Is there anyone out there who doesn’t sing along to music? Who can resist the urge to bellow in tandem with a tune, whether in your car on the way to work, in the shower lathering up, or at the treadmill in your local gym? Well, maybe I’m the only one who does that last one, ’cause I just don’t care. But you get my point: everyone sings along.
There are, however, particular songs that you can’t ignore, even when you’re trying to. The best of these have a verbal hook, something that must tie in to some ancestral memory. There must be some original Ur-language that’s encoded into our very genes, and when we hear its primal phonemes, we are racially motivated to ululate in congress. Here are five songs that take advantage of that sound to awesome effect.
5. “Land of a Thousand Dances“, Wilson Pickett
The actual “na’s” don’t occur with frequency throughout this classic, but as an invitation to party, they can’t be beat. An even-toned, rapid-fire challenge to Boogie Central, Pickett’s riff is nothing short of a wake-up call. Though he didn’t write it — that distinction goes to Chris Kenner — ol’ W.P.’s version is by far the most outstanding.
4. “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye“, Steam
This is a stadium favorite. Pretty much anything that lets you blast out with “HEY HEY HEY” at regular intervals just has to be good. As a taunt, it allows fans to not only lord it over the losing side, but to bond with each other at the same time. And here’s the weird part: I don’t know anyone who actually knows the lyrics to the rest of the song.
3. “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin‘”, Journey
Say what you will about this arena rock group, Journey crafted the ultimate “ha ha, good for you” song, second only perhaps to the melody of Queen’s “We Are the Champions”. The best part of this is the way the “na’s” are introduced: Steve Perry sings “Now it’s your turn, girl, to cry”, and Steve Smith puts an exclamation point on that with the bass drum. Next thing we know, it’s time to point and laugh … in harmony.
2. “Centerfold“, J. Geils Band
An enduring classic, it’s difficult to keep singing the hook in repetition, as there’s little time to take breaths between instances. This is also, like the first item on this list, a purely rhythmic device. Not to break it down too scientifically, but the riff bears no other purpose than just to sound cool. And it does, echoing the organ line of the opening, that bare, pared-down tone with ever-so-slight reverb that announces itself with aplomb. And best of all, it’s impossible not to see the video in your head when you hear the song. If you’ve seen it, of course. If you haven’t, enjoy.
1. “Hey Jude“, The Beatles
This beats “Centerfold” for its all-inclusive, everybody get up and sing feeling. It’s got it all: pure rhythm, simple melody, enough breath room, that high, ringing series of notes … if you deny how powerful this riff is, then you haven’t sung it yourself. To their credit, the Beatles let the “na’s” go on for quite a while — four minutes, apparently, which makes the coda longer than the rest of the song that precedes it. Smart, because that’s clearly the best part of the whole thing. And man, can that McCartney ramble! A little English soul goes a long, long way.
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