Non-verbal lyrics in songs – is there a nice name for these?
Often in songs, the lyrics will be "na na na", "doo doo doo", etc., in a particular section or part. Is there a name for these sorts of sounds? I've seen "non-lexical vocables" which, while being accurate, is a bit of a mouthful. It feels like there should be a snappier name, so if you were talking about the lyrics you could say, for example,
Oh and during the ________ section, the backing vocals shouldn't be too loud.
Hopefully this makes sense.
The use of non-words to "sing" a melody is called "vocalise" (pronounced [voh-kuh-leez]), which is a noun and is defined in dictionary.com as:
a musical composition consisting of the singing of melody with vowel sounds or nonsense syllables rather than text, as for special effect in classical compositions, in polyphonic jazz singing by special groups, or in virtuoso vocal exercises.
any such singing exercise or vocalized melody.
These are called non-lexical vocables.
An interesting video about them:
History of Lyrics that aren't Lyrics
And then the old fashioned: Wikipedia entry on their use in music.
Examples of popular music employing non-lexical vocables include:
A cappella (singing without instrumental accompaniment, sometimes accompanied by a chorus of nonsense syllables)
Beatboxing (vocal percussion)
Doo-wop (style of rhythm and blues music that often employs nonsense syllables)
Kobaïan (language used by French progressive rock band Magma)
Hopelandic (gibberish language employed by the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós)
Van Morrison employed scat in his performances.[5]
Scat singing influenced the development of doo-wop and hip hop. It was popular enough in doo-wop that Barry Mann and Gerry Goffin made it the subject of a 1961 song, Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)". It has also appeared in various genres of rock music. Jim Morrison of The Doors sings a chorus of slow scat on the song "Cars Hiss By My Window", trying to replicate a harmonica solo he had heard, as well as on the song "Roadhouse Blues"; scat singing also notably opens the B-side of Joe Walsh's 1973 album The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get with the song "Meadow". The technique was employed in the song "The Great Gig in the Sky" by Pink Floyd, as well as the R&B song "Rubber Biscuit" by The Chips (also as by The Blues Brothers).
Scat also makes appearances in newer genres, including industrial music, in the chorus of Ministry's 1991 song "Jesus Built My Hotrod"; nu metal music, in the band Korn whose lead singer Jonathan Davis has incorporated scat singing into songs such as "Twist", "Ball Tongue", "Freak on a Leash", "B.B.K.", "Beat it Upright" and "Liar"; and the heavy metal subgenre of death metal, where scat singing is used by John Tardy of the band Obituary. Jack Black incorporates scat into several Tenacious D songs, most notably: "Tribute", "Cosmic Shame", "Classico," "Jesus Ranch," Low Hangin' Fruit," and "Bowie". Singer JoJo performs ad-libbed scats on the track "Yes or No". Other modern examples include "Under Pressure" by Queen (band), "Rag Doll" by Aerosmith, "Under My Voodoo" by Sublime, "No! Don't Shoot" by Foxy Shazam, "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" by Mr. Bungle, "In My Bed" by Amy Winehouse, and "Stuck in the Middle" by Mika. Scatman John successfully combined scat and early-1990s electronic dance music.
Examples by popular non-anglophone singers using such techniques include "Bla Bla Bla" by Gigi D'Agostino, Eena Mina Dika in the Bollywood film Aasha, Eduard Khil's "I Am Glad, Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home" (known as "Trololo") sung entirely without lyrics, "Restless" (Fu Zao) by Faye Wong and "Lagu Lagu" by Sa Dingding.
Due to the wide-ranging vocal styles used in popular music, occasionally songs have been mistakenly categorized as having non-lexical vocables, when in fact the singers are performing actual lyrics rendered partially (or completely) unintelligible to the ear of certain (but not all) listeners. Two famous 1960s examples are "Louie Louie" as recorded by The Kingsmen and "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.