Members Sillypeoples Posted April 19, 2012 Members Share Posted April 19, 2012 '99 Bottles of Beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer....' or 'We all live in a Yellow Submarine, a Yellow Submarine, a Yellow Submarine....' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted April 19, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 19, 2012 I was a pretty big Springsteen fan until the BTR album. As America 'discovered' the guy I'd been listening to since right after the release of his first album (Welcome to Asbury Park), I discovered that he had learned how to successfully dumb his once interesting if sometimes overly wordy/poetic songs down into a slick, repetitive format apparently well designed to stick in the head of drug and alcohol addled Middle America types. At first, I was exhilarated by the brazen pop sensibilities -- but after a few listens to key songs on the radio, I knew I wasn't going to be buying the album. Unfortunately, two different sets of friends gave me the record that Christmas or on my birthday. I gave one away and saved one for no particular reason. I haven't listened to it since then.) That said, as utterly annoying as I find that song -- and I most certainly do -- there are songs I find even more annoying.(snip)That said, having spent much of the 90s listening to electronica, when loop construction caught on at the end of the 90s, it 'elevated' repetition to new 'heights.' I've heard stuff on the once-trendy college station in Santa Monica that was -- literally -- a couple of loops from the old Mixman software repeating without change for minutes at a time. (The former evening DJ and now music director there was apparently a fan of club music but appeared to have an amazing tolerance for seemingly endless repetition and tennis-shoe-in-dryer rhythm mashes.) Such lowest common denominator club music drives me nuts. But, I'm told, with the right drugs, you can't even hear it. It's interesting that you bring up loops in the same post as Bruce Springsteen's repetition. After all, "Born in the U.S.A." is essentially a two-bar loop repeated ad infinitum. Sure, there are a few variations within that structure, but only a few--the vocal melody ends differently in the second two bar pattern than in the first, the bass plays one note for the first four bars and then a different note for the second four bars, the drums start with just a snare, build from there, break down and build again, and there are a few vocal ad libs. I think the reason it didn't drive people nuts was that--unlike a sequenced two-bar loop--the repeating two-bar loop was played anew every time and performed with passion. And of course, the lyrics aren't nearly as repetitive as the music. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted April 19, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 19, 2012 And while we're on the subtopic of early Springsteen, I'll share that I was lucky enough to be given a prerelease version of his "Blinded By The Light," before Greetings From Asbury Park came out, via my membership in a Columbia Records club. I liked the song enough to buy the album when it came out, but I didn't like the album well enough to buy another Springsteen release. Granted, the song was more varied than "Born in the U.S.A.," but the verse was still a four bar loop repeated several times--albeit in question and answer format in which the vocal ends differently the second four bars than it did in the first. It's a common Springsteen songwriting method. "Hungry Heart" is another example. Sing a pattern once ending on an up note; sing it again ending on a low note. Question. Answer. Lather, rinse, repeat. And "Hungry Heart" is almost as repetitious as "Born in the U.S.A." [video=youtube;5lYpokhq_-w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lYpokhq_-w And FWIW, I also like the Manfred Mann's Earth Band version of "Blinded By The Light." I thought they were pretty creative in how they rearranged it. It's rare to hear such a difference between two versions of a song. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted April 19, 2012 Members Share Posted April 19, 2012 Huge Led Zeppelin fan here, so it pains me to post this: 84t4_Cfei-Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted April 19, 2012 Members Share Posted April 19, 2012 Huge Led Zeppelin fan here, so it pains me to post this: 84t4_Cfei-Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted April 19, 2012 Members Share Posted April 19, 2012 I tried to delete the second post, but it keeps coming back. I guess that shows how repetitive it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members techristian Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 [video=youtube;YIAnkrPgTvY] I like it , but my wife always says that it is too repetitive.....especially the DANCE version ! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yanktar Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 I thought "repetitive" meant "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall..." or "I'm En-er-ee the Eight I Am" not The Boss's plaintive anti-Viet Nam and recession primal scream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wrongnote85 Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 i win this thread with the following: [video=youtube;DAtc9mlX72Q] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members beatpoet Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 [video=youtube;c18441Eh_WE] This song was the scourge of 2001. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted April 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 I thought "repetitive" meant "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall..." or "I'm En-er-ee the Eight I Am" not The Boss's plaintive anti-Viet Nam and recession primal scream. I don't know how "repetitive" can mean anything other than "repetitive," so I'm not sure what you mean by this. But let's compare these songs with "Born in the U.S.A." Lyrically, "99 Bottles of Beer" is certainly more repetitive than "Born in the U.S.A." It wins both in lack of variation and in quantity of repeats--especially considering that when you get to zero, you can always sing, "Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall" and start all over again. Otherwise, I'd say "Born in the U.S.A." is more repetitive. "99 Bottles of Beer" contains three chords (or implied chords, since it's usually sung a cappella), looped over four bars. "Born in the U.S.A." has just one chord, played as a two bar riff that's repeated over and over until the end of the song. (If you count the alternate pedal tone that's played for four bars out of every eight, then you could say the song has two chords; but it still has less variation--and therefore more repetition--than the three chords in "99 Bottles of Beer.") Melodically, "Born in the U.S.A." essentially echos the line played in the one chord, two bar riff for the entire duration of the song. It has a question/answer variation that the keyboard riff doesn't have and there are occasional ad-libs; but it's basically a two bar riff. Considering that "99 Bottles of Beer" gives us four bars of melody before it repeats, but "Born in the U.S.A." only has two, I'd say "Born in the U.S.A." is more repetitious. It certainly repeats more frequently anyway, albeit with minor variation. In short, the winner for most repetitious in this matchup probably depends on where you place your focus. As for "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am," the "Second verse, same as the first" announcement does get your attention focussed on the repetition it contains; but I don't think it beats "99 Bottles of Beer" or "Born in the U.S.A." "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" goes a full 16 bar verse without any significant repetition. While you could repeat the verse any number of times, recorded versions of the song can be mercifully short--the Herman's Hermits version, for example, clocks in under two minutes with the verse sung just three times. That's not a lot of repetition compared to "99 Bottles of Beer" or "Born in the U.S.A." Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Bartus Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 Donna Summer: "Love To Love You Baby." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 I don't know if the Patti Smith/Bruce Springsteen duo, "Because the Night," is as repetitive as some of the other cited BS songs -- I'm pretty sure I haven't heard all the way through since the 70s -- but I know there was something about it that drove me away from Smith, who I was a huge fan of -- at least until her third album came out with that song on it. Seems to me that BS's "Dancing in the Dark," involves a certain amount of repetition, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gabriel E. Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 "Achy Breaky Heart". I'm not posting a vid because no one needs to be subjected to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bookumdano2 Posted April 20, 2012 Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 I totally forgot some of the mentioned records. I actually liked "Neandrathal Man" when it was out. Very clever to bury the vocal on that one. I always thought it woulda been neato for John Lennon to suddenly sing a verse of Neandrathal Man during "Give Peace a Chance". In the category of "hey, there's only one chord in this whole song" my two favorite repetitious songs are "Everyday People" and "Thank Ya Fa Lettin Me be Mice self" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Huh? Posted April 21, 2012 Members Share Posted April 21, 2012 Bartus you bastard!!!!!! That was my choice and I was quickly scrolling through the posts to see if anyone else had it.....got aaaaaaalmost to the end, and.......... ratfink!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkBastable Posted April 21, 2012 Members Share Posted April 21, 2012 Lyrically, "99 Bottles of Beer" is certainly more repetitive than "Born in the U.S.A." Come on - it's got a hundred verses, and every one is different. How many songs can you say that about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Bartus Posted April 21, 2012 Members Share Posted April 21, 2012 Bartus you bastard!!!!!! That was my choice and I was quickly scrolling through the posts to see if anyone else had it.....got aaaaaaalmost to the end, and.......... ratfink!! LOL!!! Another repetitive one-chord-groove-never-changes song was Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On." In that same category, let's not forget the Creedence classic "Keep On Chooglin'." IIRC, that was one long song for just one chord... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members piRround Posted April 21, 2012 Members Share Posted April 21, 2012 This [video=youtube;7NGaUZcT9Lw] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hoppy Shimko Posted April 21, 2012 Members Share Posted April 21, 2012 tomorrow never knows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KB Gunn Posted May 17, 2012 Members Share Posted May 17, 2012 Hey Jude....... nahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahHeyJudenahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahheyJudenahnahnahnahnahnahnahnahnah................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 17, 2012 Members Share Posted May 17, 2012 I learned to hate that song. Sooner, rather than later. An irritating song is an irritating song, no matter who it's by. Similarly, I really wanted to find a way to like "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys." But I couldn't. It was like a really cool hipster party that once I got into, I wanted out in two minutes. Wrong drugs? Speaking of hipster, I think "Frankie Teardrop" by NY first wave cult faves Suicide gets honorable mention. "Hey, Jude" is on my personal non-hit list, as well. I really liked the Beatles, but their best work, to my thinking was in the middle of their career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 17, 2012 Members Share Posted May 17, 2012 Been reviewing 80s music lately - I had forgotten how utterly boring and repetitive this big No 1 hit for 1980 was. I mean the song is ok for the first couple of minutes, but they should have faded at about 2:15. Here's the big 8 minute version if you want to torment yourself... S7-imfjm7dE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frankthomson Posted May 17, 2012 Members Share Posted May 17, 2012 op; get otta my head that was the 1st song i thought of. some bruce is soooooooooooo lame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 17, 2012 Members Share Posted May 17, 2012 Blondie was one of those bands that had some great, really interesting pop work early on but as they got bigger, they got increasingly bland and formulaic. They went from quirky pop with intelligent, somewhat tweaked lyrics to bland love songs and just as bland disco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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