Of Few Words

As Kevin Malone from The Office once put it, “Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?” These songs clearly got the memo—they do the trick with barely any lyrics at all. Some only need one.

One Of These Days (Pink Floyd): 12 Words

This song is basically an instrumental, but in the middle there is a little lyrical break in which the band had a message for some radio DJ they didn't like... "One of these days, I’m going to cut you into little pieces".

National Archives at College Park, Wikimedia Commons

Is There Anybody Out There? (Pink Floyd): 5 Words

Sticking with Pink Floyd—besides the distress call spoken word bit—it's just the five titular words that get sung.

Craig ONeal, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Wipe Out (The Surfaris): 2 Words

We don't count the laughter as words, so it's just the "wipe" and the "out".

Jpr2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

It’s A Beautiful Day (Queen): 27 Words

Two short verses and an outro.

Koh Hasebe, Wikimedia Commons

The Hustle (Van McCoy): 4 Words

This disco anthem proves you don’t need a dictionary to make history. The entire song is built on just four words: “Do it! Do the hustle.” That’s all Van McCoy needed to top the Billboard Hot 100 and snag a Grammy in 1976—proof that sometimes repetition is genius.

Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

Fly Robin Fly (Silver Convention): 6 Words

Three verses of: "Fly, robin fly/Fly, robin fly/Fly, robin fly/Up, up to the sky".

United Archives, Getty Images

Pick Up The Pieces (Average White Band): 6 Words

They throw in some woos and "uh-huh", but otherwise, once Average White Band starts singing (about two minutes into the song) they just repeat the song's title over and over again. However, there is an "alright" and a "wow" tossed in also, so we added them to the total word count.

Johan Broberg, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Tequila (The Champs): 1 Word

One word and they say it only three times throughout the song. But is it just us or are you also thinking about the Pee Wee Herman dance in the biker bar scene right now?

Challenge Records, Wikimedia Commons

David Bowie (Phish): 3 Words (Maybe 4)

Besides repeating "David Bowie" over and over again, Trey Anastasio follows that up, singing "UB40" on repeat as well. However, while the official lyrics indicate "UB40", there has been much made of the fact that David Bowie was 39 when they first introduced the song and that the intent of the lyrics were "UB 40" (you be 40).

Heather Katsoulis, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Low Rider (War): 27 Words

The Low Rider “drives a little slower,” “is a real goer,” “knows every street,” and “is the one to meet.” That’s basically the whole song—and somehow, it’s perfect. War managed to craft a timeless hit using just 27 different words. For context, that’s 23 fewer than Dr. Seuss needed for Green Eggs and Ham.

John Mathew Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Rockit (Herbie Hancock): 4 Words

Lots of awesome DJ scratching with a few electronically-altered lyrical moments: "Don't stop it/Rock it/Don't stop it". If you now need to take a moment to throw down a piece of cardboard and show off your best breakdancing moves, we totally understand. We'll wait.

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

You Are So Beautiful (Joe Cocker): 14 Words

The song is everything we hoped for and everything we need—with just 14 unique words.

A & M Records, Wikimedia Commons

One Step Beyond (Madness): 40 Words

If our count is right, there are 40 unique words used in this one. However, they all come before the music even kicks in, in the opening pre-instrument monologue. After that, it's all instrumental with a few "One step beyond" lyrical reprises.

Clare Muller, Getty Images

Minimum Wage (They Might Be Giants): 2 Words (Maybe 3)

It's only a 46 second track, and it's all instrumental after the opening singing of "minimum wage" and the "HYAH!"—followed by the crack of a whip. Is "HYAH!" a word?

John Flansburgh, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Beef Jerky (John Lennon): 2 Words

We can’t quite picture John Lennon munching on beef jerky—let alone writing a song about it. And yet, there it is: track 10 on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges. The mostly instrumental tune plays for about a minute and forty seconds before Lennon finally breaks the silence with a few enthusiastic “beef jerky” chants—then a quick “beef, beef…”—and right back to the groove.

Tony Barnard, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Across The River (Peter Gabriel): 5 Words

"Across the river/Across the river/Across the river I go".

Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

No One To Depend On (Santana): 15 Words

The 15 words include the Spanish lyrics, "no tengo a nadie", which get repeated throughout.

Columbia Records, Wikimedia Commons

Tommy Can You Hear Me (The Who): 13 Words

The song only goes for 1 minute and 35 seconds, but in that short span, they sing the word "Tommy" 28 times—which we guess didn't leave a whole lotta time for other words. So they just repeat the same verse three times: "Tommy, can you hear me?/Can you feel me near you?/Tommy, can you see me?/Can I help to cheer you?/Ooh, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy".

Jim Summaria, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

My Baby’s Taking Me Home (Sparks): 5 Words

They repeat it over 20 times, but those are the only five words they sing. Yes, we realize we are ignoring the mid-song monologue.

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? (The Beatles): 14 Words

Does a song inspired by watching two monkeys getting it on in the middle of the road in India really need more than 14 words? Paul McCartney didn’t think so—and that’s how Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? was born.

Eric Koch, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Her Majesty (The Beatles): 31 Words

Just around 30 different words in 26 seconds.

its all about Rock (:, Flickr

I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (The Beatles): 12 Words

You got the first part with nine unique words repeated for four verses: "I want you/I want you so bad/I want you/I want you so bad/It's driving me mad, it's driving me mad". Then you got the "She's so heavy" interspersed throughout the second bit of the track. 9 + 3 = 12.

Iberia Airlines, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

I Feel Love (Donna Summer): 11 Words

We feel the bellbottoms forming around our legs as we speak.

Francesco Scavullo, Wikimedia Commons

Underneath The Bunker (R.E.M.): 22 Words

The singing doesn't start until about a minute into this 87-second long song. When it does, it's six lines with 22 unique words—then the end.

lev radin, Shutterstock

Song For Guy (Elton John): 3 Words

When Elton John’s teenage messenger, Guy Burchett, was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, John channeled his grief the only way he knew how—through music. The result was a haunting tribute with just three words: “Life isn’t everything".

David Shankbone, Flickr

Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves) (David Crosby): Maybe 1 Word

Pure instrumentals obviously don't count here, but this David Crosby track—although there are no lyrics—it does have a lot of do do dos and dah dahs. You be the judge.

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Tusk (Fleetwood Mac): 28 Words

This song about a cheating partner hits hard with less than 30 unique words.

Warner Bros. Records, Wikimedia Commons

Soul Finger (Bar-Kays): 2 Words

We aren't counting the "Hoo, ha"s. So just "soul finger" over and over.

Stax Records, Wikimedia Commons

Où Est Le Soleil? (Paul McCartney): 8 Words

With "Michelle", Paul McCartney showed us that he could sing a few words in French—and with "Où Est Le Soleil?" he showed us he could sing a few more. Eight to be exact: "Où est le soleil?/Dans la tête/Travaillez".

Debby Wong, Shutterstock