Songs full of "whoah oh whoah oh whoah oh oh whoah..."

[Thorne]

Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do

There are countless nonsense lyrics going back to the beginning of time. For the most part though, they were incorporated into the melody of the song. The difference with the ‘Millennial Whoop’ is that it’s exactly the same interval on every song, regardless of what the rest of the tune is doing. Usually accompanied by a video of a ‘sassy biatch’ twerking her arse off.

And no it’s not ‘any music I don’t like is crap’ because there is loads of fantastic new music out there. But when you’ve heard something once you don’t need to hear it again on every song. At least change the interval even if you can’t be bothered to write actual words.

 

[bromdenlong]

I agree with you about crap modern ‘music’ you talk about,but don’t forget the doo wop she bops and the whoa whoa yay yay’s of Bobby Vee, and the doo lang doo langs of the Chiffons, the wop bop alubops of Little Richard, the yeah yeah yeah yeahs of the Fab Four.
I grew up in this era. Our parents said the very same things. Just saying.

Yes, but I've only heard "wop bop a lu bop" and "mm papa ooom mau mau" in ONE SONG EACH. "Whoa oh oh"s and "la la la"s are in ELEVENTYBAJILLION SONGS!!

If you're going to use filler syllables, maybe give some thought to mixing it up a bit.

 

[azureglo]

And lets add some science to the arguing. Proper two note adolescents music with our without words, explained (or your next hit)

 

[kevinawilson]

Let me be frank: I can't stand this crap.

You know what I'm talking about, right? Songs that fill every available space with inane vocalizations. Usually it's "whoah oh whoah oh oh...whoah oh oh oh" or some idiotic variation on that. It typically sounds like there's several people vocalizing this pap.

I think it's a fairly recent development in "pop music," and seems to be the signature sound of music favored by millennials. All I can figure is that they couldn't come up with lyrics to fill the space, nor could they come up with interesting musical fills.

I can't think of any specific song to give as an example because I'm not lame enough to actually seek this crap out. However, I was was just subjected to about an hour of this garbage at work the other day and I had to vent.

Is it just me, or does this annoy anyone else?

The cream of the crop right here

 

[Hamstein]

And lets add some science to the arguing. Proper two note adolescents music with our without words, explained (or your next hit)

Well, that was quite interesting - and also extremely irritating! I must be sure to give it a try in my next batch of dreadful songs.
Gotta finish the current set first though, it's a double album's worth of rude songs about Ray Winstone, sung in what, in my mind, is the style of Ray Winstone, accompanied by Chas and Dave, - if Chas and Dave were members of Kraftwerk, - I have to say it's proving more difficult than I first imagined!

 

[Bluzzi]

Let me be frank: I can't stand this crap.

You know what I'm talking about, right? Songs that fill every available space with inane vocalizations. Usually it's "whoah oh whoah oh oh...whoah oh oh oh" or some idiotic variation on that. It typically sounds like there's several people vocalizing this pap.

I think it's a fairly recent development in "pop music," and seems to be the signature sound of music favored by millennials. All I can figure is that they couldn't come up with lyrics to fill the space, nor could they come up with interesting musical fills.

I can't think of any specific song to give as an example because I'm not lame enough to actually seek this crap out. However, I was was just subjected to about an hour of this garbage at work the other day and I had to vent.

Is it just me, or does this annoy anyone else?

I think it's a generational thing. I myself get very annoyed because it is just lazy songwriting. The other thing that bothers me was about 10 years ago it seemed like every band had a bandmember up front with a floor tom to bang on.

Of course now every band out of NAshville needs to have a feather on their hat. It does look nice on the right ladies though. I'm just a whiner!

 

[OneEyedDog]

Yeah, trouble is that it's so pervasive. Go into any store that plays music and you'll hear it whether you want to or not.

And, incidentally, I thought "The Great Gig" cut was a bit overdone at the time. After 30 seconds I had enough of it.

Ok, I'm obviously in a minority here, BUT opinions are like @rseholes, and everybody has one.

I disagree vehemently, for the following reasons:
1. No-one MAKES you listen to it, tune it out, talk loudly over it - If you don't like a particular TV program you reach for the remote and hit the 'OFF' button, or throw a house brick at it, whatever, your own power-saving method of choice.
2. I'm sure even Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I had minstrels in the gallery chucking in the odd 'ooh', 'aah', 'hey nonny no' etc. The only difference there was that the offending musician found that he was about 9 inches shorter and had difficulty breathing. Personally, I don't see it as a new phenomenon.
3. If we're all such great musicians (me included - not) why aren't we flooding the market with 'non-whooping', 'must-buy', fantastic music in place of the stuff we all so obviously detest. Let's all go out and do music better!

How many of us moan like mad about our wonderful (!) politicians, but when it comes to the ballot box 99.9% of us would run a mile if it was suggested we should stand for political office. Not a million miles different here.

Just my six pennyworth (and by the way I can be the grouchiest, stubbornest, most curmudgeonly old git around when the fancy takes me).

 

[John_Jones]

I've loved and collected Tiger Army records right from the start. In more recent years, there seems to an increasing "woah ho ho ho" between lines, which kinda wore a bit thin and I started wondering if Nick 13 was even aware of it's repetition. I ordered their latest album from Amazon and listened to the download "auto-rip". As far as I can tell, the lyrics are "Whoah ho ho ho" with a few lines in between for good measure. The CD never made it out of the shrink wrap.

 

[THX1123]

Definition of trope​

1: a word or expression used in a figurative sense
b: a common or overused theme or device

 

[Manual Slim]

Ahhhh! That's the stuff.

 

[CJM3309]

 

[fasteddie42]

this just in....

old man doesn't like stuff... yells about it....

claims it's the kids, is shown a long established history of the exact same thing....

old guys doubles down

 

[pypa]

Some song by I think Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle” I think.

The whole emo phase completely annoyed me, but this one was a “woah oh” drone that still makes me pucker in discomfort.

 

[Alamo]

And lets add some science to the arguing. Proper two note adolescents music with our without words, explained (or your next hit)

Now add some tourette syndrome lyrics, you'd have the perfect (not) rap song

 

[THX1123]

To exclude manufactured and trendy online generational conflict that has no actual deliberative substance from this for a second:

Whoas and Yeahs and La La Las and Ooohs and Wooos are fine. Nothing wrong with vocalizations that aren't words. Been around forever.

When the same hook with the same interval (and often in the same key) is used for song after song after song it arguably becomes something else. It becomes a phenomenon that one has difficulty comparing to popular/commercial song trends of the past, largely because using and copying the same two-note hook/3/5 interval was arguably far too lazy to take seriously in the past. "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" has more melodic complexity, and that is pretty much specifically for children.

That same two-note/3/5 interval hook has essentially revealed itself to be the advertising jingle it was likely modeled after. It is also now an identifiable nostalgic signifier. The time compression for such tropes to become nostalgic is now apparently <10 years. It is a nostalgic signifier for a demographic who is now becoming viable to market to. Hence it is been repackaged back to the advertising jingle it always resembled.

To me that hook/interval trope feels like pasted-on smile fake optimism, like pretending everything will be OK when you know it won't. Maybe that's the zeitgeist it represents.

As such, the trope is now a part of an advertising lexicon that is difficult to avoid. I heard it in some pharma ad I couldn't escape from the other day, at the store while in line, and on half the Youtube Ads I try to skip.

 

[JIMMY JAZZMAN]

The Beatles "When I Get Home", great song but much woah, woah, woah.

 

[Powdog]

AFI and Tiger Army used the “whoa oh whoa-o” thing to death. Nick 13 finally abandoned that and used the harmonium instead.

I've loved and collected Tiger Army records right from the start. In more recent years, there seems to an increasing "woah ho ho ho" between lines, which kinda wore a bit thin and I started wondering if Nick 13 was even aware of it's repetition. I ordered their latest album from Amazon and listened to the download "auto-rip". As far as I can tell, the lyrics are "Whoah ho ho ho" with a few lines in between for good measure. The CD never made it out of the shrink wrap.

You can thank Davey Havok for that.

 

[BluesOwl]

Advertising music in commercials normalizing the crap then it spills into pop.

Woah oh oh (stadium chant style)

or Woah oh oh (best day of my life style)

whistling (you're carefree..so spend money)

glockenspiel

kid piano notes

Clapping at a fast bpm so you'll get going on spending that money


But worse than that is the spreading of the use of the rising inflection for no linguistic purpose. Are they asking me a question?
Are they implying "if you will" or "have you heard that word before?".
It replaces a comma?

I heard someone say, "The other day, I bought a ticket for the train"

It comes out as "The other day? I bought a ticket?...for the train"? WTF

 

[sloppychops]

Ok, I'm obviously in a minority here, BUT opinions are like @rseholes, and everybody has one.

I disagree vehemently, for the following reasons:
1. No-one MAKES you listen to it, tune it out, talk loudly over it - If you don't like a particular TV program you reach for the remote and hit the 'OFF' button, or throw a house brick at it, whatever, your own power-saving method of choice.
2. I'm sure even Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I had minstrels in the gallery chucking in the odd 'ooh', 'aah', 'hey nonny no' etc. The only difference there was that the offending musician found that he was about 9 inches shorter and had difficulty breathing. Personally, I don't see it as a new phenomenon.
3. If we're all such great musicians (me included - not) why aren't we flooding the market with 'non-whooping', 'must-buy', fantastic music in place of the stuff we all so obviously detest. Let's all go out and do music better!

How many of us moan like mad about our wonderful (!) politicians, but when it comes to the ballot box 99.9% of us would run a mile if it was suggested we should stand for political office. Not a million miles different here.

Just my six pennyworth (and by the way I can be the grouchiest, stubbornest, most curmudgeonly old git around when the fancy takes me).

Well, I always take earplugs with me when I have to go to a store because I know they'll be playing stuff I can't stand.

Here's the thing, though, there is a TON of great music being made today, but you never hear it being played in stores and whatnot.

I've said it before, but the only store I've been in that plays decent sounding music that's not so loud you can't ignore it is Hobby Lobby.

 

[sloppychops]

this just in....

old man doesn't like stuff... yells about it....

claims it's the kids, is shown a long established history of the exact same thing....

old guys doubles down

Wrong!