Music Inexplicably liked songs

[DennisN]

Ok, I just thought of a fun and unusal idea for a music thread...

This is a thread for songs that you like yourself, but you don't know why.
And when you think more deeply about it, you still can't say why.

I am not talking about guilty pleasures, I am talking about songs you simply do not understand why you like. It could be a song of a genre you don't normally like, a style you don't like, lyrics you don't like, feelings you don't like, but you still like the song very much.

That is; it is a mystery to you why you like it.
The thing is, this is VERY interesting psychologically.

Because the reason for your liking may be... subconscious.
And if you then delve deeper and actually figure out why you like the song, you get a glimpse into your own subconscious. That's not the objective of the thread though, to solve it.
I just thought it would be a fun idea.

So please, tell me/us of songs you really don't know why you like!

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Sidenote regarding my reason for the thread:

Why I got interested in this right now is personal. I actually write songs for myself, because I used to be a composer in a band, and I could never kick the habit. It is a bit addictive. And very psychologically cleansing .

Now, there is one song that I finished about a week ago. It started demanding to be written in January and got completed in November (no, I did not take the entire time, some songs come in pieces and get assembled at the end, actually just like a baby does).

The funny thing is that this is a song I didn't decide to compose.
Instead, it was a song that demanded me to compose it, or actually my subconscious was at work.
From the entire time between January and November.

I realized this in a complicated way I don't need to get into. But I now understand the final meaning of the song perfectly, it is obvious. (and others that know me have done too). It's a pretty universal theme, though emotionally very difficult.

But... there is one line that I simply do not understand why I wrote.
And it's an important line at the end of the song. I truly don't know what I am meaning with the line. But there is a meaning; somewhere in my subconscious. It really annoys me that I can't solve the meaning of that darn line, it's a complete mystery to me.
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[DennisN]

By the way, I have a couple of songs I know I like but I don't know why.
I'll post them in a while....

 

[DennisN]

Here is a song I really don't get why I like...

The Andrews Sisters - Rum And Coca-Cola 1944


This is a calypso song from a culture that is vastly different from mine.
And it is about issues that are not connected to me at all.
And I don't think it is an excellent song.
But I still like it very much.
I truly don't know why.

 

[DennisN]

Neil Sedaka - "Amarillo" (1977)​

Gosh I love this song.

But it's not a style that I normally like, and it's incredibly cute, which is also something I don't normally like. And the lyrics are a bit too basic for my liking.

But I still think it is a fantastic song.
I don't know why.

And I don't even know what "Amarillo" is.
Is it a city? I have to go to google....

Edit: Yes, a city in Texas obviously.

And I LOVE how he pronounces "Maria" at 1:27.
A small detail.

 

[DennisN]

Ok, here is a song by a band that I really like...

But I don't really get why I like this particular song so much.
I am not particularly fond of the style of the song.
It's not one of their more famous songs.
And it's pretty simple for being Dire Straits.
And not that sophisticated lyrics.

But I just love it to pieces.
And I sometimes get tears in my eyes when I hear it.
It probably reminds me of someone I miss, but I don't know who it is.

Dire Straits - So Far Away


Edit: Believe it or not, I like this song more than their iconic megahits "Money For Nothing" and "Brothers In Arms" which are themselves fantastic songs.

 

[Klystron]

Related to your musical theme, I sometimes merge background sounds into a cue to sing an old folk song I learned as a child. For example, the swimming pool where I swim each morning has a number of pumps including a waterfall that splashes along one side. The various sounds remind me of the opening to the calypso song "I Come on the Sloop John-B".

While stretching before swimming and afterward while drying off, I start singing this song accompanied by the ambient sounds.

This version is by the Kingston Trio.
This by the Beach Boys.

 

[DennisN]

But I still think it is a fantastic song.
I don't know why.

Apparently I am not alone in liking the song...

Neil Sedaka - Is This The The Way To Amarillo (From Live At the Royal Albert Hall)

 

[Hornbein]

Neil Diamond - I Am...I Said

 

[DennisN]

Neil Diamond - I Am...I Said

Interesting song. I've never heard it, and after the first listen I can tell the composition is very good, but I can't make out what the song is about. Which makes it interesting to me.

Edit: I listened to it a second time, and my interpretation is that it is about being lost/in limbo.

 

[DennisN]

The various sounds remind me of the opening to the calypso song "I Come on the Sloop John-B".

Hmm... very interesting.
I did not recognize that song from the title, but now when I listened to it, I definitely recognize it.
I have heard that song before. Probably when I was a child.

It sounds like an evergreen, even though the sound is clearly "Carribean".
Apparently it is a "Bahamian folk song from Nassau".
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloop_John_B

 

[Klystron]

Apparently it is a "Bahamian folk song from Nassau".

Yes. I learned this song as a child singing in school choir and also in band playing the brass (trumpet) riffs that accompany the traditional percussion. Cool aspect of Carribean/calypso folk songs include improvised lyrics. One can change verses to match the occasion and audience.

For instance as a child, the first mate did not 'he got drunk. Tore up the captain's bunk' but 'he got funk. Stole the captain's trunk'. Harry Bellefonte claimed he never sang "Sloop John B" the same way twice except on recordings. What intrigues me is that my subconscious interprets ambient sounds of water, pumps, and palm trees in the breeze into a background 'calypso' beat prompting song.

 

[DaveC426913]

I'm afraid I honestly do not understand the question.

Of course I know why I like a song. How can I not? It may be as simple as having a catchy tune, or a great base beat, or a lot of energy.

How do you manage to like a song but not know why? What does that look like? Do you find yourself involuntarily toe-tapping, even though you think you hate the song? Serious question.

 

[DennisN]

I'm afraid I honestly do not understand the question.

Of course I know why I like a song. How can I not? It may be as simple as having a catchy tune, or a great base beat, or a lot of energy.

Ok, I'll try to explain what I mean... from my perspective...

..it's about those very few songs that I very much like, but are totally out of place with all the other music which I like. Songs that don't fit in with the rest, and songs that I can't explain to myself why I like it.

I can at most only guess why I like it, but I'm not sure.
In short: I can't explain my liking of the song to myself.

For me, there are not many such songs I think, but I know that they are there.
And that's what's make it interesting to me.

 

[DennisN]

How do you manage to like a song but not know why? What does that look like? Do you find yourself involuntarily toe-tapping, even though you think you hate the song? Serious question.

I'll answer from my perpective how I know it is such a song:

It gives you a very introspective and dreamlike state when you listen to it.
You are pulled into the song, but you don't know why you are pulled into it.
And maybe you start thinking about lost times when you hear it.
An after you have heard it, you still don't know why you get that dreamlike feeling when you hear it, and you can't explain it to yourself.

 

[DaveC426913]

..it's about those very few songs that I very much like, but are totally out of place with all the other music which I like.

Ah, well I've got plenty of those. I'm heavily in to Indie bands and folksie stuff like Of Monsters and Men (Little Talks) and The Tallest Man on Earth (1904).

But, paradoxically, the song at the very top of my heavy rotation list is Blink 182's "Ghost on the Dance Floor".

Another on my heavy rotation is what I can only clumsily describe as "modern opera" The Family Crest's "Beneath the Brine".

I really like Spotify's ability to find me songs I would not normally listen to. Because I listen to music while I work all day, I can just let it run and it plays all sorts of stuff I've heard heard of.

 

[DaveC426913]

It gives you a very introspective and dreamlike state when you listen to it.
You are pulled into the song, but you don't know why you are pulled into it.

There are songs that have paralyzed me from the first note.
Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" came on the radio and the first few chords rang me like a bell.

But that's a mega hit pop song, so I'm not the only one.

 

[Frabjous]

I'm afraid I honestly do not understand the question.

 

[DennisN]

But that's a mega hit pop song, so I'm not the only one.

It doesn't matter if it's famous or not. What matters is if you can explain to yourself why you like it.
If you can't, it's an inexplicably liked song for you.

 

[pinball1970]

I'm afraid I honestly do not understand the question

I think I get it but actions (actually examples) sing louder than words.

 

[pinball1970]

What caught my ear was "I love it," The "it" sounded strange. (Just checked on guitar and it's the 9th and 6th respectively over the chords)
Just G and C chord.

I could not tell most of the words.

99 tracks out of 100 like that I would instantly switch off but with that track? I love it!

 

[DennisN]

99 tracks out of 100 like that I would instantly switch off but with that track? I love it!

Hey, I know that song!
And they are talking Swedish in the beginning of the video, so it's probably a Swedish artist.
I agree, I really like it too, and it's definitely not my style of music.

There is an animalistic power in it, very primal. At least, that's my desciption.

Edit: Yes, they are Swedish.

"Icona Pop (English: /aɪˈkɒnə ˈpɒp/ eye-KON-ə POP) are a Swedish synth-pop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icona_Pop

 

[DennisN]

What caught my ear was "I love it," The "it" sounded strange. (Just checked on guitar and it's the 9th and 6th respectively over the chords)
Just G and C chord.

I could not tell most of the words.

99 tracks out of 100 like that I would instantly switch off but with that track? I love it!

For some reason it reminded me of one my guilty pleasures:

Neon Jungle - Braveheart


I am not supposed to like that song, but I do.
(I don't like the rapping part in it though, but the rest of it I like, so I think it is an explicably liked song by me aswell)

 

[pinball1970]

For some reason it reminded me of one my guilty pleasures:

Neon Jungle - Braveheart


I am not supposed to like that song, but I do.
(I don't like the rapping part in it though, but the rest of it I like, so I think it is an explicably liked song by me aswell)

We were bombarded by dance music in the 1990s and I resisted but now and again something would strike a chord.
I was not keen on vocal dance, they were formulaic,

Rhythm for a few bars, chords on piano, stop vocal, drums brings everyone in.

All the young lads in the lab were whistling a tune one day in the lab and it drove me nuts. The tune sounded like "Old MacDonald had a farm," only extended, it made no sense.

EDIT:

 

[pinball1970]

Everything about it annoyed me. The tune made no sense, chromatic and off the beat and it's dance music, all synthetic.
However, the tune just a descending chromatic? On its own sounds on the beat till everything kicks in? Fantastic, I hate it!

EDIT: The tune is in the bass at the beginning which is odd.

 

[pinball1970]

Still on dance music, everything that was wrong with music at the time. No players just DJs so this stuff was my nemesis.

First time I watched this film this is what hit me.

 

[DennisN]

Hey, I know that song!
And they are talking Swedish in the beginning of the video, so it's probably a Swedish artist.
I agree, I really like it too, and it's definitely not my style of music.

There is an animalistic power in it, very primal. At least, that's my desciption.

Edit: Yes, they are Swedish.

"Icona Pop (English: /aɪˈkɒnə ˈpɒp/ eye-KON-ə POP) are a Swedish synth-pop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icona_Pop

I was taking a bath and was thinking about these two songs, "I Love It" and "Braveheart".
The thing is that they don't sound like usual EDM; they are much, much harder and primal.

Sidenote (not inexplicable to me):

For some reason I came to think about another Swedish band which I don't know if they are famous outside Sweden, but they have done some really amazing songs.

The duo is called The Knife (siblings Karin and Olof Dreijer), but they are not active anymore.

Here is one excellent song;
(notice the very, very cool synths in it, and that the vocals are a bit like Kate Bush!)

The Knife - Heartbeats

 

[DennisN]

Still on dance music, everything that was wrong with music at the time. No players just DJs so this stuff was my nemesis.

First time I watched this film this is what hit me.

That's not ordinary EDM, that is harder. It's almost industrial.
Somehow it reminds me of Nine Inch Nails.

Here is one of my favorite songs by Nine Inch Nails; it is so weird, because it's introspective and primal at the same time:

Nine Inch Nails - Into The Void

 

[DennisN]

Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" came on the radio and the first few chords rang me like a bell.

Darn, I just listened to it. I have heard it before.
It is a frickin' amazing song.

Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill


Peter Gabriel is not only a genius composer, he is an awesome vocalist too.
He has got tonnes of emotions in his voice.

Edit: When the drums come in in the song, I truly get goosebumps. It is amazing.

 

[pinball1970]

Darn, I just listened to it. I have heard it before.
It is a frickin' amazing song.

Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill


Peter Gabriel is not only a genius composer, he is an awesome vocalist too.
He has got tonnes of emotions in his voice.

Edit: When the drums come in in the song, I truly get goosebumps. It is amazing.

How many 7/4 times do you know? Money by Floyd is too in parts, It is beautiful music.

Peter Gabriel did this not long after he left Genesis. Very different, amazing guitar part, I will learn to play it someday!

 

[DennisN]

Sidenote:

Peter Gabriel did this not long after he left Genesis.

I am a bit of a Genesis fan, but I haven't heard all they have done.
(by the way, I LOVE this song by Mike Rutherford: Silent Running)

Are you a big Genesis fan?
If so, which are your five favorite tracks?
In case I've missed some great ones...

 

[pinball1970]

Sidenote:



I am a bit of a Genesis fan, but I haven't heard all they have done.
(by the way, I LOVE this song by Mike Rutherford: Silent Running)

Are you a big Genesis fan?
If so, which are your five favorite tracks?
In case I've missed some great ones...

This is my favourite

 

[pinball1970]

Sidenote:



I am a bit of a Genesis fan, but I haven't heard all they have done.
(by the way, I LOVE this song by Mike Rutherford: Silent Running)

Are you a big Genesis fan?
If so, which are your five favorite tracks?
In case I've missed some great ones...

I managed to see them once in 2007, fantastic. Steve Hackett still tours.

 

[pinball1970]

My favourite Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush on backing vocals

 

[pinball1970]

Sidenote:



I am a bit of a Genesis fan, but I haven't heard all they have done.
(by the way, I LOVE this song by Mike Rutherford: Silent Running)

Are you a big Genesis fan?
If so, which are your five favorite tracks?
In case I've missed some great ones...

The Album "Duke" is a masterpiece. "Turn it on again" and " Misunderstanding" were the singles but this was my pick.

 

[DennisN]

This is my favourite

I have never heard it, it sounds very experimental. A cool song and very, very good drums and percussion. Somehow it reminds me a bit of Pink Floyd (pre-Dark Side of the Moon, perhaps?)

 

[DennisN]

My favourite Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush on backing vocals

Gosh, that's an excellent song, I'm saving that one. It hits VERY close to some of my favorite genres. Excellent theme, excellent beat, excellent fills, excellent feeling. Quite spooky/haunting. In fact, the feeling of the fundamental beat and fills are even quite close to the feeling of drums in some of the music I've done. To me it sounds a bit electro, downtempo and "triphoppy".

Excellent, 10/10 from me.


Edit: The simple synthriff that enters at 3:18, so darn cool and effective.
The sound of it, gosh it's good!

Thanks!

 

[pinball1970]

Gosh, that's an excellent song, I'm saving that one. It hits VERY close to some of favorite genres. Excellent theme, excellent beat, excellent fills, excellent feeling. Quite spooky/haunting. In fact, the feeling of the fundamental beat and fills are even quite close to the feeling of drums in some of the music I've done. To me it sounds a bit electro, downtempo and "triphoppy".

Excellent, 10/10 from me.

I am glad you like it.

It is almost entirely synths. Guitar the only non synth.

They recorded in 1979 when electro pop was taking off and this is what happens when a great singer and musician gets new sounds to play with.

Finding out years later Kate bush did backing vocals was the cream on the cake, when we found out every one was saying, ”Yeah of course it’s her!”

They collaborated years later on “Don’t give up.”

 

[DennisN]

To me it sounds a bit electro, downtempo and "triphoppy"

@pinball1970 :

I've discovered that the UK trip hop band Massive Attack did a remix of the song :
(a bit less "electro" and more moody, I'd say (I prefer the original, of course, but I think the remix is interesting))

Peter Gabriel, games without frontiers, Massive Attack remix

 

[Hornbein]

Here's "my" version featuring Mia Mizuhashi. She subsequently and unexpectedly became a superstar in China, so she no longer makes wonderful artistic stuff like this.



Note that the lyrics were altered to pass the censor. It's not really about kissing balloons in the jungle.

 

[DennisN]

Here's "my" version featuring Mia Mizuhashi. She subsequently and unexpectedly became a superstar in China, so she no longer makes wonderful artistic stuff like this.

It's Peter Gabriel (feat. Kate Bush) in the amazing song "Games Without Frontiers":

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/inexplicably-liked-songs.1066667/post-7130005

 

[Hornbein]

It's Peter Gabriel (feat. Kate Bush) in the amazing song "Games Without Frontiers":

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/inexplicably-liked-songs.1066667/post-7130005

Yes I know that

 

[pinball1970]

Yes I know that

This is just the track right? From 1980?

 

[Hornbein]

Right. Different visuals. (I do this a lot.)

 

[robphy]

I don't know why I like this song... or this band.
I don't understand any of the words. I just like the beats and melodies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88Kasyo_Junrei ( 八十八ヶ所巡礼 )

八十八ヶ所巡礼「仏滅トリシュナー」

https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/tab-s814439

more from this band
https://www.youtube.com/@ppr-qs6xz/videos

 

[DennisN]

I don't know why I like this song... or this band.
I don't understand any of the words. I just like the beats and melodies.

Interesting unusual sound, avantgarde, but very tight.
It sounds to me it has elements of psychedelic rock, punk and metal.
Not something I often hear.

Edit:

Genres according to Wikipedia:
Progressive, psychedelic, alternative, hard rock, heavy metal

 

[robphy]

Another song... I don't understand any of the words.

"Benjo Sandal Dance"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_the_Hormone


https://genius.com/Maximum-the-hormone-benjo-sandal-dance-lyrics
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/benjo-sandal-dance-toilet-sandal-dance.html


マキシマム ザ ホルモン( maximum the hormone ) - Benjo Sandal Dance en vivo #mth #maximumthehormone #live #zick #LiveNuMetal

- https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/maximum-the-hormone-benjo-sandal-dance-bass-tab-s448065

(see also Band Maid's Akane do a drum cover of this song
https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...s-impact-on-modern-music.1055930/post-6964135 )

 

[robphy]

https://nigami17.com/
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ニガミ17才

https://jpop.fandom.com/wiki/Nigami_17-Sai

ニガミ17才 MV「おいしい水」(Nigami 17th birthday!! "oisii mizu" )


ニガミ17才 MV「化けるレコード」 (Nigami 17th birthday!! "bakeru record" )

 

[Hornbein]

I don't know why I like this song... or this band.
I don't understand any of the words. I just like the beats and melodies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88Kasyo_Junrei ( 八十八ヶ所巡礼 )

八十八ヶ所巡礼「仏滅トリシュナー」

https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/tab-s814439

more from this band
https://www.youtube.com/@ppr-qs6xz/videos

The band is Pilgrimage to 88 places. That takes place on the island of Shikoku.

Six million views! Amazing it's so popular. It IS catchy and intriguing.

That weird custom made ebass with the long horn is a good idea. Most ebasses tend to neck dive.

 

[Hornbein]

It sort of reminds me of this.

 

[robphy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladybeard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladybeard#Deadlift_Lolita

【MV】DEADLIFT LOLITA「Pump Up JAPAN」【筋肉】( Ladybeard Official Channel JP )