Aug 10, 2010
Ten-Word Tuesday. The Sing Along.
This is a photo of Bossy dancing in a bar in the Berkshires this past May while on her (No) Book Tour. Actually, this is not a photo of Bossy dancing in a bar in the Berkshires this past May — this is a photo of Bossy panicking.
Why would Bossy be panicking? Because this particular bar in the Berkshires featured karaoke.
Don’t get Bossy wrong, it’s not that she’s too shy to sing in public, where public equals in front of her daughter in the car. It’s just that when faced with the idea of karaoke, Bossy can never remember which songs she’s able to sing without random dogs throwing themselves into traffic.
If you’ve never been to a karaoke bar, then you probably don’t know that the list of available karaoke songs is contained within a book the approximate height of Burj Khalifa.
Bossy’s reaction to this paradigm of too much choice is always the same: she begins by flipping through the song list alphabetically until she is a very old woman, the end.
Next Bossy flips through the book by artist: The Beatles, no. The Commodores, no. Oh look, the bar is closing!
And there’s one more troubling factor wrapped around this idea of karaoke: Bossy thinks she can remember songs, until she is halfway through and is all, Oh right, I forgot about this altogether awkward bridge — the very same bridge Bossy would like to jump from rather than sing the tune in front of strangers.
Bossy can sum up her attitude about karaoke in this way: What’s so wrong with hiding in the bathroom stall anyway?
Which is what today’s Ten-Word Challenge is all about. In exactly ten words, can you tell Bossy if you have a preordained tune you sing at karaoke, and if so which one/s so Bossy can get her song on?
And be sure to check back later today for the best karaoke suggestions on the web.
Always do Summer Nights from Grease, especially with a partner.
Bossy thinks maybe she can sing guy vocalist songs better.
Rawhide – classic, cowboy. Plus you get to slap your butt.
Respect – everybody wants to be Aretha.
Mack The Knife – because Bobby was just it.
(I feel very old right now.)
–>It’s been about 10 years but I always go with Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine.”
It’s really hard to screw it up. That, or I had enough *liquid courage* to think I sang it well.
Before marrying me, my husband got kicked out of a bar in Canada for changing “My Sharona” to “My Scrotum” while he swung the microphone around.
I. Know.
I always sing Freedom 90. I get to say “ass.”
Walking on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves)… so catchy everyone else sings along too and drowns out (my) very bad singing.
BB
PS If you’re an Aussie, it’s gotta be Khe Sahn by Cold Chisel but I don’t know if it’s well known in the USA. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khe_Sanh_(song))
Love Shack! Baby! Tin Roof! Rusted! Chryslers! Whales! Fantastic! B-52s!
Preordained is for rookies. Flip randomly and go for it.
Baby Got Back – Sir Mix-a-lot. Distract with booty.
Sweet Caroline. Everyone sings along! You’ll never be alone. :]
Sweet Caroline! DUN DUN DUN! Good times never seem so good!
Husband and I always did “Paradise By The Dashboard Light.”
“Joy to the World”, Three Dog Night. Everyone sings along.
Favorite solo, “I Only Wanna Be With You.” – Samantha Fox.
Air Supply, preferably Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.
Save faves list in phone; forget about list and FAIL.
(This doesn’t really answer the question, but it’s my karaoke method.)
I kick butt on Son of a Preacher Man, Time after Time and Sweet Home Alabama. But only on playstation RockStar. You should get one and have karaoke night at your house.
Have not, cannot, will not sing in public. Ever.
#18 – ditto!
Daydream Believer by the Monkeys is melodious when sung drunk!
Absolutely nothing wrong with hiding in a bathroom stall (I hope the stalls in the womens rooms are nicer than those in the mens room).
I’m petrified of karaoke, and I play guitar and sing. I’d much rather sing w/ my guitar than in front of a bar w/ words displayed on a screen. I’ve never been drunk enough to actually do it. My wife has, and has enjoyed it. She says.
On one of our first dates I met her at a bar, and walked in to someone “singing.” I didn’t recognize the song or the voice. It was her. Singing Me and Bobby McGee. I haven’t let her forget this.
Can’t do it in 10 words.
Karaoked once. Was fantastic—– and drunk.
Next day at work lots of smiles and shaking of heads
I’ve never even done karaoke but I am pretty certain I would suffer from the same malady as Bossy. For those of us who would end up standing there like a deer caught in headlights, a preordained, tried-n-true would be the way to go.
always bobby mcgee, because drunk can pull off gravelly/low.
My most successful attempt at karaoke was “Like a Virgin”. I had a LOT to drink & so did my friends. They asked for a repeat for years.
Another time, I didn’t realize that the reason I couldn’t understand the girl ahead of me was the words were in kanji, not English. Some liquid courage was involved.
I sang “Wild Thing” (Troggs vers) and the DJ turned my mic off. I kept going!
One (is the Loneliest Number) — Three Dog Night. Awwwww song.
“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. Works for me, every time.
Dead Kennedys. Too Drunk To F**k. Need I say more?
Angel from Montgomery or It’s So Easy (linda Rondstatd)
Ronstat? Rondstat? hmmmmm
“Wild wild life” by Talking Heads.
Because it’s true.
Love is a Battle Field. ALWAYS.
No bars anymore- now just lots of Disney songs.
Anything by the Ramones – I Wanna Be Sedated, Rockaway Beach, Sheena is a Punk Rocker, Blitzkrieg Bop
OR anything by Reel Big Fish – She Has a Girlfriend Now, Your Guts (I Hate ‘em), Beer Added bonus of lots of air guitar
Exact same range as Nancy Sinatra. Are you ready boots? .
Just say No Thank You to karaoke microphone, bossy Bossy.
“Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves” and “Sweet Caroline” exhaust my potential.
One time drunk, er, brave enough to sing karaoke- “Tequila!”
“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” is my go to.
chain chain chain chain chain chain chain “Chain of Fools.”
Like a Bat Outta Hell I’ll Be Gone Gone Gone.
If you don’t dance, then you’re no friend of mine.
“Margaritaville”…because deep down inside everyone wants to be Jimmy Buffett.
if you string all these words together one hellova song.
Only drunk enough once – Summer Lovin’ with most of office.
Never have Karoaked. Never will. Never, never, never, never, never.
My husband and I have a no-karaoke pact, so nothing.
This is timely. Still karaoke virgin but partay this weekend!
And I may remain karaoke virgin after the weekend too.
[Why do we worry about our kids' songs, and what they're singing? Look at these skanky lyrics from our youth-hoods!]
Bossy mouths the words to Milli Vanilli; Muskrat provides vocals.
It’s best when you’re in Japan and you find a place that has private karaoke rooms for 6-8 people so you don’t have to sing in front of the whole bar. I’ve heard New York has places like this, too. We should go!
Am amazed at all the singers in Bossy’s posse. Trying to picture them all together at a karaoke bar somewhere.
Fighting over who goes next. Duets, trios, choruses.
Sing “Old Black Water”: everybody will always – ALWAYS – join in.
Who doesn’t love Smells Like Teen Spirit. Reverb mike helps.
Did you see the movie My Best Friends Wedding? The part when Cameron Diaz was singing. Compared to me, she can sing. That is why I don’t sing.
If you can keep from laughing, Rappers Delight is perfect.
Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn…words are tricky; notes are doable.
Words are also hilarious…”and the chicken tastes like wood.”
…big Cadillac, gangsta white walls, TV antenna in the back
I won’t do karaoke again. I Will Survive killed me.
OMGosh so many replies! Chain Chain Chain and anything ARETHA! If it’s good enuff for Murphy Brown Etc.
ruth
My favorite DJ keeps track of all of her regular singers and their selections in a special notebook so we never have to flip through the book unless we want to try something different. My usual choices are Jesse James (Cher), Alone (Heart), Jolene (Dolly Parton), or My Immortal (Evanescence).
You could not pay me enough to sing anything karaoke.
Summer Nights from Grease with some random poor drunk girl
“What’s going on” by Four Non Blondes…singing then screaming!
I only know my NON preordained tune: Go Ask Alice
won case of beer long ago for “sweet child o’mine”.
Anything from “Nightman Cometh” episode of It’s Always Sunny In…
I fall to pieces or I go walking after midnight
D-I-V-O-R-C-E especially when drunk.
If I had a million dollars. By the Barenaked Ladies
Injunctions by my family prevent me from singing in public.
Living on a Prayer. The crown always joins in.
There is not enough alcohol in the world (for me or the audience) for me to sing karaoke. I know I’m over 10 words, but sometime the truth just needs more words.
Just bought my first Karaoke machine….gotta go practice…now
(10 words exactly- minus parenthesis, of course)
I think I mastered Eve of Destruction. Perfect for Karaoke!
I would get arrested if I EVER sang in public.
But when alone in my truck: “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
Harper Valley PTA standard, but did One Week once – fun!