Comments on: Know any super-high speed lyrics, especially educational ones?

Question: Know any super-high speed lyrics, especially educational ones?

Ironwolf — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 03:18:45 -0800

[RapidFireLyricsFilter] I love songs that are catchy, clever, witty, and possibly educational. But I love them even more if their lyrics clip along at such an alacritous speed that it takes many listenings and hours of practice to sing along, if indeed it's even possible. Any recommendations for great, high-SPM (syllables-per-minute) songs?

By: zardoz

zardoz — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 03:32:51 -0800

I likes 'em too.

Off the top of my head, two Monty Python songs: "Sit on my Face" and "The Philosopher's Drinking Song". I'm still trying to memorize the latter.

Will probably think of some later.

By: makonan

makonan — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 03:43:32 -0800

I'm a fan of "Alphabet Aerobics" by Blackalicious.

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 03:57:43 -0800

Let's see ...

Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire"

"Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" (highschool flashback for me).

Maybe REM's "Ignoreland"?

By: skylar

skylar — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 03:58:19 -0800

There's "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies, but...well... you know.

By: klarck

klarck — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:01:58 -0800

Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues and
REM's End of the World as We Know it.

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:05:32 -0800

*argh*

klark's REM example was the one I was reaching for. Good catch.

By: hindmost

hindmost — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:20:04 -0800

The Nations of the World by Yakko Warner from the Animaniacs, mp3 here and of course, also Wakko's America, featuring the states and their capitals.

By: pookzilla

pookzilla — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:20:42 -0800

K2G by Puffy AmiYumi.

By: icontemplate

icontemplate — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:39:15 -0800

Ack, hate to bring this one up, but back in the '80s McDonalds had a promotion where they'd give away free burgers to anyone who could completely sing this song. I remember finding a recording of it in Sunday's newspapers, and if the class singing the song finishes it, you'd win a million dollars (or something.)

Other songs popping into my head is Guns 'n' Roses Garden of Eden, and Letters to Cleo Here and Now.

By: Clay201

Clay201 — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:41:47 -0800

Maybe not quite sufficiently high in SPM, but... Elton John's "Saturday Night".

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:46:51 -0800

Kind of a SoCal thing, but Danny Elfman's band Oingo Boingo ended their shows with a song called Goodbye-Goodbye, the main section of which is spat out in one breathless sentence. Did anyone but him know the lyrics before the Internet?

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 04:55:39 -0800

Of course, if you REALLY wanna drive yerself crazy with clever rapid-fire, tongue-torturing lyrics, there is always Jacques Brel.

By: Ironwolf

Ironwolf — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 05:07:14 -0800

I knew I shouldn't have posted this question at 3:00 AM when I'm short on sleep. Every reload of this page over the last couple hours is a new revealation. Thanks everyone and please keep them coming!

Musn't... reload... page... again!

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 05:08:33 -0800

Also ... don't wanna leave out Danny Kaye's "Tchaikovsky", wherein he sings the names of every significant Russian composer in one long 36 second breath. Unfortunately, can't find a suitable link.

By: substrate

substrate — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 05:50:40 -0800

There was even a recent post on the Blue about it. Nick Cave & The Bad Seed's Babe, I'm On Fire

By: cmm

cmm — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 05:57:48 -0800

Johnny Saucep'n from Moxy Fruvous is fast with foodstuffs.

Flansburgh from They Might Be Giants loves putting lots of syllables into small spaces, but I can't think of the perfect example, though Letterbox is good. But there's some place I swear where he shoves like a 5 or 6 syllable word into a song.

By: fvw

fvw — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 06:06:50 -0800

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Tom Lehrer's ''The Elements'' yet. Very rapid fire, and definately educational.

By: nelleish

nelleish — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 06:35:05 -0800

You've already got one TMBG song linked, but do know Why Does the Sun Shine? Most certainly educational, maybe not fast enough though.

Great Big Sea does a cover of It's the End of the World as We Know it that's faster than the original and borders on the ridiculous. Then there's their concert staple Mari-Mac, which is exceedingly catchy and very very fast. I'm sure I can think of more, but I need to get to class!

By: papercake

papercake — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 06:35:12 -0800

One Week by Barenaked Ladies, although it's more nonsensical than educational.

By: viama

viama — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 06:42:51 -0800

I don't know how far they penetrated the States, but I'm surprised noone has mentioned Carter, the Unstoppable Sex Machine (or Carter USM). Check out in particular Twenty Four Minutes From Tulse Hill and Sheffif Fatman. Cheers for the reminder Ironwolf, I'm off to find my old albums and relive my student days.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:01:59 -0800

Another Moxy Fruvous song of this type is called "Entropy".

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:02:19 -0800

From that One Week link:
Chickity china the chinese chicken
You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'

WTF? Is that supposed to mean anything at all?

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:12:35 -0800

On the stage, they're called patter songs. Gilbert and Sullivan have some great and hilarious ones.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:14:57 -0800

Okay, sorry, that link to the "little list" song was a parody trashing philosophers. (Funny though) Here's the real lyrics.

By: pookzilla

pookzilla — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:21:21 -0800

I'll second CLs suggestion - I'm listening to The Pirates of Penzance as I type this. I figure if you can sing along to "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" then you can sing along to ANYTHING.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:43:35 -0800

In the same vein, G&S's "The Lord High Executioner" from the Mikado features this line: "Taken from the county jail / By a set of curious chances / Liberated then on bail / On my own recognizances." Great use of syllabic timing, though not speedy. I think you should be a Gilbert & Sullivan fan if you aren't already.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:09:24 -0800

Couldn't find any mp3s, but here's a fairly amusing parody (free mp3) of the major general song - "I am a famous model and a media celebrity"

(scroll down to "media celebrity")

...I only watch my MTV because I just don't get the news
but I can walk a runway without falling in stilleto shoes....

By: bryanjbusch

bryanjbusch — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:43:47 -0800

Stephen Sondheim's "Your Fault" from "Into the Woods" adds a nice twist, because you get to do multiple voices while also trying to keep up with the pace.

By: Dr. Wu

Dr. Wu — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:45:26 -0800

There's tons of songs like this in rap music, but the one that always stands out for me is Kool Moe Dee's "I Go To Work," from his best album, Knowledge Is King.

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:59:02 -0800

Keeping with the fruvous, Green Eggs and Ham

By: papercake

papercake — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:06:44 -0800

WTF? Is that supposed to mean anything at all?

I don't think so. Unless it means you have some of that Chinese Chicken and your brain freezes up from fried goodness.

In the same nonsense vein, one of my favorite nonsequiturs to throw out is from "End of the World as We Know It:"

Birthday party cheesecake jellybean boom

Now that I think about it, I should have used jellybeanboom as my MeFi name...

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:06:45 -0800

The Animaniacs often had tunes like Wakko's America (a recitation of state capitols).

And if we're going to talk Tom Lehrer, let's talk New Math.

By: kindall

kindall — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:18:40 -0800

Chickity china the chinese chicken
You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'

WTF? Is that supposed to mean anything at all?

I don't think so. Unless it means you have some of that Chinese Chicken and your brain freezes up from fried goodness.

Well, MSG, you know? Chinese Restaurant Syndrome?

By: oflinkey

oflinkey — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:36:40 -0800

Blood Makes Noise by Suzanne Vega.

By: themadjuggler

themadjuggler — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:36:43 -0800

Did you mean: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ?

Your search - Supercalifrgilisticexpialadocious - did not match any documents.
No pages were found containing "supercalifrgilisticexpialadocious".

By: dnash

dnash — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:38:18 -0800

Stephen Sondheim is famous for this sort of thing - clever, intelligent lyrics often at rapid speed. One of his most famous being "Getting Married Today" from Company. Someone above mentioned "Your Fault" from Into the Woods but really a whole lot of that show falls into this category (see "Giants in the Sky," "On the Steps of the Palace," and the whole opening sequence). Also "It's Hot Up Here" and the eponymous opening song of Sunday in the Park with George. Also several bits of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:42:57 -0800

Blues Traveler, "Runaround"

By: jjg

jjg — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:50:29 -0800

This rapid-fire quality is one of the main things people like (or at least respect) about Eminem.

By: squidlarkin

squidlarkin — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:06:11 -0800

If you don't mind it being technologically augmented, you might like Ohgr's Pore or Skinny Puppy's Pro-test (same vocalist).

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:12:57 -0800

Blackalicious, "Blazing Arrow".

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:14:01 -0800

Well, REM's End of the World and Lehrer's The Elements were the first things that popped into mind.

Then there's Primus, Tommy the Cat.

But I think Stephen Sondheim is the main man of wicked rapid-fire lyrics. Getting Married Today is exactly what you're looking for.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:18:21 -0800

I may be wrong but I could've sworn that chiggity-chang-from-the Chinese-chicken was from an old Cheech & Chong joke.

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:24:44 -0800

REM's End of the World

You think that version's fast? Try Great Big Sea's version. (Track 7, listen to clip.) Twice as fast and celtic/bluegrass.

By: scody

scody — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:26:08 -0800

The very, very end of "Beat Surrender" by the Jam is so fast that I've never been able to decipher the lyrics at all, nor do I know anyone else who has. (Anyone out there who has a clue as to what Weller is saying there and would like to pass on the secret code will have my deepest thanks, as a matter of fact.)

By: hootch

hootch — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 11:27:16 -0800

Definitely NSFW, but Squeeze Me Macaroni, by Mr. Bungle fits the bill.

By: yankeefog

yankeefog — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 13:35:42 -0800

Louis Jordan has a couple of songs in this vein; Choo Choo Cha Boogie is my favorite (scroll down for the lyrics.) You can listen to a clip of it at the Itunes Music store.

By: BT

BT — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 14:44:26 -0800

On the musical theatre tip -- though a touch less sophisticated than Sondheim -- is Steven Schwartz's All for the Best from Godspell.

By: majick

majick — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 16:01:16 -0800

There are a couple of tracks on Red Snapper's "Making Bones" album that fit the description. I dunno about the others.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 16:26:20 -0800

Bob Segar's Get Out of Denver on Live Bullet spews out the words pretty fast.

By: duck

duck — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:24:23 -0800

A Night in Dildo (scroll down) by the Arrogant Worms isn't particularly fast, but it is filled with place names.

By: duck

duck — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:25:48 -0800

Oh, and looking over some of the lyrics at the link I provide above, they're wrong...Just filled with mondegreens...You'll have to get the song and learn the lyrics yourself.

By: jb

jb — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:27:11 -0800

Jason Mraz - Curbside Prophet [MP3 of a live version - RM of album also on the site - both versions different] - It's not as fast as GBS, but makes up for it in sustained rhythm of lyrics.