Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with song

Where have I heard this Snog song sampled?

iamfantastikate — Fri, 24 May 2013 02:30:34 -0800

Snog's "The Human Germ" has been sampled in another song that I know is in my library. Unfortunately, I can't figure out which one it is, and it's killing me. I believe a Morcheeba song might sample "The Human Germ," but, again, I've not been able to narrow down which song it is, if any. Please. Help.

Need great songs about listening!

razzman — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:49:22 -0800

A friend is organising an event about protecting children from child abuse. Most cases where a child dies from abuse or is significantly harmed show a lack of professionals actually listening to the child - this event is to encourage agencies working with these children to listen more and listen better. She needs music (for background, as people are arriving and in between speakers) with a message of listening and hearing. There's lots of promising song titles out there but most are obviously about lost loves. Can anybody recommend some great songs which may fit the bill? Bonus points for songs likely to be familiar in the UK!

Song identification: Rolling Stones circa 1972

99percentfake — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:31:36 -0800

See inside for a link that goes to a NSFW Youtube video. It is a song that appears around the 82 minute mark of the 1972 documentary Cocksucker Blues.

Please note the documentary shows a lot of very questionable activities. Some of it was allegedly staged in order to be shocking but some of it is probably real.

With that said, here is a queued up link: SONG. I already tried reading all of the associated comments but no answers were given.

Thanks for any help in identifying this song.

Hello darling!

turniphead — Sat, 04 May 2013 08:38:26 -0800

I’m looking for songs that contain the word “darling.” The word doesn’t have to be included in the title. Bonus points if “darling” is part of the chorus. Thanks!

Obscure songfilter:

tizzie — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:03:30 -0800

Has the phrase "you so famous" and a list of artists including Willem de Kooning. Thanks.

Song about stages of life?

michellenoel — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:05:38 -0800

Halp! I can't think of the song by a guy talking about different ages in his life; he names several ages like 15, 24, etc., throughout the song and for each one talks about how he feels at that time. It's has a slowish melancholy feel to it. Thanks Mefites!

What was this female-singer, new folksy song about the months?

shortyJBot — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:06:54 -0800

Can you help me ID this newer folk song, by a female singer, about the months? I was listening to Richmond's local WRIR station on their alt-folk night while driving home, and I really liked a song by a female singer that went through naming all the months and told a little about each month. I think it is a newer song based on the program I heard it on. The singer's voice was kind of...dreamy. That's all I've got. Any guesses?

Can you improve on "It sucks but do it anyway" as a musical mantra?

psoas — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:11:57 -0800

Looking for motivational songs that lyrically acknowledge tedium or lack of willingness to get something done while telling you to suck it up, in the vein of (previously on MeFi) "Do It Anyway" by Ben Folds Five. Need to be able to chant the refrain while, e.g., getting out of bed early to go work out. Has to have a driving beat, of course.

Please help us pick a wedding song

cali59 — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:29:57 -0800

I don't think we've heard our wedding song yet, maybe you have? My fiancee and I need to pick a song for our first dance very soon (DJ wants to finalize info). We've listened to a ton of songs but none seem right. I'm holding on to the hope that there's still a perfect song out there.

Basically, this is what we're hoping for:

Lesser known. We'd like a song that is not widely used or suggested as a first dance song.

Slow tempo. We just want to do a low key prom-like dance.

Lyrics about being in love. Not about something else like the beautiful day or that I think I am falling in love.

Clear lyrics. Especially the chorus, since people probably won't have heard it before.

Modernish. Hopefully contemporary, but possibly maybe as old as the 80s-90s, nothing older, sorry.

Consistent lyrics. So often they have that one random lyric 3/4 of the way in that just kills it as a wedding song.

Non-gender specific lyrics. Not something like "you're the woman for me", etc.

For some reason, this is just really hard to find (probably because I see we're apparently really picky). Done a lot of googling. I've seen a few older threads here and gotten some good ideas I'll pass on to my fiancee, but would like to ask again with these criteria.

Thank you hive mind.

Explain the Diva Plavalaguna song to me, please?

Solomon — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:44:31 -0800

Please explain, in simple terms, the Diva Plavalaguna song, from the film The Fifth Element to me. I'd like to know more about the technical aspects of the song. I'm looking for the terms I'd need to plug into Google to find more music of the same style. I'm specifically talking about the first part of the song where the singer is singing in Italian, not the electronica-y second part. Also, I'm looking for recommendations for other similar music. Things I like about the song:
1] Female singer with a strong voice.
2] The singer's voice is front and centre. The instruments are in the background and less relevant.
3] She holds the notes over different words and even changes notes during a given word, during "discesa", "nemici" and "t'assidi" for example.

Opera as a search term isn't really cutting it, mainly because (I'd guess) it's either not correct or not specific enough.

Help me choose a song that's fun, inspirational and unique.

shew — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:17:31 -0800

I won an award. They're going to play a song in the background while I walk up on stage and receive the award at a formal reception/event (with families, executives and other industry reps present). 30-45 seconds of the song will actually play and I can queue it up to the right spot if I don't want to play it from the beginning. My initial thoughts were to use a TV theme song since they're fun and catchy but all the ones I came up with were a little campy. Now I'm considering more classic songs - something everyone will recognize - but am freaking out. Help.

Finding the name of a certain Japanese music group (shakuhachi / piano)?

glassrose — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:47:22 -0800

What I remember is that it was a 2- or 3- or 4-man Japanese music group whose name started with a "K". One of the members plays a shakuhachi, another is a pianist, and I think some of their music falls under the ambient/electronic genre. Unfortunately, I really can't remember the names of any of their songs or members. What I do remember is that I found a YouTube video of one of their songs in the "Related" list of another band's ambient/electronic song. The song video in question showed a picture of a tree or forest or something.

I know this is really vague and disorganized, so I apologize... If anyone has any ideas/suggestions/leads, I would really appreciate it if you could share them! :)

Losing sleep over ska

Riton — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:43:47 -0800

Help! I'm going crazy over a song I know, heard a part of in a restaurant today - and can't put a name to. Can any of you help me name this song? The song is ska-ish, I would say nineties, not so fast for a ska song (maybe 80-100 bpm?) The riff that sticks in my mind is a horn riff, starting with 2 very accented half notes at the beginning of the bar (same note), then 3 beats of staccato unaccented quarter notes (varying notes). I know that's not much to work with - but I'd be forever indebted! Thanks!

Buddada buddada boom? Song ending.

monospace — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:44:48 -0800

I'm looking for the correct musical/technical term (if such a thing exists) for that last part of a live song, where the band lingers on the last note(s) before ending it. We're all familiar with it: bass and guitar shredding, cymbals swelling, culminating in that final, sweet, satisfying crash. I'm asking because my band never seems to get it right. Here's a previous AskMe with examples, but no answer as to what it's called. I'm pretty sure "coda" and "outro" are different things, and there's gotta be something more specific than just "ending".

Help me find this song about colors and love!

kro — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:59:37 -0800

SongFilter: I heard a song recently that went through a series of colors in the verses and ended with a chorus that included the color red and the phrase "ready for love". Google is failing me...please help me identify it! Other details:
The song definitely, 100%, includes the words "ready for love". I'm 90% sure it also includes the phrase "give me red". It went through a bunch of different colors including blue and gray. I believe it was a woman singing, and it was definitely a happy song. It wasn't "Love is Blue" by Sinatra or "Red" by Taylor Swift. I heard it in central Florida; I'm thinking at this point that it was probably some local artist. I've been googling, youtube-ing, etc for about 20 minutes now to absolutely no avail. Thank you!

Help me identify a song currently on the radio!

ORthey — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:12:07 -0800

I've heard a song on the radio a couple times in the past few weeks, and I've been completely unable to identify it. I've tried google, radio station playlists, humming it into midomi, but no dice. Here's what I can tell you: - I am almost certain the song is a new release given that I heard it a few times recently.
- I thought the chorus had the repeated line "got nowhere/place to go," but google seems to disagree.
- The singing has something of an old-timey feel (something along the lines of the sample in Moby's song "why does my heart feel so bad?)." Not sure if it's a man or a woman.
- Instrumentally, it features a lot of short "cut-up" bursts of different instruments, I think including a harmonica fairly prominently. It has a steady, driving beat, perhaps with a little swing to it. It has a pretty herky-jerky feel to it.
- I heard it either on KFOG (104.5) or Live 105.3 (or both) in the SF Bay Area.

That's pretty much all I remember, and it's driving me crazy. I'd love to hear what else the band has done. Help!

What is this upbeat indie song???

brittanyq — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:44:39 -0800

There's a song that comes on at my work, and for the life of me I can't figure out what it's called. I got a brief glance at the band name and title, but forgot them before I got the opportunity to write it down. The name that's sticking in my mind for the band is "Ally Way," but that doesn't seem to be right. I think it's two words though, and the first word struck me as a little bit different, spelled weirdly or something. It's from a playlist the company pays a service to provide for background music for every store, which means it's probably a relatively recent, not totally obscure indie-ish song, but nothing that would still be on the radio.

The song itself kind of reminds me of early Kings of Leon but a bit less southern and a bit more jammy if that makes sense. The lyrics are a bit difficult to decipher because of the singing style, but I think they include some variation of "I think it"s time again" or "about that time again" and "kiss you on your cheek".

The song is really fun and I would love to hear it again without waiting days for it to pop up at work, and to hear more from the same band... Do any of these probably unhelpful details ring a bell for anyone.

Most interesting/unique studio performances of "Amazing Grace?"

JPowers — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:32:20 -0800

I'm getting married in May. We want to play "Amazing Grace" during the ceremony. I'm hoping to find an interesting, unique, and overall awesome version to play. The funkier, the better, but traditional and beautiful versions are welcome as well. Basically, if you have a favorite performance, by a particular person or group, I'd like to know about it.

It's not Adele, or the Bee Gees

ms_rasclark — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:08:47 -0800

I heard a great song in spinning class today during the long, slow, hard hill section - slow and steady beat.. I almost remember the song and it's playing on and endless loop just at the edge of my consciousness. Female singer, strong vocal reminiscent of Adele, could have been a James Bond theme song, but I know it wasn't. I want to say Shadow Dancer, but I googled that and came up with a Bee Gees song, definitely not it. I won't sleep tonight unless I figure this out. Please help.

The song that helps you make it those last few minutes on the treadmill?

cherrybounce — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 15:10:40 -0800

Salt n' Pepa's Push It always does it for me, but it's getting old. What song gets your blood pumping every time?

Name of a song from last night's The Walking Dead?

pyrex — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:13:48 -0800

No worries, no spoilers follow. In last night's The Walking Dead (Season 3, Episode 12) there was a song playing just prior to the credits and I badly want the name of it (and the artist of course). The whole song was accompanied by an acoustic guitar and was in a blues style. Lyrics follow: Oh lord live inside me, lead me on my way
Oh lord live inside me, lead me on my way
Lead me home
Lead me home

Oh lord in the darkness, lead me on my way
Oh lord in the darkness, lead me on my way
Lead me home
Lead me home

Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm

Oh lord heaven's waiting, open up your door
Oh lord heaven's waiting, open up your door
Lead me home
Lead me home

Lead me home
Lead me home

Lead me home
Lead me home

Help me identify a song with an answering machine message at the end.

easy, lucky, free — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:50:58 -0800

So, once I had a mix CD with a song on it that had what I believe is an answering machine message at the end. I can't remember the artist or song title, and it's driving me nuts. Here are the limited clues:

I think the message might have contained the phrase "so pissed off" or something to that effect.

It's not "Providence" by Sonic Youth.

Artists on the CD included T. Rex, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., Van der Graaf Generator, Wire, and The Fall. The song in question is probably similar in style.

I hope someone can help because this is seriously troubling me. Thanks!

Looking for a "song", maybe created by scientists, required headphones?

paulinsanjuan — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:34:53 -0800

I am looking for a "song" and I believe it was created by scientists. About 10 min long. Headphones were required. It begins with an industrial, pulsating sound like taking a kitchen faucet and spraying it into a stainless steel bowl around and around. After a few minutes, it bursts into loud but clear music with harps and strumming of various instruments. There are no human voices. I seem to recall this "song" was engineered for a purpose... maybe to help insomniacs, or to create an auditory, holophonic experiment. If you closed your eyes, it created a "visual" effect. I feel like I first learned about it on wimp.com. I also clearly remember learning of this "song" when learning of Marconi Union and their song "Weightless" which was engineered to help you sleep. Any ideas?

Name that record: dinosaurs edition

genug — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:17:19 -0800

I'm trying to find the name of a dinosaur record that I listened to endlessly as a kid in 1980 or so. It was a 2-record set, I recall the covers (or the records?) being one red and one green. Songs and maybe some narrated info on various dinosaurs. I'm nearly certain it wasn't The Dinosaur Record. Anyone here happen to remember it? And if not, anyone with a tip on a shop that specializes in long-ago children's music that might be able to help me identify it?

I don't want to be humiliated again!

Ruthless Bunny — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:56:26 -0800

Help me pick out an awesome song to sing at Karaoke! Occasionally there comes a time when I must perform a karaoke song.

Last night at a work function I had to perform. I love to sing and I actually have a pretty voice, mostly alto, but I can do soprano. What I usually sing is Springsteen, in the car, at the top of my voice.

So I'm in the bar, with a Dark and Stormy in me and I decide to belt out "Born to Run". Now I negotiated the lyrics perfectly, but the tune! So FLAT!!! OMG!

I knew after the first line that I was in over my head. WHY? What made me choose a song that's notoriously hard to sing?

It dawned on me that most people have one go-to karaoke song. Something that's crowd-pleasing and that fits their voice.

Help me find that song! What song can I perfect so that if I'm ever called upon to sing again, that I can get up there, sing it decently, have folks cheer me on and not be admired for my balls, but for giving a good performance?