Songs about "the sound of _______"

August 23, 2023 11:01 AM

What songs (of any genre) refer prominently in their title or lyrics to "the sound of _______"? I am trying to make a big list; a few examples to get things started are

• The Sound of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel)
• The Sound of da Police (KRS-One)
• Chain Gang (Sam Cooke; "that's the sound of the men working on the chain gang")

I'm also interested in non-strict examples where the "_______" is implicit, such as

• For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield; "children, what's that sound?")
• Caress Me Down (Sublime; "that's that lovin' sound")

posted by aws17576 to Media & Arts (54 answers total)

The Sound of Music
posted by runincircles at 11:02 AM on August 23, 2023 [5 favorites]

"Lullaby of Broadway" from 42nd Street
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:05 AM on August 23, 2023

Beastie Boys - Sounds of Science

Jann Arden - The Sound Of
posted by VirginiaPlain at 11:06 AM on August 23, 2023

does it have to have the world 'sound' in it? If it could refer to hearing something there's 'I Hear Music (& I think there's other songs out there with similar titles)
posted by snowymorninblues at 11:07 AM on August 23, 2023

The Sound of Settling
posted by lunasol at 11:07 AM on August 23, 2023 [7 favorites]

I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass - Nick Lowe
posted by The Half Language Plant at 11:12 AM on August 23, 2023 [9 favorites]

Penguin Cafe Orchestra's The Sound Of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter
posted by niicholas at 11:12 AM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

"Don't you know/ talking 'bout a revolution/ sounds like a whisper?"
posted by praemunire at 11:18 AM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

The Sound of the Crowd - The Human League.
The Sound of the Suburbs - The Members.
posted by misteraitch at 11:30 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia).
posted by kevinbelt at 11:33 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

The In Sound From Way Out! (1966) is an early electronic album from Jean-Jacques Perrey.
The Amazing New Electronic Pop Sound of Jean Jacques Perrey (1968) is another.
Interestingly, the Beastie Boys took the name and cover art from Perrey, and used it for their own instrumental compilation album: The In Sound From Way Out! (1996)
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:37 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wailin' Jennys One Voice.
posted by rekrap at 11:38 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Prince! When Doves Cry.
posted by shornco at 11:49 AM on August 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

The Sound of North America - The Beautiful South
The Sound of Sunshine - Michael Franti & Spearhead
The Sound of Violence - Cassius
The Sound of Muzak - Porcupine Tree
The Sound of Goodbye - Crystal Gayle
The Sound of Your Cry - Elvis Presley
posted by pipeski at 11:49 AM on August 23, 2023

Best answer: But there's a new sound, it's deep down in the ground
And everyone who listens to it squirms
Because this new, new sound, so deep down in the ground
Is the sound that's made by worms
posted by credulous at 11:53 AM on August 23, 2023

Not necessarily an important lyric or title, but the "sound of $X" as a song lyric is very common:
Here's a small sample:

AC/DC: Thunderstruck: drums
10,000 Maniacs - About the Weather: noon bell chime
Aerosmith: Janies Got a Gun: gun
Alanis Morisette - All I Really Want: pretenses
Beat Happening: an angel rolling bones to the door
Beatles - Let It Be: music
Belinda Carlisle - Heaven is a Place on Earth - kids on the street outside
Belle & Sebastian - Miraculous Technique: rain upon your windowsill
Belle & Sebastian - Modern Rock Song: it
Belle & Sebastian: Chickfactor: her voice
Billy Bragg - A Lover Sings: a shower running softly
Billy Bragg: I Don't Need this Pressure: platinum cash tills
Billy Bragg - Brickbat - the sea
Billy Bragg - Great Leap Forward- people stacking chairs and mopping up spilled beer
Bruce Hornsby - Mandolin Rain: a summer storm
Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain: sound of a clown who cried in the alley
Charlie XCX - Boom Clap - my heart
Danny Elfman - Oogie Boogie Song: rolling dice
Eagles - Take it Easy - your own voice
Elliott Smith - Tomorrow: like someone
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:04 PM on August 23, 2023

"Sound of the Underground" - Girls Aloud
posted by alchemist at 12:05 PM on August 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

LCD Soundsystem, “Sound of Silver”
posted by ejs at 12:10 PM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

Add N to X: “The Sound of Accelerating Concrete”
Veruca Salt: “Sound of the Bell”
The Long Winters: “The Sound of Coming Down”
The Clash: “The Sound of Sinners”
The Orielles: “The Sound of Liminal Spaces”
posted by ejs at 12:14 PM on August 23, 2023

Mike Doughty: I Hear the Bells
posted by wicked_sassy at 12:18 PM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Franz Ferdinand, Walk Away. "I love the sound of you walking away."
posted by gentlyepigrams at 12:20 PM on August 23, 2023

Deeper in the lyrics:

Huey Lewis likes the sound of breaking glass, and if you don't believe him, then why did you ask?
posted by BrashTech at 12:26 PM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Robyn Hitchcock, “The Sound of Sound”
posted by johngoren at 12:28 PM on August 23, 2023

the beating of our hearts is the only sound
posted by daisystomper at 12:34 PM on August 23, 2023

"And it sounded like a lot of lawnmowers..." (Laurie Anderson, Ramon)
posted by Ms. Toad at 12:45 PM on August 23, 2023

Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine ("It brings back the sound of music so tender"), Love for Sale ("When the only sound in the empty street")
Sweet California, Hum ("Everybody else sounds like noise"); Blood Red Shoes, Meet Me at Eight ("Sounds like noise")
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:57 PM on August 23, 2023

Jukebox the Ghost - Sound of a Broken Heart

The 1975 - The Sound ("Well I know when you're around 'cause I know the sound, I know the sound, of your heart")
posted by sigmagalator at 12:59 PM on August 23, 2023

Sunday mornin .. Spanky and our gang 1966
It's so quiet on the street you can hear the sound of feet walking by...
posted by hortense at 1:08 PM on August 23, 2023

Sunday Mornin .. Spanky and our gang ,1966.
It's so quiet on the street you can hear the sound of feet walking by...
posted by hortense at 1:13 PM on August 23, 2023

Yo La Tengo's The Sounds of the Sounds of Science springs to mind.
posted by rachelpapers at 1:19 PM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mis-Teeq One Night Stand

Perfect slice of 2001 girlpop. Chorus opens with "sound of the DJ playin' our jam".

Sugababes, Soul Sound
From the same year, afternoon harmonic mellow-out vibe
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:24 PM on August 23, 2023

Eels The Sound of Fear
posted by the_dreamwriter at 1:30 PM on August 23, 2023

Phish - Scent of a Mule

("When suddenly, like the sound of a buzzard's breaking" and "When suddenly, like the sound of a breeding Holstein")
posted by bondcliff at 1:34 PM on August 23, 2023

Fatboy Slim - The Sound of Milwaukee
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:53 PM on August 23, 2023

A quick scan of my iTunes yielded the following.

Strict:
Audioslave - Sound Of A Gun
Clem Snide - The Sound of German Hip Hop
Death Cab For Cutie - The Sound of Settling

Non-strict:
Regina Spektor - Consequence of Sounds
Pixies - Planet of Sound
posted by Twicketface at 2:07 PM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

John Prine - Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 2:13 PM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

Cannanes - Sound of the City.
posted by ryanshepard at 2:25 PM on August 23, 2023

From the Scottish traditional music scene: Fred Morrison's The Sound of the Sun, and (cheating a bit) Donald Mackinnon's The Sound of Sleat.
posted by offog at 2:45 PM on August 23, 2023

Missy Higgins' debut studio album: The Sound of White (Title Track)
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 2:58 PM on August 23, 2023

Joy Division – The sound of music
posted by farlukar at 2:59 PM on August 23, 2023

“Late in the Evening,” Paul Simon: “And I heard the sound of a cappella groups”
posted by staggernation at 3:19 PM on August 23, 2023

Mike Doughty: I Hear the Bells

"I hear the Bells" is also lyrics in The Bells by Marvin Gaye (pure awesome cover by Laura Nyro)...

"I hear the Bells" is also lyrics in a heavy Lou Reed drone freakout with lyrics inspired by Edgar Allen Poe.
posted by ovvl at 3:30 PM on August 23, 2023

Sounds of the Wickedness
posted by Jon Mitchell at 3:36 PM on August 23, 2023

And the piano sounds like a carnival, and the microphone smells like a beer
They sit at the bar and put bread in my jar and say “Man, what are you doing here?”
posted by Sublimity at 8:01 PM on August 23, 2023

Zero Seven, Warm Sound
posted by Sublimity at 8:02 PM on August 23, 2023

Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound / Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me

-- Billy Joel
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:11 PM on August 23, 2023

Dami Im, Sound of Silence (Australia, Eurovision 2016)
posted by ewan at 2:08 AM on August 24, 2023

More on the implied sound end, Oysterband’s “Bells of Rhymney.”
posted by kitten kaboodle at 3:35 AM on August 24, 2023

Traffic - The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
posted by hydrophonic at 6:08 AM on August 24, 2023

Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs

I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you
Give me just a chance
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you

posted by quadrilaterals at 7:32 AM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Ben Folds Five - The Sound of the Life of the Mind
Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
Sounds Better in the Song - Drive By Truckers
Can't Make a Sound - Elliott Smith
Nick Drake: At the Chime of a City Clock (it's at least referencing a sound, if not using the word sound in the title.)
posted by emelenjr at 9:58 AM on August 24, 2023

The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest, by the Young Fresh Fellows
posted by lenore at 10:26 AM on August 24, 2023

Stereolab - Noise of Carpet (another of their usual oblique titles--nothing to do with the lyrics)
posted by hydrophonic at 1:47 PM on August 24, 2023

Shinedown - The Sound of Madness
posted by jet_pack_in_a_can at 4:39 PM on August 24, 2023