# Where can I search for songs by lyrics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2001, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-search-for-songs-by-lyrics/66593 "2001-05-26T16:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ducttapelovesme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@ducttapelovesme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducttapelovesme)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2001, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-search-for-songs-by-lyrics/66593/1 "2001-05-26T16:30:45Z")
Lately I’ve been plagued by songs whos name I could not remember, but whos lyrics I clearly could. I used to use google to search for lyrics, but it seems like they take forever to update their listings and I can’t find any new song lyrics. Does anyone know of an up-to-date database of song lyrics? ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-search-for-songs-by-lyrics/66593/2 "2001-05-26T17:17:49Z")
Try this site: [http://www.lyrics.ch/search/fulltext.htm](http://www.lyrics.ch/search/fulltext.htm) Unfortunately, following legal problems the site doesn’t always allow you to read the full lyrics to a song, but you can still search the lyrics database all right. Once you find the song title and/or who sings it, then you can do a google search to look for a site where you can read the full lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-search-for-songs-by-lyrics/66593/3 "2001-05-27T01:18:30Z")
[hijack] I just looked at the site, and got the pop-up asking for permission to download a certificate. So far, no problem, but I went into the Details screen and found that it wants to do lots of things it describes as “high-risk”. Most of them are described pretty vaguely. I understand that they have their legal problems and want to prevent printing or saving, but shouldn’t that be easy enough to do without making high-risk changes to the receiving system? [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![K3v1n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@K3v1n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K3v1n)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-search-for-songs-by-lyrics/66593/4 "2001-05-27T03:26:22Z")
[http://www.songmeanings.net/search.php?type=advanced](http://www.songmeanings.net/search.php?type=advanced) ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-search-for-songs-by-lyrics/66593/5 "2001-05-27T10:01:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjk \* > **I just looked at the site, and got the pop-up asking for permission to download a certificate. So far, no problem, but I went into the Details screen and found that it wants to do lots of things it describes as “high-risk”. Most of them are described pretty vaguely.** Wow, I really have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve used that site plenty of times and have never gotten that. AFAIK, the legal problems have only prevented users from accessing the lyrics pages themselves – i.e., the links to most of the pages containing the full lyrics have been removed. (Some are gradually being restored as the site gets permission from the record companies.) But since the lyric pages are still there, they can be searched. I don’t know anything of certificates. If you’re worried about it, don’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![1kBR\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/dc4da7/32.png) [@1kBR\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1kBR_Kid)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-search-for-songs-by-lyrics/66593/6 "2001-05-27T15:09:43Z")
[http://www.google.com](http://www.google.com) worked for me. I just entered a line from a song and found out who the title/artist is. Only tried it once,…but so far I’m batting 1,000. HTH 🙂