Songs Stuck In Your Head!

[ernstinen]

Ya know how you get a song in your head, want it to go away, but it just "plays" over and over!?Well, I'm not a big Billy Joel fan because I find his music to be somewhat, er, derivative. And his MOST derivative song, a "tribute" to the Four Seasons is "Uptown Girl."But I just CAN'T get that tune out of my head! Maybe it's because it's a really GOOD song! How he gets in and out of the bridge is just frankly brilliant songwriting.MAKE IT GO AWAY! AAAAAUGGHH! Ern

[ncc1701]

My vacation last month was a road trip with my husband. We started out in Oregon and took I-5 south until turning east toward Las Vegas. Then we traveled much of what used to be known as Route 66 across the Southwest.As soon as I started looking at our directions on the map, I couldn't keep the song "Route 66" out of my head. Do you know how annoying it is to be trapped inside "Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino" for DAYS?The other problem was that it wasn't Nat King Cole I was hearing sing it, or the TV show theme, or even Justin Guarini when he did it on "American Idol." It was my old high school swing choir! So not only did I have the song rattling around my brain, I had a BADLY SUNG VERSION of it in there torturing me. Kathleen

[mojobone]

The cure for Route 66 is to listen to the Brian Setzer Orchestra version, at least then you'll be hearing a good one.

[ernstinen]

Aug 30, 2008, 10:10am, byllsong wrote:Was coming from the food store a while ago.Billy Joel on the radio."You may be right...dada dada dada da...I may be CRAZY!"BillyArrrgh! That's the NEXT song that's been in my head, "You May Be Right." Another good song, but a Stones rip-off. That's what bugs me about Billy Joel --- who is HE as an artist? Stones, Beatles, Four Seasons, the list goes on. Even "Piano Man" rips off Harry Chapin. Harry Chapin, for godsakes! --- Oh well, he's made a lot more $$ writing songs than I have, that's for sure! Ern

[byllsong]

I guess we are all influenzed by some one.

[tedsingingfox]

Alright, alright.... Enough of bashing the Billy Joel. I need to represent here for a minute...He is a brilliant musician and a consummate songwriter, no matter what you might think of the way he comes up with his stuff.If you've ever seen or read an interview with him, that's how he got started. When he was struggling through piano lessons as a kid, he got bored with Bach and Beethoven, but his mother was always in the kitchen making dinner and listening to him practice every day...and she always punished him for not following his classical lessons. So, he started making up his own songs that SOUNDED like Bach and Beethoven, and she was never the wiser.WHY would any of us fault him for that? Even the Stones readily admit that ALL of their early stuff were direct rip-offs of old southern "Negro music" (i.e.: southern blues...Muddy Waters, Little Richard, etc.). Please!! Besides, I could list 20 or more songs of his that you couldn't say came from anywhere but his own head, no matter his background. None of us can afford to be so high and mighty, including ME.And it's only fair to say (and probably obvious by now) that I own 11 of his albums and have enormous respect for his talents...And in today's music scene, NO ONE is more guilty of ripping off previous recordings than Sheryl Crow, starting with her very first single, the rhythm section of which was a BLATANT steal from Steeler's Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle with You". She has also more recently boldly stolen from The Steve Miller Band and many, many others. We ALL build what we are writing now on the shoulders of those who've gone before us. Et tu, Brutus?(OK, he slowly steps down from his soap box...)AND then, back to the topic at hand, I have found that the one and only way to get one of THOSE songs out of my head is to make a conscious choice to start singing a song that I dislike even MORE, and somehow THAT one seems to slip into oblivion a little easier.

[ernstinen]

Aug 30, 2008, 4:28pm, tedsingingfox wrote:Alright, alright.... Enough of bashing the Billy Joel. (OK, he slowly steps down from his soap box...) Alright, alright, ted, step down, and take a deep breath --- Notice that while I "bash" his obvious copying of styles, the others you have noted let their influence "flow" through their souls to make "new" music. Everyone is "influenced." Can you state with authority that "Uptown Girl" isn't a direct remake of a Four Seasons song? Huh? Listen to the vocal. He's copying Frankie Vallie note for note.And Billy Joel should be sued by Jagger/Richards RE: "You May Be Right" (as George Harrison once was for "My Sweet Lord"), for COMPLETELY ripping off the verse melody and not giving credit to the original composers. That's not being "influenced," it's plagarism.But that's not my intent with this thread! I wanted this to be a fun discussion of songs that "bug" you that you can't forget.Say --- How about a melody you can't forget when you visit Disneyland!? Best Regards,Ern

[tedsingingfox]

Like I said, I only needed to represent the Billy Joel for a second there.And I hope everyone noticed that I DID step down from my soap box... Tedps. BTW, Ern, what's the latest on your home front? Have things calmed down at all? I realize that's a whole other thread, but I haven't heard an update in a while...

[suzdoyle]

Oh, dear, I have to tell you about:SONG INSIDE MY HEAD,by the Arrogant Worms * (a Canadian Comedy Singers). Here's a YouTube person lip synching the song:





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BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!Suz* True fact: A song that stays stuck in your head is called a "worm song." I wonder if the Arrogant worms knew that when they recorded this song???

[ernstinen]

Aug 30, 2008, 5:18pm, tedsingingfox wrote:ps. BTW, Ern, what's the latest on your home front? Have things calmed down at all? I realize that's a whole other thread, but I haven't heard an update in a while...Um, er --- well, not so good. The LAPD was here on Friday night, because "Psycho" thought that we were walking in his attic (there IS no attic!) and knocking down drywall onto his floor.My wife walked outside to see what was going on, and was ACCOSTED by the LAPD, threatening her for this dastardly act!There was an HOA Board member there with "Psycho" One and a half hours before the cops showed up. We are getting attacked from all sides, including the Board. I had a 20 minute conversation with this jackass, and he would NOT admit that "Psycho" is mentally ill. "Why can't we all get along" etc. THEN, "Psycho" let loose his "Wookie" scream! I asked the Board member if he heard that, and I said that "Psycho" does that all the time. The jackass said " I heard it come from YOUR home." --- My wife is 5'2" and 110 pounds. There's no way she could make a "Wookie sound" like that! --- Man ---So we called the LAPD to make a complaint against how their officers treated my wife, basically "throwing her against the wall." At 3:00 A.M, and to his credit, the cop who showed up was extremely professional and took a taped deposition from my wife. --- I got 2 hours of sleep after going to bed at 6:30.And so it goes --- Ern