# What musical genres are mainly known by only one song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 4, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248 "2022-04-04T17:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/161 "2022-04-09T18:55:13Z")
Scotland the Brave I think of as more the iconic bagpipes song, but Amazing Grace is probably better known to the average American. At least that one they’d know by name, whereas I’m not sure how many would know Scotland the Brave by its name. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/162 "2022-04-09T19:02:12Z")
What about _rock_ songs with bagpipes? I only know two, but they are both quite outstanding and famous. I think the first everybody would think about is AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock’n’Roll”, but maybe some would say “Biko” by Peter Gabriel, a very different song. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/163 "2022-04-09T21:56:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t know what genre you’d call Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”—it’s an a cappella song with all the vocal effects done by one person—but as far as I can think, it’s the only song of its kind that most people know. Ya know? I was going to list “Don’t Worry Be Happy” much earlier in the thread as the only well known example of a capella, but here’s the thing: _I’ve never actually heard the song!_ Don’t ask me how I got through the 80s without ever hearing it. That’s like somebody getting through the 80s without ever having heard Phil Collins. So I never posted, because I wasn’t really sure if it was right. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/164 "2022-04-09T22:04:18Z")
“Biko” has a synthesized bagpipe sound. There’s Wings’ “Mull of Kintyre,” but I don’t know how many people would recognize that, and it’s not really a rock song. For the longest time, I thought the Church’s “Under The Milky Way” had pipes in it, but it was just a guitar eBow sound set up to evoke bagpipes. (ETA: Looking it up, apparently recorded into a Synclavier, as well.) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/165 "2022-04-09T22:07:38Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Ya know? I was going to list “Don’t Worry Be Happy” much earlier in the thread as the only well known example of a capella, but here’s the thing: _I’ve never actually heard the song!_ Don’t ask me how I got through the 80s without ever hearing it. That’s like somebody getting through the 80s without ever having heard Phil Collins. So I never posted, because I wasn’t really sure if it was right. I don’t know how well it did in the US, but for me at least the Flying Pickets’ cover of Yazoo’s “Only You” was the first a-capella song I’ve heard and the first that came to mind. It was a big hit in the UK and in Europe in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/166 "2022-04-09T22:08:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Biko” has a synthesized bagpipe sound. Color me baffled, I never knew this. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/167 "2022-04-09T22:12:42Z")
“It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye” covered by Boyz II Men hit #2 in the US in the early 90s. Don’t know how many people would necessarily remember it – I do. They were everywhere in the early 90s. Slow jams/R&B was bit at the time (I was in high school), but it could be avoided if you hung out in your own musical pockets. But if you listened to Top 40 radio at all, you will have heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/168 "2022-04-09T22:12:45Z")
I Googled this question in a lazy way. Though it did not reveal new answers, it did reveal a bunch of new genres. Cowboy horror? Impossible synth? Mathematical metal? You can probably take this genre stuff too far. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/169 "2022-04-09T22:15:09Z")
Yeah, it’s in the Wikipedia write-up: > **[Biko (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biko_(song))** > > "Biko" is an anti-apartheid protest song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released by Charisma Records as a single from Gabriel's eponymous third album in 1980. > The song is a musical eulogy, inspired by the death of the black South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in police custody on 12 September 1977. Gabriel wrote the song after hearing of Biko's death on the news. Influenced by Gabriel's growing interest in African musical styles, the song carried a sparse two-tone ... > Gabriel provided lead vocals and piano.[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biko_(song)#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBowman201692-24) The guitarist for “Biko” was [David Rhodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rhodes_(guitarist)), Gabriel’s longtime collaborator.[[31]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biko_(song)#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDrewett200750-32) Other participants included [Jerry Marotta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Marotta) on drums, [Phil Collins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Collins) on [surdo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surdo), [Larry Fast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Fast) on synths and synthesised bagpipes, and Dave Ferguson on screeches.[[32]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biko_(song)#cite_note-33) However, a 2016 “listener’s companion” to Gabriel’s music named Phil Collins as the drummer on the song, Larry Fast as playing the synthesiser, and Jerry Marotta as playing the [snare drum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snare_drum). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/170 "2022-04-09T22:16:22Z")
A lot of people (including me) thought “In a Big Country” had bagpipes, but it was actually heavily-modified guitars. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/171 "2022-04-09T22:18:44Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I Googled this question in a lazy way. Though it did not reveal new answers, it did reveal a bunch of new genres. Cowboy horror? Impossible synth? Mathematical metal? You can probably take this genre stuff too far. “Math rock” is a pretty established genre; I’ve heard of it since at least the mid-90s. I doubt there’s a good example most people would be aware of, though. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/172 "2022-04-09T22:21:14Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > lot of people (including me) thought “In a Big Country” had bagpipes, but it was actually heavily-modified guitars. The aforementioned Pogues song A Body of an American (as featured in the wire) features bagpipes; [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Pc9aWjAQ7SI/hqdefault.jpg "The Body of an American (The Pogues, The Wire)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc9aWjAQ7SI) Though they are the Irish not Scottish variety: > **[Uilleann pipes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uilleann_pipes)** > > The uilleann pipes (/ˈɪlən/ ⓘ IL-ən or /ˈɪljən/ IL-yən, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Irish: \[ˈɪl̠ʲən̪ˠ\]), sometimes called Irish Bagpipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms píobaí uilleann (litera... ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/173 "2022-04-10T07:05:59Z")
Tico Tico No Fuba is the only widely-known Brazilian choro. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/174 "2022-04-10T13:07:23Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > What about _rock_ songs with bagpipes? How about jazz with bagpipes? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5GIPoEXnGCU/hqdefault.jpg "Swing Low Sweet Chariot - Sonny Rollins") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GIPoEXnGCU) I saw this group play in the 70s. Not my favorite show ever. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/175 "2022-04-10T21:22:06Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I was going to list “Don’t Worry Be Happy” much earlier in the thread as the only well known example of a capella _Tom’s Diner_ by Suzanne Vega _Me and a Gun_ by Tori Amos _Caravan of Love_ by The Housemartins The unique thing about _DWBH_ is the solo+effects aspect, not that it _has_ vocal effects (Pentatonix has made quite the career out of that after all) or that it’s solo a capella. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/176 "2022-04-10T22:12:18Z")
In fairness Don’t Worry is much better known than the above listings. What about Barber Shop? _Baby On Board_… ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248/177 "2022-04-10T22:33:33Z")
When I think of Pirate rock, I think of Flogging Molly. When I think of Celtic Punk, I think of Dropkick Murphys. When I think of Bluegrass Punk, I think of early Avett Brothers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-genres-are-mainly-known-by-only-one-song/962248.md?page=8)