Repetitive songs contain a large proportion of repeated words or phrases. Simple repetitive
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
s are common in many cultures as widely spread as the Caribbean, Southern India and Finland. The best-known examples are probably
children's song
A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...
s. Other repetitive songs are found, for instance, in
African-American culture
African-American culture refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential on Ame ...
from the
days of slavery.
Structure
Self referential songs quote their own lyrics; one example is "
The Song That Never Ends
"The Song That Doesn't End" (also referred to as "The Song That Never Ends") is a self-referential and infinitely iterative children's song. The song appears in an album by puppeteer Shari Lewis titled '' Lamb Chop's Sing-Along, Play-Along'', r ...
".
Cumulative song
A cumulative song is a song with a simple verse structure modified by progressive addition so that each verse is longer than the verse before. Cumulative songs are popular for group singing, in part because they require relatively little memoriza ...
s build from one verse to another, like bricks on a pile, as in "
Old McDonald Had a Farm
"Old MacDonald Had a Farm" (sometimes shortened to Old MacDonald) is a traditional children's song and nursery rhyme about a farmer and the various animals he keeps. Each verse of the song changes the name of the animal and its respective nois ...
". 'Counting songs' may count up or down, as with "
99 Bottles of Beer
"99 Bottles of Beer" or "100 Bottles of Pop on the Wall" is a song dating to the mid-20th century. It is a traditional reverse counting song in both the United States and Canada. It is popular to sing on road trips, as it has a very repetitive ...
".
Another type of song describes a circular phenomenon (see
Recursion
Recursion (adjective: ''recursive'') occurs when a thing is defined in terms of itself or of its type. Recursion is used in a variety of disciplines ranging from linguistics to logic. The most common application of recursion is in mathematics ...
). In "
There's a Hole in My Bucket", the singer-narrator attempts to fix a leaky bucket, only to find out that ultimately one needs to have a functional bucket in order to effect the repair. In "
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a modern folk-style song. Inspired lyrically by the traditional Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", Pete Seeger borrowed an Irish melody and the first three verses in 1955 and published it in ''Sing Out!'' magaz ...
", flowers were offered to soldiers, who fell in a war, new flowers grew on their graves, those flowers were given to soldiers and so on.
Children's songs
In children's songs, repetition serves various educational purposes: repetition aids memory, can aid in learning punctuation and reading skills, and is very valuable in learning (foreign) languages.
Work songs
Repetitive songs are also found in traditional
work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song.
Definitions and ...
s. Examples abound in African-American culture, in political groups, and among traveler, marchers, and walkers.
see ''
Slave Songs of the United States
''Slave Songs of the United States'' was a collection of African American music consisting of 136 songs. Published in 1867, it was the first, and most influential, collection of spirituals to be published. The collectors of the songs were Nor ...
''.
Examples in English
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Michael Finnegan"
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The Song That Never Ends
"The Song That Doesn't End" (also referred to as "The Song That Never Ends") is a self-referential and infinitely iterative children's song. The song appears in an album by puppeteer Shari Lewis titled '' Lamb Chop's Sing-Along, Play-Along'', r ...
"
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There's a Hole in My Bucket"
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John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
"John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" is a traditional children's song that originates from the United States and Canada. The song consists of one verse repeated (usually four times), each time increasing or decreasing in volume or tempo.
Lyrics and m ...
"
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Found a Peanut
"Found a Peanut" is a traditional song, often considered a children, children's song, in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, and Israel. In Israel it is titled "I Swallowed a Peanut" (Balati Boten; בלעתי בוטן). It i ...
"
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Versace (song)
"Versace" is the debut single by American hip hop group Migos. It was released in July 2013, by Quality Control Music. The hook "Versace Versace Versace was created by Peter Thomson who spit the hook to the Migos and Quality Control when they wer ...
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Yon Yonson"
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10 Green Bottles"
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99 Bottles of Beer
"99 Bottles of Beer" or "100 Bottles of Pop on the Wall" is a song dating to the mid-20th century. It is a traditional reverse counting song in both the United States and Canada. It is popular to sing on road trips, as it has a very repetitive ...
"
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Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
''Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet'' is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars based on a loop of an unknown homeless man singing a brief improvised stanza. The loop was the singer's recollection of the chorus of a gospel hymn, by James M Black, p ...
"
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Ti amo
"Ti amo" (; Italian for "I love you") is a 1977 song recorded by Italian singer Umberto Tozzi from the album ''È nell'aria...ti amo''. It achieved success at the time, becoming a hit in many European countries, including Sweden and Switzerland ...
"
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Ievan Polkka
"Ievan polkka" (Finnish for "Ieva's Polka") is a popular Finnish song with lyrics printed in 1928 and written by Eino Kettunen to a traditional Finnish polka tune. The song is sung in an Eastern Savonian dialect spoken in North Karelia. It's s ...
" (5th stanza) by Loituma, seen frequently in the infamous "
Leekspin" animation
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The Wheels on the Bus"
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If You're Happy and You Know It "If You're Happy and You Know It" is a popular repetitive children's and drinking song. The song has been noted for its similarities to "Molodejnaya", a song appearing in the 1938 Soviet musical film ''Volga-Volga''.
History
The origin of the melo ...
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Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is a children's song. The song was documented as early as 1961. It is often sung to the tune of " There Is a Tavern in the Town", although it is sometimes sung to the tune of "London Bridge Is Falling Down".
D ...
"
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Badger Song"
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Around the World"
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The Rockafeller Skank
"The Rockafeller Skank", usually called "Funk Soul Brother" by fans, is a song by English big beat musician and DJ Fatboy Slim. It was released as the lead single from his second studio album, ''You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' (1998), on 8 June 19 ...
"
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I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am
"I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (also "I'm Henery the VIII, I Am" or "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"; spelled "Henery" but pronounced " 'Enery" in the Cockney style normally used to sing it) is a 1910 British music hall song by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston ...
"
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Do What U Want
"Do What U Want" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, featuring guest vocals from R. Kelly. The song was released on October 21, 2013, as the second single from Gaga's third studio album ''Artpop'' (2013). The singers wrote the song with DJ ...
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I Want You (She's So Heavy)
"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney). The song closes side one of their 1969 album ''Abbey Road'' and features Billy Preston playing the organ. It w ...
"
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Jack Your Body
"Jack Your Body" is a house music song by Steve "Silk" Hurley, originally released as a single in 1986. It was featured on the album ''Hold on to Your Dream'', released in 1987, under the alias J.M. Silk.
History
One of the landmark records in t ...
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Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
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You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"
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The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In some Western ecclesiastical traditions, "Christmas Day" is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days a ...
"
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Gucci Gang
"Gucci Gang" is a song by American rapper Lil Pump. It is produced by Bighead and co-produced by Gnealz, and is the fifth single from Lil Pump's self-titled debut album. It was originally released on Pump's SoundCloud account on August 28, 2017, ...
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Green Grow the Rushes, O
Green Grow the Rushes, O (alternatively "Ho" or "Oh") (also known as "The Twelve Prophets", "The Carol of the Twelve Numbers", "The Teaching Song", "The Dilly Song", or "The Ten Commandments"), is an English folk song (Roud #133). It is sometimes ...
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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" (alternatively "There Was an Old Lady", "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" and "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly") is a children's rhyme and no ...
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Five Little Monkeys"
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Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar"
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Little Bunny Foo Foo
"Little Bunny Foo Foo" is a children's poem and song. The poem consists of four-line sung verses separated by some spoken words. The verses are sung to the tune of the French-Canadian children's song " Alouette" (1879), which is melodically simil ...
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The Farmer in the Dell
"The Farmer in the Dell" is a singing game, nursery rhyme, and children's song. It probably originated in Germany and was brought to America by immigrants.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Singing Game'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 183â ...
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Ten German Bombers
"Ten German Bombers" is a children's song, originally sung by British schoolchildren during World War II, and also the British Military. It has been adopted as a football chant by English football fans at matches against Germany. The song has rec ...
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See also
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Donald Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth ( ; born January 10, 1938) is an American computer scientist, mathematician, and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the 1974 recipient of the ACM Turing Award, informally considered the Nobel Prize of computer sc ...
, "
The Complexity of Songs
"The Complexity of Songs" is a scholarly article by computer scientist Donald Knuth in 1977, as an in-joke about computational complexity theory. The article capitalizes on the tendency of popular songs to devolve from long and content-rich ballads ...
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Cumulative song
A cumulative song is a song with a simple verse structure modified by progressive addition so that each verse is longer than the verse before. Cumulative songs are popular for group singing, in part because they require relatively little memoriza ...
*
Repetitive music
Repetition is important in music, where sounds or sequences are often repeated. It may be called restatement, such as the restatement of a theme. While it plays a role in all music, with noise and musical tones lying along a spectrum from irre ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Repetitive Song
Children's songs
Folk songs
Lullabies
Work music
Song forms
Repetition (music)