Hit songs without a chorus?

[No Pride]

Bus Stop has a twice-repeated "bridge/chorus" too (although it does not contain the title):

See, I think of that as a bridge too. There's no rule that says a bridge can't have a repeating phrase; in fact it often does. It's where it goes in context of the harmony that makes it "feel" like a bridge, at least to me.

Funny, thinking about it, I wonder when pop songs started having a "chorus." In the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and even the 60s (to some extent), they did not. The songs that were originally broadway show tunes or movie themes, the ones that jazz musicians adopted and called them "standards" didn't have choruses. "All the Things You Are," "Stella by Starlight," "I've Got Rhythm," "What is This Thing Called Love," etc... none of them had choruses. Even more "recent" ones like "Misty" or "The Shadow of Your Smile" didn't have (what I'd call) a chorus. Interesting, huh?! Well, it is to me...

[No Pride]

Maybe it's me but I never thought a bridge was something that was repeated...rather it was what it said, a brief section (of eight bars, or longer), often in the middle of a song, to add 'body' to a song.

Those 8 bars are often a 4 bar phrase that's repeated twice.

[bill g]

It is very difficult for a song without a chorus to become a hit. With Genesis, 'Turn It On Again' what the band considers to be the chorus doesn't appear until the end of the song. And then a song like 'Me and Sarah Jane' doesn't really have a chorus per se, but that didn't end up a 'hit'. I like 'A Short Visit...' from Big Big Train (on bard) because the song continually changes-is very catchy, but never repeats itself. I think Tears For Fears' 'Brian Wilson Said' is similar.

[ChrisXymphonia]

I am not entirely sure this was a hit in Italy but it is a song with no chorus but it just builds and builds ... arrangement is by Vangelis by the way:

[rcarlberg]

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl.
Night-time would find me in Rosa's cantina;
Music would play and Felina would whirl.

Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina,
Wicked and evil while casting a spell.
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden;
I was in love but in vain, I could tell.

One night a wild young cowboy came in,
Wild as the West Texas wind.
Dashing and daring,
A drink he was sharing
With wicked Felina,
The girl that I loved.

So in anger I

Challenged his right for the love of this maiden.
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore.
My challenge was answered in less than a heart-beat;
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor.

Just for a moment I stood there in silence,
Shocked by the FOUL EVIL deed I had done.
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there;
I had but one chance and that was to run.

Out through the back door of Rosa's I ran,
Out where the horses were tied.
I caught a good one.
It looked like it could run.
Up on its back
And away I did ride,

Just as fast as I

Could from the West Texas town of El Paso
Out to the bad-lands of New Mexico.

Back in El Paso my life would be worthless.
Everything's gone in life; nothing is left.
It's been so long since I've seen the young maiden
My love is stronger than my fear of death.

I saddled up and away I did go,
Riding alone in the dark.
Maybe tomorrow
A bullet may find me.
Tonight nothing's worse than this
Pain in my heart.

And at last here I

Am on the hill overlooking El Paso;
I can see Rosa's cantina below.
My love is strong and it pushes me onward.
Down off the hill to Felina I go.

Off to my right I see five mounted cowboys;
Off to my left ride a dozen or more.
Shouting and shooting I can't let them catch me.
I have to make it to Rosa's back door.

Something is dreadfully wrong for I feel
A deep burning pain in my side.
Though I am trying
To stay in the saddle,
I'm getting weary,
Unable to ride.

But my love for

Felina is strong and I rise where I've fallen,
Though I am weary I can't stop to rest.
I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle.
I feel the bullet go deep in my chest.

From out of nowhere Felina has found me,
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side.
Cradled by two loving arms that I'll die for,
One little kiss and Felina, good-bye.

[rcarlberg]

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
(*2010 lyric change: At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said,)
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

[rcarlberg]

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
And Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
"And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billie Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge

And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

[GuitarGeek]

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"

Actually, it does have a chorus, but you don't hear it until nearly 2 minutes into the song. Neal plays the melody first during the guitar solo, then after the third verse, they actually sing it.

[JKL2000]

Hocus Pocus - Focus

[rcarlberg]

Hocus Pocus - Focus

That's an instrumental -- if you don't count the yodeling. Which you shouldn't. Really.

[klothos]

In the same vein as the Hollies' "Bus Stop" (mentioned above), I could possibly postulate a debate that "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots has four distinct movements/sections but no real defined chorus, per se

[trurl]

Someone Saved My Life by Elton John clearly has a chorus, so I know it doesn't really apply, but it's soooooo long and convoluted it doesn't really feel like one. Several of his songs are like that.

[Digital_Man]

Rapper's Delight-the Sugar Hill Gang. It peaked at number 36 so yes it was a "hit" and the first successful rap song. "Apache" on the other hand does seem to have a bit of a chorus.

[GuitarGeek]

Rapper's Delight-the Sugar Hill Gang. It peaked at number 36 so yes it was a "hit" and the first successful rap song..

And it's something like 10 minutes long!

[ThomasKDye]

As mentioned before, Bohemian Rhapsody and the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Nena's "99 Luftballons" doesn't really have a chorus, either.

[Digital_Man]

Bob Dylan had songs back in his early days that didn't have a chorus but I doubt many of them were "hits."

[PeterG]

I'd call that a "pre-chorus." The actual chorus (or at least what I consider to be the chorus) is:

Don't stop believing,
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlights, people
oh oh ooooh

No, the Don't Stop Believin' bit is the end of the song,the "outro". Here's the whole thing, the repeated chorus is as I wrote it, it starts with "Strangers waiting":

Songwriters: CAIN, JONATHAN / PERRY, STEVE / SCHON, NEAL

Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

(Chorus)
Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlights people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night.

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

(Chorus)
Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlights people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night.

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlight people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights people

Chorus kicks in at 1.23 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcjzHMhBtf0

[PeterG]

Actually, it does have a chorus, but you don't hear it until nearly 2 minutes into the song. Neal plays the melody first during the guitar solo, then after the third verse, they actually sing it.

They sing it first after the 2nd verse then again after the 3rd verse. I hate to sound nerdy about this song, but it's one of those songs I grew up with and have always loved & know inside out.

[JKL2000]

Hocus Pocus - Focus

That's an instrumental -- if you don't count the yodeling. Which you shouldn't. Really.

<cough>youthoughtbridgeovertroubledwaterdidn'thave achorus<cough>

[JKL2000]

If you guys don't stop talking about Don't Stop Believing, I believe I'm going to start reporting your posts, and won't stop reportin'!

[Digital_Man]

Well then "hocus pocus" would be my first response to the thread(if there was one)entitled "hit instrumentals with a chorus."

[rcarlberg]

<cough><cough>

You should have that looked at. It could be something serious.

[JKL2000]

Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters - A You're Adorable

[PeterG]

Maybe it's me but I never thought a bridge was something that was repeated...rather it was what it said, a brief section (of eight bars, or longer), often in the middle of a song, to add 'body' to a song.

It's not just you. I agree, that is exactly what the bridge or middle eight is. It is never repeated.

[PeterG]

If you guys don't stop talking about Don't Stop Believing, I believe I'm going to start reporting your posts, and won't stop reportin'!