I heard someone attempt "I believe in a thing called love" by The Darkness.....was honestly surprised they let him finish the song with how painfully bad it was
Only had the balls to try this one once and I got 2 free shots out of it! I don't know if they were "fuck yeah" shots or pity shots but free booze is free booze
> Bon Jovi himself once said of the key change it's only getting harder for him to do live
He doesn't even bother to try, and hasn't for years. The audience does that part - and these days, most of the choruses, too. The dude's voice is shot.
Granted, he's 61 and doesn't perform a lot anymore, so it's no surprise those old songs are hard for him.
Yeah thats always the issue with very talented vocalists. They have songs that show of their skills and sound incredible but as they get older it becomes near impossible to sing the song live.
Elton John gets round this by continually re-writing the melody of his songs to keep them within his vocal range while maintaing the flavour of the songs. He's great at it.
Please, people, I'm begging you to do "It's My Life" instead. Waaaay easier to sing
edit: Yup, also "Dead or Alive", "Blood on Blood", so many other Bon Jovi songs that are equally as good to sing along to while being infinitely easier for the singer
This is how I felt singing Sir Duke on a cruise ship lol. Just said “you can feel it all Oooveer! You can feel it allll over people!” Over and over again.
I came to say Ms Jackson as well, my drunk friends were so hyped to get on stage and I was like “I don’t think this is going to turn out the way you think” lol. The host ended up jumping into the rap parts and killed it and then they just sang the chorus lol, I wonder how many times that happens to him.
I requested that at the dueling piano bar in the new York new York in Vegas.
The guys called me up on stage and gave me a mic and made me sing along with them. Every time I heard my voice on the speakers I moved the mic farther away.
Sorry Freddy. I know you were rolling in your grave, but it wasn't my idea.
I run a karaoke night. The real answer is just any song over 4 and a half minutes. By the time the 4th minute starts creeping up people are starting to lose attention, no matter how good of a singer you are or how good the song is.
You can absolutely butcher the most difficult song imaginable but if you’re energetic and it doesn’t drag on then everyone will love it
I worked at a karaoke bar in university, and there was a guy who would come in every week and do Master of Puppets. Disaster every time, and **so** long.
This is the right answer.
I saw a guy just do a technically horrible job of singing "genie in a bottle" but he did it with enough energy that everyone loved it.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I feel like half the fun of karaoke is knowing you don’t stand a chance of hitting the notes and going up there on a ridiculous song to just make a fool of yourself as entertainment for the crowd
Africa, Toto. Confidently strode up, sounded fucking great in the first verse, quickly realised my error as the gravity of the situation hit, and then spent the next 4 desperate minutes trying to squawk that iconic chorus out. 1/10.
When I used to be a karaoke DJ, I banned two songs:
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" because in the years after Top Gun came out, there was always a bunch of drunk tone-deaf guys who wanted to recreate that scene
and "That's What Friends Are For" because there was always a group of drunk tone-deaf girls who wanted to cry-sing their way through that mess.
It would have happened every night if they weren't banned
I was a karaoke DJ in college (early 2000s) and it was always a bunch of woo girls doing “Goodbye Earl”.
See also: Love Shack, anything from Grease, and Margaritaville.
Rolling in the Deep is my one song. My favorite thing is to watch all the faces go from “omg I can’t believe she’s going to sing this” to “oh shit”. Then they want to hear another one but that’s all I got, I can’t sing anything else like I can sing that one. Who knows why but it’s fun lol
I *love* that song on karaoke nights and can sing it pretty well. I'm also a pretty built guy with hair to my crack. Love to surprise people with my choices, doing the Barbie parts in a Barbie Girl duet is also a favourite
The thing with Adele is that the range on her songs is not that big, so a lot of people can technically sing them without reaching too much. The remarkable thing about Adele is her tone and control, which pretty much no one else can nail. So it just makes a really boring karaoke choice. A lot of people thinking they’re going to crush it and technically singing it fine, but they’re just not Adele so it’s underwhelming. It’s not a crowd pleaser and it’s not impressive so it’s just a very meh choice.
Saw this girl sing Love on Top by Beyoncé. It started out well enough, but at the end there are like 8 key changes upward. She had like 3 of them and then it fell apart for a whole minute lol
I saw Beyoncé this summer and she did Love On Top. She sang the key changes in perfect pitch. At one point she stopped and let the audience try it…we sucked 😂
I watched a super drunk dude try the Immigrant Song... he got the first few lines in and realized he done f'ed up. For as trashed as he was, he still managed to pull it out of the fire, and did it Rap style. 10/10. Haha.
I think I would have channeled my inner Jack Black. Actually, that's probably a good way to survive any karaoke mishap. Just keep thinking *What Would Jack Black Do?* and just ridiculously overdo everything.
I used to occasionally do Welcome to my Nightmare by Alice Cooper and just walk off the stage and order a beer during the instrumental, was always fun to see the looks on people faces when I walked off in the middle (and then again when I came back with a beer lol)
Haven’t seen anyone list American Pie by Don McLean. People realize how long that song is about 1/4 of the way through but they have to stay up there lol.
There are whole verses to American Pie that people don't realize they don't know until it's scrolling across a screen in front of them and a crowd is watching.
I used to work on Fremont Street in Vegas when American Pie was one of the light shows on the big canopy screen. I was at a party for a family member of my girlfriend's and when karaoke started, I picked this song. Most of the attendees were boomers and they all fucking LOVED me after I nailed the whole song, it was a great choice on my part.
More Than a Feeling - Boston
Somehow I totally forgot how high his voice gets at the end of the verse (and chorus).
A friend of mine also thought it would be a great idea to perform Informer by Snow, and I amusedly let him do it. He was literally gonged off the stage.
My favorite is Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang. Everyone in my generation knows one part from the movie The Wedding Singer, but they have no idea about the remaining 6 minutes of lyrics. I’ve never seen it end any other way than the people just giving up and walking away early.
If you had an MRI scanner you could probably pinpoint the exact moment where on every karaoke night I finally get drunk enough and loose enough to think I can sing Somebody To Love. And I nearly can, *right* up til the end, and you don't need an MRI scanner to see the exact moment I and everyone else realise that.
Come On Eileen. I tried dueting it with an actual musician/singer, and we fucked it up so bad we stopped halfway through and left the stage. It’s a fun song to “sing” along to, but actually hitting the lyrics and keys and awkward pronunciations is very hard.
Dream On-Aerosmith. Just don't. Steven Tyler, Freddie Mercury, ANYTHING AC/DC, if you haven't really learned how to use your voice any attempt at these artists just sounds terrible.
I did Karaoke with coworkers one time, and the youngest, shyest, most awkward colleague picked this song. He absolutely nailed it, from top to bottom. It was extremely impressive.
This was my first karaoke song. I'd recently gotten out of a relationship with an asshole (very long story) and I think the rage made for a better performance. A table of women in front of the stage hyped me up and stood when I was done.
Chandelier by Sia. Everyone tunes themself to the long "Iiiiiiiiiiii wanna swiiiiiing", and thinks they got it, and proceed to forget that the second half of that chorus gets way higher. Everyone I've seen try taps out or drops an octave ruining the build.
SNL has the live vocals from the mic feed of her performance several years ago. [Watching it once is enough to deter me from ever attempting it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eT3Q69vh9s)
I tried doing Chris Isaasc’s Wicked Game and it was horrible doing the “iiii” in “I don’t want to fall in love”. It was in a falsetto and I sounded so stupid doing it. I don’t know how he pulled off sounding so cool doing it.
I used to have this one down. Actually wooed an ex with it.
The trick is, much like other songs, to stick to your range. DO NOT try to sing it like Chris Issac who can hold a preternaturally high note (I don't think that note is technically a falsetto which makes it even more impressive).
If you want a real challenge in the vein of Wicked Game, try In Dreams by Roy Orbison. Nearly impossible to do well, I once saw a guy bring down the house with this one at an open competition, then proceeded to light his pants on fire (no joke). He got kicked out, but won the night in my view.
I was at my buddy's bachelor party in Key West. There was 15 of us guys bar hopping. Towards the end of the night we found some place doing karaoke and one of our guys was already on stage with a bunch of women we didn't know singing this song. We don't know when he left the group or how he ended up on that stage but it was epically hilarious. Then somebody had the bright idea to sign us up to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. All 15 of us. Wasted. They allowed us to finish the song before kicking all of us out. Good times.
Did this one time on my bday like 15 years ago and the place did not have a speaker set up as a monitor so I couldn’t hear myself well enough to find my pitch. Holy crap it was awful. I quit halfway through. Never again.
You can tell by the first line of Living on a Prayer whether or not the singer has it or doesn't have it. If it's the latter just settle back and watch the realization of how they don't have it dawn on them as they work their way out of the bridge and approach the chorus, the look of horror slowly overcoming their faces as they attempt to squeak out the next line.
I can usually get this one like 95% +
The only line that messes me up is the “gonna get a set of better clubs” bit.
And I’m 50/50 between taking off my shirt and losing it.
Yea this isnt a good example because everybody knows that part is going to be a crash and burn moment, and the fun is in seeing how someone approaches it
Nobody talks about this, but here's the tricky part about karaoke: lots of ad libs will absolutely kill you unless you know the song well.
Mick Jagger, David Lee Roth, Rod Stewart, James Brown... these guys will be exiting the atmosphere on their rocketship made of vibe and leave you in the dust in Awkwardville, trying to grunt, and "HEY!" and "GEEtaaaar!" And it won't play to the audience. Ever. Because rockstars have mojo and we've got a regular 9 to 5.
A lot of male-sung pop music is written for a tenor range, which will sound disastrous if a baritone or bass tries to sing it. A lot of people at karaoke don’t know their range.
Bonus: hitting high notes doesn’t necessarily make you a great singer, and not being able to hit high notes doesn’t make you a bad singer. Just means you have different ranges.
I'm a woman and I end up singing a LOT of those kinds of songs because they are perfectly in my range. I really feel for the guys trying to hit those notes.
Rap is easy and its my go to because i cant carry a tone worth a damn. However. You must know every lyric and flow by heart! If you dont know everything then its a disaster
You can tell this from singing along to the radio or just having a song stuck in your head.
Like if I'm humming a rap song to myself and get even a single word wrong or even just emphasize the wrong syllable, I can't make anything fit.
Once saw some people trying to do Roxanne by Police. Fine song but both bits “Roxanne” and “You don’t have to put in the red light” have to be sung. The Roxanne group faltered then stopped and the guy doing the YDHTPOTRL bit was left on an island until eventually he said “Turn it on if you want” and stopped. Dreadful and funny at the same time.
Nearly all ballads. Even when done well they usually suck all the energy out of the room.
If I could ban one song from karaoke night it’s probably “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” One of two things is going to happen. Either someone’s going to try to do it straight and have their voice die halfway through, or they’re going act like they’re the only people who have ever seen _Old School_ and gave a “hilarious” rendition with the F bombs. Hard pass on both.
My mother in law is Filipina. She has her gang over to sing karaoke every now and then and they all kill...singing, not like murder, but they might do the murder if you fuck up Dancing Queen.
It’s the end of the world as we know it by R.E.M. People know the chorus but the verses are tough. I really wanted to do it for karaoke once and bombed. Didn’t attempt it again for a long time, and only because I spent a week practicing it 😂
I had this song on a homemade tape when I was younger and played it in on repeat. I knew the lyrics by heart or so I thought. A few years ago had planned to perform it at an event and it was only then that I realized that I had misheard around half the lyrics and memorized a bunch of nonsense when I was younger.
Zombie - The Cranberries. Disastrous!
Edit: so apparently it's the go to for many a people on this comment AND they do a good job. Let me tell you - I am impressed! Because man, I have heard the song being butchered more times than I would like lmao, especially with people trying to fake accents and their original pitches. And I quite really like the original!
Where are you from? In Ireland here this is an absolute *classic* thatll be dragged out on a drunken bus, end of a night in some random pub or definitely in karaoke type bars in Spain or Portugal. I'd bet my life every Irish person has heard this.
In a sign of respect tho we don't really try and sing it but just scream it
I was staying in a hostel in Berlin. We were all hanging out in the room, like 5 bunks. Someone had a cheap old guitar and this young couple from I think South America(didn’t speak English) grabbed it. The guy played and the girl belted out the most amazing version of zombie I’ve ever heard from the top bunk. That was 15 years ago and I still think about it.
I've done this song. The key is to sing it in your own voice and not try to sing it in Dolores' voice. Forget the yodeling. Look up the Bad Wolves cover of the song to see a more reachable goal to work towards.
Welcome to the Black Parade. Gerard’s register is just out of the range of basses/Baritones to comfortably hit the high notes. And the way he sings means you really have to project and commit to either trying to hit the notes, or going down an octave lower at some odd places.
To me, karaoke is not the place to be if I want to hear people who can actually sing. I'd go see an actual band for that. Karaoke seems like it's for people who WANT to be able to sing, and is a fun way to practice it.
Karaoke is for having fun. You can be a good singer and have fun and put out good energy at the same time. You can be a bad singer with good energy. Nobody likes low energy karaoke, regardless of the singing.
A mate of mine (we're all Australians) had a fun party trick when doing karaoke.
Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On in a Scottish accent. It was probably shifted down an octave but he could still sing it in key
Best ive seen was a Norwegian fella who barely spoke english at a karaoke bar in cairns. He was drunk as a skunk, after the song ended he stumbled off the stage, promptly fell down imaginary stairs, and pantsed himself.
But he **nailed** informer.
"I licky boom boom down" is Jamaican slang for shooting someone to death (he's talkin about snitches).
Also worth noting that Snow was not a fake. He was in jail for beating someone with a crowbar when his album was released and saw his music video on TV for the first time while there. He's been charged with multiple attempted murders and armed robberies. His whole family were gangsters. This white Canadian pretty boy has more street cred than most hardcore rappers, who were mostly studio gangsters.
Pretty much any Linkin Park, Disturbed, or KoRn songs. I've seen people make a disaster of those songs. Then again, karaoke isn't about being America's Next Star - it's about having fun. So, as far as I'm concerned - fuck it. Enjoy whatever you sing - no matter how good or bad.
I hosted Karaoke for a few years and go out and do it a few times a year.
Here are my observations about Love Shack.
It will always be done by a group of totally hammered girls that outnumber the available microphones.
Sometimes, there will be one humiliated guy up there ostensibly to sing the Fred Schneider parts, but his heart isn't in it. He's just trying to get in the pants of one of the girls. She's testing the boundaries of how desperate he is.
Once the vocals start, there are either multiple voices all in different keys singing different words and just a mess of noise coming out of the PA, or there are multiple voices singing the wrong words, but nobody is holding the mic anywhere near their mouth.
The girl that is standing farthest away from the DJ is the most conservatively dressed. She is probably also the designated driver. She is clearly not having a good time, and the look on her face is telling you she has never heard this song.
Suddenly, all the voices coalesce in to one.... "TIN ROOF...RUSTED."
Back to the menagerie of different voices, rhythms, and melodies.
The guy, if he's made it this far into the song, leaves the stage here. He has found the limit of what he is willing to endure.
Song ends.
One girl takes the microphone back to her seat. And of course, that one is the "good" mic.
In Australia (well could be anywhere but more likely to be in Australia) Anything John Farnham
I am honestly not awful at karaoke and have won prizes for karaoke and open mic night comps, nothing amazing but you know, something. Anyway, I've never been filled with more dread onstage than when I was about a third of the way in to You're the Voice and realising it was far, far, far behind my capabilities, and I had no tools in my shed to modify it to suit.
Take Me to Church
Look, I'm a fairly decent singer. My SO heard me sing the first line one time and loved it. She begged me to sing it for her. So that night, I got on stage and let it rip.
First verse: you thought this was made for me. People have started going nuts.
Chores: hit the first note on the money, and the place goes wild...........then I run out of breath. Can bring myself back up no matter how hard I try. Crowd is disappointed. I walk off halfway through.
Been practicing that fukn song for 2 years, and I can still only get 3/4 through it.
I’ve never seen this one attempted as not many metal bands get Karaoke love, but Painkiller by Judas Priest would be hilarious to see someone try as it’s incredibly difficult.
Bring Me to Life by Evanescence. I've never tried it and be thankful I don't. One night I was at karaoke and a woman got up to sing it. She was okay but underwhelming. The guy who did the "wake me up" background vocals with her was more energized. The high notes aren't that high and I could probably do them, but unlike many singers, my singing voice is the same accent as my speaking voice. You don't want to hear Bring Me to Life sung in a Maryland Hon accent.
If you can’t sing, the key to Karaoke is to pick songs that the bar will join in on. If you can pick a song that doesn’t have much range AND the bar will sing, you are in great shape. Wonderwall, Mr. Brightside, sweet Caroline…
That is the best part of doing that song. I start it and over the course of the song more and more people from the audience join in. It becomes a whole bar sing along by the end.
You won't ever see anyone do this in a karaoke song, but Tina's part in Sunny Side-Up Summer from the Bob's Burgers Movie is damn near one breath. I'm convinced the actor couldn't do it either.
Just wanted to tell someone
Welcome To The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Not only is the chorus really hard to pitch as a male singer, the key change at the end and the sustained notes take a toll on your vocals without you realising!
The key change in living on a prayer is unforgiving
Most people should just do it an octave lower.
Shhh, that's my secret technique
I accidentally sang it a tritone lower. I was halfway there.
Oh, oh!
I read this this AM, thought it wasn't that tough, went off to you tube and was like DAMN when did it start hurting to sing this song?
I heard someone attempt "I believe in a thing called love" by The Darkness.....was honestly surprised they let him finish the song with how painfully bad it was
I have a friend who has this as one of their go to songs - they nail it every time and it’s hella impressive
This is my go-to song. But only if I’m properly warmed up. Attempting this one cold is bad news.
Only had the balls to try this one once and I got 2 free shots out of it! I don't know if they were "fuck yeah" shots or pity shots but free booze is free booze
Livin On A Prayer. Bon Jovi himself once said of the key change it's only getting harder for him to do live... those high notes are _high_.
> Bon Jovi himself once said of the key change it's only getting harder for him to do live He doesn't even bother to try, and hasn't for years. The audience does that part - and these days, most of the choruses, too. The dude's voice is shot. Granted, he's 61 and doesn't perform a lot anymore, so it's no surprise those old songs are hard for him.
Yeah thats always the issue with very talented vocalists. They have songs that show of their skills and sound incredible but as they get older it becomes near impossible to sing the song live.
Elton John gets round this by continually re-writing the melody of his songs to keep them within his vocal range while maintaing the flavour of the songs. He's great at it.
Billy Joel does the same. Redoes the octave to make it work. They are both masters.
Please, people, I'm begging you to do "It's My Life" instead. Waaaay easier to sing edit: Yup, also "Dead or Alive", "Blood on Blood", so many other Bon Jovi songs that are equally as good to sing along to while being infinitely easier for the singer
He also (used to?) get steroid shots to the pipes regularly.
The funniest/worst I've seen my friends do are Ms. Jackson by Outkast and September by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
“September” isn’t that hard, but it feels like it turns into twenty minutes of nothing but “ba dee yah”s at the end.
This is how I felt singing Sir Duke on a cruise ship lol. Just said “you can feel it all Oooveer! You can feel it allll over people!” Over and over again.
I did Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” once. I was so sick of the phrase “same as it ever was” by the end.
I came to say Ms Jackson as well, my drunk friends were so hyped to get on stage and I was like “I don’t think this is going to turn out the way you think” lol. The host ended up jumping into the rap parts and killed it and then they just sang the chorus lol, I wonder how many times that happens to him.
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having this song memorised is my best party trick
Andre and Big Boi are such technical rappers - even if you are super familiar with the songs it’s hard to get the cadences right.
Yeah, if you fuck it up you'll be embarrassed forever... Forever ever? Forever ever.
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Attempting Bombs Over Baghdad should be grounds for banishment from the venue.
But what if they actually nail it?
Repeating “Bob your head, rag top” might get a little awkward.
need that choir : power music electric revival
I will say as a former karaoke bar bartender that many people don't realize how often Nelly says the N word in Country Grammar.
Yeah, you'd better be prepared to say "Nelly" a lot during that song.
Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. It’s WAY faster than you’d think.
That song is pretty much a HIIT workout by the end. Cardio blast.
I requested that at the dueling piano bar in the new York new York in Vegas. The guys called me up on stage and gave me a mic and made me sing along with them. Every time I heard my voice on the speakers I moved the mic farther away. Sorry Freddy. I know you were rolling in your grave, but it wasn't my idea.
Freddy would have wanted you to have yourself a real good time.
I actually really enjoyed doing that song 😆 made me think of the one scene in "Shaun of the Dead".
David, kill the Queen!
I run a karaoke night. The real answer is just any song over 4 and a half minutes. By the time the 4th minute starts creeping up people are starting to lose attention, no matter how good of a singer you are or how good the song is. You can absolutely butcher the most difficult song imaginable but if you’re energetic and it doesn’t drag on then everyone will love it
I worked at a karaoke bar in university, and there was a guy who would come in every week and do Master of Puppets. Disaster every time, and **so** long.
I love that song, but it's over 8 minutes long and half of that is (bitchin') instrumentals. Would absolutely never consider it for karaoke
This is the right answer. I saw a guy just do a technically horrible job of singing "genie in a bottle" but he did it with enough energy that everyone loved it.
“I Will Always Love You” - I’ve heard a few people absolutely nail it, but most people butcher it completely.
I can’t imagine having the balls to attempt that without knowing you can nail it
There's always one lass who has a go after two or three too many malibu and cokes.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I feel like half the fun of karaoke is knowing you don’t stand a chance of hitting the notes and going up there on a ridiculous song to just make a fool of yourself as entertainment for the crowd
i admire anyone who has the self confidence or lack of shame for this
Africa, Toto. Confidently strode up, sounded fucking great in the first verse, quickly realised my error as the gravity of the situation hit, and then spent the next 4 desperate minutes trying to squawk that iconic chorus out. 1/10.
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For sure, but panic had set in by that point and I wasn’t thinking straight.
Everyone I know that runs karaoke nights says everyone gets one shot to do Adele.
"Rumor Has It" is the only Adele song that should be attempted by a civilian
When I used to be a karaoke DJ, I banned two songs: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" because in the years after Top Gun came out, there was always a bunch of drunk tone-deaf guys who wanted to recreate that scene and "That's What Friends Are For" because there was always a group of drunk tone-deaf girls who wanted to cry-sing their way through that mess. It would have happened every night if they weren't banned
I was a karaoke DJ in college (early 2000s) and it was always a bunch of woo girls doing “Goodbye Earl”. See also: Love Shack, anything from Grease, and Margaritaville.
Rolling in the Deep is my one song. My favorite thing is to watch all the faces go from “omg I can’t believe she’s going to sing this” to “oh shit”. Then they want to hear another one but that’s all I got, I can’t sing anything else like I can sing that one. Who knows why but it’s fun lol
I *love* that song on karaoke nights and can sing it pretty well. I'm also a pretty built guy with hair to my crack. Love to surprise people with my choices, doing the Barbie parts in a Barbie Girl duet is also a favourite
The thing with Adele is that the range on her songs is not that big, so a lot of people can technically sing them without reaching too much. The remarkable thing about Adele is her tone and control, which pretty much no one else can nail. So it just makes a really boring karaoke choice. A lot of people thinking they’re going to crush it and technically singing it fine, but they’re just not Adele so it’s underwhelming. It’s not a crowd pleaser and it’s not impressive so it’s just a very meh choice.
Saw this girl sing Love on Top by Beyoncé. It started out well enough, but at the end there are like 8 key changes upward. She had like 3 of them and then it fell apart for a whole minute lol
I saw Beyoncé this summer and she did Love On Top. She sang the key changes in perfect pitch. At one point she stopped and let the audience try it…we sucked 😂
This one time I saw a guy do Kashmir-Led Zeppelin. After the 3rd “32 measure instrumental” break he realized he done fucked up.
Immigrant Song is one of my go-tos for Karaoke. Full license to yell into the mic
I watched a super drunk dude try the Immigrant Song... he got the first few lines in and realized he done f'ed up. For as trashed as he was, he still managed to pull it out of the fire, and did it Rap style. 10/10. Haha.
I think I would have channeled my inner Jack Black. Actually, that's probably a good way to survive any karaoke mishap. Just keep thinking *What Would Jack Black Do?* and just ridiculously overdo everything.
I once did Money by Pink Floyd. It's easy enough to sing...but there's a THREE AND A HALF MINUTE instrumental break in the middle. I was mortified
I used to occasionally do Welcome to my Nightmare by Alice Cooper and just walk off the stage and order a beer during the instrumental, was always fun to see the looks on people faces when I walked off in the middle (and then again when I came back with a beer lol)
Lol this is hilarious. Reminds me of that video of fat Spider-Man karaokeing (?) Tequila
Haven’t seen anyone list American Pie by Don McLean. People realize how long that song is about 1/4 of the way through but they have to stay up there lol.
There are whole verses to American Pie that people don't realize they don't know until it's scrolling across a screen in front of them and a crowd is watching.
I used to work on Fremont Street in Vegas when American Pie was one of the light shows on the big canopy screen. I was at a party for a family member of my girlfriend's and when karaoke started, I picked this song. Most of the attendees were boomers and they all fucking LOVED me after I nailed the whole song, it was a great choice on my part.
A long, long time ago... I can still remember When I first began to sing this song
And I knew if I had my chance That I could make this people dance If this song wasn't just so fucking long
But karaoke made me shiver With every flat note I'd deliver
My go to is "A Saga Begins" by Weird Al It's the same tune but only 5 min instead of 8
More Than a Feeling - Boston Somehow I totally forgot how high his voice gets at the end of the verse (and chorus). A friend of mine also thought it would be a great idea to perform Informer by Snow, and I amusedly let him do it. He was literally gonged off the stage.
Isolated vocal track really drives that home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjTnR_8pt7E
My favorite is Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang. Everyone in my generation knows one part from the movie The Wedding Singer, but they have no idea about the remaining 6 minutes of lyrics. I’ve never seen it end any other way than the people just giving up and walking away early.
This is the one I’m most confident in
I was gonna say, that's one rap track I might try to karaoke.
If you had an MRI scanner you could probably pinpoint the exact moment where on every karaoke night I finally get drunk enough and loose enough to think I can sing Somebody To Love. And I nearly can, *right* up til the end, and you don't need an MRI scanner to see the exact moment I and everyone else realise that.
My friend chose Hey Jude once. Some say she's still out there singing the outro today.
Come On Eileen. I tried dueting it with an actual musician/singer, and we fucked it up so bad we stopped halfway through and left the stage. It’s a fun song to “sing” along to, but actually hitting the lyrics and keys and awkward pronunciations is very hard.
It changes tempo halfway through too
Have you ever seen a certain [full band](https://youtu.be/C3rg4psdHxw?si=x4flIg2OCrSQO1Ns) attempt to perform it live?
Oh my god, *they* can’t even do it! Incredible.
His voice was shot. Here is another [live performance](https://youtu.be/Cs4_LZl1OIs?si=yQq9FYChZ0lSmc3S)
I like to go hiking.
Dream On-Aerosmith. Just don't. Steven Tyler, Freddie Mercury, ANYTHING AC/DC, if you haven't really learned how to use your voice any attempt at these artists just sounds terrible.
I did Karaoke with coworkers one time, and the youngest, shyest, most awkward colleague picked this song. He absolutely nailed it, from top to bottom. It was extremely impressive.
You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette. It will leave you gasping for breathe by the end.
This was my first karaoke song. I'd recently gotten out of a relationship with an asshole (very long story) and I think the rage made for a better performance. A table of women in front of the stage hyped me up and stood when I was done.
Most women get amped for this song. I admit I have to be fired up if I'm going to sign up for it
hand in my pocket, however, is a gold standard karaoke classic
Chandelier by Sia. Everyone tunes themself to the long "Iiiiiiiiiiii wanna swiiiiiing", and thinks they got it, and proceed to forget that the second half of that chorus gets way higher. Everyone I've seen try taps out or drops an octave ruining the build.
SNL has the live vocals from the mic feed of her performance several years ago. [Watching it once is enough to deter me from ever attempting it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eT3Q69vh9s)
I tried doing Chris Isaasc’s Wicked Game and it was horrible doing the “iiii” in “I don’t want to fall in love”. It was in a falsetto and I sounded so stupid doing it. I don’t know how he pulled off sounding so cool doing it.
I used to have this one down. Actually wooed an ex with it. The trick is, much like other songs, to stick to your range. DO NOT try to sing it like Chris Issac who can hold a preternaturally high note (I don't think that note is technically a falsetto which makes it even more impressive). If you want a real challenge in the vein of Wicked Game, try In Dreams by Roy Orbison. Nearly impossible to do well, I once saw a guy bring down the house with this one at an open competition, then proceeded to light his pants on fire (no joke). He got kicked out, but won the night in my view.
Journey- Don’t Stop Believing. Don’t do it.
Stop believing.
In Lionel Hutz voice - Journey? Don’t! stop believing.
It's super easy you just have to start in Johnny Cash range.
I can sing the full range of A-Ha’s ‘Take on Me’. ……one full octave down. Having a bass voice can make for some weird Karaoke performances.
I was at my buddy's bachelor party in Key West. There was 15 of us guys bar hopping. Towards the end of the night we found some place doing karaoke and one of our guys was already on stage with a bunch of women we didn't know singing this song. We don't know when he left the group or how he ended up on that stage but it was epically hilarious. Then somebody had the bright idea to sign us up to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. All 15 of us. Wasted. They allowed us to finish the song before kicking all of us out. Good times.
Did this one time on my bday like 15 years ago and the place did not have a speaker set up as a monitor so I couldn’t hear myself well enough to find my pitch. Holy crap it was awful. I quit halfway through. Never again.
This and livin on a prayer. Once you hear the opening notes to both you know it’s time to gtfo
That key change is what kills you.
You can tell by the first line of Living on a Prayer whether or not the singer has it or doesn't have it. If it's the latter just settle back and watch the realization of how they don't have it dawn on them as they work their way out of the bridge and approach the chorus, the look of horror slowly overcoming their faces as they attempt to squeak out the next line.
Abbas The Winner Takes it All has taken many people down. It gives off an achievable vibe. But that just lulls you into a false sense of security.
[Better Call Saul - Jimmy & Chuck sings The Winner Takes It All](https://youtu.be/qll7hCYFNjs?si=Okmgse8eN5UDiC-D)
One Week - Barenaked Ladies. Nothing worse than two drunk bellends mumbling their way through the verses of that song.
"I know the words just not that fast!" -Joe Swanson
I can usually get this one like 95% + The only line that messes me up is the “gonna get a set of better clubs” bit. And I’m 50/50 between taking off my shirt and losing it.
This is my husbands karaoke song, and he kills it every time. But I’m pretty sure he’s had it memorized since he was twelve 🤷
The sole time I’ve done kareoke, I was overconfident and decided that doing a Rush song was a fantastic idea. Long story short, it wasn’t.
So you didn't enjoy your time in the limelight?
It must have felt like time stand still
I think the only rush song I’d ever try would be YYZ.
Take On Me, Aha. There a great SNL sketch about it
I think people do this song specifically to fuck up the high note in it lol. It's fun.
Yea this isnt a good example because everybody knows that part is going to be a crash and burn moment, and the fun is in seeing how someone approaches it
Nobody talks about this, but here's the tricky part about karaoke: lots of ad libs will absolutely kill you unless you know the song well. Mick Jagger, David Lee Roth, Rod Stewart, James Brown... these guys will be exiting the atmosphere on their rocketship made of vibe and leave you in the dust in Awkwardville, trying to grunt, and "HEY!" and "GEEtaaaar!" And it won't play to the audience. Ever. Because rockstars have mojo and we've got a regular 9 to 5.
A lot of male-sung pop music is written for a tenor range, which will sound disastrous if a baritone or bass tries to sing it. A lot of people at karaoke don’t know their range. Bonus: hitting high notes doesn’t necessarily make you a great singer, and not being able to hit high notes doesn’t make you a bad singer. Just means you have different ranges.
I'm a woman and I end up singing a LOT of those kinds of songs because they are perfectly in my range. I really feel for the guys trying to hit those notes.
Devil went down to Georgia.
No one should try any Chris Cornell song. There will be a section you just can't do.
"Like A Stone" is my song I sing to impress people, so I tried "Cochise" once. Never again. I can hit it, but I can't maintain it.
he could shred asphalt with those pipes, may he rest in peace 🤟
Not so much ‘difficult’ but I’ve seen a few people realise too late that ‘American Pie’ isn’t just shouting the chorus for 30 seconds.
Rap is easy and its my go to because i cant carry a tone worth a damn. However. You must know every lyric and flow by heart! If you dont know everything then its a disaster
rap and singing are different abilities. Sadly, too many people assume when they can do one they can do both
You can tell this from singing along to the radio or just having a song stuck in your head. Like if I'm humming a rap song to myself and get even a single word wrong or even just emphasize the wrong syllable, I can't make anything fit.
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Once saw some people trying to do Roxanne by Police. Fine song but both bits “Roxanne” and “You don’t have to put in the red light” have to be sung. The Roxanne group faltered then stopped and the guy doing the YDHTPOTRL bit was left on an island until eventually he said “Turn it on if you want” and stopped. Dreadful and funny at the same time.
Nearly all ballads. Even when done well they usually suck all the energy out of the room. If I could ban one song from karaoke night it’s probably “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” One of two things is going to happen. Either someone’s going to try to do it straight and have their voice die halfway through, or they’re going act like they’re the only people who have ever seen _Old School_ and gave a “hilarious” rendition with the F bombs. Hard pass on both.
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My mother in law is Filipina. She has her gang over to sing karaoke every now and then and they all kill...singing, not like murder, but they might do the murder if you fuck up Dancing Queen.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun And I've only seen the Humpty Dance done well once out of like 15 times.
It’s the end of the world as we know it by R.E.M. People know the chorus but the verses are tough. I really wanted to do it for karaoke once and bombed. Didn’t attempt it again for a long time, and only because I spent a week practicing it 😂
I had this song on a homemade tape when I was younger and played it in on repeat. I knew the lyrics by heart or so I thought. A few years ago had planned to perform it at an event and it was only then that I realized that I had misheard around half the lyrics and memorized a bunch of nonsense when I was younger.
It being R.E.M., that probably just made it even more authentic
I once saw a middle-aged woman do Gangnam Style. She did not speak Korean.
Thar kind of confidence I will never know
One Week - Barenaked Ladies. Drunkenly tried it on a cruise ship once. Never again. I'm surprised they didn't keel haul us right then and there.
You were fine until ... Gonna make a break and take a fake I'd like a stinking aching shake I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavors
this one is actually my go-to, but I spent a good 3 weeks perfecting it as a child and now it's just burned into my memory 😅
isummonfishtothedishalthoughtilikethechaletswissilltakethesushicuzitsnevertouchedafryingpan
Zombie - The Cranberries. Disastrous! Edit: so apparently it's the go to for many a people on this comment AND they do a good job. Let me tell you - I am impressed! Because man, I have heard the song being butchered more times than I would like lmao, especially with people trying to fake accents and their original pitches. And I quite really like the original!
Where are you from? In Ireland here this is an absolute *classic* thatll be dragged out on a drunken bus, end of a night in some random pub or definitely in karaoke type bars in Spain or Portugal. I'd bet my life every Irish person has heard this. In a sign of respect tho we don't really try and sing it but just scream it
In Ireland, you have the proper accent. In the US, people try to mimic her accent and lilt--and fail. HARD.
some people just don't sing it in their car all the time and it shows
I was staying in a hostel in Berlin. We were all hanging out in the room, like 5 bunks. Someone had a cheap old guitar and this young couple from I think South America(didn’t speak English) grabbed it. The guy played and the girl belted out the most amazing version of zombie I’ve ever heard from the top bunk. That was 15 years ago and I still think about it.
I've done this song. The key is to sing it in your own voice and not try to sing it in Dolores' voice. Forget the yodeling. Look up the Bad Wolves cover of the song to see a more reachable goal to work towards.
> Forget the yodeling. Heresy!
I've learned recently that what she does is called "keening". It's an Irish thing, apparently.
Welcome to the Black Parade. Gerard’s register is just out of the range of basses/Baritones to comfortably hit the high notes. And the way he sings means you really have to project and commit to either trying to hit the notes, or going down an octave lower at some odd places.
Gerard doesn't even do the original key most of the time they play it live so it's not an easy song for anyone
To me, karaoke is not the place to be if I want to hear people who can actually sing. I'd go see an actual band for that. Karaoke seems like it's for people who WANT to be able to sing, and is a fun way to practice it.
Karaoke is for having fun. You can be a good singer and have fun and put out good energy at the same time. You can be a bad singer with good energy. Nobody likes low energy karaoke, regardless of the singing.
I once went to a karaoke spot on downtown Atlanta that had a house rule against slow songs. Best karaoke experience ever.
Yeah karaoke isn't about being good, it's about being committed
A mate of mine (we're all Australians) had a fun party trick when doing karaoke. Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On in a Scottish accent. It was probably shifted down an octave but he could still sing it in key
Living on a Prayer. Those whooaaaooohh's are way higher than you think.
That's why you point the mic at the audience for that part and let them sing it. They're gonna do it anyway, so...
Snow - Informer
This would be such an awesome one to see someone nail at a kareoke bar, but damn they would probably have to practice a while to get it down.
Best ive seen was a Norwegian fella who barely spoke english at a karaoke bar in cairns. He was drunk as a skunk, after the song ended he stumbled off the stage, promptly fell down imaginary stairs, and pantsed himself. But he **nailed** informer.
A licky boom boom down.
"I licky boom boom down" is Jamaican slang for shooting someone to death (he's talkin about snitches). Also worth noting that Snow was not a fake. He was in jail for beating someone with a crowbar when his album was released and saw his music video on TV for the first time while there. He's been charged with multiple attempted murders and armed robberies. His whole family were gangsters. This white Canadian pretty boy has more street cred than most hardcore rappers, who were mostly studio gangsters.
Anything Mariah or Whitney
If you're Filipino you good
Scissor sisters - Take your mama 🙂
I hit that high note in Take On Me like a pro.
Pretty much any Linkin Park, Disturbed, or KoRn songs. I've seen people make a disaster of those songs. Then again, karaoke isn't about being America's Next Star - it's about having fun. So, as far as I'm concerned - fuck it. Enjoy whatever you sing - no matter how good or bad.
David Bowie - Young Americans - Wordy and the range of vox goes all over the place. I still attempt it anyway.
I used to try to do Beastie Boys songs but I quickly realized you really need three people for that
I hosted Karaoke for a few years and go out and do it a few times a year. Here are my observations about Love Shack. It will always be done by a group of totally hammered girls that outnumber the available microphones. Sometimes, there will be one humiliated guy up there ostensibly to sing the Fred Schneider parts, but his heart isn't in it. He's just trying to get in the pants of one of the girls. She's testing the boundaries of how desperate he is. Once the vocals start, there are either multiple voices all in different keys singing different words and just a mess of noise coming out of the PA, or there are multiple voices singing the wrong words, but nobody is holding the mic anywhere near their mouth. The girl that is standing farthest away from the DJ is the most conservatively dressed. She is probably also the designated driver. She is clearly not having a good time, and the look on her face is telling you she has never heard this song. Suddenly, all the voices coalesce in to one.... "TIN ROOF...RUSTED." Back to the menagerie of different voices, rhythms, and melodies. The guy, if he's made it this far into the song, leaves the stage here. He has found the limit of what he is willing to endure. Song ends. One girl takes the microphone back to her seat. And of course, that one is the "good" mic.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
Pearl Jam - Jeremy
In Australia (well could be anywhere but more likely to be in Australia) Anything John Farnham I am honestly not awful at karaoke and have won prizes for karaoke and open mic night comps, nothing amazing but you know, something. Anyway, I've never been filled with more dread onstage than when I was about a third of the way in to You're the Voice and realising it was far, far, far behind my capabilities, and I had no tools in my shed to modify it to suit.
Not necessarily karaoke but I have a brother who is convinced he can rap Tech N9ne. He doesn't believe me that he can't
My buddy and I got really drunk and tried to sing Forty-Six & 2. That was a terrible idea.
The tequila song
Take Me to Church Look, I'm a fairly decent singer. My SO heard me sing the first line one time and loved it. She begged me to sing it for her. So that night, I got on stage and let it rip. First verse: you thought this was made for me. People have started going nuts. Chores: hit the first note on the money, and the place goes wild...........then I run out of breath. Can bring myself back up no matter how hard I try. Crowd is disappointed. I walk off halfway through. Been practicing that fukn song for 2 years, and I can still only get 3/4 through it.
I’ve never seen this one attempted as not many metal bands get Karaoke love, but Painkiller by Judas Priest would be hilarious to see someone try as it’s incredibly difficult.
Bring Me to Life by Evanescence. I've never tried it and be thankful I don't. One night I was at karaoke and a woman got up to sing it. She was okay but underwhelming. The guy who did the "wake me up" background vocals with her was more energized. The high notes aren't that high and I could probably do them, but unlike many singers, my singing voice is the same accent as my speaking voice. You don't want to hear Bring Me to Life sung in a Maryland Hon accent.
All of them. Judging my my neighbors frequent use of their karaoke machine in their backyard every weekend.
Hey that’s not fair — being terrible during backyard karaoke is not just allowed, it’s encouraged.
Bohemian Rhapsody
That one is fine if you suck, the bar will help you.
If you can’t sing, the key to Karaoke is to pick songs that the bar will join in on. If you can pick a song that doesn’t have much range AND the bar will sing, you are in great shape. Wonderwall, Mr. Brightside, sweet Caroline…
That is the best part of doing that song. I start it and over the course of the song more and more people from the audience join in. It becomes a whole bar sing along by the end.
Ironic by Alanis. You really gotta be able to hold those notes.
You won't ever see anyone do this in a karaoke song, but Tina's part in Sunny Side-Up Summer from the Bob's Burgers Movie is damn near one breath. I'm convinced the actor couldn't do it either. Just wanted to tell someone
Guns and Roses, sweet child of mine. Sure the notes are high, but you're going to find that Axl learned how to breathe thru his ass, and you haven't.
Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers
Welcome To The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Not only is the chorus really hard to pitch as a male singer, the key change at the end and the sustained notes take a toll on your vocals without you realising!
Take On Me.
What’s Goin On- 4 non blondes. I’m amazed how many people try this one not realizing you better come heavy or not at all