# You love the song and then you listen closely and hear... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642 "2013-04-13T23:21:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/41 "2013-08-08T15:11:50Z")
I had to stop listening to Bang a Gong (get it on) when I realized that it was just two phrases “Bang A Gong” and “You’re dirty sweet” repeated over and over with a few other words to fill in the empty spaces. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/42 "2013-08-08T15:42:35Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > The jet plane noises on the Beatles’ “Back in the USSR”. I’ve always heard the fade-in at the beginning and the fade-out at the end. Similarly, in the Beatles’ song [“Blackbird”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrxZhWCAuQw), there’s a percussion that sounds \* exactly\* like a scratch or dust on a phonograph record (tock, tock, tock…). So, in the days of phonograph records, I was always thinking, “Oh, crap, I’ve got schmutz on the record again”. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/43 "2013-08-08T15:49:10Z")
might just be me but about 18 seconds into [“Breath”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmHDhAohJlQ) by Prodigy I can hear a sound or a sample that reminds of the scene in “Aliens” where Ripley is in the loader and is battling with the Queen. The Queen’s tail whips around and “clangs” into the loader superstructure. It might not be it, and my wife thinks I am hearing things but I am contractually obliged to disregards her comments and rely on more solid doper opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/44 "2013-08-08T16:20:38Z")
**A Day in the Life** by the Beatles. Somewhere or other, I had learned that to get that world-record longest sustained chord, the soundbooth engineer kept cranking up the recording volume as the chord was fading out. Toward the end, the level was so high that the studio air conditioner is audible in the background. It doesn’t ruin the song for me, but I can’t _not_ hear it now. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/45 "2013-08-08T20:03:33Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I had to stop listening to Bang a Gong (get it on) when I realized that it was just two phrases “Bang A Gong” and “You’re dirty sweet” repeated over and over with a few other words to fill in the empty spaces. If that bothers you than I suggest never listening to anything by Fatboy Slim. My contribution to the OP is the J. Geils song “Freeze Frame”. I had a friend sing along with the “dee-da-lee-da-dee” at the end of every line and now that is all I hear. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/46 "2013-08-09T14:07:31Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I love Stevie Wonder. Yesterday, I had the song “Overjoyed” in my head, a song I’ve known for years but hadn’t really ever listened to closely. > > So I decided to [play it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkWQTAU3JzI) and actually pay attention because it was bugging me and listening to a song is usually the best way to stop it playing incessantly. And thus I heard the noise. The dripping noise. The incessant dripping noise that will not go away and becomes the only thing I can hear in the entire song. > > _drip_ _drip_ _drip_ _drip_ … While it will no doubt continue to bother you, this at least explains it, > [@](#): > > … The song was written first for the 1979 album _Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants_, but was left off the album, and re-recorded for the album _In Square Circle_. In the liner notes for the song, “crickets, nightingale & additional bird sounds, ocean, pebbles in pond, stone dropped, crushing leaves” are listed under “environmental percussion”. …[RIGHT][CITE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overjoyed_%28Stevie_Wonder_song%29)[/RIGHT] CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/47 "2013-08-09T14:45:59Z")
There’s a point in the Mamas and the Papas’ “I Saw Her Again Last Night” where Denny jumps the gun and starts singing before he’s supposed to. I spend the time before it waiting for it, and the time after it chuckling about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/48 "2013-08-10T03:27:59Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > There’s a point in the Mamas and the Papas’ “I Saw Her Again Last Night” where Denny jumps the gun and starts singing before he’s supposed to. I spend the time before it waiting for it, and the time after it chuckling about it. From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > “I Saw Her Again” was inspired by Doherty’s brief affair with Michelle Phillips, then married to John Phillips, which resulted in the brief expulsion of Michelle. While mixing the record, engineer Bones Howe inadvertently punched in the coda vocals too early. He then rewound the tape and inserted the vocals in their proper position. On playback, the mistaken early vocal could still be heard, making it sound as though Doherty repeated the first three words of the verse, singing “I saw her…I saw her again last night.” Producer Lou Adler liked the effect of the engineering error, and told Howe to leave it in the final mix. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/49 "2013-08-10T04:16:48Z")
In Billy Squier’s _My Kind of Lover_, you don’t hear anybody else until 1:59 when Squier sings, “rock me, sock me,” another voice can be heard. Seconds later, the same is true when Squier sings, “rake me, shake me.” The other voice doesn’t even sound like singing; it’s more of someone just saying it out loud. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0GbIpsy6kzA/hqdefault.jpg "Billy Squier My Kind of Lover(With Lyrics).wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GbIpsy6kzA) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/50 "2013-08-10T04:57:05Z")
Can’t recall the song title, but there’s a song on Styx’ “Grand Illusion” album that’s preceded by a ticking noise, that I’ve been told was a match being struck. Before I heard that, I just assumed it was a little scratch on the record. There are some noises at the beginning of R.E.M.'s “Exhuming McCarthy” that I finally realized came from the keys of a manual typewriter. Prior to that, their song “We Walk” has some “explosions” towards the end, only they’re not explosions. They’re colliding billiard balls recorded at half speed, my favorite bit of R.E.M. trivia. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/51 "2013-08-10T04:59:14Z")
The only thing that springs to mind is the end of “Money” by Pink Floyd. I am always driven to distraction trying to hear what they’re saying in the background. I’ll catch snippets like “I was drunk at the time” and “…and I tell her ‘why?’” Positively drives me batty. Wiki doesn’t seem to know, either. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/52 "2013-08-11T00:12:29Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > In the EMF song [Unbelievable](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waacof2saZw), during the refrain there’s a dude yelling, > > “What the fuck?!” … “What the fuck?!” … “Waaaas Thaat?!” > > No one seems to know that’s what he’s saying, until I tell them. Once you hear it, you can’t un-hear it! Hah, you want to hear something you can’t unhear and that you’ll always remember whenever you hear that song? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pFjctVBg6K8/hqdefault.jpg "Crumbelievable") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjctVBg6K8) Yep, and that’s actually the surviving members of the band that produced that gem for Kraft! ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/53 "2013-08-11T03:14:29Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > **A Day in the Life** by the Beatles. Somewhere or other, I had learned that to get that world-record longest sustained chord, the soundbooth engineer kept cranking up the recording volume as the chord was fading out. Toward the end, the level was so high that the studio air conditioner is audible in the background. > > It doesn’t ruin the song for me, but I can’t _not_ hear it now. Beatles sound engineer Geoff Emerick wrote about this in his book “Here, There and Everywhere”. I’ve never picked up on the air conditioner, but I love Ringo’s shoe squeak at the end. > [@](#): > > To get as strong an attack as possible, everyone decided to play standing up instead of sitting down. John, Mal and George Martin each stood behind a different piano, while Ringo and Paul shared the out-of-tune Steinway upright; I presume they did double duty because Paul had to coach his drummer on which notes to play…Up in the control room, I would slowly raise the faders as the sound died away. By about a minute or so in, I reached full volume, and the gain was so high that you could literally hear the quiet swoosh of the studio’s air conditioners…On one of the overdubs, Ringo shifted position very slightly at the very end, causing his shoe to squeak…A cross Paul shot him a sideways glance, and from the look on his face I could tell that Ringo was mortified (page 161). ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/54 "2013-08-14T02:44:40Z")
> [@irritant](#): > > > [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > > > Isn’t there some Led Zeppelin song where you can hear Bonzo’s bass drum pedal squeaking? > > That’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” James Brown’s [Sex Machine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOD-M7WZkZQ&feature=youtu.be&t=2m46s) also needs some lube. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/55 "2013-08-14T03:29:24Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Hah, you want to hear something you can’t unhear and that you’ll always remember whenever you hear that song? > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjctVBg6K8&feature=youtu.be](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjctVBg6K8&feature=youtu.be) > > Yep, and that’s actually the surviving members of the band that produced that gem for Kraft! Holy shit, that’s awful! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/56 "2013-08-14T03:52:19Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > “Over My Head” by Fleetwood Mac, has a strange longish beep that occurs during the chorus. > > I first noticed this while I was listening to the radio at work when this song came on. I heard “Over my head,” beep, beep, “But it sure feels nice,” beep, beep, with the first beep occurring during “head”, and the third during “nice.” I took off my headphones, thinking it was my phone, primarily because the beeping did not seem to fit the rest of the song. No phone, and every chorus has it, so I know it is not some mistake. > > Now, I cannot not hear it. I don’t hear a beep, but there’s what sounds to me like a relatively high-pitched bongo being hit right around the spots in the song you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/57 "2013-08-15T03:49:54Z")
I don’t care for the velcro sounds at the beginning of Paul Simonon’s [Guns of Brixton](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiQoq-wqZxg), but the “boing” sounds later on more than make up for it. Allegedly, the [song’s character](http://www.avclub.com/articles/a-killer-clash-cut-from-the-bands-thirdbest-singer,101235/) is supposed to be a little off-kilter, so the boings make perfect sense, but it still doesn’t account for the velcro sounds at the start, IMWO\*. Damn, the Clash rocks. \*In my worthless opinion ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/58 "2013-08-15T16:53:09Z")
I wonder how many people these days know that the double beeps in Supertramp’s The Logical Song (near the end right before he sings “One…two…three…FIVE!”) are actually the sounds from Mattel Electronics football which means you didn’t make it on 4th down. It doesn’t ruin it for me, but I always listen for it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/59 "2013-08-15T19:21:08Z")
> [@nion](#): > > The only thing that springs to mind is the end of “Money” by Pink Floyd. I am always driven to distraction trying to hear what they’re saying in the background. I’ll catch snippets like “I was drunk at the time” and “…and I tell her ‘why?’” Positively drives me batty. Wiki doesn’t seem to know, either. They discuss this on an episode of “Classic Albums” or whatever that show was called. Roger had a bunch of index card with questions on them, like “What’s your favorite color?” and random stuff. The questions got a little more serious as you went thru them. Roger had people who were hanging around the studio answer them while he recorded them. One of the questions was something like, “When was the last time you were violent?” and “Were you in the right?”. The answers to these two questions are mostly what you hear at the end of _Money_. I’m going by memory, but I think it is Mick Ronson who says, “I don’t know, I was really drunk at the time” and his girlfriend who says, “He was cruisin’ for a bruisin’”. Some stagehand nicknamed “The Hat” is heard saying, with a thick accent, “I certainly was in the right!”. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642/60 "2013-08-16T04:16:26Z")
In the middle of Yes’s “It Can Happen” there’s a sound that sounds just like a teakettle whistling, so much so that on several occasions I’d take my headphones off to check the stove. I listened to again recently in a new format and still heard it plainly, so it wasn’t just a crappy tape. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-love-the-song-and-then-you-listen-closely-and-hear/655642.md?page=4)