Funny thing, and I know I can't be alone here: Although I often find myself forgetting simple things like why I walked into a room or how to multiply fractions (oh, who am I kidding, my entire memory of math is gone — one year out of college will do that to you), I always find myself remembering random song lyrics I heard years ago. But while some song lyrics are easy to learn, there are always those songs you tried to learn, but never could. Whether they were sang too fast, had mumbling singers, or just had confusing lyrics — they were impossible to learn, no matter how many times you put the track on repeat.
I'm not talking about those songs with misheard lyrics. Everyone knows the real lyrics to "Empire State of Mind." It's not, "Concrete jungle where dreams are made of," but it's just more fun to shout, "Concrete jungle wet dream tomato!"
No, I'm talking about beloved songs that you really, really wanted to be able to sing along to, but were never able to do so. These are the songs sadly-ignored at karaoke (or they should be since you don't know the words), because even putting the lyrics on the screen can't help you properly sing it.
But hey, if you're looking to achieve a goal this week, you could always pick one of these songs from the list and try to finally, finally learn more that just the chorus.
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
As one redditor wisely pointed out, "Kurt sounded like he was singing with his mouth full of food." I love this song. But when it comes to singing it, I usually just try to hum along in the same tune.
Fall Out Boy - "Sugar We're Going Down"
This is another one of Reddit's favorites to try to guess the lyrics to. One person claims the chorus goes like this:
WE'RE GOING DOWN DOWN IN A WHURLRIWOORAWNAND SUGAR WE'RE GOING DOWN SWINGINGI'LL BE YOU NANUMABA WITH A BULLETA LOADED GA CA PLEX COCK IT AND PULL IT.
Honestly — listen to the song, and you'll see it's pretty close to that.
Barenaked Ladies - "One Week"
You could put a week's worth of effort into this and still never get these lyrics down.
R.E.M. – "It’s the End of the World"
No one but Homer Simpson can sing this song.
The Beatles - "I Am The Walrus"
For the record, it's "goo goo g'joob," not "coo coo kachoo." But really that misheard lyric is the least of your problems. There's also gems like this to remember, "Semolina Pilchard/Climbing up the Eiffel tower/Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna."
Psy - "Gangnam Style"
This one is in another language, so good luck with that.
The Lion King - "The Circle of Life"
This song has haunted me since I was a child. I'm just never gonna know how to nail that opening line.
Jay Z - “99 Problems”
Buzzfeed put this one on their list of songs people need to stop singing at karaoke. And for good reason.
Everyone thinks they can just walk up and nail this, but then they realize about halfway through that they only really know the “I’ve got 99 problems and a bitch ain’t one” line, and that wow, rapping is harder than it seems.
Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady"
This is another one I only know the chorus to. But, boy, when that part comes on, I am so enthusiastic.
Billy Joel - "We Didn't Start the Fire"
He doesn't even sing this one that fast, but it's just a lot to remember.
Taylor Swift - "Blank Space"
It's not "Starbucks lovers" and it never will be.
Queen - “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Despite the fact that hardly anyone actually knows the lyrics to this one, people still try to do it at karaoke all the time.
Blackalicious - "Alphabet Aerobics"
The only person who can actually do this one is Daniel Radcliffe, and he's a wizard.
Beastie Boys - "So What'cha Want"
I have spent hours trying to learn this song, but alas... no luck.
Elton John - "Bennie and the Jets"
27 Dresses made fun of how no one knows the lyrics to this song, and they were right on the money.
Image: YouTube
