Hit tunes without a chorus.

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Are there many? All I can think of at the moment are "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rapper's Delight". And that suncreen tune, maybe. Of course it depends on how you define a chorus, but even most electronic hits have some sort of hook they repeat over and over.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:00 (twenty years ago)

"Lemon" by U2 might also fit the bill - like Bohemian Rhapsody it keeps changing all the time.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:02 (twenty years ago)

"Every Breath You Take" doesn't technically have a chorus, it just kind of goes from A to B to A to B...

― Dominique (dleone), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:02 (twenty years ago)

do instrumental choruses count?

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:03 (twenty years ago)

Quite a few old ones I'd imagine. You'll Never Walk Alone doesn't have a chorus.

― Johnny B Was Quizzical (Johnney B), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:06 (twenty years ago)

Certainly, otherwise there'd be too many candidates. What I was thinking is, how likely is some tune of becoming a hit if it doesn't have some sort of hook to get stuck into people's heads.

(x-post)

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:09 (twenty years ago)

Johnny B is right on old tunes, on the top of my head I'd say "My Way" and "I've Got You Under My Skin".

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:10 (twenty years ago)

"off the top of my head"

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:11 (twenty years ago)

my understanding is that any catchy repeated element serves as a hook, including a chorus. maybe hit tunes without a verse/chorus structure? seeing the thread title, I thought of "Love To Love You Baby" and "Autobahn" straight away.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:22 (twenty years ago)

maybe hit tunes without a verse/chorus structure?

Well yeah, this is basically what I thought. However, what about tunes that repeat the same hook over and over, like "Higher State of Consciousness"? Technically they don't have a verse/chorus structure either.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:25 (twenty years ago)

Kraftwerk 'The Model'? Unless that instrumental hook counts as a chorus.

― Sororah T Massacre (blueski), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:25 (twenty years ago)

Though I guess there aren't too many hits like that.

(x-post)

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:26 (twenty years ago)

maybe we should exclude refrains, too

― marc h. (marc h.), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:26 (twenty years ago)

Can a chorus be a chorus without a bridge leading to it?

― Sororah T Massacre (blueski), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:27 (twenty years ago)

Thunder Road

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:27 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I think pop songs need some hook, usually a vocal one, to keep enough people coming back for more to make it a hit. How memorable would something like "It's the End of the World as We Know It" be without the chorus?

Many exceptions in Dylan, especially stuff off "Blood on the Tracks," where the last line of each verse (often the song's title) serve as a hook, gaining more oomph with each repetition, without being proper choruses. Were the songs themselves hits, though?

― erklie, Monday, 9 January 2006 15:32 (twenty years ago)

Lisa Loeb and the Nine Stories: Stay

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 9 January 2006 15:32 (twenty years ago)

Dom, you only hear what to want to.

― erklie, Monday, 9 January 2006 15:45 (twenty years ago)

do instrumental choruses count?

-- The Good Dr. Bill (fadeout9...), January 9th, 2006.

I'm curious, too. I was gonna submit the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" but then wondered if Jack's playing sans octave pedal between the verses counts as a chorus. I suppose it does.

― Mama Roux, Monday, 9 January 2006 15:57 (twenty years ago)

"Up The Junction" by Squeeze

― musicjohn73 (musicjohn73), Monday, 9 January 2006 16:07 (twenty years ago)

"Hey Jude"?

"Try A Little Tenderness"?

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Monday, 9 January 2006 16:44 (twenty years ago)

Most rap prior to the early 90s?

― mike a, Monday, 9 January 2006 16:54 (twenty years ago)

Unchained Melody by the Rightous Brothers

― bendy (bendy), Monday, 9 January 2006 17:26 (twenty years ago)

Actual rap chart hits prior to the early 90s had fake choruses, though -- usually something like "here, listen to the sample for a second while I just quietly say 'just bust a move' every fourth bar."

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 9 January 2006 17:26 (twenty years ago)

I.e. the sample was the melodic hook, so the sample was the "chorus."

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 9 January 2006 17:27 (twenty years ago)

laurie anderson - o superman

(the exception to every hit singles' rule)

― Wogan Lenin (dog latin), Monday, 9 January 2006 17:27 (twenty years ago)

Honorable Mention to

"Stand By Your Man"

I guess it's similar to the other two I mentioned, but in this case the coda sounds more like a repeated chorus together with a - what's it called- prechorus?

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Monday, 9 January 2006 18:20 (twenty years ago)

"Up The Junction" by Squeeze

PWNS.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 9 January 2006 18:37 (twenty years ago)

Think - "Once You Understand"

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Monday, 9 January 2006 19:00 (twenty years ago)

The entire Electronica genre to thread then.

Also, most number ones before the mid 60s would usually follow either a 12 bar blues scheme or a 32 bar AABA scheme rather than a traditional verse-chorus one.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 9 January 2006 19:00 (twenty years ago)

O Superman?

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Monday, 9 January 2006 19:37 (twenty years ago)

The entire Electronica genre to thread then.

Nope, I think most electronic hits still follow the verse/chorus structure. There are exceptions of course, "Born Slippy" is the first to come to mind. Or does the synth part that comes in the beginning and the the middle of the tune count as chorus?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 9 January 2006 19:39 (twenty years ago)

How memorable would something like "It's the End of the World as We Know It" be without the chorus?

Many exceptions in Dylan...

Subterranean Homesick Blues doesn't have one that I remember.

― Cunga (Cunga), Monday, 9 January 2006 19:44 (twenty years ago)

Oh crap = sorry Wogan - (upthread and OTM about O Superman) (and huge respect to your awesome nom de plume - it is a nom de plume right?

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Monday, 9 January 2006 19:45 (twenty years ago)

HOW DOES STAND BY YOUR MAN NOT HAVE A CHORUS?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 9 January 2006 20:16 (twenty years ago)

damn capslock sorry

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 9 January 2006 20:17 (twenty years ago)

I said "Honorable Mention," Fritz.

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Monday, 9 January 2006 20:30 (twenty years ago)

U2's "With or Without You."
REM's "The One I Love."
Many, many others.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Monday, 9 January 2006 20:41 (twenty years ago)

"88 Lines About 44 Women" - Nails

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Monday, 9 January 2006 21:50 (twenty years ago)

"White Horse" - Laid Back

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Monday, 9 January 2006 21:52 (twenty years ago)

U2's "With or Without You."
REM's "The One I Love."

With or Without You's chorus is "And you give yourself away"

The One I Love's chorus is "Fire"

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Monday, 9 January 2006 22:11 (twenty years ago)

White Album has a bunch:

Sexy Sadie
Piggies
Mother Nature's Son
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Dear Prudence

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Monday, 9 January 2006 22:13 (twenty years ago)

I think I read in the Alternative CD booklet that the Pet Shop Boys used to refer to "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" as "the song without a chorus" before it had a title.

― LeRooLeRoo (Seb), Monday, 9 January 2006 22:14 (twenty years ago)

If it counts, we used to sing this peculiar hymn at school called Glad that I Live am I, which is just one long verse.

― Jez (Jez), Monday, 9 January 2006 22:18 (twenty years ago)

"Lust For Life", in a way. I mean, the chords don't change.

"Walk On The Wild Side" (the "do do do" part is more of a break).

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 9 January 2006 23:23 (twenty years ago)

Re Dylan: "Tangled Up in Blue" made the Top 40. One of his many Number 33s, if I'm not mistaken.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 00:12 (twenty years ago)

"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" has a repeated line but not a chorus per se.

"Feel Good Inc." doesn't really have one. It's more like verse-verse-bridge-rap-instro-rap to fade.

Honorable mention to Duran Duran's "All She Wants Is."

― Joe McCombs, Tuesday, 10 January 2006 02:19 (twenty years ago)

Flat Eric - 'Flat Beat'

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 07:51 (twenty years ago)

Stars on 45?

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 12:34 (twenty years ago)

Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven"
Sly & the Family Stone - "If You Want Me to Stay"

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 01:10 (twenty years ago)

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer

― everything, Wednesday, 11 January 2006 06:27 (twenty years ago)

Does "CHICK... CHICKICHICKAAAAAAAAAAAW!" count as a chorus?

If not, then Yello's "Oh Yeah" counts, as it was a hit in the U.S. in 1987... (two years after its original release)

― Dom iNut (donut), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 06:34 (twenty years ago)

Yesterday

― Declan Zimmerman (Declan Zimmerman), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 07:08 (twenty years ago)

man overboard by do re mi was pretty popular in australia in the 1980s

― gem (trisk), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 07:10 (twenty years ago)

Eno - "Baby's On Fire"

― jsoulja (jsoulja), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 07:11 (twenty years ago)

Eno - "Baby's On Fire"
Yeah top 10 single there wasn't it, guess no one cared that it didn't have a chorus and was too long to play on the radio

― These Robust Cookies (Robust Cookies), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 07:58 (twenty years ago)

Lotta folks stretching the definition of "hit tune" here!

"Don't Stop Believin'" has no chorus, a fact which I never noticed until somebody pointed it out on some past thread.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 09:31 (twenty years ago)

Bette Midler, "The Rose"

*ducks*

― Deluxe (Damian), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 11:43 (twenty years ago)

Zager & Evans: In the year 2525.
Glen Campbell: By The Time I Get To Phoenix (Gentle On My Mind too)
Bobbie Gentry: Ode To Billy Joe
Queen: You're My Best Friend
Hundreds of others.

All these have *hooks*, of course. But that's a different thing entirely.

― harvey.w (harvey.w), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 11:49 (twenty years ago)

"Murder On The Dancefloor" has that whole "Which is the chorus, which is the verse" confusion, if that's enough to count.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 11:54 (twenty years ago)

Some confusion here. What is a chorus and what is a hook? Tangled Up in Blue, for instance, has the title phrase as a hook, occurring at predictable places throughout the song. Does a chorus have to be a 2/4/6/8-line phrase identical each time? The fact is that songwriters like to mix it up, keep you guessing, do the unexpected. Sometimes a bridge acts as a second chorus, sometimes a middle 8 is played twice.

― Dr X'O Skeleton, Wednesday, 11 January 2006 12:10 (twenty years ago)

Got it! O Superman by Laurie Anderson

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Wednesday, 11 January 2006 13:02 (twenty years ago)

That's been said twice already.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 13:08 (twenty years ago)

"With or Without You's chorus is "And you give yourself away""

That's a bridge.

― Burr (Burr), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 13:49 (twenty years ago)

"Don't Stop Believin'" has no chorus . . .

The Journey song? Or some other? Because if it's the former, it most certainly does:

― phil d. (Phil D.), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 14:29 (twenty years ago)

Virginia Plain

― robert in SLC, Wednesday, 11 January 2006 14:39 (twenty years ago)

Think - "Once You Understand"

-- zaxxon25 (keith.sawye...), January 9th, 2006.

this TOTALLY has a chorus! talky parts are the verses, singing is the chorus

― don't start a RYE-OTT! (plsmith), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 15:00 (twenty years ago)

Dylan's "Positively Fourth Street" was a legitimate hit, & has no chorus--it's just one long rant.

― Douglas (Douglas), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 16:55 (twenty years ago)

"god only knows"

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 17:04 (twenty years ago)

this TOTALLY has a chorus! talky parts are the verses, singing is the chorus

If the singing is the chorus then the song is all chorus! Up until the 'surprise' ending, that is.

I think of it more as a constant loop of backing vocals, part of the instruments as it were. If it were really the chorus it would have to stop during the verses and pick back up during some 'between verse' part. But it never stops ...

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 17:57 (twenty years ago)

Damn, he's opening the closet....closet....closet....closet....

― R. J. Greene, Wednesday, 11 January 2006 22:20 (twenty years ago)

"Porcelain" - Moby (#5 in the Uk ?)

"Sound and Vision" - Bowie (#3)

"Blue Monday" - New Order (#3)

― darren (darren), Thursday, 12 January 2006 10:20 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

hit tunes without a chorus...
Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael ..one of the most covered songs in publishing history.

Maggie May by Rod Stewart ..originally a B side because the record company said it was too long and didn't have a chorus ....number one in UK and US.

House of the Rising Sun by the Animals ...ditto

all along the watchtower ..classic Dylan..huge hit ...no chorus

there she goes by the La's ...great song ..seems to be either all verse ...or all chorus ....can't decide which !

Yesterday by the Beatles....hasn't really got a chorus ..

― tony balonie, Monday, 24 April 2006 11:08 (twenty years ago)

Has there ever been an instrumental hit that has had a chorus?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 24 April 2006 11:40 (twenty years ago)

Free Bird!

(Not in answer to Geir, but a hit song without a chorus.)

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Monday, 24 April 2006 11:45 (twenty years ago)

Has there ever been an instrumental hit that has had a chorus?

"Soulfinger!!"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 24 April 2006 15:52 (twenty years ago)

Queen: You're My Best Friend

Isn't the chorus the "been with you such a long time/you're my sunshine" bit?

― mike a, Monday, 24 April 2006 15:53 (twenty years ago)

"When Doves Cry"

― hank (hank s), Monday, 24 April 2006 15:58 (twenty years ago)

Tubeway Army, "Are 'Friends' Electric?"
Gary Numan, "Cars"

― Lotta Continua (Damian), Monday, 24 April 2006 16:22 (twenty years ago)

that killer track on the ghostface album, i think it's the first song? no chorus, it just goes and goes

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 24 April 2006 16:47 (twenty years ago)

"White Rabbit"? The "go ask Alice" parts are a refrain, I guess; don't know if they count as a chorus.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Monday, 24 April 2006 16:48 (twenty years ago)

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