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Something Something Leonard Bernstein (view source)

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{{trope}}
[[File:pearls-bernstein_764bernstein 764.png|link=Pearls Before Swine|frame|[[Comically Missing the Point|Five including "that's", "great", and "it"]].<ref>[[Overly Long Gag|Six if you dissect "that's" into "that" and "is"]].</ref>]]
 
 
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* The [[Trope Namers]] as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OENjixZd_Oo covered] by Canadian folk band [[Great Big Sea]] is, believe it or not, even worse for the confusion; the speed is upped about 30% and a number of additional instrumental tracks (like the fiddle) are added. And it's so much ''fun''!
** Parodied in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Homer the Moe", where R.E.M. makes a guest appearance (already without Bill Berry at the time) and Homer further [[Mondegreen|Mondegreens]]s their song:
{{quote|Leonid whats-his-name, [[The Munsters|Herman Munster]] Motorcade<br />
Birthday party, Cheetos, pogo sticks and lemonade<br />
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** [http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2007-05-27/ The R.E.M. example was] [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'' and again in ''[[Tommy Boy]]'', where they remembered the line "6 O'clock, TV hour," which starts off the second verse.
* Agnhsgaksvbaoisbvasdfkavgbabfbaeubkjbkhbkjnjena EEEEEEH MACARENA!
** When it was used in Pick Up Song in ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'', Tim gave up completely on the Spanish parts and started singing "[[To the Tune Of|It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it, Hey Macarena!]]"&uml;¨
* [[Great Big Sea]], mentioned above, also produced [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDtjq0mGVSQ the following version] of the traditional Scottish folk song "Mari-mac", already a tongue-twister; until you actually read the words it sounds like "Marimacmorramarrymemarrymorresmakingmemarrymarimac, wellimgonnamarrymariformewennamarrytakingcarrime; weelallbeferrinmerrywerrymarrymarimac!" ...and that's just the chorus. Add in the violins, the group singers, the yelling and the fact that they perform ''accelerando'', and the whole [[Motor Mouth|thingjustpilesupanfallsonyurheadmoreaspirinpleasevicar]].
* "Battery", by [[Metallica]]. "Da da da da da da du du da da da da, dadadada BAT-TA-RAY!"
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But I don't know what I'm saying! }}
** [[Panel Show|Music quiz]] ''[[Never Mind the Buzzcocks]]'' had a round where the panel tries to sing along to a song like this, and they [[Mondegreen|mostly get it wrong]]: for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" they guessed "Here we are now, eat potatoes."
** [[They Might Be Giants (band)|They Might Be Giants]] were asked to cover "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on a radio show [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdJuW7UqtOY&feature=related (listen here)]. It's even harder to understand than the original, because John Flansburgh tries to sing it despite [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|not knowing a single word of the song]].
* ''[[Family Guy]]'' parodies Men at Work's most famous song, "Down Under".
{{quote|'''Peter:'''I COME FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER.
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** Which makes the fact that it almost wound up the state anthem for [[The Other Rainforest|Washington State]] even more hilarious. Ask some state residents and you'll find more than a few who think it really ''is'' the official anthem, rather than the fan preferred version.
** "Louie Louie" is famous for this, and is often picked on for it by [[Music/Dave Barry|Dave Barry]]. There was also a commercial in the late '90s which featured the song and scrolled nonsensical gibberish in place of actual lyrics to parody how difficult it was to understand the song.
*** [[Animal House]] also lampshades the difficulties when [[John Belushi|Bluto]] teaches the freshmen frat members a more obscene version of the song. To their credit, though, the soundtrack actually has a well-sung -- evensung—even comprehensible! -- version sung by none other than Mr. Belushi himself!
*** ''[[Bloom County]]'' did a Sunday strip during the 1988 Presidential elections where each of the candidates (George Bush, Michael Dukakis, and Bill the Cat) [http://web.archive.org/web/20080719170850/http://tafkac.org/songs/louie_louie_real_words.html translated the song] based on what they could understand, as if it would tell the public something about them all. Since the ad was sponsored by Bill's people, it takes jabs at Bush ("Iran-Contra thing makes me phlegm") and Dukakis ("Kitty she leads me everywhere") while saying Bill's translation, which isn't even legible English half the time, "revealed a simple honesty".
* "Even Flow" by [[Pearl Jam]] - "Oooooeeeeeeyeeeeeahahhhhhh... da da da da da da something concrete". And most of their other songs, but this one gets made fun of the most once people realize they don't know it.
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*** Canadian comedy troupe The Vacant Lot had a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9_3nQFNy-w sketch] about just this situation, including that same misheard lyric.
* The song "Valerie" by Steve Winwood. A combination of a lot of treble in the mix and a high-pitched male vocal in the original song tends to result in soprano gargling in the verses, and a chorus which can approximated thus: imaeer... onauuhhon... val-er-IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...callme...val-er-IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... callme... cumandCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... imsemohboyteusetapeer.
** Notably, the Eric Prydz song "Call on Me", which sampled the chorus of "Valerie", inadvertently lampshaded this trope -- intrope—in that Prydz sampled the lyric "Call on Me" as pretty much the only lyric that was understandable from the original song. And even ''that'' isn't recognized perfectly: see the [http://jamestown.ytmnd.com/ "Colony" fad] on [[YTMND]].
* "[[Robert Burns|Auld Lang Syne]]" is a difficult one because the original poem was in Scots which made it too hard for the Sassenach to ken its meaning apart from the first line "Should auld acquintance be forgot...". So then people tried to make English versions but more than one were made so nobody knew the same version and since the only time you sing it is when you're drunk at 00:01 on New Year's Day, in a large crowd of people who all have different versions with the only guy who really knows it being that one really keen Scottish guy, you never actually learn any of those version and just stick to "ouagh aaugh AAAUGH Aaughu AAUUGH '''AAUGH'''".
** Though, on that note, ''O Flower of Scotland'' usually receives the same fate at rugby matches: "OH FLOWER OF SCOTLAND RAWR RAWR RAWR RAWR [[ RAWR RAWR RAWR RAWR]]!"
*** There's even a middle verse that never gets sung because few people know it even exists, let alone the words to it.
* The chorus of "Stayin' Alive", by [[The Bee Gees]]. "muttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermutter STAYIN' ALIVE! STAYIN' ALIVE!" The falsetto doesn't help either.
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* Australian singer James Reyne is notorious for his indeciperable strine accent, often rendering the lyrics of his songs completely unintelligible. He was regularly parodied in Australian media for this, to such an extent that his old band Australian Crawl are still widely known as Australian ''Drawl''. Classic examples include the Australian Crawl songs "Errol" and "Things Don't Seem", as well as his first solo single, "Fall of Rome".
** [[It Got Worse]] with "Boys Light Up", with one part that sounds like gibberish... and actually is: the word "dorsetted" was made up solely so he could rhyme "corseted".
** James Reyne didn't actually sing "Errol": Guy McDonough did the vocals for that one. But really, the best example for James Reyne's indecipherable singing has got to be "Beautiful People" -- if—if it weren't for the fact that it's the title of the song, there's no way anyone would understand what the hell that lyric was supposed to be.
* [[Buckethead]]'s "We Are One" is nigh impossible to comprehend, thanks to guest vocalist Serj Tankian's rapid-fire lyrical delivery. The only clear part is "Do you know, that we are one..."; the rest sounds vaguely like scat singing punctuated by drum beats. And that's just the first part...
* Most people familiar with Neutral Milk Hotel can tell you that ''The King of Carrot Flowers Parts Two & Three'' starts off with Jeff Mangum bellowing [[Large Ham|"IIIIIIII LOOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOU JEEEEEEEESUSSSSSS CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIST,"]] but... not that much past that point.
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Well, yeah, that one's a wordgasm about the [[Disney Animated Canon]] sung in stereotypically unintelligible "I'm-a twenty-years-trained real-life opera-singer", so it also fits under [[Indecipherable Lyrics]] for two distinct reasons, and [[Word Salad Lyrics]], which thus also makes it Troperrific, which [[Heavy Meta|fits]]. They're 'good'. }}
** It's all over in older Nightwish songs. Can anyone understand anything Tarja says the first time they listened? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg5_mlQOsUQ I thought not.]
** [http://suicideforhire.comicgenesis.com/d/20080413.html "Did she just say 'happy haunting, you taco-faced carnie fork'?"] For the curious, they're probably listening to "Romanticide"-- the—the actual lyrics are, "Happy hunting, you double-faced carnivore."
* Aaron G., who frequently does vocals for Naoki's songs in ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'', has a [[Motor Mouth|talent for really fast rapping]]. The lyrics to ''Dynamite Rave'' scroll quite fast on DDR 3rd Mix's karaoke lyrics, and later games removed the lyrics display altogether, so for most people singing along, the rap section's lyrics might as well be "Techno rave, mumblemumblemumble mumblemumblemumble mumblemumblemumble... [[Title Drop|DYNAMITE RAVE]] mumblemumblemumble..." It helps that the [[Title Drop]] is in all caps in the official lyrics.
* ''[[Persona 3]]'s'' main battle theme, "Mass Destruction" has rapping. Fast rapping. Other songs in the game sung in English by Japanese people, like the opening theme song "Burn my Dread" are an example of this too, but not as bad as this:
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* [[Blur (band)|Blur]]'s "Song 2" goes, "WOO-HOO!" The rest of the refrain consists of semi-distorted English-sounding rambles. The verses are slightly easier to understand, but [[Chorus-Only Song|it's not like anyone knows those anyway.]] Considering the refrain was used nigh-everywhere in adverts and the like, especially in America, it gets this treatment a lot.
** The irony is this song was written with the sole purpose of taking the piss out of grunge, and it ended up becoming an archetype for it.
* "Prisencolinensinainciusol," by Adriano Celentano - mostly because aside from a few [[Title Drop|Title Drops]]s and the occasional "all right," "baby," and one carefully enunciated "girls," it's complete [[Word Puree Lyrics]].
** Um, that was completely [[Lampshade Hanging|intentional.]] He just wanted to duplicate what English sounded like to native Italian speakers—i.e. nonsense.
* According to [[Eddie Izzard]], the United States National Anthem is this to most Americans.
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*** "Punk" has only two discernible words, "shut up".
*** Damon's verses on "[[Do Ya Thing]]" contain such lines as "[[Wild Mass Guessing|You got a folding chair, and you don't know what to do]]".
* [[Lady Gaga]] (well, technically Colby O'Donis, but still): When I come through on the dance floor checkin out that catalogue. Can’t believe my eyes so many women without a flaw. mumblemumblemumble--JUSTmumblemumblemumble—JUST DANCE, GONNA BE OKAY.
* [[Christopher Durang]]'s ''Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge'' has a number of people at a bar attempting to sing "Good King Wenceslas": "Da da da da... moon that night, though the frost was cruel! Da da da da... came in sight... something... [[Mondegreen|Christmas gruel]]...?"
* [[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's|Clear Mind]] by [[Masaaki Endoh]] has a ton of English pieces in it; some pronounced well, some not. Mots of them, like "Keep on Burning Soul" or "Crazy Keep on Driving", make no sense; so even if you hear the lyrics correctly, you may second-guess your understanding of them.
* The 'Singular-English-line' variant appears in the Rammstein song Amerika, with growled German lyrics for the majority of the song, and the chorus "We're all living in America, America, it's wunderbar."
* "Dr. Feelgood" by [[Motley Crue]]. The rapid-fire, nasally vocals are non-stop, and most people give up and sing along to the guitar riff for the chorus: "Nananananananana FEEL GOOD! Nananananananana ALL RIGHT! Nananananananana FEEL GOOD! Something something FRANKENSTEIN!" How bad is it? Vince Neil ''himself'' is having troubles performing it live, and ends up singing like this. No shame using a teleprompt, Vince.
* [[Radiohead]] at times. Karma police,<ref> arrest this man, he talks in math, he buzzes like a fridge, he's like a de-tuned radio</ref>, I-dont-know-the-words, this is what you get, this is what you get...
** "Myxomatosis" makes "Karma Police" sound like a sparkling triumph of enunciation. "Zmugma cafkeebone, owning half a head. To see it to shut up, towallis noofow frehhh. He said I benawaiyawaaaa. Asleplyfoolala.<ref>The mongrel cat came home, holding half a head. Proceeded to show it off, to all its newfound friends. He said I've been where I liked, I slept with who I liked.</ref> She ate me up for breakfast, she screwed me in a vice."
*** Which makes it easy to miss the [[Precision F-Strike]] in that song. So I guess it's a [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|Stealth F Strike]]?
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{{quote|The fire in your brain willghafjafjafinsainn, yuweaheaejk, enebenebmenegheinn, so don't ghebeda, afahafweweqwainakekweainqwiewieqwain blahblahblah FIGHT LIKE A BRAVE...}}
* Throbbing Gristle's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPrTUC7BDn4 "Hamburger Lady"]. Utterly lyrically incomprehensible.
** "Tubes in her arm" and "the night nurse" is maybe the most anyone can catch [[Nothing Is Scarier|which is half of why the song is so disturbing.]] Most of their recordings are fairly primitive for studio work, so you get this in spades. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X9ygjkIPf8 "Zyklon B Zombie"] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8riZnope7Ak "Hit By A Rock"] have only the [[Title Drop]] decipherable as a couple of extra examples that are also creepy listening. TG managed to make this into a horror trope.
* Phoenix's 1901. Try understanding any lyrics besides "Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey" or "Folded Folded Folded Folded." Even they could be difficult to decipher.
* The Red Dwarf theme song for some people. "Nananannananaanaaa MANGO JUICE!"
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{{quote|Y'all don't know any of the words, you just like the "It Wasn't Me" part.}}
* ''[[MIA]]'' has had a number of songs that fit this trope. There's "Paper Planes": "I fly like peppah get high like planes, if you catch me on the corner Ima meesim mihmah nay / if you come around hey- I'm naked all day / I get one dom inna simpah neffa way..."
* ''[[The Doobie Brothers]]'' has, at the very least, "China Grove", which this troper admits to not even understanding the refrain of for years: "Well the people 'n' the peep, noo joo me cross<ref> Well, the preacher and the teeacher, Lord, they're a caution</ref> / they are the talk of the town... People are some kind the strange / damn Mrs. Perkins again<ref> The lyrics are different, though, as the first verse says, "The people of the town are strange, / and they're proud of where they came", and the second verse says, "They say that the father's insane, / and dear Mrs. Perkins' a game."</ref>.... WOAH-HO, CHINA GROVE!"
** One way you can pick out someone from San Antonio is that they know a bit more than the above lyrics in said song, because "China Grove" is a song about a community called China Grove in south San Antonio. There's a bit about "old San Antone" and another one about "they just keep on lookin' to the East" in the song that refer to S.A. and is thus instantly pick-uppable for S.A. natives. Oh, and it's "dear Mrs. Perkins' a game".
* ''[[Talking Heads (band)|Talking Heads]]'' "Burnin' Down the House": "What's that?/ Ching fanna army naftah!/ Who's there?/ Dee fellow party's over!/ I'm in... ordinary high! BURNIN' DOWN THE HOUSE!
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We pledge to land and something something
Dum da da da dum da da da SPACESHIP! }}
* Every [[wikipedia:Patter song|patter song]] ever written! Gilbert and Sullivan? To begin with, the Major General song and ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQGrQPZMLK8&feature=related It Really Doesn't Matter]'', in which they actually lampshade it--theit—the line "this particularly rapid unintelligible patter isn't generally heard" is repeated several times! [it should be noted here that, theoretically, while the ''actors'' are singing, for the most part the ''characters'' aren't supposed to be, rendering this line even more amusing] Admittedly, the singers in this sort of situation are generally of a degree of skill such that they ''do'' enunciate every word clearly, but at that speed? And even if you can hear and understand it (not a given in a theater!) that doesn't mean that you know the words; most people likely can't recite much of the Major General song beyond "I am the very model of a modern major general"!
** Well, most people who aren't trained actors or singers. The Major General song is a standard speech exercise during training ''because'' it's so difficult to do.
* The average Italian-speaker probably can't remember/recite more of Mina's ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaIXgplEz70 Brava]'' than the occasional phrase. She sings ''really'' fast, and at some impressive pitches!
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* [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] have several examples of this trope,including most of the rooftop concert:
** "All these jugmumble been mumble water been mumble cos nobody told me, all they've been looking for is somebody who looked like you"
** "Jojo was a man who thought mumble mumble,<ref> he was a loner</ref>, but he knew it couldn't last, Jojo left his home mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble<ref>in Tuscon, Arizona, for some California</ref> grass."
** And, of course, "I Am The Walrus"- "mumble bumble mumble pornographic priestess...". Though that was [[Word Salad Lyrics|total nonsense]].
** Parodied in a skit on [[Saturday Night Live]] with the fake commercial for ''J-Disc Presents: Ten Beatles Classics You Kind of Know the Words To. Sung by the Kind of Know the Words To Singers.''
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* Sephiroth's [[Leitmotif]] from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. ''[[Ominous Latin Chanting|Something indecipherable, probably Latin, something something something]]'' '''SEPHIROTH!'''
* Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina", specially for those who don't speak Spanish (or a similar language) is a [[Chorus-Only Song]] where the chorus is "something something gasolina!" eight times.
* Letter's To Cleo's "Here And Now" has a chorus that's mostly unintelligible due to Kay Hanley going into [[Motor Mouth]] mode: "ah huh huh ba ba, ba ba ba ba ras ababa ska, ah huh huh ba ba, ba ba ba ba sherbanowa sherbanowa HERE AND NOW! HERE AND NOW-OW-OW!"<ref> translation: the comfort of the knowledge of a rise above the sky above could never parallel the challenge of an acquisition in the here and now, here and now</ref>
* OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass", due to its Wall of Sound-like orchestration and heavy echo effects on the vocals, is largely indecipherable except for the resounding chorus of [[Refrain From Assuming|"WHEN THE MORNING COMES!"]]
* "Hilikus" by early [[Incubus (band)|Incubus]], due Brandon Boyd's fast rapping: "History has a tendency to blohkkadappappaladopeppelisaboutbaddelissadogoodta, fordehqwyegqwamme<ref> block out the popular beliefs about the leaders of the time, so glisten with my</ref> syllables irhqwmehiqwaebdatto, webbeeaeguyeawguheddoteieaeibm<ref> and ponder the thought, maybe they should have had to dedicate more</ref> to it, GO!"
* In theory, the theme to ''[[The Neverhood]]'' has lyrics. In reality, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXQ2lvgpHiE it sounds like this]:
{{quote|Numauhauamunu - haunauamuanum, at the NEVEEEERHOOD! NEVEEEEERHOOD!}}
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