An exceptional example is “Oh-I-Oh-I-Oh-I) in Ed Sheehan’s “ Shape of You” (written by Sheeran with John McDaid, Kevin Briggs, Kandi Burruss, Tameka Cottle, and Steve Mac), which reached #1 in 34 countries. Many other contemporary songs that were mentioned repeatedly as being fun to sing include non-lyric vocal hooks. These sounds might include “oh,” “I,” “hey,” “yo,” “ooh,” “na-na,” la-la,” or a phrase such as “Roma, Roma-ma, Gaga, oh la-la…” as in Lady Gaga’s “ Bad Romance” (written by Lady Gaga and Nadir Khayat).Īccording to David Penn, founder of Hit Songs Deconstructed, in Camila Cabello’s breakthrough hit “ Havana” (featuring Young Thug, and written by Cabello, Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk, Brittany Hazzard, Brian Lee, Ali Tamposi, Jeffery Williams, Pharrell Williams, and Andrew Wotman), Cabello sings the nonsense syllable “na” seventy-five times as part of a variety of vocal hooks. Incorporating nonsense syllables-non-lyric sounds sung by a vocalist-seems to contribute heavily to a song compelling listeners to sing-along. Let’s look at some of the components found in both classic and recent songs that made listeners feel good and compelled them to sing along. When I placed these songs under the proverbial microscope, I observed that the elements that make a song fun to sing are most often found in the chorus, but they can appear anywhere-and everywhere-in a song. It was also evident that although today’s fun-to-sing songs differ from those that were popular decades ago, there are still plenty of hit songs that compel listeners to sing along with smiles on their faces. I was bombarded with responses, and as I thought about the songs they mentioned it became clear that music in every genre evolves. I asked my Facebook friends (most of whom are songwriters) which recent songs they considered fun-and fun to sing along with. I wondered if feel-good songs like these have been relegated to a more distant past. The Beach Boys and Abba recorded a slew of songs that had an entire generation singing along. Who could resist singing along when Bill Withers crooned his self-penned #1 classic, “ Lean On Me?” and when he sang “I know-I know-I know-I know-I know-I know…” twenty-six times in his 1972 GRAMMY-winning R&B Song of the Year, “ Ain’t No Sunshine”(written by Bill Withers). I thought about other infectious sing-alongs such as Cyndi Lauper’s “ She-Bop” (Cyndi Lauper, Gary Corbett, Richard Chertoff, Steve Lunt), and Sheryl Crow’s “ All I Wanna Do” (written by Sheryl Crow, David Berwald, William Bottrell, Wyn Cooper, and Kevin Gilbert). Anyone of a certain age remembers plugging his or her name into the formula, “Shirley, Shirley Bo-ber-ley, bo-na-na fanna Fo-fer-ley, fee fi mo-mer-ley, Shirley!”Īs I thought about hit songs that were fun (as opposed to being “funny” or humorous) I remembered singing along at the top of my lungs every time “ We Are Family” (recorded by Sister Sledge and written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards) came on the radio. When it was suggested I write about songs that are fun to sing, the jukebox in my brain instantly thought of “ The Name Game” (recorded by Shirley Ellis, written by Lincoln Chase and Shirley Elliston).
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