"We really, really, like playing this riff"

[kurumi]

Some songs have a catchy hook that's played over and over and over again. I'm wondering what the highest number might be for a mainstream song

In Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way", the B-A-G-E-B-D-E riff (sometimes transposed to G minor) appears 62 times. Are those rookie numbers? Can we find something higher?

[kphoger]

Carol of the Bells 

[pianocello]

This feels like a good time to mention Pachelbel's Canon and the average cellist's dislike for it, but that "riff" only repeats itself 28 times.

[TheStranger]

A song I've been playing a lot on my home piano lately:

Traffic's The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, in which Steve Winwood's two-chord piano riff is 75% of the song (though accompanied by other instruments doing solos, including an overdriven Hammond organ that he overdubbed later in the studio version).

[mgk920]

I often find myself humming Mozart's 40th Symphony.

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

Not really a riff, but at one point in "Down by the River," Neil Young plays the same note 38 straight times.

[Henry]

If we were to include sung lines, Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine has him singing "I know" 26 times in a row during the bridge.

[Scott5114]

Carol of the Bells 

I've heard the original Ukrainian lyrics are a lot less ridiculous than what we get over here.

If we were to include sung lines, Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine has him singing "I know" 26 times in a row during the bridge.

Bill Withers seemed to delight in making songs that are really obnoxious to listen to. "Lovely Day" has a single note that's held for 18 seconds. The first time I heard that song I thought the radio was malfunctioning.

[SectorZ]

Cult of Personality by Living Colour has its riff played 46 times.

There are problem hundreds of examples with more than that, but it's the first one that came to mind.

[GaryV]

This feels like a good time to mention Pachelbel's Canon and the average cellist's dislike for it, but that "riff" only repeats itself 28 times.

I've played it on handbells. (Transposed from D to C) One player can handle all the bells from C3 to B3. Just alternate hands back and forth.

[Rothman]

I was recently struck by the loose similarity of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and Cream's "Sunshine of Our Love" riffs.

[DTComposer]

Not exactly "playing" since it's sequenced, but "Baba O'Reilly" was the first thing that came to my mind.

Carol of the Bells 

I've heard the original Ukrainian lyrics are a lot less ridiculous than what we get over here.

The Ukrainian poem has nothing to do with Christmas - it was about their New Year, which was in March/April.

[Dirt Roads]

If we were to include sung lines, Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine has him singing "I know" 26 times in a row during the bridge.

I guess you have to include this, because us folks singing the bass line on Carol of the Bells sing "ding, dong" three times at the start of each verse, "ding, dong" at least four times in a row at the end of each verse, finishing with a "dong--ng" and then a drawn-out "bohm".  The tenor line starts with "ding, dong" four times, pulls out a quick "ding, dong, ding-dong" just before the bass gears up, then finishes with "ding, dong" at least twice  at the end of each verse, also finishing with that "dong--ng" and then a drawn-out "bohm".

One version of Carol of the Bells has its first verse with the bass line singing "brring" 16 times at the beginning, then switching to a slower "brrrrring" three times, then finishing with "brring" another 12 times (perhaps 13 times).  If you were keeping count, that was only one "word" repeated 31 or 32 times throughout the entire verse, if you could call it such.

[Dirt Roads]

This feels like a good time to mention Pachelbel's Canon and the average cellist's dislike for it, but that "riff" only repeats itself 28 times.

I've played it on handbells. (Transposed from D to C) One player can handle all the bells from C3 to B3. Just alternate hands back and forth.

I guess you can't call it Canon in D after that switcheroo.

[1995hoo]

I didn't try to count how many times the riff played because I was driving, but on my way back from Wegmans earlier today E Street Radio was playing a live version of Springsteen's "Working on the Highway" from a 2014 concert in Australia. After the lyrics ended, it felt like the band kept playing the riff ad infinitum. Made me want to yell, "Just move on to the next song!" But I guess live performances are perhaps not a fair comparison in this thread because lots of performers stretch out the codas when they play live.

[DTComposer]

If we were to include sung lines, Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine has him singing "I know" 26 times in a row during the bridge.

I guess you have to include this, because us folks singing the bass line on Carol of the Bells sing "ding, dong" three times at the start of each verse, "ding, dong" at least four times in a row at the end of each verse, finishing with a "dong--ng" and then a drawn-out "bohm".  The tenor line starts with "ding, dong" four times, pulls out a quick "ding, dong, ding-dong" just before the bass gears up, then finishes with "ding, dong" at least twice  at the end of each verse, also finishing with that "dong--ng" and then a drawn-out "bohm".

One version of Carol of the Bells has its first verse with the bass line singing "brring" 16 times at the beginning, then switching to a slower "brrrrring" three times, then finishing with "brring" another 12 times (perhaps 13 times).  If you were keeping count, that was only one "word" repeated 31 or 32 times throughout the entire verse, if you could call it such.

Carol of the Drum has a similar situation with the repetition of "prrummms." We would have the soprano and tenor switch for a verse to vary the texture a little bit, but the bass would just be hanging out on A and E for two or three minutes (plenty of time to make a bit out of playing the finger cymbals, though).

[TheCatalyst31]

I'm not sure how many times Heart plays that three-note riff in Barracuda, but it's a lot. I looked up the guitar tabs for it and lost count at 100. Back when Guitar Hero was popular I remember that song always being a slog to get through.

[TheStranger]

Not exactly "playing" since it's sequenced, but "Baba O'Reilly" was the first thing that came to my mind.

If I'm not mistaken, it's mostly the processed Lowrey organ parts that are sequenced, but the main three chord riff (F, C, Bb) is guitar/acoustic piano that is played pretty much in every sung part of the song, except for the bridge.

[kphoger]

This feels like a good time to mention Pachelbel's Canon and the average cellist's dislike for it, but that "riff" only repeats itself 28 times.

I've played it on handbells. (Transposed from D to C) One player can handle all the bells from C3 to B3. Just alternate hands back and forth.

I guess you can't call it Canon in D after that switcheroo.

The Canon Formerly Known as D

[formulanone]

The Canon Formerly Known as D

a.k.a. Canon Digital Rebel and Rebel XT

[DTComposer]

Not exactly "playing" since it's sequenced, but "Baba O'Reilly" was the first thing that came to my mind.

If I'm not mistaken, it's mostly the processed Lowrey organ parts that are sequenced, but the main three chord riff (F, C, Bb) is guitar/acoustic piano that is played pretty much in every sung part of the song, except for the bridge.

Yes, absolutely. I should have clarified it was the organ parts. The band I was in during high school thought about adding this to our set, and when we tried it out I tried to play the part manually...

[english si]

oh, oh, oh-oh-oh, ohh, ohh

Having just listened to the original, there are the occasional couple of bars that aren't just the riff, but otherwise it's a seven note anthem with some forgettable singing over the top.