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I love me a song with a lot of words in it. For example, Genesis wrote one in the 1970s called “Supper’s Ready” that has a whopping 997 words – that’s a whole lotta lyric. At the other end of the spectrum are the ones with supper minimalistic lyrics. Also from the ‘70s, for example, how about that Pink Floyd song from The Wall called “Is There Anybody Out There?” – a nearly three minute-long number with only 4 unique words in it: is, there anybody, out.
Discounting songs like those, that tell a larger story, The Wall-style, here are 7 stand-alone songs I love, each composed with fewer than 35 unique words. Let’s get a list going. What are some of your favorites?
1. You Are So Beautiful
Whether we’re talking Joe Cocker, Ray Charles, or Kenny Rogers, this simple lyric, penned by Billy Preston, Dennis Wilson and Bruce Fisher, only has 31 unique words in it.
2. Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes
Made popular by Beck in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this Korgis song only has 20 unique words in it.
3. Fly, Robin, Fly
According to Wiki, the German band Silver Convention wrote this one with only 6 unique words “due to the group not being able to speak English, and therefore unable to memorize a page of lyrics in a language unfamiliar to them.”
4. Her Majesty
The Beatles were masters when it comes to packing in a lot of song with as few words as possible. This one, which appeared as a hidden track at the end of their Abbey Road album and only has 34 unique words in it.
5. Hava Nagila
This traditional Jewish melody recorded by many, including Ben Folds Five and Bob Dylan (and heard round the country at sporting events) has only 10 unique words in it. Translated from the Hebrew, they mostly mean “Let’s rejoice and be happy!”
6. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Despite being more than 17 minutes long, this Iron Butterfly classic only has 30 unique words in it. (I’m counting In-a-gadda-da-vida as one word, otherwise you can say it has 34 unique words I guess—even though they are slurred, drunken words.)
7. It’s a Beautiful Day
Not to be confused with U2’s #1 hit, the Queen song of the same name has only 28 unique words.
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Comments (101)
Comment
Two of my favorite My Morning Jacket songs qualify:
Sweetheart
Lowdown
posted by Shawn on 7-7-2008 at 8:25 am
Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”?
posted by KLB on 7-7-2008 at 8:47 am
I think the Christmas song Feliz Navidad counts. I wrote it out and only got 20 words.
posted by Tricia on 7-7-2008 at 8:50 am
Band of Horses “Is There A Ghost” only has 14 words total (13 unique words).
posted by C. on 7-7-2008 at 9:13 am
Her Majesty’s only 23 seconds long! 34 words in 23 seconds is a lot!
posted by Liz on 7-7-2008 at 9:25 am
another pink floyd one…. “one of these days”.
does “the hustle” count? i think that would only be 3 words.
posted by motorkitty on 7-7-2008 at 9:37 am
Two full-length songs that weren’t instrumentals come to mind, although neither were singles nor hits…
“Aku Aku” by Styx (from Pieces of Eight, 1978) and
“Another Heart Breaks” by the Electric Light Orchestra (from Time, 1981).
I’m sure I know others… I’ll have to pull out the ol’ record player and see what’s what.
posted by Sandy on 7-7-2008 at 10:07 am
In-a-gadda-da-vida is actually supposed to be In the Garden of Eden slurred.
posted by Samantha on 7-7-2008 at 10:08 am
I hate to be fussy, but I’m pretty sure the title should be “7 Songs with Fewer Than 35 Words.” The word “fewer” is dying in modern English, sadly :(
posted by Matthew Gallant on 7-7-2008 at 10:27 am
How about a post about words per minute. “her majesty” has to be #1!!!!!
posted by Stevo on 7-7-2008 at 10:31 am
You mustn’t forget “around the world” by Daft Punk – with precisely 3 unique words.
posted by chejrw on 7-7-2008 at 10:53 am
Tequila by The Champs. 1 unique word uttered 3 times.
posted by Mike on 7-7-2008 at 10:55 am
The sone “German Love” by Starf***er (censored by me, actual band name is not censored) has 16 words by my count.
And how about “Tequila?” One word! (Though that’s probably considered an instrumental….)
posted by frumpiefox on 7-7-2008 at 10:58 am
3 words does not an instrumental make. In my opinion an instrumental contains no “words” of any kind. Screams, yelps and/or gasps are ok though. Thus, “Tequila” is a song but is classified as an instrumental for some reason.
posted by Mike on 7-7-2008 at 11:11 am
The theme song from Rocky, “Gonna Fly Now,” only has 13 unique words in it.
posted by Robert N. on 7-7-2008 at 11:21 am
How ’bout Weird Al’s “This song’s just six words long” ? I bet there are more words in his song than in the original by George (the unknown Beatle) Harrison.
posted by jef on 7-7-2008 at 11:37 am
Silver Convention’s followup to Fly, Robin, Fly – Get Up And Boogie had 6 different words as well. Get Up And Boogie That’s Right
posted by Jim on 7-7-2008 at 1:14 pm
‘louie louie’ anyone?
and I second the motion of Daft Punk- “around the world” AND “One more time” (11 words)
posted by ashley on 7-7-2008 at 1:28 pm
Daft Punk’s “Harder Better Faster Stronger” has only 19 words in it.
posted by Emily S S on 7-7-2008 at 3:05 pm
What about “Wipeout”? Only 1 word. Period.
(recaptcha (by Boogert)…?)
posted by ACute Angle on 7-7-2008 at 3:13 pm
How about Average White Band’s “Pick up the Pieces?” I believe those are the only four words in the song.
posted by Patrick on 7-7-2008 at 3:17 pm
There is a song on the SLC Punk soundtrack that is only three words. It is called “Sex and Violence” — it just says that over and over.
posted by Jenny on 7-7-2008 at 3:46 pm
Would ‘Louie Louie’ count since you can only understand 8 or so words? ;-)
posted by shane on 7-7-2008 at 4:14 pm
I suppose Weird Al’s “Six Words Long” doesn’t count…
posted by David Johnson on 7-7-2008 at 4:44 pm
“Sex Bomb” by Flipper:
She’s a sex bomb, my baby, yeah.
posted by drunko on 7-7-2008 at 4:49 pm
how about Metallica’s To Live Is to Die (30 words total)
posted by rinocom on 7-7-2008 at 4:50 pm
Second the vote for “Around the World” by Daft Punk.
Have to also give a shout-out to “Minimum Wage” by They Might Be Giants.
posted by Ben Dyer on 7-7-2008 at 4:51 pm
glass case celo vase by tattle tale
Red and blue jeans by the promise ring.
posted by kennard on 7-7-2008 at 4:55 pm
“Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” – by the Beatles
“Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except For Me and My Monkey” – by the Beatles
“David Bowie” – by Phish
“Row Row Row Your Boat” – by whoever
posted by Bill T. on 7-7-2008 at 4:59 pm
Weird Al Yankovic’s “This Song’s Just Six Words Long” ?
posted by Frank on 7-7-2008 at 4:59 pm
“Colour My World” — Chicago
“Milgram’s 37″ — Peter Gabriel
I can think of a lot of them!
posted by Danibobanny on 7-7-2008 at 5:00 pm
How about “All” and “No, All” by the Descendents. One, and two words respectively. Both less than 3 seconds long :)
posted by xpurityx on 7-7-2008 at 5:03 pm
Nirvana’s “School,” 14 words.
posted by David Gr on 7-7-2008 at 5:07 pm
LOL, thats awesome. I never thought about that and I like a few of those songs!
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
posted by JIm Beam on 7-7-2008 at 5:08 pm
“No Fun” by the Stooges certainly qualifies
posted by tightwhyte on 7-7-2008 at 5:11 pm
“ex-girlfriend” by Bush has only 7, i believe. and man, that song rocks.
posted by wade on 7-7-2008 at 5:13 pm
Wierd Al – (This Song’s Just) Six Words Long
posted by Joe on 7-7-2008 at 5:16 pm
What about “Tea for the Tillerman” by Cat Stevens? By my count it only has 32 unique words. It’s only a minute long, but hey if Her Majesty counts…
posted by Danielle on 7-7-2008 at 5:18 pm
Dave Matthews Band – American Baby Intro (7 words)
Dave Matthews Band – Pantala Naga Pampa (22 words)
Coldplay – Paracutes (19 words)
posted by Christian on 7-7-2008 at 5:18 pm
Sex and Violence by The Exploited has all these beat. Three unique words (see title).
posted by John on 7-7-2008 at 5:28 pm
“Doomsday Averted” by Rasputina – 3 words
posted by Holly on 7-7-2008 at 5:33 pm
I have you all beat!!
“Satan” by Orbital & Kirk Hammett
from the Spawn sound track
on contains one lyric (and it is said like 40 times). I bet you can’t guess the lyric.
It really is a good song too.
posted by Kreg on 7-7-2008 at 5:34 pm
TEQUILA
one word song
posted by reese on 7-7-2008 at 5:39 pm
I can’t believe no one has thought of “Daft Punk – Around The World”!
posted by Andrew on 7-7-2008 at 5:40 pm
TEQUILA
one word
posted by reese on 7-7-2008 at 5:41 pm
And let’s not forget….”The One I Love” by R.E.M.
posted by Joe Nobody on 7-7-2008 at 5:46 pm
Tool’s “Disposition” (11 words)
Beautiful song.
posted by Brad on 7-7-2008 at 5:47 pm
How about Husker Du’s ‘New Day Rising’ Which consists of the words ‘New Day Rising’
posted by Meh on 7-7-2008 at 5:47 pm
Ambugaton by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum has just one word: Ambugaton! and its an extremely excellent song.
posted by Adam R. Box on 7-7-2008 at 5:50 pm
“Untitled” by Interpol.
Amazing song to intro a pretty great album. Check it out.
posted by Nate on 7-7-2008 at 5:55 pm
Fat Boy Slim’s “Rockafella Skank” has only ten unique words: right, about, now, the, funk, soul, brother, check, it, out.
posted by Atomic Cow on 7-7-2008 at 5:55 pm
Does anybody know a song that is frequently played on Classic Rock radio stations with no lyrics but a really good guitar part throughout?
posted by Roger Thacher on 7-7-2008 at 6:02 pm
I Want You (Shes So Heavy) by the Beatles only has like 15 words in it.
posted by JPatrick on 7-7-2008 at 6:07 pm
Interpol – Untitled
Its a freaking masterpiece
posted by Rod on 7-7-2008 at 6:08 pm
“meat” by moe. when played live it can be upwards for 30 min… only one word… you guessed it…”Meat”
posted by moe.ron on 7-7-2008 at 6:14 pm
How about “Minimum Wage” by They Might be Giants.
posted by TmbjFan on 7-7-2008 at 6:16 pm
Full Disclosure by Fugazi is killer.
posted by Tamerz on 7-7-2008 at 6:18 pm
“Eleven O’Clock” by Morphine. The lyric is:
“Every night about eleven o’clock I go out.”
posted by Xixil on 7-7-2008 at 6:26 pm
Robot Rock – Daft Punk
Smack My B*tch Up – The Prodigy
Spitfire – The Prodigy
There is probably a lot of techno and techno-rock that fits in this category…
posted by Cam Cope on 7-7-2008 at 6:29 pm
I got all the f*ckin’ work I need – 7 unique words, over and over. And over. Dan Reeder as sung on Weeds.
posted by Dave Warner on 7-7-2008 at 6:29 pm
Muh-nah-muh-nah
posted by Zim on 7-7-2008 at 6:31 pm
The Allman Brothers – Jessica. 0 words. Amazing song.
I win :)
posted by Dave Walker on 7-7-2008 at 6:36 pm
The Beatles, also on Abbey Road, like “Her Majesty”, the side one closer “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. I count a grand total of 12 words.
posted by RC on 7-7-2008 at 6:39 pm
Nirvana’s “School”
posted by M on 7-7-2008 at 6:40 pm
how “divided sky” didn’t make the list is beyone me
posted by ickyoulust on 7-7-2008 at 6:44 pm
Shit luck by Modest mouse has less than 30 words in it… And I know theres hundreds more but I don’t feel like thinking about it :-P
posted by Crystal on 7-7-2008 at 6:49 pm
“I like short songs” by the Dead Kennedys: 4 words.
posted by freddy on 7-7-2008 at 6:53 pm
I Want You (She’s so Heavy) by the Beatles – 11 I think
posted by Will on 7-7-2008 at 6:59 pm
John Lennon – Look at Me (29)
Hey, why not do a follow up with Songs with MORE than “X” words?
American Pie, Tangled up in Blue, Stairway to Heaven come to mind. Not as many as the Genesis song but still a lot of words…
posted by Nerak on 7-7-2008 at 7:02 pm
Queens of the Stone Age – “Feel Good Hit of the Summer”
8 words.
posted by Louis on 7-7-2008 at 7:02 pm
As someone previously mentioned,
“Divided Sky” by Phish
and i can’t believe no one said
“You Enjoy Myself” also by Phish.
Two great songs with barely any words at all in them.
posted by Mike on 7-7-2008 at 7:16 pm
Yello: “Oh Yeah”
10 unique words
posted by Shark on 7-7-2008 at 7:22 pm
{nerdular nerdence}
3 songs by Blind Guardian qualify for this list.
The Minstrel – 18 words
Out on the Water – 23 or so words
The Dark Elf – 7 words
{/nerdulosity}
posted by tar on 7-7-2008 at 7:33 pm
The Appleseed Cast- Poseidon.
“i always know where i am. by the way the road looks. the sea brings me back to you”
posted by Tina on 7-7-2008 at 8:05 pm
Weird Al’s “This song is just six words long” actually has more than 35 words.
“Harvey the Wonder Hamster” on the other hand…
posted by Meri on 7-7-2008 at 8:07 pm
“They Might Be Giants” off the “FLOOD” CD:
2 Words….47 seconds…and the Title:
MINIMUM WAGE
posted by Mark Jones on 7-7-2008 at 8:08 pm
The Lounge Lizards “Conquest of Rar” – one word.
posted by Dav on 7-7-2008 at 8:18 pm
ROCK! ROBOT ROCK!
ROCK! ROBOT ROCK!
ROCK! ROBOT ROCK!
ROCK! ROBOT ROCK!
ROCK! ROBOT ROCK!
ROCK! ROBOT ROCK!
ROCK! ROBOT ROCK!
posted by Navarre on 7-7-2008 at 8:22 pm
Napalm Death’s song “You Suffer”.
The song is a few seconds long and the complete lyrics (not repeated) are:
You suffer, but why?
posted by jh on 7-7-2008 at 8:24 pm
every kraftwerk song
posted by Florian Schneider on 7-7-2008 at 8:30 pm
three words:
around the world around the world .. around the world around the world
posted by dylan on 7-7-2008 at 8:33 pm
S.O.D.’s anit-procrastination song.
Three words in the song
posted by Frank on 7-7-2008 at 8:48 pm
Are You In by Incubus has around 20 unique words in it.
posted by Leizl on 7-7-2008 at 9:41 pm
Webb Wilder – Sputnik off the album Doo Dad
posted by mark on 7-7-2008 at 9:51 pm
PJ Harvey – No Child of Mine
posted by Matias on 7-7-2008 at 10:03 pm
School by Nirvana
posted by Jack on 7-7-2008 at 10:25 pm
Kyrie from the Catholic Concert Mass.
Its lyrics are pretty much
‘Kyrie Eleison’
‘Christe Eleison’
-repeat in various rhythms-
The translation is essentially ‘Praise God’ and ‘Praise Christ’
The Concert Mass by Schubert has a particularly beautiful Kyrie section. Especially since I got to sing part of the solo in my senior year :)
XD my recaptcha is ‘crouchimg Mother’
posted by heather on 7-7-2008 at 10:33 pm
Christian, DMB’s American Baby has WAY more than seven words. Click on my name to link to the lyrics.
How about the most obnoxious song in the world:
Digital Droo – Monkey Developers. One word.
posted by Erin on 7-7-2008 at 10:42 pm
“Love Me Do” by the Beatles has 18 unique words. I know this because I took a sign language class in college which required us to sign a song for the final exam. ;)
posted by Laura on 7-7-2008 at 10:59 pm
madness’s one step beyond.
posted by brandon on 7-8-2008 at 2:29 am
Nearly below 35 unique words, but not quite: “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” by The Smiths. Hit the sig for the lyrics.
posted by dogma00 on 7-8-2008 at 3:40 am
Neon lights
Shimmering neon lights
And at the fall of night
This city’s made of light
Simple and beautiful lyrics by Kraftwerk
in german…
Neon Licht, schimmendes Neon Licht
Und wenn die Nacht anbricht ist diese Stadt aus Licht
posted by rafa on 7-8-2008 at 5:12 am
ana – by the pixies. awesome song and also each letter at the start of each line in the verse (repeated twice) spells out ’surfer’ :)
She’s my fave
Undressing in the sun
Return to sea, bye
Forgetting everyone
Eleven high
Ride the wave
posted by sputnik on 7-8-2008 at 6:25 am
How about “Why Hip Hop Sucks in ‘96″ off his Endtroducing album? It’s an instrumental until halfway through, when a voice says, “It’s the money”. Oooh, get you, DJ Shadow! Good point though…
Joe – http://www.anewbandaday.com
posted by Joe | A New Band A Day on 7-8-2008 at 10:30 am
Built To Spill – You Are
Everybody
Everybody
Everybody
Everybody
Everybody knows
Everybody knows
Everybody knows
Everybody knows
That you
That you
That you
That you
Are!
posted by Name on 7-8-2008 at 12:02 pm
Built to Spill – Oh Yeah
Oh Yeah
And if God
Does exist
I am sure He
Would forgive
Me for doubting
For He’d see
How unlikely
Himself seems
Oh Yeah
posted by Name on 7-8-2008 at 12:11 pm
Oye como va — Santana
Sure it’s in Spanish but it only has 9 words. In my Spanish IV class in high school we had to do a project where we lip synched and danced to a song in Spanish. Needless to say, my group consisted of slackers.
posted by Julia on 7-9-2008 at 1:40 pm
99% of the songs written by The Ramones
posted by TheKeeperOfThe7Keys on 7-10-2008 at 10:31 am
I Get Wet by Andrew WK has 37 unique words, but it seems like it is only 3 (since the title is shouted throughout the song).
posted by ian on 7-15-2008 at 9:34 am
Happy Birthday
The Hustle
posted by Eric on 7-28-2008 at 10:04 pm
Nick Drake – Know
posted by Lara on 6-13-2009 at 3:12 am