The Search For "That Song"

It happens all the time. I am listening to the radio, or watching a movie, in that commercial. I hear it in someone elses car, I hear it down the street. What is that song? I ask myself. Sometimes I find out from the person who is playing it, or in the credits of the film, but there's always a time when I have no way of knowing. The longest search for a song spanned 10 years. It was in 1998 when I was sitting in my parents bedroom listening to a small portable radio. Out came this song. "I wonder what it's like if I were a....". What was the name of it I wondered, who was the singer? I didn't know. I was a little young to investigate and with no access to the internet, I was stuck, but the song never left my mind.

Last year, after 10 years of wondering what the name of that song was, with the lyrics "I wonder what it's like if I were a superman" in my head, I thought my search would go on forever. Then, a thought struck my mind. "Superman"? Maybe it's super "hero". I instantly search for it on the internet, and boom! I quickly found a preview of it. It was that song. 10 years of wondering what the name of it was, and with the change of just one word, I found it instantly. The song was "Real World" by Matchbox 20. Everytime I listen to it, which I am as I write this, I remember the first time I heard it, without any clue who or what it was. But the search for other songs never stops. I hope you'll enjoy the song the way I did.
REAL WORLD

So what artist/song did you search for or have searched for and have you found it? Can't find it? Ask someone here!

TIPS FOR COMMERCIALS (and others): A few websites which are very helpful in all aspects of song searching.
1. http://adtunes.com/
2. http://www.songtitle.info/
3. http://www.whatsthatcalled.com/

TIPS
A few tips on finding out the name. The internet is a very helpful tool. The right wording is a BIG help when finding anything on the internet. It's what makes the internet infinite. When you hear that song and you wonder who or what it is,
PAY ATTENTION to the words. Many radio stations do not tell you what they just played, and some do. Classical stations will usually mention the piece before or after it plays. Music without words is more difficult. Remember the tune, hum it over and over again and repeat it to a few people. Call the radio station and ask what song after they've played it. You won't get answers if you don't ask. There are many ways to find out, all which I have personally used, and have worked. Don't let that song slip out of your mind, or you'll never hear it again. I spent 11 years searching for one, and found it. I'm sure you can too.

If you have any tips to add, please do.

I am on a search for Peggy Lee "Can't help lovin' dat man"

But I do know what you mean about hunting down a song that you heard and you only caught a few of the lyrics.

The best web site I found for searching music when you either know the artist or the song title is allmusic.com
The web site may be a little slow to load, but it well worth the wait.
This site will tell you the song, the artist, the album, the year, other performers that recorded the song, who the song was written by and so on.

But...what to do when you hear a song and you have no idea who sings it, (this happens to me a lot when I am shopping)
I get out a piece of paper and start writing down some of the lyrics.

Then I go to our internet guru Google and type
(example)
Lyrics: "got the world on a string"

And of course it will bring up artists and lyrics.
Then I go to allmusic and find the song...oh..did I mention you can listen to song clips there too?
: )

once again ocd pays off.

...back to my search for Peggy

I was flipping stations and heard a rock/alternative song about 5-7 years ago that I've never forgotten and never heard again.

Solo by a male singer, simple arrangement. The lyrics were all about the singer's relationship with his neglectful father (possibly mentioned divorce?) and how he didn't want to be like his father but the writing was above the usual "poor me" standards.

Anyone have any idea what this is?

to imoldfashioned, a possibility

Could it be Ugly Kid Joe's cover of "Cat's in the Cradle"? [huh]

Sincerely,
The Wolf

Thanks for the reply Wolf but it was an original song, sung completely from the son's point of view.

If it was an "alternative" station some years ago it might have been "Father of Mine" by Everclear--does this sound familiar?

"Father of mine
Tell me where have you been
I just closed my eyes
And the world disappeared
Father of mine
Tell me how do you sleep
With the children you abandoned
...
Now I'm a grown man
With a child of my own
And I swear I'm not going to let her know
All the pain I have known"

Peggy Lee

Does anyone have
"Can't help Lovin' Dat Man Of Mine" by Peggy Lee. (old version)

It was released on 2 albums:
Complete Capitol Small Group Transcriptions and
Complete Peggy Lee and June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions

The newer version was released on American Songbook.

Thanks
-Ann

magneto said:

If it was an "alternative" station some years ago it might have been "Father of Mine" by Everclear--does this sound familiar?

Click to expand...

Bingo Magneto! Thank you for ending 10 years of wondering what the heck that song was!

Great song. That'll be easy to find.

I have another song that I can't find

"Please Send Me Someone To Love" by Peggy Lee

I'm still looking for "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man Of Mine" by Peggy Lee

It's funny, I can find every other artists versions of these songs except Peggy Lee.

There was an Acura ad several years ago in which someone sang a beautiful song about Key Largo. That was my introduction to Sarah Vaughn.

YAY!!!
Over the weekend, I found Can't help lovin that man!!!

I'm still looking for "Please Send Me Someone To Love" by Peggy Lee if anyone has it.

PA Dancer said:

YAY!!!
Over the weekend, I found Can't help lovin that man!!!

I'm still looking for "Please Send Me Someone To Love" by Peggy Lee if anyone has it.

Click to expand...

I found my songs that I was looking for.
If anyone was helping in my search, I deeply appreciate it.

Great to hear. I hope it doesn't grow older than it already is (pun intended)

Anyone else on the search or have the find?

Years ago, back in 1983, while driving to work, I heard half of a new song on the radio. Despite open windows, I listened carefully for its title and creator. (It was an instrumental, so there were no words to ask a clerk about.) The radio gods were with me that day, for I heard the artists name and the titles of both the song and the album, and made a beeline for the record store. It took me ten minutes to get to there, but by the time I got through the door all I could remember was the album title and that the artist's last name began with a "B".

I searched the B section of cassettes (If I couldn't find him there, I'd've looked in "W" - I remembered that much), and after about five minutes I saw the title. I looked at the back of the tape and recognized the name of the song. The album was Echoes, the song was Mambo, and the artist was Wally Badarou.

I bought the album knowing nothing about the man and his music, other than the half of one song I'd heard twenty minutes ago. Every song on the tape is very original, relaxing and enjoyable. It's one of those albums where each song is of a similar style, so it's very easy to listen to. When CDs came out, his was one of the first I bought on the new medium. Mambo is still my favorite song.

It's one of those albums that I can listen to several times in one sitting - and often do - and even though I know each song by heart it still sounds as fresh and new as the first time I heard that half of a song.

I love hearing a phone being slammed down at the end of Endless Race, and in the next beat Chief Inspector begins.


Lee

Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet

And then there's this one: Two Men, A Drum Machine and a Trumpet - Tired of Being Pushed Around.

Somewhere about, oh, twenty years ago, Fine Young Cannibals released The Raw and the Cooked. Roland Young (lead singer) then went on hiatus for a couple months. While he was gone, the other two Cannibals, Andy Cox and David Steele, teamed up with Trumpet man Greame Hamilton and made this video. (I haven't found anything to indicate if they made anything else as TM,aDMaaT.) I saw it once and have never forgotten it. . . Except for the Hitchcock and Bogart references. Today, I got to see it for the first time in nearly two decades.


Lee
_______________________

Just how looking at sleeping kittens on YouTube could've lead to this, I haven't the foggiest. [huh]

I've been looking for the title of the instrumental that used to air on Turner Classic Movies on their "Now Playing" cable guide. The promo has scenes from the 1961 Bob Hope movie Bachelor In Paradise and this MidCentury Modern-type tune is playing throughout the commercial. I even tried the TCM messageboard and You Tube, but no luck.

I heard a song in Quiznos a few times but I have yet to find the name of the song and performer. "It goes If it ain't one thing it's another, If It ain't One thing it's two." It's a styalized blusey sort of thing.

I heard another song a few weeks ago. It was a country song, but it basicaly says The Grand Old Opery should be burned down because they turned their backs on Hank Williams Sr and Johnny Cash. It also mentions the death of Jimmie Rogers. Jimmie Rogers died in the 1930's so that doesn't help me to know when the song was written. I think it's rather recent.

In the late 1980's my now wife, then girlfriend, and I were in Milwaukee visiting my old college roommate. We went to a bar called Virginia's on Water Street, no longer there, to listen to a band called Leroy Airmaster. Toward the end of the evening other musicians happened to come into the bar and the band invited them on stage to sing a couple of songs. The invited singer's name was Paul Cebar and he sang this really cathy tune and the refrain went something like. "my my, oh oh, I love you so."

About six months later Paul Cebar played in St. Paul, as he often does, at the Blues Saloon, no longer there. During intermission I told him the story of hearing him sing this particular song in Milwaukee and asked if he could do it again that night. He had to scratch his head a minute to remember the song and told me the name of the song, so I thought, was "Something You've Got." Paul and his band played the song that night for us and afterward I began my search for a copy of "Something You've Got."

I looked off and on for years in music stores and online and have never been able to find a copy of the song. Fast forward to February 2007 and I am in Barnes & Noble looking for a Valentine's gift for my wife. B&N had a special Valentine gift table where I noticed a book on the art of pole dancing - can't hurt to look and I do support the performing arts. As I am flipping through the book I hear the refrain from "Something You've Got" come over through the music system. I run to the music department and ask what they are playing and the cd was "Oh my NOLA" by Harry Connik, Jr. It turns out the song title is "Something YOU Got" not "Something You've Got." Type the proper name into a search engine and everyone and his cousin have recorded this song. So now I have copies by Connik as well as Dr. John.

Keeping one's eyes and ears open does pay off, in my case it took nearly 20 years. By the way, Paul Cebar is great to see live. His best album is "That Unhinged Thing." The band isn't quite as good since Robin Pleur left, but so it goes.

I've been looking for a version of "Take the A-train" that actually has lyrics. I saw a "video" of it some years ago, but I haven't found it since then.

Anybody have any idea of who made it? Some group, I think.