The first word alone can give away a song. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for songs so memorable, we recognize them the second they start playing.
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00:00 Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down and...
00:04 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for songs so memorable we recognize them the second they start playing.
00:12 Turn around...
00:14 Every now and then I get a little bit lonely...
00:18 Number 10, Summer of '69, Bryan Adams.
00:22 I got my first real six-string, bought it at the five and dime...
00:28 Here's a song where all we need to hear are the opening chords to know what's playing, never mind the first lyrics.
00:33 Still, those can't be ignored either.
00:35 Oh, and I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever...
00:41 While most of us have probably never been in a five and dime or even know what that is, we know Bryan Adams got his first real six-string in one.
00:48 Released in the summer of '85 rather than '69, this song rose on music charts all over the world.
00:54 I guess nothing can last forever, forever...
01:00 It hit number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, and in 1989, music critic Dave Marsh ranked it the 635th greatest single ever made.
01:09 We do love a good summer classic.
01:11 And once more on '69...
01:15 Number nine, Rapper's Delight, The Sugarhill Gang.
01:18 The hippie, the hippie, the hippie, the hippie, hoppin' your doorstep...
01:22 Although the long version of this song clocks in at an incredibly lengthy 14 minutes and 37 seconds, it only takes about a second and a half to recognize this OG track from The Sugarhill Gang.
01:32 I'm gonna rock the mic so you can't resist, everybody, I'm sayin' things like this...
01:36 With just that hip-hop, the hippie from Wonder Mike, we know we're about to be delighted by Rapper's Delight. Pun absolutely intended.
01:44 I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast, but we like hot butter on a breakfast toast...
01:48 Not to mention the fact that just like Rosie and the Wedding Singer, there are no doubt many 80s and 90s kids who could sing along to the entire 14 minutes.
01:57 Now that's an earworm.
01:58 I said hip-hop, a hippie to the hippie to the hip-hip-hop, you don't stop the rock to the bang-bang boogie, say up-jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie to the beat...
02:07 Number eight, Jolene, Dolly Parton.
02:09 Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene...
02:14 Dolly Parton wrote this song after she caught wind of a red-headed bank clerk flirting with her husband back when they were newly married.
02:20 Your beauty is beyond compare with flaming locks of auburn hair...
02:25 The clerk's name wasn't Jolene, but all we need to hear is that name emerge from Parton's mouth before we know exactly what song it is.
02:32 Actually, it can come from anybody's mouth and you'll probably think of the track, even if the name isn't being sung.
02:36 And I can easily understand how you could easily take my man...
02:41 Admittedly, it does help that it's the title and also most of the chorus.
02:45 Jolene has been covered multiple times by a variety of artists, from the White Stripes to Lil Nas X.
02:51 While the instrumental intro might sound a little different, all it takes is that first word.
02:56 Please don't take him just because you can...
03:00 Number seven, Hello, Lionel Richie.
03:02 - Go hard? What have you been doing? - Get along with you inside my mind...
03:07 There's a moment in the Scary Movie 4 parody of Brokeback Mountain where Anthony Anderson and Kevin Hart sit up, look at each other and sing...
03:15 Hello...
03:17 Is it me you're looking for?
03:20 That first line of the chorus is obviously the most famous part of Lionel Richie's 1984 hit song.
03:26 I long to see the sunlight in your hair...
03:32 However, that opening verse is also so recognizable.
03:35 It's a heartfelt admission that always scratches an itch we didn't even know we had.
03:40 Whether sung by Richie himself or in an acapella version by comedians, we will always be swaying along.
03:46 I love you...
03:48 Number six, I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor.
03:51 - First I was afraid, now I'm petrified... - Even if for some reason we will never understand you, like that guy in The Replacements, don't like this song...
04:01 You will still know it from the moment it begins.
04:04 - But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong... - "At" is quite the common word, so we'll give you "at first" for this one.
04:14 Still, to be singing along after just two words is not bad at all.
04:17 - I just got trouble, just got laid down and died, oh, Lord, I... - The only thing we're afraid and petrified of is how fast we can all correctly identify the tune before the first line is even finished being sung.
04:30 It has got to be one of the catchiest tracks in history.
04:33 - I will survive, long as, long as I know not to love, I know I'll survive... - Number five, Hooked on a Feeling, Blue Swede.
04:43 - Shaka-uka-uka-uka-shaka-uka-uka-uka-shaka-uka-uka-uka-shaka-uka-uka-uka-shaka... - Maybe you were an Ally McBeal fan in the 90s and early aughts and still can't get that dancing baby out of your head.
04:56 Maybe you got hooked on Tarantino after his directorial debut with Reservoir Dogs.
05:00 Maybe you're a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
05:03 - Hooked on a Feeling, Blue Swede, 1973, that song belongs to me! - Or maybe you just have a special place in your heart for 70s Swedish rock.
05:11 - Girl, you got me thirsty for another cup of wine... - Whatever the reason, we can imagine there are very many people out there who, upon hearing that "uka-shaka-uka-uka-uka-uka-shaka",
05:25 don't immediately recognize it as the start of Hooked on a Feeling.
05:28 - Said I'm hooked on a feeling, and I'm high on believing... - Number four, Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen.
05:38 - Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? - While all us 90s kids, thanks in large part to Wayne's World, can recite the entire second half of the song on demand,
05:51 it only takes the opening words to guess Bohemian Rhapsody.
05:54 - Mother just killed a man... - Queen has a lot of popular songs, so citing just one as their most famous is a big claim.
06:04 And yet it would be accurate to say it's this one.
06:07 We all love the Scaramouches, the Fandango, the Galileo Figaro, and Magnifico.
06:13 And who hasn't done the "Let Me Go" singing back and forth bit with friends?
06:16 - Let me go! - Who the f*** let you go? - Let me go! - Who the f*** let you go?
06:20 Before the song even gets to any of that, though, the line "Is this the real life?" immediately gets us excited for the almost six-minute musical experience we're about to have.
06:29 - I gotta be on... - Number three, All Star, Smash Mouth.
06:34 - Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me... - We aren't going to advocate for putting one's finger and thumb in the shape of an L on their forehead if someone doesn't recognize the song right off the bat.
06:47 But you really don't have to be the sharpest tool in the shed to know this Smash Mouth hit.
06:51 - Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming, fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.
06:56 Released in 1999, the song reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the band a Grammy nomination.
07:03 - Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!
07:07 Then two years later, Shrek came out and put the song in the spotlight once again.
07:12 Throw in the grand meme-ification of the song in the 2010s and it dug itself even deeper into our musical consciousness.
07:18 - Only shooting stars break the mold...
07:24 - Number two, Yesterday, The Beatles.
07:26 - Yesterday, all my troubles seem so far away...
07:34 Yesterday is one of the greatest pop songs ever written and it's by one of the greatest bands of all time.
07:40 We won't lie, the first word of the song is the title, so that made our jobs a lot easier when we sat down to compile this list.
07:48 - Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be...
07:55 It's pretty much the perfect storm for creating an instantaneously recognizable track.
08:00 There's no long musical intro in the song either, just a few strums of the guitar and it begins with the great Paul McCartney's iconic voice singing the word.
08:08 - Why she had to go, I don't know...
08:14 In this song's case, we might even only need the first syllable.
08:18 - Oh, I believe in yesterday...
08:23 Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
08:27 You Give Love a Bad Name, Bon Jovi, Shot Through the Heart and We Know What Song It Is.
08:32 - Shot through the heart, and you're to blame, darling...
08:36 Relax, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Relax, you know this song.
08:40 - Relax, don't you ask, where you wanna go to, where...
08:44 Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Mary Poppins fans, unite!
08:50 - It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious...
08:56 Dale, The Banana Boat Song, Harry Belafonte. You'll know this one before and after the daylight comes.
09:02 - Dale, Dale...
09:07 Stacey's Mom, Fountains of Wayne. This song has got it going on right from the first words.
09:12 - Stacey's mom has got it going on...
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09:31 Number 1 - Roxanne, The Police
09:35 - Roxanne...
09:38 You don't have to put on the red light...
09:42 You don't have to put on the red light to know what song this is within the first few seconds of it hitting your ears.
09:47 And if the little laughter during the opening guitar riff doesn't give it away,
09:50 then all you need is to hear that name as Sting introduces us to the song's main character, Roxanne.
09:56 - I've known you since I knew you...
10:00 I wouldn't talk down to you...
10:02 Like a few other songs on this list, the opening word of the track is the song's title as well,
10:08 which obviously makes it that much easier to pinpoint.
10:10 - Know my mind is made of...
10:14 So put away your makeup...
10:16 Moment of silence for all the people named Roxanne out there who've probably had this sung to them their entire lives.
10:21 - Roxanne...
10:24 Roxanne...
10:28 What's the first word of your favorite song? Let us know in the comments.
10:31 - Who? Yeah!
10:34 What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
10:39 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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10:47 [Music]