Comments on: 5 5 5, this is for the guys who go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

Question: 5 5 5, this is for the guys who go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

jetskiaccidents — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:37:36 -0800

I'm looking for songs with counting or numbers (used more than once) in the lyrics.

And by "numbers", I don't mean that someone sings, "Won't you take me to the 24th floor?" I want numbers repeated after one another...counting obviously works, but random numbers could work also.

Examples:
Violent Femmes - Kiss off [1, 1, 1 cause you left me, 2, 2, 2...]
Sleater-Kinney - Entertain (counting)
Le Tigre - Deceptacon (counting)
Architecture in Helinksi - Wishbone - [4 4-ever, 2 2-gether...]
Hockey Night - For Guys' Eyes Only [counting, probably my best example]

Non-examples:
Songs with numbers in the title, but with little use of numbers in the lyrics. [i.e. Bryan Adams - Summer of '69]

Mediocre example:
867-5309 Jenny

Songs with the classic "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4!" beginning could work too, but I don't want too many of those. Yeah, I'm picky, but hopefully I can get some help?

By: krix

krix — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:42:31 -0800

Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven
if man is 5.../then the devil is six...etc

By: coach_mcguirk

coach_mcguirk — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:44:47 -0800

The B52's - '606-0842'

By: ootsocsid

ootsocsid — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:46:36 -0800

Mambo No. 5
Rock Around the Clock

By: TiredStarling

TiredStarling — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:47:41 -0800

"1-2-3" Len Barry
"Counting the Beat" The Swingers
"Banana Split Song" Banana Splits
"All Together Now" Beatles

By: jodic

jodic — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:56:27 -0800

Look to Soul Coughing. There's:
4 out of 5 from Irressitible Bliss, "four and five there for nine, nine and nine therefore 18, 18 and 18 therefore 36" is the chorus.

and off of Ruby Vroom is Casiotone Nation, which has a refrain of Mike Doughty counting by fives up to 100, and then another place where he counts.

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:56:59 -0800

"Four Little Songs" by the Rheostatics (although it might be a little outside of what you're looking for).

By: jb

jb — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:57:03 -0800

The Sesame street disco album has the Count counting in disco.

By: mbd1mbd1

mbd1mbd1 — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 09:59:42 -0800

The Schoolhouse Rock song - I think it's something like Three is a Magic Number.

By: veronitron

veronitron — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:00:26 -0800

BT - Fibonacci Sequence

He says the fibonacci sequence over and over throughout the song. 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21...

By: Mrmuhnrmuh

Mrmuhnrmuh — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:00:59 -0800

Of course, "The Numbers Song" DJ Shadow

By: jeanmari

jeanmari — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:01:28 -0800

You can scoff if you want, but I think Schoolhouse Rock has some of the most kick*ss songs ever. Bob Dorough can rock AND swing:

Three is a Magic Number

Ready or Not, Here I Come

The Good Eleven

Ahem. Here's one that will redeem me:

Kiss Off by the Violent Femmes

By: jeanmari

jeanmari — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:03:57 -0800

Whoops...didn't see that you already had Kiss Off. Ah well. Consider me un-redeemed.

By: saucy

saucy — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:05:02 -0800

Senses Working Overtime-- XTC

By: Sonic_Molson

Sonic_Molson — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:05:52 -0800

D12 - git up

By: jozxyqk

jozxyqk — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:07:57 -0800

one two three FOOOUR five, six-seven-eight NIIIINE ten...
eleven twelve.
(Sesame Street disco pinball song!)

By: mosch

mosch — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:08:30 -0800

Not in the musical genres you've mentioned but Braces Tower - Eleven Twelve, or the opera Einstein on the Beach, by Philip Glass.

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:08:58 -0800

These are more in the recitative than lyrical vein:

"ABC Auto-Industry" by OMD.
"Count Five or Six" by Cornelius.
"Numbers" by Kraftwerk (mostly non-English.)

By: kindall

kindall — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:09:32 -0800

25 or 6 to 4. Chicago. Just because someone has to say it.

There are a few songs that use the "numbers stations" that, apparently, spies used to broadcast codes... according to Wikipedia:

Recordings of numbers stations sometimes find their way onto records by other musicians, such as Stereolab's song "Pause", Porcupine Tree's "Even Less", Chroma Key's "Even the Waves", or various songs by Wilco, whose album 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' is named after a message sampled on it. The reclusive Scottish duo Boards of Canada were influenced by numbers stations at an early age. Pere Ubu's Scott Krause is an avid fan of numbers stations and has featured recordings in several songs.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:11:00 -0800

I can't believe no-one has mentioned "One Is The Loneliest Number" yet. Also, Counting Crows' "A Murder of One" quotes a nursery rhyme that goes:

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for girls and four for boys
Five for silver
Six for gold and
Seven for a secret never to be told

By: betheon

betheon — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:11:19 -0800

Speaking of Boards of Canada, the 2nd half of "Aquarius" (off of Music Has the Rights to Children) has numbers both in order and totally at random.

By: jrossi4r

jrossi4r — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:16:20 -0800

Everyday I Write the Book by Elvis Costello.

By: forallmankind

forallmankind — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:19:37 -0800

Does De La Soul's The Magic Number count?

"Now you may try to subtract it
But it just won't go away
Three times one?
(what is it? )
(one, two, three!)
And that's the magic number"

By: brad!

brad! — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:24:47 -0800

New Kids On The Block - Step By Step

By: waxpancake

waxpancake — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:27:27 -0800

Many more counting songs in this thread over at Kempa.com, some with MP3s.

By: Grangousier

Grangousier — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:27:47 -0800

5-4-3-2-1 - Manfred Mann

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:33:02 -0800

NMH's Holland 1945 starts with a nice little countoff. And it's a great song.

By: PaperDragon

PaperDragon — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:34:29 -0800

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Kompressor's Adding Up Numbers.

"Seven plus eight equal fifteen
Adding up numbers is very uplifting "

By: Danelope

Danelope — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:34:43 -0800

Bearsuit - Itsuko Got Married has a long string of ones and zeros in the middle.

The first track on the Josie & The Pussycats soundtrack, "Three Small Words", has a chorus that meets your criteria.

Monty Python's "Money Song" begins "I've got 90,000 pounds in my pajamas, I've got 40,000 French francs in my fridge..."

By: starscream

starscream — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:37:31 -0800

Golden Boy With Miss Kittin "1234"

And, as someone suggested, Kraftwerk "Numbers"

By: blm

blm — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:39:28 -0800

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, that here on Metafilter no one has mentioned Country Joe & the Fish' Feel like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag:

And its 1, 2, 3, 4 what are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn--next stop is Vietnam,
And its 5, 6, 7, 8 open up the pearly gates,
There aint no time to wonder why, we're all gonna die!

By: kittyb

kittyb — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:39:38 -0800

Cool question! The Thermals -- How We Know. In the chorus -- "I count two, two, three, breathe, two, three!"

By: ceri richard

ceri richard — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:40:23 -0800

Inchworm.

By: mkhall

mkhall — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:43:32 -0800

blm, could this be a sign that MeFi isn't the liberal utopia I've heard? But then again, I was about to list that one, myself.

By: 31d1

31d1 — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:43:45 -0800

Black Moth Super Rainbow - I am the Alphabet.

Yeah, they are cool with all the downloading... :)

By: mumble

mumble — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:47:19 -0800

Probably not what you're looking for, but You Could Make A Killing by Aimee Mann starts with "1 2 3 once again go".

And a Google search for "lyrics 1 2 3 4 5" brings up half a dozen songs within the first two pages of results. Might have some potential.

By: nylon

nylon — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:49:41 -0800

The Conet Project, hinted at by kindall, is a 4 CD compilation of number station recordings, freely downloadable from archive.org. It's awesome from start to finish, but you're hard pressed to classify them as songs.
Once I Caught A Fish Alive - a popular nursey rhyme that's appeared on a couple of children's compilations.
13 Monsters by Lightning Bolt, from Ride The Skies (1, 2, 3, 4, we got something more, 5, 6, 7, 8, we got [unintelligible])
The Clapping Song by Shirley Ellis (3, 6, 9, the goose drank wine)
Soul Time also by Shirley Ellis (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 2, 4, 6, 8, 20-to!)
New Number Order by Shellac, from 1000 Hurts (16, 1 million, 1 million and 1, 0, 3, 1 million 22, 17 (or something similar - I don't remember exactly))

By: nylon

nylon — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 10:55:02 -0800

Tsk, I almost forgot 25 Miles by Edwin Starr (Come on feet, don't fail me now! I got 10 more miles to go; I got 9, 8, 7, 6, I got 5 more miles to go)

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:05:29 -0800

Lehrer's "New Math"

By: nylon

nylon — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:06:21 -0800

Final word from me: in most instances like this, the Allmusic Guide is your friend. Searching under 'Song' for '1 2 3 4', for instance, pulls up a shedload of stuff that's likely to be useful, like 1-2-3-4, One Two Three Four, 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bass, (1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count The Days, and so on.

By: escher

escher — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:14:14 -0800

Bjork "107 Steps" from the Selmasongs album.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:16:16 -0800

Uno, dos, one, two, tres, quatro!
Matty told Hatty about a thing she saw.
Had two big horns and a wooly jaw.
Wooly bully, wooly bully....

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:18:13 -0800

There's also "Sonne" by Rammstein (counting in German.)

By: cali

cali — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:19:33 -0800

Most of my suggestions have been mentioned already, so I'll just add "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - The Proclaimers. Now the rest of you can have it stuck in your heads too.

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:25:38 -0800

123, by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine.

Hangs head in shame

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:32:49 -0800

MC5/Starship

By: Nedroid

Nedroid — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:39:43 -0800

How about "12341234," by Catch 22?

By: horsemuth

horsemuth — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:43:03 -0800

jozxyqk -
It's called Pinball Number Song and it was performed by the Pointer Sisters. Excellent choice!!

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:44:08 -0800

Ooh, ooh, Sixteen Military Wives by The Decemberists.

By: punilux

punilux — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:47:47 -0800

54-46 Was My Number - Toots & The Maytals.
Cali - I'm going to see The Proclaimers next week, so thanks, but it's already stuck!

By: nonliteral

nonliteral — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:53:58 -0800

The Police - Murder by Numbers
Alabama 3 (aka A3 in the US) - Hypo Full of Love (The 12 Step Plan)

By: forallmankind

forallmankind — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:03:35 -0800

Kwanstar: that's quite a scrape from the bottom of the barrel....

By: kittyb

kittyb — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:09:11 -0800

Oh, a golden oldie -- Twenty Flight Rock. It's been covered about a gazillion times, and there's a handful of versions up on iTunes.

By: crewshell

crewshell — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:26:47 -0800

wow, cant believe no one mentioned

Brian McKnight

1 - you make my dreams come true
2 - just want to be with you
3 - girl its plain to see that your the only girl for me..

etc etc

By: kashmir772

kashmir772 — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:47:12 -0800

to put a binary spin on all of this...

Clutch 10001110101

By: adamvasco

adamvasco — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:49:07 -0800

634-5789 (SOULSVILLE, USA)
(Steve Cropper / Eddie Floyd)
Wilson Pickett - 1966

By: ubersturm

ubersturm — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:56:05 -0800

That Offspring song that had the refrain with "Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, seis." [Man, I don't even like the Offspring, or know the name of the song, but after several years in a carpool in the late '90s that liked to listen to the radio, I guess that song is imprinted in my brain somewhere. Surprised no one else has mentioned it.]

By: obloquy

obloquy — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:04:08 -0800

C30 C60 C90 Go: Bow Wow Wow
1,000,000: R.E.M.
5 5 5 Part One, or 5 5 5 Part Two: The Fastbacks
25 Minutes To Go, or 5 Feet High & Rising: Johnny Cash
32 Footsteps: TMBG
...maybe something by the 5.6.7.8's?

By: kenchie

kenchie — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:11:41 -0800

Loads of stuff by Boards of Canada

By: funambulist

funambulist — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:13:28 -0800

well for the second time this week I'm going to mention Stephen Malkmus - 1% of One ("... one percent of one, one percent, one percent of one, one percent of one is one")

Radiohead - 2+2=5 ("two and two always makes a five")

The Beatles - You Never Give Me Your Money ("one two three four five six seven, all good children go to heaven")

Shane McGowan - That Woman's Got me Drinking ("give me one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten bottles of gin")

By: kenchie

kenchie — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:14:31 -0800

.....aquarius probably being my favourite example!

By: trevyn

trevyn — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:33:06 -0800

Freezepop - Science Genius Girl: 1 point 61803398874989484204586834365

By: funambulist

funambulist — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:35:39 -0800

That Offspring song that had the refrain with "Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, seis."

"give it to me baby..." the song name was Pretty Fly For A White Guy.

Speaking of earworms, that reminded me of Ricky Martin's "un dos tres Maria..." god I wish I hadn't ;)

By: crewshell

crewshell — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:37:42 -0800

also i jsut rememebr a country song

I walked in and the band just started
the singer couldn't care a tune in a bucket
Was on a mission to drown her memory but
I thought no way with all this rukus

But after one round with Jose Cuervo
I caught my boots tapping along with the beat
And After two rounds with Jose Cuervo
The band was sounding pretty darn good to me

Then some stranger asked me to dance
and i reviled to her my two left feet
Said "Don't get me wrong, im glad you asked,
But tonight's about beating an old memory

Then after Three rounds with Jose Cuervo
I let her lead me out on the floor
And after Four rounds with Jose Cuervo
I was showing off moves never seen before

Well, round five or round six
I forgot what I came to forget
After Round seven, Or was it eight?
I bought a round for the whole dang place

And after nine rounds with Jose Cuervo
They were counting me out and i was about to give in
Then after ten rounds with Jose Cuervo
I lost count and started counting again

One round with Jose Cuervo
I went two rounds
Three rounds

By: robbie01

robbie01 — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:38:49 -0800

Pearl Jam's (nearly indistinguishable, as always) "Animal" from the Vs. album:

One, two, three, four, five against one
Five, five, against one.
Said one, two, three, four, five against one
Five, five...five, five...five against one

By: muckster

muckster — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:45:55 -0800

Femi Kuti: 1, 2, 3, 4

By: gwint

gwint — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:02:59 -0800

Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast

By: realcountrymusic

realcountrymusic — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:11:18 -0800

A beautiful country song from the late 80s is Kathy Mattea's "Eighteen Wheels and Dozen Roses," (written by Gene and Paul Nelson) which integrates a countdown seamlessly into its narrative:

Eighteen wheels and a dozen roses
Ten more miles on his four day run
A few more songs from the all night radio
Then he'll spend the rest of his life
With the one that he loves

By: samh23

samh23 — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:14:32 -0800

Mathematics by Mos Def
The Ten Crack Commandments by the Notorious B.I.G.

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:32:08 -0800

68 comments and no 2-4-6-8 Motorway ?

By: web-goddess

web-goddess — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:34:20 -0800

I've got a lovely short little folk ditty called "The Counting Song" sung by Natalie Merchant and Michael Stipe in my iTunes collection. I think I came across it on one of the P2P networks. At the end he sings the odd numbers down from twenty and she sings the even.

By: chrominance

chrominance — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:39:31 -0800

Saint Etienne, "You Can Count On Me." Counting to 10 in English, French and Spanish.

By: Vervain

Vervain — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:44:28 -0800

Roxy Music, "Three and Nine"
Isaac Hayes, "Good Love" (this one might be on the bubble)

By: goetter

goetter — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:51:26 -0800

Laibach, Tanz mit Laibach (Eins, zwei, drei, vier / Brüderchen, komm tanz mit mir) As popularized by the fearsome stomping kittens

Johnny Cash, The Blizzard (It's only seven miles to Mary Anne ... only five more miles ... only three more miles ...)

Johnny Cash, Twenty-five Minutes To Go (Well, they're building a gallows outside my cell / I've got 25 minutes to go)

By: wryly

wryly — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:56:16 -0800

From the movie "Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery": BBC by Ming Tea.

Missus,
Will ya
Make me tea?
Make love to me?
Put on the telly?
To the BBC!
To the BBC,
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

BBC 1!
BBC 2!
BBC 3!
BBC 4!
BBC 5!
BBC 6!
BBC 7!
BBC heaven!

By: pomegranate

pomegranate — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:03:31 -0800

1,2,3,4,5 "Senses Working Overtime" XTC.

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:17:42 -0800

Elvis Costello, written for Dusty Springfield, "Just a Memory." "I count the pages of the letter I write/1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9." Dunno where Dusty did this song; Elvis versions appear on Get Happy reissues and the VH-1 Storytellers album from a few years ago. I think it was intended to be a reference to some Carole King song, but I don't know which one.

By: n9

n9 — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:25:57 -0800

200 Bars by Spiritualized. Hot chick voice counts to 200.

And if you can accept sixty-ten as a number Aquarius by Boards of Canada has some of the best counting that you can have.

By: whatzit

whatzit — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:49:33 -0800

Perfect Crime, Guns and Roses. Counting 1 to 8 mid-song (not introductory). Obvious pop-up warning on linking to lyrics sites...

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 16:41:57 -0800

Heywood Banks- 18 Wheeler
Johnny Cash- 25 Minutes to Go
Lynyrd Skynyrd- Gimme Three Steps
Live Human- Onetwothree
Wölfbait- Dawning of the Robot Age ("Where you have brains/ We have circuits/ Where you have blood/ We have 10001001" Wölfbait is highly recommended for your metal needs).
The Troggs- Wully Bully (may be the most famous "Uno, dos, tres, quatro!" in history).
Jay-Z- 99 Problems
? and the Mysterions- 96 Tears
Grant Hart- 2541
The Dirtbombs- High Octane Salvation
Pigface- 666
Massive Attack- Angel (Blur Remix)

By: ifjuly

ifjuly — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 16:42:47 -0800

Le Tigre's "Bang! Bang!" uses counting to powerful effect. Julie Doiron's "Explain" includes counting in French at the end.

By: jetskiaccidents

jetskiaccidents — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:05:35 -0800

Jesus, I have a lot to sift through...but thanks!

By: Happydaz

Happydaz — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:07:43 -0800

"Nine Crimes" by Damien Rice (had to look up the lyrics on this, he enjoys making things indistinguishable.)

This isn't really the chorus but everything leads up to it:

Rule number 2
Don't be a fool
Rule number 3
Get up off your knees
Rule number 4
Open the door
Rule number 5
Keep it alive
Rule number 6
Don't be a wicks
And rule number 8
Don't leave it too late
Rule number 9
Just take your time
Rule number 1
Carpé diem...

By: abcde

abcde — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:22:54 -0800

The simultaneous count-ins (one of them overdubbed and totally off beat) on the Beatles' Tax-Man is probably the most famous count-in. There's another silly one before the second part of Radiohead's Polyethylene.

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:43:27 -0800

Seem to remember 2 Live Crew had a parody of a Kinks' (I think) tune that involved numbers in the chorus ("Four on four . . .").

By: 88robots

88robots — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:47:49 -0800

I have to give a shout-out to Owada, a rather Wire-like minimalist post-punk band (featuring Martin Creed, who won the Turner Prize in 2001 for an infamous piece called "The Lights Going On and Off"). Their album "Nothing" features the songs "1234" (whose lyrics are its title four times), "Thirty Thirty" (counting to 30 three times), "1-100" (oh, guess) and "101-200" (ditto). All of the album's lyrics can be read here, and this page links to an MP3 of "1234."

By: Schismatic

Schismatic — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:59:11 -0800

Takako Minekawa's Kangaro Pocket Calculator from the album Cloudy Cloud Calculator is a strange minimalistic techno song with a lot of addition, multiplication, and such. Even some Japanese numbers, too.

By: kimota

kimota — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:02:22 -0800

'853-5937" Squeeze (just a phone # song)
"10, 9, 8" Face To Face (a count down song you possibly remember from the late 80s: "Funny how I never get to one")
"Ghosts of Princes in Towers" (just the bridge, has a count up to 4 as part of the lyrics)
"A,B,C" Jackson 5 (easy as 1, 2, 3!)
"In the Year 2525" by Zager & Evans (passing years)
"Invisible Sun" by the Police has a count-in
1,2,3 Red Light by 1910 Fruitgum Co. (just 1,2,3, but used a lot)
"Reelin' and Rockin'" Chuck Berry (passing time)
Countdown To Christmas Party Time by XTC (counts down the days to Christmas)

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:05:04 -0800

klangklangston's post had a ton of great stuff. Just would note that Wooly Bully has a classic count-off, but it's by Sam the Sham and the Pharohs... also, Jay-Z's 99 Problems was based on an Ice-T song 99 Problems, I think on the Home Invasion album, and I think with someone from 2 Live Crew.

By: geeky

geeky — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:33:54 -0800

"Testing 1,2,3" by Barenaked Ladies
"Counting the Days" by Goldfinger

By: forrest

forrest — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 19:09:15 -0800

"Blue Suede Shoes" -- Carl Perkins (one for the money, two for the show...)

"Crystal Clear" from Mike Oldfield's Songs of Distant Earth has the best countdown I've ever heard.

And don't forget U2's "uno, dos, tres, quatorze" in Vertigo. That's got to count because Bono can't.

By: knave

knave — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 19:35:09 -0800

Sonic Youth - Bull in the Heather (10, 20, 30, 40)

By: signal

signal — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 20:07:08 -0800

Math is a wonderful thing
Math is a really cool thing
So get off ur ath lets do some math
Math, math, math, math, math
3-4 is?
-1
Thats right!
and 6 times a billion is?
6 billion?
Nailed it!
and 54 is 45 then what is the answer Marta?
9
No it’s 8
No it’s 9
yes i was testing you its 9!
and thats a magic number

Jack Black–The Math Song

By: philfromhavelock

philfromhavelock — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 20:32:59 -0800

sweet home chicago, robert johnson.

Now, one and one is two, two and two is four
I'm heavy loaded baby, I'm booked, I gotta go
Cryin' baby, honey, don't you want to go
Back to the same old place, my sweet home Chicago
...
Now two and two is four, six and two is eight
Come on baby, don't you make me late...
Two and two is four, four and two is six,
keep stayin out late at night you gonna get your business fixed...
Six and two is eight, eight and two is ten
She double crossed you one time and she gonna do it again...

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 21:20:05 -0800

The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket (Jeez, it seems like this band is my stock answer in every music thread.)
Cornelius - Count Five or Six (numbers comprise the entire lyrics)
Explosions - Garden of Four Trees
Quintron - 9-4-9
Lily's - Dimes Make Dollars
Perez Prado - Mambo No. 8 (countdown in Spanish at the beginning and end)
David Bowie - Space Oddity
Beatles - Revolution 9

By: jenovus

jenovus — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 22:34:49 -0800

The Diskettes - 1 2 3 4 5

By: BoscosMom

BoscosMom — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 23:08:03 -0800

99 bottles of beer on the wall....

By: kindall

kindall — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 01:03:55 -0800

Rush. "The Body Electric."

One zero zero one zero zero one...

By: brookedel

brookedel — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 02:29:49 -0800

Veruca Salt - Don't Make Me Prove It
Boards of Canada - A is to B as B is to C (I like Aquarius better, but the counting in this one creeps me out in a delightful way)

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 03:02:52 -0800

Thirteen Question Method by Chuck Berry - Ry Cooder's version is cool as well.

By: fletchmuy

fletchmuy — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 05:00:02 -0800

Modest Mouse - Breakthrough (This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About)

By: Vervain

Vervain — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 05:56:02 -0800

Ooh! signal's post reminded me of another track: Nomeansno's "0 + 2 = 1".

By: mattr

mattr — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 06:08:03 -0800

What about placebo - 36 degrees:

4 7 2 3 9 8 5 - I gotta breathe to stay alive,
And 1 4 2 9 7 8 - feels like I'm gonna suffocate.
14 16 22 - this skin that turns to blister blue.

By: obloquy

obloquy — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 12:19:48 -0800

"The Revenge of Kero-Kero" by eX-Girl is a good one I just remembered.
1 frog, 3 frogs, 5 frogs, 6 frogs, 8 frogs, 11, 15, 20, 38, 40, 60, 80, hundred, thousand, million, many many many!

By: blindcarboncopy

blindcarboncopy — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 12:52:15 -0800

The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba

I was watching
with one eye on the other side
I had fifteen people telling me to move
I got moving on my mind
I found shelter
In some thoughts turning wheels around
I said 39 times that I love you
to the beauty I had found

Well its 1 2 3 4
take the elevator
at the hotel yorba
I'll be glad to see you later
all they got inside is vacancy

...

By: rob511

rob511 — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 01:19:01 -0800

"Beechwood 4-5789" by The Marvelettes (dating myself bigtime)

By: samurphy

samurphy — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 09:52:53 -0800

ummm... the 12 days of Christmas and every other parody of that song...

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:01:36 -0800

I know this is late but I had to add two more by De La Soul:

- Breakadawn ("A one-two, a one-two")
- Area (all about NYC area codes)

By: Felicity Rilke

Felicity Rilke — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 08:37:15 -0800

Also late to the game, but had to add Black Mountain's Modern Music.