr. Bungle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ_3F93hgZw) is pretty damn strange whilst remaining mostly listenable, and sometimes downright catchy. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/42 "2016-12-28T05:39:24Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > The Residents are the ultimate choice for odd. Here is the entire [Diskomo/Goosebump](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oLnA3FUcRv8) from 1980. The first half is Eskimo disco music. The second half is a collection of nursery rhyme songs played on instruments purchased from _Toys R Us_. One of my favorite bands. I have a friend who has been their lighting director for about 20 years now but sadly he has never been able to get me on tour. I was hooked back in the early '80s when I saw and heard [their cover of James Brown’s _It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV9CbKFmiKY). If we’re gonna mine that period, let’s not overlook [Throbbing Gristle’s _Hamburger Lady_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzDvpT-MjYs), a truly disturbing song. And because I think he’s great, lemme mention [Johnny Dowd - Bad Memories](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqYaKcbUyuI). ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/43 "2016-12-28T05:55:22Z")
\*[Batwings \*](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XbrTxOlRC3s)– Coil ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/44 "2016-12-28T11:52:51Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > The Residents are the ultimate choice for odd. Here is the entire [Diskomo/Goosebump](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oLnA3FUcRv8) from 1980. The first half is Eskimo disco music. The second half is a collection of nursery rhyme songs played on instruments purchased from _Toys R Us_. I’m a \*huge \*fan of The Residents. Yes, a lot of the their pieces are odd. But upon closer inspection you’ll find much of their music is actually quite conventional as far as melody and timing goes. There’s a lot of odd (and awesome) music out there. Check out Renaldo and the Loaf, Captain Beefheart, the Velvet Underground, and early Sonic Youth. Just to name a few. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/45 "2016-12-28T12:06:24Z")
Infinity by Aphrodite’s Child. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/46 "2016-12-28T12:42:46Z")
I’m rather amazed that Bohemian Rhapsody ever became a big hit, though certainly the rest of Queen’s music was perfectly approachable. I’ll throw out eX-Girl’s [Hettakorii No Ottokotou](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOXy3rd42RM). I have one merzbow song which is actual music, with some British girl singing, but I don’t know the title nor which album it came from, or I’d find a YouTube link for it. Does anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/47 "2016-12-28T14:09:56Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’m a \*huge \*fan of The Residents. Yes, a lot of the their pieces are odd. But upon closer inspection you’ll find much of their music is actually quite conventional as far as melody and timing goes. > > There’s a lot of odd (and awesome) music out there. Check out Renaldo and the Loaf, Captain Beefheart, the Velvet Underground, and early Sonic Youth. Just to name a few. I was an Uncle Willie’s Eyeball Buddy back in the day. My old vynal Residents album are worn. I only have seem The Residents perform live twice (Cube-E and Demons Dance Alone), but both shows were astonishing. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/48 "2016-12-28T14:28:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If we’re gonna mine that period, let’s not overlook [Throbbing Gristle’s _Hamburger Lady_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzDvpT-MjYs), a truly disturbing song. You can just say “Throbbing Gristle”. All their music was weird/good. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/49 "2016-12-28T14:29:19Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > You can just say “Throbbing Gristle”. All their music was weird/good. Aye, but that song is _creepy_, even for them. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/50 "2016-12-28T15:05:31Z")
I did a radio show for many years on UVA’s volunteer station, WTJU. It was (and still is) free-form radio where the DJ can play whatever he/she wants. My show was at 1am so I could get away with almost anything. One of my best discoveries was the Russian distributor [Zhelezobeton](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://zhb.radionoise.ru/&ved=0ahUKEwj_ycCEkZfRAhVGOSYKHaEwA_sQFggaMAA&usg=AFQjCNFlGSjs090b5mZ8bzLjnXiJvLAvQQ&sig2=bb2tUVnMGux2ND73KAhfNg). I’d read from their amazing catalog, order stuff, and a month or so later it would show up in a colorful box. Sometimes the CD-Rs would play, other times they would not and I would be left with just cool packaging and wonder about what the music would have sounded like. It was always fun playing music on my show that I was pretty sure no other radio station in the country was playing. Many of these Russian artists have free stuff available for streaming. Here’s some \*Lunar Abyss Quartet \*: [Hyperborean](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V7WsiGOAf_E). ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/51 "2016-12-28T15:16:50Z")
I see that **Snowboarder Bo** ’s posted in here so I’m sure that the oddest stuff I’ve ever heard will be in this thread. 😛 As I’m listening through the posts, I’ll mention Billie Holiday’s version of “Strange Fruit”. It’s a horribly haunting tune that I rarely finish listening to. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/52 "2016-12-28T15:28:36Z")
That Ligeti (?) piece in “2001” when Dave is going through the space warp. I first heard that on one of our local creature feature Saturday afternoon movie shows. That Dead Can Dance piece from “The Mist” when they’re escaping from the supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/53 "2016-12-28T16:02:28Z")
Freestyle jazz is often indistinguishable, to someone not familiar with it, with children playing instruments before having had any lessons. In terms of the oddest thing I’ve ever heard that is identifiably a song, though - that is, something that is not just nonsense, or experimental, or MEANT to challenge one’s assumptions of what a song could be, something that actually got played a lot on the radio - you’re going to have to go pretty far to top the B-52s’ “Rock Lobster.” Of all the songs that most people at least 30-40 years old will recognize, that is surely the weirdest. The song is meant to follow the pattern of a conventional pop song, and it does, but it’s just weird. It has a weird arrangement, weird vocals, and weird lyrics. Everyone involved in it is weird, and they play and sing weird. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/54 "2016-12-28T16:02:51Z")
One problem I’m having is, much of the strangest stuff I’ve heard is so obscure I can’t find it online. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/55 "2016-12-28T16:30:19Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > The Residents are the ultimate choice for odd. Here is the entire [Diskomo/Goosebump](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oLnA3FUcRv8) from 1980. The first half is Eskimo disco music. The second half is a collection of nursery rhyme songs played on instruments purchased from _Toys R Us_. I actually have this on vinyl. One of the few records I have. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/56 "2016-12-28T16:32:58Z")
> [@Plumpudding](#): > > One problem I’m having is, much of the strangest stuff I’ve heard is so obscure I can’t find it online. Agreed. I get excited when I see threads like this and find others who are interested in this type of music. So much to share, but a lot of it is just not out there to link. Here’s a fun one: [Complacent American](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KZzbzoJ3u2E) by The _German Shepherds_ from back in 1985. It might become more relevant in the coming months. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/57 "2016-12-28T16:39:24Z")
> [@Plumpudding](#): > > I actually have this on vinyl. One of the few records I have. Me too. I have a few hundred old vinyl (I can spell it right after coffee)records. Some were damaged by mildew when I was forced to live in a damp basement for a while a couple of decades ago. I replaced most of them on CD, but there’s a bunch of old Residents, Renaldo, TG, etc upstairs gathering dust. My turntable died years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/58 "2016-12-28T16:59:07Z")
Obligatory [Die Tödeliche Doris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dxHeE3xGjM) link. At Biotop - I’m also in a position where I feel I shouldn’t shamelessly self-promote, even though I’m tempted. I’ve been involved in the Norwegian noise-music scene for a while now, alone or in various collaborations, and the output could definitely be classified as odd. ---
**Author:** ![Donpeyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Donpeyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donpeyote)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/59 "2016-12-28T17:10:05Z")
Koyaanisqatsi (1982) ---
**Author:** ![jimlette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/97f17d/32.png) [@jimlette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimlette)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524/60 "2016-12-28T17:55:13Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve always enjoyed [Earth To Doris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2kUCGa9394) by Was (Not Was). > > Anyone else familiar with it? > mmm What about “Dad, I’m in Jail” from the same album? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oddest-song-piece-of-music-youve-ever-heard/775524.md?page=4)