After spending some time reflecting on the popularity of a certain song I have decided to rank my top 10 sing alongs.
My criteria: first a song gets major props for being singable without music. This would be the "long bus drive back from a float trip/retreat" scenario. Next is the participation of the guests when a song comes on at a wedding reception. Here is my verdict.
1. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen: Party on Wayne, Party on Garth. It changes tempo, the lyrics are simple, you can bust your falcetto out and even sing the guitar solo. Winner, hands down.
2. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey: I had to see it to believe it. You just have to mention a small town girl and watch the song burst forth from pretty much everyone in the room. Try it sometime.
3. Undone, the Sweater Song - Weezer: again, simple lyrics and a good melody do the trick. Everyone wants to sing River's descant part, nobody wants to sing melody. Everyone wants Superman Skivies.
4.Piano Man - Billy Joel: This is where the gap begins on my list. This song has a great chorus, but too many words for the average person to know all the verses. You can still pretend and still get half of them, which still counts. It also contains the misheard lyric "Making love to his tiny cat Jim" instead of "Tonic and Gin."
5. Hey Jude - The Beatles: We all know the first verse. After that....I'm pretty sure we only know the "Na-Na" part. Which is ok, because that vamp at the end makes up about 5 minutes of the 8 minute song.
6. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison: This is a classic wedding song to which every guy has to sing to his girl. (Change the eye color in the song if your girl doesn't have brown eyes, it can score you more points) Again, lyrics like "Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-ti-da" help it be a sing along.
7. Grease Medley - John Travolta, Olivia Newton John: "Hey, lets make a medley of Grease songs that only includes the parts that everyone knows!" Brilliant. "Summer Lovin" and "You're the one that I want" are both guy/girl songs and that always helps.
8. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor: Girls know every lyric. Guys can fake it. We can all sing the strings part. Beauty. Plus, I am a fan of the Cake version as well.
9. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond: If this wasn't played at every Red Sox game would it still be as popular? Doesn't matter. The fact that everyone knows the added parts makes this song "So good, so good, so good." (hmmm....that was a little hokie.)
10. Wonderwall - Oasis: This might be more for my generation, but I think it will last. First, the chorus is very meaningful and often very true in a healthy relationship. Add on that it is very singable and you have a solid sing along.
There it is. My apologies to Meatloaf and the Village People. Let me know what I left out!
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2 comments:
Two you might have missed..."You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin" after Top Gun, any child of the 80's wanted to be Maverick and Goose singin' it to their woman. "Shout" this one might be a little bit low on your "spontaneity" scale but for weddings right on there. (Along the same note Closing Time.) Overall though good list and I'm glad that you established a criteria before because there are quite a few more "sing along songs" not on the list.
"You've lost that Loving Feeling" should have made it. I assume it has popularity outside of our old youth group/school circle.
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