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Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

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    #26
    Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

    Various Artist wrote: Thinking of the unintelligibly elided chorus of Take On Me reminds me of another in the same vein: REM's The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite. Michael Stipe had already by that point spent most of REM's early career being as mumbly and opaque as possible, so I don't doubt keener fans than I could posit still better examples from their oeuvre, too.
    Seven Chinese Brothers can be a bit of a challenge.

    Anyway, I'll noinate Man 2 Man - Male Stripper. For years, my sister and I were convinced he was singing

    Tits in a g-stting make my living...
    which, of course, makes no sense. The rest of the song hardly makes any, either.

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      #27
      Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

      Talking Heads are generally quite a good bet for unintelligibility. e.g. Burning Down The House.

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        #28
        Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

        Toby: #Tips in my g-string, made my living#

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          #29
          Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

          Haysi Fantayzee was a band whose lyrics I could never fathom.

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            #30
            Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

            I trust you didn't spend too much time on that task.

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              #31
              Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

              Anything by Pearl Jam. I can only make out three words of Even Flow, one is "concrete" and guess the other two...

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                #32
                Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                Jah Womble wrote: I trust you didn't spend too much time on that task.
                What is so difficult about "Shotgun, gimme gimme lowdown fun boy", I ask you.

                Purveyors of simple pop.

                And for those of you who have no idea what we are talking about, here they are:

                John Wayne is indeed Big Leggy.

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                  #33
                  Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                  Gerontophile wrote: John Wayne is indeed Big Leggy.
                  Hadn't heard that in a long time.

                  Still can't make out what the fuck she's on about. The male half was generally more comprehensible.

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                    #34
                    Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                    Although having read the lyrics, singing intelligibly might have resulted in the record being banned.

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                      #35
                      Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                      "It's going to happen " and of course "when saturday comes " by the undertones, in fact most of the positive touch is brilliant gibberish

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                        #36
                        Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                        Stumpy Pepys wrote: Although having read the lyrics, singing intelligibly might have resulted in the record being banned.
                        Yes, it is rather filthy.

                        I love the song.

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                          #37
                          Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                          laverte wrote: I find Elton John's faux-Tex twang quite impenetrable. Generally for the better.
                          Even more hilarious was when Future Islands aped his voice, style, and cadence...right down to not understanding 85% of the words.

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                            #38
                            Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                            Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal is rendered even less comprehensible than the original as they admitted not checking the lyrics and just winged it.

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                              #39
                              Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                              MC Kinky outdoes herself on this. Everything starts with an 'E'.

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                                #40
                                Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                elguapo4 wrote: "It's going to happen " and of course "when saturday comes " by the undertones, in fact most of the positive touch is brilliant gibberish
                                It's Going To Happen was about Bobby Sands et al, wasn't it?

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                                  #41
                                  Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                  Originally it was much more explicit about the h blocks but the record company (and fergal sharkey by some accounts ) insisted that the o'Neill boys tone it down so now you wouldn't know what it's about

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                                    #42
                                    Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                    Stumpy Pepys wrote:
                                    Originally posted by Gerontophile
                                    Hadn't heard that in a long time.

                                    Still can't make out what the fuck she's on about. The male half was generally more comprehensible.
                                    As some of you will know, (the lovely, but painfully thin) Kate Garner went on to be a world-renowned photographer. Here's a few of her snaps, including one rather famous Bowie pic. I'm pretty sure she was already a fashion photographer before Haysi Fantayzee, actually, and it was the band that was the 'side-line', although I stand to be corrected on that. I know a lot of her pics ended up in early issues of The Face magazine.

                                    Jeremy Healy went on to be a reasonably successful DJ and musician, with work in the fashion field, too. He was also briefly married to Patsy Kensit. Errrm...!

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                                      #43
                                      Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                      I think he was part of the "Everything Starts With an E" thing, if not the main man? (Jeremy Healy)

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                                        #44
                                        Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                        Enya is so unintelligible that all of her songs may as well have been in Elvish.

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                                          #45
                                          Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                          3 Colours Red wrote: Anything by Pearl Jam. I can only make out three words of Even Flow, one is "concrete" and guess the other two...
                                          Freezing
                                          Rests his head on a pillow made of concrete
                                          Again

                                          Feeling
                                          Maybe he'll see a little better any day

                                          Hand out
                                          Faces he sees come again that ain't familiar

                                          Dark grin
                                          He can't help when he's happy he looks insane

                                          Even flow
                                          Thoughts arrive like butterflies
                                          Oh he don't know
                                          So he chases them away
                                          Someday yet
                                          He'll begin his life again
                                          Life again
                                          Life again....


                                          From memory, that. There was a time when Ten was pretty much a permanent fixture on my walkman.

                                          Come to think of it, I've still got a lot of time for that album.

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                                            #46
                                            Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                            3 Colours Red wrote: Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal is rendered even less comprehensible than the original as they admitted not checking the lyrics and just winged it.
                                            Brilliant. I used to sing in a covers band and did that all the time...

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                                              #47
                                              Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                              Ahh, a.k.a the Manfred Mann's Earth Band Gambit. Their decision to follow that same strategy with Blinded By The Light is what produced the memorably odd "Revved up like a douche" line among other things.

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                                                #48
                                                Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                                Claire Grogan and Siouxsie Sioux were serial offenders. Toyah perhaps less so but her material was dire.

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                                                  #49
                                                  Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                                  Satchmo Distel wrote: Claire Grogan and Siouxsie Sioux were serial offenders. Toyah perhaps less so but her material was dire.
                                                  Yup. Only one line in this is really intelligible, but then again, erm not.

                                                  She must have really had her head up her own ass at this stage.

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                                                    #50
                                                    Which pop hits were the least intelligible?

                                                    She could have been deliberately burying the lyrics because she knew they were total drivel.

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