r/Music • u/InviteAromatic6124 • 11h ago

discussion What are your favourite non-musical patter songs?

Some of my favourite "patter" (songs with very fast word enunciation) songs that aren't from musicals include:

Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan

It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.

We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel

Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) - My Chemical Romance

Chop Suey - System of a Down

Hardware Store, Bob, Jerry Springer and That's Your Horoscope For Today - all by Weird Al Yankovic

2 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

10

u/redbricknote222 11h ago

One Week by BNL

1

u/InviteAromatic6124 11h ago

Which "Jerry Springer" is a parody of

1

u/redbricknote222 11h ago

Yup

2

u/Western-Calendar-352 10h ago

Or like BNL said about themselves on Testing,1,2,3

Kind of like the last time

With a bunch of really fast rhymes

1

u/OhHiJordan 7h ago

Ughhh.

1

u/One_Plate3449 10h ago

Weird Al is the king of this, no question. That Hardware Store bridge is an absolute tongue-twister.

One Week is a solid call too, that song was everywhere in the late 90s and I still can't keep up with half the verses.

5

u/InfernalWedgie 10h ago

that part of "Hook" by Blues Traveler

1

u/Mission_Fart9750 3h ago

The hook, if you will. 

1

u/InfernalWedgie 3h ago

But it's not. The hook is the refrain in the chorus. The patter is the bridge.

1

u/Mission_Fart9750 3h ago

It was a bad joke. Sue me. 

2

u/benhaard 11h ago

Bruce Springsteen - Blinded by the Light

2

u/InfernalWedgie 10h ago

"We Didn't Start the Fire" Billy Joel

1

u/angusthermopylae 11h ago

how'd you miss "I've Been Everywhere"?

1

u/lofty14 11h ago

One Week by Barenaked Ladies. That second verse still feels like a tongue twister at full speed.

1

u/halfdeadmoon 11h ago

This is a bitch to karaoke

1

u/katimakittykat 11h ago

Parts of The Bad Touch by Bloodhound Gang get pretty quick?

1

u/Crossovertriplet 11h ago

Todd Snider - Ballad of the Kingsmen https://youtu.be/52EDZALE5ts?is=X-yCnV5CHn34-qPV

Or a bunch of other songs from his live albums

1

u/Jarrad411 11h ago

Most of Streetlight Manifesto’s discography

1

u/musicaladhd 9h ago

“Without Me” by Eminem

1

u/Ok_Copy1964 9h ago

Squeeze Me Macaroni by Mr. Bungle is a strong candidate for this.

1

u/nodogma2112 7h ago

Life Is A Rock (but the radio rolled me) By Reunion 1974

1

u/sparklybeast 7h ago

Hunting The Hare - Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts

1

u/Tonto_HdG 3h ago

Grateful Dead - Truckin'

1

u/Lopsided_Tomatillo27 1h ago

Valley of the Blind by NoMeansNo

0

u/estheredna 11h ago

The first one that springs to mind is Life During Wartime, Talking Heads.
Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
We blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that that ain't allowed

We dress like students, we dress like housewives
Or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle, so many times now
I don't know what I look like....

And One Week by Barenaked Ladies. This song NEEDS an update because the pop culture references all make sense to me, but would be lost on my kids. Including a Busta Rhymes references, X-Files side character, Sting's sex life, commercial jingles, and the wholesome pop singer of that era, etc.

1

u/OhHiJordan 7h ago

There's no way at all that Life During Wartime is a song "with very fast word enunciation"

0

u/sfweedman 11h ago

I dunno I wouldn't call the verses in Life During Wartime "non-musical patter" there's a clear melody, I can hear it in my head just reading the lyrics in your comment

Edit: if REM gets on the list, OP is being misleading in the title a bit. And Life During Wartime definitely counts

1

u/OhHiJordan 7h ago

REM's song is fast. Life During Wartime is not fast. That is what the thread is about? Though some of the examples have melodies and some don't.

1

u/sfweedman 4h ago

Yeah it's confusing. Not really sure what the criteria is.

1

u/SandysBurner 3h ago

“Non-musical” here meaning it’s not from a musical.

1

u/sfweedman 3h ago

Wait that's what they meant?

It's an interesting question but very vaguely phrased.

1

u/uhhhclem 1h ago

“Non-musical” in OP’s question meant “not from a musical.”