Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with songs

Vibraphone pop/rock songs with vocals?

querty — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:57:07 -0800

Looking for pop/rock songs featuring the vibraphone, requirements...

must have vocals
pop / rock only (no jazz / electronic / folk / country)
vibraphones only (no related instruments like the xylophone / marimba)

So pretty much the opposite of the previously asked vibraphone questions.

"This is the..." forgotten song!

broadway bill — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:46:44 -0800

ForgottenSongFilter: I am trying to help a friend recall a song, with dismal results (so far). All we know is that it is a hip hop/R&B/radio-pop type song, likely from the mid-1990s, with a female vocal in the chorus. The chorus is something along the lines of "This is the..." with a spelled out phrase following that, likely beginning with the letter L. There may or may not be "party sounds" in the background. HELP!?!

Name that song.

Nonce — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:01:40 -0800

There is a song I've heard on Pandora that is clever and funny and about cybersex. One attribute I recall is that the singer (male) rhymes something with the lyrics, "semicolon parenthesis." What's the title of the song, and who sings it?

Best of the Web of Sound 09

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:46:58 -0800

What are some amazing virally-disseminated music songs from the internet from 2009? Every year I put together a blog post of "the list of the best/weirdest/catchiest internet-disseminated and -popularized songs from this year. They don't necessarily have to have been recorded this year, nor do they have to have an amusing video or animation associated with them, though that certainly is a major bonus.

The more obscure and memey the better: I'm not looking for just the most popular, though I can guarantee Kutiman's Thru-U is probably #1.

Thanks in advancement!

Please help me arrange rock songs

DMelanogaster — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:20:13 -0800

How can I find out the arrangements of well-known rock songs, so I can learn how to create arrangements myself? I am trying to create rock songs using Ableton software. That is, I'm singing on a track and then I'm adding midi tracks using midi instruments that emulate guitars, percussion, etc.

Except I've never been in a rock band so I don't know what I'm doing. I was a music major eons ago and know how to orchestrate music, but I can't figure out how to do rhythm guitar, etc. for my own songs.

I look up songs on You Tube and try to see what they're doing, and I've gotten a tiny bit of the knack of "scoring" "percussion" (i.e., playing fake drums), but my songs don't sound like rock songs.

For example, does a rhythm guitar just go "chord, chord, chord" to the beat? when I try to do that my song sounds muddy.

Are there any sources on the web or elsewhere that will show me what instrument is playing what on some rock songs?

I'm going to try to upload a song onto -- something -- so maybe people here can listen to it and tell me what's missing.

The fish part, I'm sure of.

Solon and Thanks — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:52:06 -0800

Argh! Please help me figure out this song fragment stuck in my head based on a clue or two. I heard it on the radio during a commercial. The song had an upbeat indie-pop sound. Male singer. I'm unsure of the lyrics I heard, but they involved blind/deaf/other disability blowfish (or other kind of fish.) I think the next part was "just doing their own thing" or "doing" something. I've tried googling a combination of the above lyrics, but clearly no dice.

I'm hoping that indie songs involving disabled fish are rare enough that the above will ring a bell.

Bet They Won't Play These Songs on the Radio

dlugoczaj — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:38:52 -0800

Mix CD filter: Suggest stupid/funny songs! I am planning to make a mix CD that will go in my stepson's Christmas stocking. He's an immature but rather dry-witted 16-year-old with an endearingly geeky bent, and I already know he's fond of Tom Lehrer (but has most of Lehrer's stuff that he "gets" on his MP3 player already).

I'm interested in new or classic funny stuff, preferably fairly clean (it'd just be too creepy otherwise). Stuff already in mind:

--Some of Weird Al Yankovic's songs, mostly those like "One More Minute" and "Dare to Be Stupid" that don't really require a knowledge of the songs they're parodying, since he most likely won't know them.
--Some They Might Be Giants (probably "Why Does the Sun Shine," "Why Does the Sun Really Shine," "Particle Man" and/or "We Want a Rock").
--Some Monty Python stuff, a la "I Like Chinese," "Lumberjack Song," "Always Look on the Bright Side," etc.
--Possibly some Brian Dewan, although I don't know his catalog too well.
--Old Dr. Demento stuff, a la "Wet Dream," and "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha."
--The Muppets, "Mahna Mahna"

What else should I consider? Stuff that's readily available through Amazon MP3 download is preferable (I can do iTunes but I don't like it as much and it seems to conflict with the Amazon MP3s).

The Birth of Rock and Roll

netbros — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:50:03 -0800

What was the really good music of the fifties and sixties? Even though I am a child of the fifties, I didn't really start paying attention to music until I was in high school in the late sixties. I know... my head was somewhere else.

So what did I miss? Who were the really good groups, bands, singers, musicians and songwriters of the fifties and sixties? It's never too late to learn and enjoy.

iTunes keeps reordering my songs!

bluefly — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:06:15 -0800

iTunes won't order/list/play songs in an album in the order of the track number. I have specified the correct track number of the songs in the info thing, but it won't sort according to that field within an album. Is there some way to get around this? I am downloading albums (from friends' bands) to my computer, and then dragging those folders and dropping them in the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder (which was created by iTunes 9, I think). iTunes then does some magic which makes the songs appear in iTunes (and is organizing them in the iTunes Music Folder). But the songs are in the wrong order. Is there some other way to add albums to iTunes? I thought this drag and drop thing would keep everything nice and organized, but perhaps not. This is only happening with these downloaded albums, not with albums I buy through iTunes. (I searched around for answers, but they were so varied, I wasn't sure what to do. I am not an iTunes power user, but I would like to be).

I have a Windows 7 computer with iTunes 9. Thanks.

I've seen a million faces

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:27:36 -0800

What are some good songs about being on tour? My band's tour is coming to an end and I'd like to make a goodbye mix for all the crew and other bands we've been rolling with for the past month+.

They could be classic (American band, various zepplin), obscure (humble pie's 30 Days In The Hole [my personal favorite]) or modern (living legends' Creative Differences). They don't have to entirely be about touring as long as at least one verse or so specifically talks about life on the road as a musician.

TIA

A song where the main refrain is "That's my girl (hey!)"

meadowlark lime — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:19:28 -0800

A lo-fi song with the main lyric "That's My Girl (Hey!)"? Heard this song twice at a comedy club, but google and youtube have failed me for what I think is the first time on a song-related query.

The song has a '60s garage-rock sound, although it could be a '70s track or a modern song trying to ape the lo-fi sound of that era.

The main refrain is "That's my girl (hey!)" The hey is very echoey and sung by a backing chorus. I couldn't make out any other lyrics.

No, the song is not "My Girl" by the temptations, or "That's my Girl" by Charlie and the Nightcats, or "That's my Girl" by the Monks.

Anyone?

Songs similar to Spring Awakening's "Touch Me?"

mellifluous — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:24:35 -0800

I love the song "Touch Me" from Spring Awakening. Are there more like it? I don't know if I can fully articulate everything I like about the song, but here's my best attempt:

- A moderate to largish group in vocal harmony: I like the vocal interplay between the group, e.g., everyone building into a crescendo, which quickly segues into a solo, or when the group emphasizes particular parts of a phrase by coming in to sing it in unison.
- A melancholy, yearning tone, and sparse instrumentation (I don't want anything too operatic or saccharine, like songs from Disney musicals or something.)
- Pretty lyrics.
- A de-emphasis on showy vocal gymnastics.
- I think I also kind of enjoy that all the solo singers are male, but this isn't necessary.

Your suggestions needn't come from other musicals (especially since I don't care for the stupid speaking interlude in the original cast recording.)

Thanks.

Help me find emotionally resonant music with electronic elements!

noboru_wataya — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:21:54 -0800

Help me find electronic-themed, yet emotionally resonant songs like "Heartbeats" by The Knife & "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. After a lifetime of not really getting it, I'm finally beginning to appreciate songs with a lot of electronic elements to them. I can get into some ambient stuff if it's the right kind (I really like "Happy Cycling" by Boards of Canada), but I mostly prefer songs that have a more traditional structure, but incorporate electronic elements. The two that I mentioned above are the best examples I can name of what I mean. Songs that have electronic elements, yet can still move you. I'm open to anything really, as I'm basically a neophyte in the genres I'm describing.

There's this song in my head. What is it?

MattMangels — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:35:47 -0800

Songfilter: help me find out what this early 90s era pop song that is stuck in my head is This song running through my head I have heard many times on bland corporate radio, and I'm fairly certain it's from the late 80s/early 90s. Its main hook is 3 repeated (and sycopated) notes sung by a girl, either "stuck in love" or "so in love". I'm sure this will only help the real music nerds out there, but these three repeated notes start on the 'and' of beat 2 (the song is in 4/4). From what else I can remember, there's a lyric that goes like "it's why I think of you, (synth-generated orchestra hit here), baby)".

If any of you have a clue about what I'm talking about, your help is greatly appreciated.

Music listening as puzzle solving

martinX's bellbottoms — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:15:53 -0800

Nick Hornby wrote an essay p15 where he compares listening to a new song over and over to figuring out a puzzle. Can you point me towards any other writing about this same idea? Any type of writing would be great. I'd love to read personal essays from other music fans, music reviews, neurology papers, fiction, you name it.

John Jacob Jingleheimer something something...

zardoz — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:41:39 -0800

What do you sing to your kids? My six-month-old is thrilled with pretty much any song I sing to him, but "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" gets kinda old after the 500th repetition... My wife and I like to sing to the kid as it's something that almost always makes him smile and laugh and he never seems to tire of it. I've noticed, though, that most children's songs are really, really short. Many are just 4 or 5 lines long, so it takes only a minute or so to sing....so I go to the next short song, and the next and the next...I need some suggestions on a kids' song (bonus points if you name something that's already in my subconscious head!) that can be sung that actually last a decent while. Any ideas?

"I got all five senses and I slept last night..."

Inspector.Gadget — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:06:35 -0800

Soundtrackfilter: Please recommend to me mostly-instrumental, sometimes dark, contemplative soundtrack albums (or even compilations or regular albums) in the vein of Michael Andrews' work for Donnie Darko or Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd's soundtrack for Mysterious Skin. As you might imagine from me citing Donnie Darko, I'm also open to soundtracks with a considerable 80s synth cheese element - even better if the songs are tweaked a bit a la M83 to not be so cheesy. Anything on the brooding <> inspired spectrum is especially welcome. As a point of reference, I very much enjoyed the recent movie Brick and would like to find soundtrack or ambient songs that capture that sort of "pieces fall into place, and it's awesome/terrible" feeling.

Thanks in advance, hivemind! My guess is that anyone with broad exposure to ambient, modern classical, guitar-based instrumental, electronic shoegaze, post-rock, etc. albums is sitting on at least a few recommendations.

What are the canonical "cocksman" blues performances?

Joe Beese — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:42:44 -0800

What are the canonical "cocksman" blues performances? i.e. Howlin' Wolf - "Back Door Man". I'm planning a "mixtape". That's what we called 'em. And we wore onions on our belts... which was the style at the time...

What songs do you know about St. Louis?

AgentRocket — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:45:54 -0800

What songs are about St. Louis? Is there a list somewhere? I recently stumbled on this wikipedia list of songs about Boston, and it made me wonder if there is a list of songs about St. Louis. Assuming there is not, what songs are out there? This would make a good playlist.

By "about St. Louis," I mean ones that reference the City in some way (rather than just name check it once in a list of city names). The ones I can think of from the top of my head are:

Heavy Metal Drummer, Wilco ("...we used to go see, on The Landing in the summer")
Meet Me In St. Louis
Talkin' Baseball (St. Louis Cardinals Version)
St. Louie, Nelly (and a host of other Nelly/St. Lunatics songs)
Missing Missouri, Sara Evans (sort of: she talks about "the Cardinals playing on tv" in the bridge)

Songs of the City

sandraregina — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:29:06 -0800

I think my question might be too vague to google properly, so I turn to you. I'm looking for a wide variety of songs about cities. Not necessarily about a specific city, but in general. A couple of examples of the type of song I'm looking for is Dread the Day (Ghosts of Lemora) and Take Back the City (Snow Patrol). I don't care about musical genre. I'll listen to just about anything. :)

What are some really great music tutorial websites?

rongorongo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:16:29 -0800

What are some really great "learn by example" music tutorial websites? Somebody gave me a ukulele and I have been having a great time with tutorial sites like Aldrine Guerrero's "Ukulele Underground", Jim Rosokoff's "Doctor Ukulele", and the songs of "Ukulele Mike" (Michael Lynch). They are free, informative and entertaining enough (I think) to appeal even to people who are not studying to play. So what are the great sites out there for people studying other instruments? I'm thinking, in particular, of ones where somebody includes audio or video of them playing or singing.

Singers who listen to other songs?

Brody's chum — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:18:13 -0800

I'm looking for songs in which the singer specifically references listening to another musician, song or album. Please help? I don't want songs about singers or songs about songs and I don't even want songs that reference seeing other musicians in concert or on stage.
Three examples:
* "Thrift Store Chair" by Everclear has the line "Gonna put a John Prine record on"
* "Runnin' Down a Dream" by Tom Petty has the line "me and Del were singin' Little Runaway" which works because he is in the car listening to the radio, not in a studio singing along with Del Shannon in person.
* "Brian Wilson" by Barenaked Ladies works only because of the line "Just listenin' and re-listenin' to Smiley Smile" not because it mentions Brian Wilson.

I'm not looking for songs that simply mention other musicians or songs. There has to be active listening involved.

I know the examples I gave are very middle-of-the-road artists, but I'm interested in anything you can think of from any genre that fits the bill.
Thanks so much for any help you can give!

My neighbors will kill me if they hear "PYT" one more time.

zoomorphic — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:37:48 -0800

I need to update my dance-y indie music selection. My playlist is so 2007. Due to a change in jobs, I no longer listen to Pandora/Last.fm stations, so my awareness of recent music has plummeted. I like a pretty wide range of songs, but right now I'm specifically looking for upbeat, catchy indie music that I can play on a Friday night when friends come over for a drink, or for when I bring my iPod on a run. Right now this playlist includes stuff like MGMT, Black Kids, the Tings Tings, Handsome Furs, old Michael Jackson, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. This question was interesting but still too electronic-heavy. As I am the most predictable, low-brow listener when it comes to locating the most single-ish single on an album, it would help plenty if you could specify songs rather than just albums and artists.

My roommates, friends, and headphones thank you in advance!

Don't know why they didn't offer a plain-text list

Jaltcoh — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:10:50 -0800

Is there a way to quickly check if a certain song (or artist) is on Pitchfork's list of the top 500 tracks of the decade? I've been Googling to try to see if anyone has posted a plain-text version of the whole list on one page, but I haven't found it. For instance, let's say I'm wondering if there are any Norah Jones songs on the list. I could Google something like [pitchfork "top 500 tracks" "norah jones"], but this is really haphazard since it'll return any page with any reference to Pitchfork, Norah Jones, etc. Limiting it to [site:pitchfork.com] still doesn't solve the problem. Any suggestions?

That boy needs therapy

benzenedream — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:34:19 -0800

What are some of your favorite obscure electronic music singles? I'm looking for the kind of stuff where an otherwise unremarkable or unrecognized artist managed to release one perfect song. I am not interested in one-hit wonders as Wikipedia defines it -- I don't care if the song was ever popular or a club hit, just that it's good and interesting. Songs that creep onto your playlists despite not knowing or liking anything else by the same band are what I'm looking for, perhaps an excellent remix that managed to redeem a weak song. I tend towards artists such as Negativland, Lionrock, Aphex Twin, Prefuse 73, Amon Tobin, Girl Talk, DNTEL, Autechre, Avalanches, Jason Forrest, etc. but am looking for stuff far off the Pandora similarity radar.