I stand by “88 Lines.” I’ve never seen the commercial, and since pretty much everyone except (one of) the Doors is a sell out anyway, I don’t think that’s a disqualification.
Susan: I don’t think that’s a list song, it’s more of a story song, but it’s disqualified just because I don’t like it.
Clark, “Bad” does have a list in it, but it doesn’t come until 4 minutes in. It’s not primarily a list song, but there may be other U2 songs that qualify.
kuri, sorry, the decision of the judges is final.
Here’s a dance being performed to another great list song:
Apparently, it was a series of Mazda commercials that used “88 lines.” That’s actually worse.
There is another Nails song that is a great list song, probably better than “88 lines.” It’s called “Things You Left Behind,” from their Dangerous Dreams album. I can’t find a link, but you can hear it on iTunes.
Too Much Monkey Business (the obvious precursor to Subterranean Homesick Blues)
Promised Land (a travelogue, which I suppose might be a subset of the list song genre)
a phonebook full of accidents
a girl to drive your car
a suit to wear on mondays
and a coat a magazine
a heavy rain a holiday
a painting of the wall
a knife a fork and memories
a light to see it all
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you round
dominoes a pack of cards
a picture of the queen
a dress to wear on sundays
and a handle for the door
a letter that i sent for you
a note you left for me
a wave a pack of cigarettes
a pocket full of beads
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you on
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you round
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you on
the sound of people getting drunk
a ceiling and a sky
a bank that’s full of promises
a telephone that lies
a visit from your doctor
he crawls in through the door
a mirror you can look in
so that you know where you are
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you round
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
now i’m left with all of this
a room full of your trash
RT @BelieveAll: "Most commentators posit a liturgical context for the performance of the Apocalypse." - the second coming as a sacred drama. 4 days ago
Over at BCC
Despite the greatness of “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” the number one all-time best list song is “88 Lines about 44 Women” by the Nails.
Automatic disqualification because of its overuse in a Sprite ad.
I was going to say the Nails as well. And they used it in a Sprite ad? Crazy.
“My Favorite Things”
“God” by John Lennon (the list part starts about a minute into the song so be patient)
http://www.seeqpod.net/cache/seeqpodSlimlineEmbed.swf
Oh geeze. Until now I couldn’t figure out what list songs were. Songs that just list a bunch of things in the lyrics?
Does this one count?
U2 has to have some list songs. All I can think of is “Promenade.” What else?
Bad.
I stand by “88 Lines.” I’ve never seen the commercial, and since pretty much everyone except (one of) the Doors is a sell out anyway, I don’t think that’s a disqualification.
Susan: I don’t think that’s a list song, it’s more of a story song, but it’s disqualified just because I don’t like it.
Clark, “Bad” does have a list in it, but it doesn’t come until 4 minutes in. It’s not primarily a list song, but there may be other U2 songs that qualify.
kuri, sorry, the decision of the judges is final.
Here’s a dance being performed to another great list song:
Apparently, it was a series of Mazda commercials that used “88 lines.” That’s actually worse.
There is another Nails song that is a great list song, probably better than “88 lines.” It’s called “Things You Left Behind,” from their Dangerous Dreams album. I can’t find a link, but you can hear it on iTunes.
Man – wikipedia has an entry for everything. Here’s the entry for “List Song.”
It’s not on that wikipedia page, but does Land of 1,000 Dances count?
U2 has to have some list songs.
Numb
Good call, Rusty.
Step Right Up by Tom Waits might also count.
A couple more, both by Chuck Berry:
Too Much Monkey Business (the obvious precursor to Subterranean Homesick Blues)
Promised Land (a travelogue, which I suppose might be a subset of the list song genre)
Eric,
I didn’t click on your link until after my comment. Then I felt dumb. Then I drank some milk.
People Who Died by the Jim Carroll Band.
Horrible song, but worth mentioning in this context.
So, mostly we learn from this that people shouldn’t write list songs?
What about New Dress by DM?
Ball of Confusion by Tina Turner -
Here’s the ancestor of all these songs:
Haha. That’s awesome.
Gilgamesh, that song was originally by the Temptations. Great choice.
I consider memorizing REM’s It’s the End of the World… as one of the greatest achievements of my youth.
Geeze. Not even Michael Stipe did that.
a phonebook full of accidents
a girl to drive your car
a suit to wear on mondays
and a coat a magazine
a heavy rain a holiday
a painting of the wall
a knife a fork and memories
a light to see it all
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you round
dominoes a pack of cards
a picture of the queen
a dress to wear on sundays
and a handle for the door
a letter that i sent for you
a note you left for me
a wave a pack of cigarettes
a pocket full of beads
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you on
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you round
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you on
the sound of people getting drunk
a ceiling and a sky
a bank that’s full of promises
a telephone that lies
a visit from your doctor
he crawls in through the door
a mirror you can look in
so that you know where you are
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
hey i never meant that stuff
i want to turn you round
you didn’t leave me anything
that i can understand
now i’m left with all of this
a room full of your trash
- P Furs “All of This And Nothing”