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Songs that don't really have a tune

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    Songs that don't really have a tune

    Suicide Blonde came on the radio today and while it's reasonably recognisable it struck me that it doesn't really have a tune. I don't think anyone could hum along with it. The juxtaposition with the next song (Song 2 by Blur "woohoo, duh duh duh, dunnananer, woohoo") really made this stand out.

    #2
    Almost anything by Captain Beefheart. Deliberately so.

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      #3
      Half of Lennon's stuff.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
        Half of Lennon's stuff.
        Name 5 of them.

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          #5
          I am the walrus, baby you're a rich man (chorus). Eh... a lot of his stuff is fairly one note. Not a criticism tho.

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            #6
            Napalm Death - You Suffer

            Thinking about it, about 99% of their oeuvre.

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              #7
              Surfin' Bird

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                #8
                Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
                I am the walrus, baby you're a rich man (chorus). Eh... a lot of his stuff is fairly one note. Not a criticism tho.
                The vocal lines, maybe, but I can't accept that songs where I sing along with the instrumentation don't have tunes. That also applies to Beefheart (plus he did at least four overtly tuneful albums*). Tom Waits is the only pop artist I can think of who genuinely sounds tuneless, and even he managed 'In The Neighbourhood'. Oh, Radiohead are pretty tuneless, they sound like anxious drizzle.

                *Safe As Milk, Clear Spot, Unconditionally Guaranteed, Bluejeans N Moonbeams
                Last edited by delicatemoth; 24-07-2020, 13:26.

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                  #9
                  Have we done "all French songs ever" yet?

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                    #10
                    Charles Trenet would like a word

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by TonTon View Post
                      Have we done "all French songs ever" yet?
                      Haha I was coming to say that. Chanson in general was what came straight into my mind when seeing the thread title.

                      In anglo terms, maybe Stars by Janis Ian. It's a bit chanson-ey.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                        Charles Trenet would like a word
                        As would Claude Joseph Rouget de L'Isle and Vanessa Paradis.

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                          #13
                          Given their popularity and longevity, U2 are only sparingly covered by other performers. This could be due to the distinctiveness in their music coming mainly from the performance and production, rather than any transferable catchiness in their songs.

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                            #14
                            Most Rolling Stones songs seem to have a tune trying to burst out from underneath but then they gave them to Mick to 'sing'.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                              Songs that don't really have a tune
                              According to my Mum, everything I listened to as a teen.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                                Suicide Blonde came on the radio today and while it's reasonably recognisable it struck me that it doesn't really have a tune. I don't think anyone could hum along with it. The juxtaposition with the next song (Song 2 by Blur "woohoo, duh duh duh, dunnananer, woohoo") really made this stand out.
                                Yeah, thinking about it, it just has a guitar riff and that harmonica sample thingy. It's a pretty terrible song, all around. By contrast, New Sensation still sounds very strong all these years later.

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Rogin the Armchair fan View Post
                                  Most Rolling Stones songs seem to have a tune trying to burst out from underneath but then they gave them to Mick to 'sing'.
                                  Hobbesian

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                                    #18
                                    I assumed OP was making a point about a mainstream commercial band for whom that was their point but had a hit that didnt necessarily conform to that genre. So definitely not a band like Captain Beefheart. Or plenty of others who have ploughed a lone but individual furrow knowing INXS level of success and sales was never going to be forthcoming or ever going to be the point-This Heat Cabaret Voltaire Throbbing Gristle etc etc

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                                      #19
                                      Leave Them All Behind by Ride.

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                                        #20
                                        God I loved that aged 15/16, Like Fisher Price gateway Prog.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post

                                          Hobbesian
                                          Name any. Any.

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                                            #22
                                            I've sung Dead Flowers drunk plenty times.

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                                              #23
                                              If I had the pipes of Merry Clayton, Gimme Shelter.

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                                                #24
                                                Paint it black an' all ya bas.

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                                                  #25
                                                  The melody doesn't have to come only from the singer, if at all.

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