We’ve almost certainly done this before, but since the passing of Aretha, where the list starts, surely, what songs do we all know that spell out something, letter by letter, in the lyrics?
We all know the obvious, 70s D I S C O and D I V O R C E, but where are the more obscure ones?
Any big words? Which song has the longest word/phrase?
Two from me to start.
C L A S S I C
B L U E C O L L L A R J A N E
Cheese and Onions by The Rutles would be hard to beat.
Fireincairo by The Cure
SYSLJFM…. Good version by the Q Tips too…
It’s G-L-O-R-Y to know I’m S-A-V-E-D
The Blue Sky boys.
“I’m H A P P Y because I’m F R double E”.
Great song I learnt it from the Hank Wangford Band.
Good old Memphis Slim!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv8JKCqWVOo
Jam – A Bomb In Wardour Street
A P O C A L Y P S E
Pulp – F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E
Fear – I.A.N. B.R.O.W.N.
Spelling out the name of another band
Motorhead – R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
Noah And The Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
Sheila E struggles with her Alphabet (Street).
“A B C D E F H I love you”
Al Jackson never better…
“Between the M-o-o-n-a-n-d-s-t-a-r-s”
British Sea Power – International Space Station
Aztec Camera – How Men Are
Roddy spells out the word P.E.R.S.P.E.C.T.I.V.E.
It’s too much.
And Morrissey’s “Ouija Board”
The table is rumbling
The glass is moving
“No, I was not pushing that time”
It spells : S.T.E.V.E.N
The table is rumbling
The glass is moving
“No, I was not pushing that time” :
P.U.S.H.O. double F.
Hot Chip’s ‘Over and Over’ spells out kissing, sexing, Casio, poke, you, me and I.
Connie Francis spells it out
Adam spells himself
Sometimes it doesn’t quite work…
I’m sure we all know the tune, but I never knew there was this funked-up 70s version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vytd2T2qkis
…alternatively
Which of course reminds one of this little gem from the cinema classic
A slightly different method of spelling things out, referring to the musical scale rather than a word, but each letter is referenced in order, so I think this passes the test – Kathleen Edwards with The Cheapest Key (not her best song, but better than her silence of recent years).
Pushing the envelope a bit ….. Van – G.L.O.R.I.A
P P S I L O V E Y O U…
Let’s let The Lonely Island Spell It Out…
Bowie’s cover of Cactus, D A V I D
H.A.P.P.Y. Radio: Edwin Starr spells (half of) it out.
Another H.A.P.P.Y…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP7PdZruUV8
Nick Caves Loverman
‘L is for Love, baby…’
and also Grant McLennan ‘Sally’s Revolution’ – towards the end
The longest ones I can think of, that haven’t already been mentioned, are R.E.A.L.I.T.Y. BY KRS-One, D.U.N. L.A.O.G.H.A.I.R.E. by The Boomtown Rats and s.p.a.c.e.r.o.c.k. With Me by Julian Cope.
But how about The Bar Steward Sons of Val Doonican’s version of D.I.S.C.O? – B.I.S.T.O.
Placenames. I have buried somewhere at the back of my mind a memory of some folk band doing a L-L-A-N-F-A-I-R-P-W-L-L- etc
Scritti’s “Wood Beez” is a bit of a curiosity.
It mainly discusses the fact there’s nothing he wouldn’t be, do or take – to be with someone he fancies.
So he says:
“I’m a would be”
Which makes sense, because he’s up for anything and he’s been singing of little else so far – but then he spells out:
“W.O.O.D.
I’m a would be, would be
B.E.E.Z.”
He is singing as if he is in prison and discussing an imaginary world where he “would be” able to do all these things. He seems determined but he accepts he can’t do it. Otherwise he would be singing about what he is going to do.
He is imagining himself as a wood bee – a fictitious and timid insect that cannot change their environment or circumstances, however much they want to.
That’s what I reckon anyway. Thanks for listening.
Is it just me that saw D.I.V.O.R.C.E. in the OP and what’s left of my mind went straight to this…
the whole alphabet again. Genius lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lJJTm7YB8w
The whole alphabet here too (with a hitherto unknown letter)
Robert Wyatt sings it backwards.