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Non Sequitur Songs

anytune

anytune

Super Member
Throughout the pop/rock era there have been numerous hit songs in which the title is not mentioned anywhere in the lyrics. Sorta makes you wonder what the songwriter was thinking. Here are a few personal favorites. Feel free to add your own. (For obvious reasons, instrumentals don't count.)

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Hair of the Dog - Nazareth
Opus 17 - Four Seasons
The Rain, The Park and Other Things - The Cowsills
 
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The Clash - Train in Vain
The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
David Bowie - Space Oddity
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
 
Pretty much anything by Deerhoof.

Here are the lyrics to "Choco Fight"

Maybe singer with piggy toes
Give chocolates and mirror balls
Show me your personality

Who has done to the sailor
Who has done to the tiger

Come overseas
My greet will cure your great soul
The power of two homes
 
anytune said:
Throughout the pop/rock era there have been numerous hit songs in which the title is not mentioned anywhere in the lyrics. Sorta makes you wonder what the songwriter was thinking. Here are a few personal favorites. Feel free to add your own. (For obvious reasons, instrumentals don't count.)


The Rain, The Park and Other Things - The Cowsills
Click to expand...

Check this out.



I saw her sitting in the rain
Raindrops falling on her
She didn't seem to care
She sat there and smiled at me

Then I knew (I knew... I knew... I knew... I knew)
She could make me happy (happy... happy)
(She could make me very happy)
Flowers in her hair (in her hair)
Flowers everywhere (everywhere)

(I love the flower girl)
Oh I don't know just why; she simply caught my eye
(I love the flower girl)
She seemed so sweet and kind; she crept into my mind
(To my mind... to my mind)

I knew I had to say hello (hello... hello)
She smiled up at me
And she took my hand and we walked through the park alone
 
I'm a big Cooper fan, these all come to mind.

Alice Cooper - Desperado
Alice Cooper - Ballad Of Dwight Fry
Alice Cooper - Second Coming
Alice Cooper - Unfinished Sweet
Alice Cooper - Teenage Lament '74
 
A few of the above, e.g., Cowsills' "The Rain, The Park and Other Things", do not qualify as a non sequitur: the issues addressed in the lyrics follow logically and derive meaning from the title. Baba O'Reilly, Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 -- those are non sequitur fodder.

Interesting.

What would be the verdict regarding "Song 2", a track on Blur's 1997 release Blur? There is nothing thematically associated with the title within the lyrical structure, but "Song 2" is the second track on the CD. (don't know about the vinyl version, if one was even released)
 
"The Rain, The Park, & Other Things" always makes me happy when I hear it...Silly, childish song, yeah I know, but it still has been one of my faves a long, long time.
 
It is excellent as a song to listen to and as a marker of time in (some of) our lives. Didn't like much of the Cowsills, but this one's a gem.
 
Mystic said:
What would be the verdict regarding "Song 2", a track on Blur's 1997 release Blur? There is nothing thematically associated with the title within the lyrical structure, but "Song 2" is the second track on the CD. (don't know about the vinyl version, if one was even released)
Click to expand...

This is squarely in the court of self-reference, which can lead swiftly and surely to the pit of metaphysical conundrum.

For example, consider the implications if Song 2 were the third song on the album?

Consider Monty Python's Matching Tie and Handkerchief album, which has two Side 2s (and one of them has two separate sets of grooves cut on it, so that it is a three-sided album).

or, suppose you are in the military and a superior officer strides up to you and barks "Disobey this command." What do you do?

or enumerate the mistakes in the following (completely true and accurate) sentence: This sentance has three erors in it.


We've now left non-sequiturs far, far behind us...
 
Grateful Dead - Lot's of the stuff on Anthem of the Sun, I don't remember all the titles of the first side. Some I do remember... That's It For The Other One and Quadlibet for Tenderfeet. Also, Caution: Do Not Stop On Tracks. I'm not sure if Born Cross Eyed has those words in it either.
 
mhardy6647 said:
Consider Monty Python's Matching Tie and Handkerchief album, which has two Side 2s (and one of them has two separate sets of grooves cut on it, so that it is a three-sided album).
Click to expand...

AS an owner of that album, I can safely say it's awesome, you have to love the random third-side thing, pure python all the way:yes:.

I can't think of too many that haven't been mentioned (ex;"Black dog"). But i'll add a recent metal one;

High on fire - Cyclopian scape...has many odd terms, but not that one:scratch2:.
 
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