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{{trope}}
{{quote|''Katie Casey was baseball-mad,''
''Had the fever and had it bad,''
''Just to root for the hometown crew,''
''Every sou''
''Casey blew.''
''On a Saturday her young beau''
''Called to see if she'd like to go''
''To see a show, but Miss Kate said, "No,''
''I'll tell you what you can do:"''|First verse of
The song is known only by its chorus. Few know of the ''existence'' of verses. If a verse is known, it's the related trope of the [[Second Verse Curse]]. If the Chorus is really it for lyrics, it becomes a [[Single
This is true of many songs from Tin Pan Alley days, which have verses which have been long forgotten by everybody but music geeks. It doesn't help that publishers often remove the verses of these songs to save pages.
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{{examples}}
* Possibly the best-known example is the classic [[Christmas Songs|Christmas Song]] "White Christmas". Few people know that it was written with verses, because virtually every recording ever made of it -- including its initial appearance in the movie ''[[Holiday Inn]]'' -- is just two or three repetitions of the chorus.
* "Song 2" by [[Blur (
** This example might be this trope ''squared''. How many people know words to the chorus other than "[[Memetic Mutation|WOO HOO]]" ?
* Basshunter literally does this many times with his own songs, with examples ranging from the chorus-only "Vi Sitter I Ventrilo Och Spelar DotA" to not realizing "Jingle Bells" has [[Did Not Do the Research|more than one verse]].
* "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." The verses, as it happens, are actually quite interesting, centering as they do on a [[Tomboy]] who loves baseball.
* Several hymns suffer from this.
**
*** [[Land Of Hope And Glory]], as mentioned elsewhere.
****
* "Give Peace a Chance" by [[John Lennon]]. Since the chorus is only one couplet, repeated as necessary, that takes this trope near the limit. But it's understandable: the chorus is simple and timeless; the verses are
** The "forgotten verses" effect is perhaps heightened by the fact that current live concert performances of the song by Paul McCartney as a tribute to his former bandmate include only the familiar refrain, usually as part of a medley with another song. (For example, since at least 2009, [[The Beatles (
** ''[[Hey Jude]]'' is much the same...
* "Yankee Doodle", of all things, has quite a few verses (specific regions and regiments came up with their own additional verses during the [[American Revolution]]), but nobody today remembers any more than the chorus.
* "Crawling" by Linkin Park is infamous for its angsty chorus and little else; in fact most only ever know the first line, the second is brought up occasionally, and almost never the 3rd or 4th.
* The theme song for ''[[The Jeffersons]].''
* "Daisy Bell," the song that HAL sings in ''[[
* As do "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside" and "Where did you get that hat?".
* ''Closer'' by [[Nine Inch Nails]], to the point where most people refer to it as the fuck-you-like-an-animal song, which [[Misaimed Fandom|completely misses the point.]]
* Several of the songs from ''[[The Wizard of Oz (
** Even more surprising are songs that got cut out of the film ''entirely'', including "The Jitter Bug," "Happy Glow," and "The Ozphabet." (The musical stage version retains many of them.)
* [
* Many many folksongs and shanties and their ilk suffer from either this or the [[Second Verse Curse]]. "Blackfly", "Canning Salmon", and "Northwest Passage" are three.
* "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba. best known for "I get knocked down, but I get up again". That song.
** It's a shame, because the verses would make the most awesome drinking game ever. I drink a whiskey drink, I drink a vodka drink...
* It's a bit of an in-joke in the [[Goth]] fandom that nobody remembers the lyrics of [[The Sisters of Mercy]]'s "This Corrosion" other than the "Hey now, hey now now now, sing this corrosion to me" chorus.
** To the point that the satirical card game [[w:Gother Than Thou|"Gother Than Thou"]] has a card that challenges the player to sing ''two lines'' from it.
* Hey, you know Gary Glitter's "Rock And Roll (Part 2)"? You know, The Hey Song? Yeah, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ4PfW5Y_mQ there's also a Part 1]. Our European tropers are already going "WELL, NO SHIT" but they need to remember, only Part 2 got popular over in America!
* [http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/godblessamerica.html God Bless America]. (The verse begins "While the storm clouds gather / Far across the sea," which reflects on the song having been first published in 1938.) Let [[Big Beautiful Woman|Kate Smith]] show you [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQDW-NMaRs how it goes].
* [[Bruce Springsteen]]'s "Born in the USA" - double the fun in that without the verses the meaning of the song changes completely. Occasionally leads to [[Did Not Do the Research]] when people neglect to ''listen'' to the song [[Isn't It Ironic?|before using it]].
* An inversion of sorts: the [[Standard Snippet]] version of "The Streets of Cairo" uses the tune of the verse, not the chorus.
* "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am"; largely the fault of [[Herman's Hermits]], who only sung the chorus in their (very popular) version. "Second verse, same as the first!" Apparently they performed only the chorus because that was the only part they knew. So it could have been a
* Nobody cares about the verses to [[Kiss]]'s "Rock and Roll All Nite". Nobody.
** See, that's the kind of talk makes people get wild. But that's okay - ''you drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy...''
*** This is a particularly odd case in that it's not unusual for casual listeners to know both (some of) the verse and the chorus, but ''think they're different songs''.
* [http://parlorsongs.com/insearch/lostverses/lostverses.php This page on ParlorSongs.com] details the process in which verses of Tin Pan Alley songs became obscure.
** Many songs from Tin Pan Alley days have verses which have been long forgotten by everybody but music
*** "Give My Regards To Broadway" is a good example of this.
*** As are most songs written by the Gershwins.
* You're unlikely to hear the (unmelodic) verse of "As Time Goes By" because it wasn't used in ''[[Casablanca]]''.
** The melody is all right; it's the lyric that's the problem. Listen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc4iLg_3SGk here]. Needs no introduction, indeed.
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** And its near companion "We Are The Champions".
* "When The Saints Go Marching In"
* "War! Huh! Good god! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Everyone knows that, barely anyone knows the verses.
* "London Calling" by [[The Clash]]. In fact, most people don't even seem to know any of the chorus besides those two words.
** Actually an inversion, since those two words are from the verses of the song, not the chorus.
** "Rock The Casbah" is probably a better example. How many people (especially outside Britain) even understand the words, let alone know the verses well enough to sing them? And yet, everytime the chorus comes back we're all reciting: "[[Something Something Leonard Bernstein|Something something something...Rock the Casbah! Rock the Casbah!]]"
* [[REM|"It's the End of the World as We Know It"]] narrowly avoids because people get one or other line of the verses (mostly "[[Something Something Leonard Bernstein|LEONARD BERNSTEIN!]]").
* ''This is not a love song'' by [[Public Image Ltd]]
* "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam. It does have two verses, which may not have been remembered because the first verse sounds too much like the chorus to Jerry Butler's "He Will Break Your Heart."
* [[Deep Purple]]'s "Smoke On The Water". Some only stay for the guitar riff (which is outlawed now in most music shops), some stay a little longer for the pretty memorable chorus, but rarely does anyone know the verses. As one friend remarked: "There are verses?"
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* "Wild Thing/You make my heart sing"...
** Wild Thing, I think there are verses/But I wanna know for sure...
** The late [[Sam Kinison]]'s screamed tribute to every woman who ever did him wrong, starting with the little girl who stole his crayons in kindergarten, didn't help.
* A scene in ''[[Canadian Bacon]]'' has [[Three Amigos|John Candy and the other two guys]] singing the chorus of "Born in the USA" and "[[Oklahoma!]]!" over and over again because they don't know the rest of the lyrics.
* An odd example of this is "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. It consists of a chorus, a bridge, the same bridge repeated, then the chorus repeated again.
* Arguably, the opening theme of ''[[Princess Tutu]]'', "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsipExvcHgM Morning Grace]".
* [[Pinocchio (Disney film)|''When You Wish Upon a Star'']]
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vKfxKtGLU8 It's a Long Way To Tipperary]"
{{quote|
As the streets are paved with gold, sure, [[Have a Gay Old Time|everyone was gay!]]" }}
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOo-zKk0x4Q Hello, My Baby!]"
** Oddly averted by [[Ivor Bigguns]], normally known for his terribly bawdy songs.
* "[
* KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)"
* Not many people know that "You Are My Sunshine" [http://www.lyricsty.com/lyrics/d/doris_day/you_are_my_sunshine.html has verses], since they're nearly never sung.
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* Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land", which could be why [[Misaimed Fandom|everyone believes it to be such a patriotic song]].
** It's a protest song - it's the essence of patriotism!
**
* "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee has this taken to an extreme - people only know the chorus, and they do so as [[Something Something Leonard Bernstein|"something something Gasolina"]] repeated 8 times.
* For some, [[The Rolling Stones|"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"]] are just those five words.
* Prince's [[Batman (
*
* "Anything You Can Do" has a short verse, but it's not used in ''[[Annie Get Your Gun]]''.
* Assuming they've never heard the [[Cluster F-Bomb]] bridge to [[
* If you've ever heard "Waltzing Matilda" chances are you've only ever heard not only the first verse and the chorus, but you'll also hear them ''misquoted''. The song itself is about a swagman who steals a "jumbuck" (sheep), then [[Better to Die Than Be Killed|drowns instead of letting the police take him]]. And everyone misquotes the line as "''You'll'' come a-Waltzing Matilda with ''me''" (The swagman sings "''Who'll'' come...", while the troopers sing "''You'll'' come a-Waltzing Matilda with ''we''".)
** Not to mention, the original lyrics for the chorus were set to a different tune.
{{quote|
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
Waltzing Matilda and leading a water-bag
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?" }}
** Interestingly, some people were introduced to the original, full version as children thanks to ''[[Shining Time Station]]''.
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* "I Feel Good" by James Brown.
* The verse to the title song of ''[[Of Thee I Sing]]'' was printed in the vocal score, but with a note saying that it is not used. Few recordings include it.
* The chorus of the ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' theme song is iconic, but few people actually remember the opening
{{quote|
They've got the ability to morph and to even up the score.
No one can ever take them down.
The power lies on their side!" }}
** ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'' reuses the theme, but gets rid of everything but the chorus and changes the lyrics slightly. The only lyrics are "go go Power Rangers," and "rangers together, samurai forever" (in place of "you mighty morphing power rangers.")
* "Paradise City" by [[
** [[Second Verse Curse|And even fewer people know the second verse.]] [[[Crowning Music of Awesome]] Except Masaaki Endo.]]
* ''[[Transformers:
* "One Week" by [[Barenaked Ladies]] gets this somewhat. Each chorus is slightly varied, but the verses are not nearly as well known, not helped by being somewhat disconnected from the chorus, and generally sung very fast.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Music Tropes]]
[[Category:
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