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Coffee Break

9:30 Coffee Break: Songs with 'Whoa'

by Steve Seel and Jill Riley

January 30, 2015

Coffee Break_Old
What songs do you want to hear for today's coffee break?
MPR Graphic / Tracy Kompelien

You may have seen or heard the "supercut" that's going around social media today about all the songs that use "whoa-oh-oh" as a key part of the lyrics in popular music these days. It's something we noticed a while ago here at The Current, too.

Are songwriters getting super lazy? Or — since most all of the songs used in the supercut are big-time commercial pop singles — have songwriters just discovered a cheap and easy way to generate a "powerful moment" in a song that listeners are responding to? Do people want their pop songs to be anthems now?

With the prevalence of "whoa-oh-oh's" in today's pop music, we thought we'd ask: Are there other songs that use the "whoa" to great effect but aren't specifically part of the current wave of pop pablum? Give us some ideas for "whoa" songs that are a little different, today for our 9:30 Coffee Break.

Songs Played


The Hold Steady "Massive Night"

Real Estate "It's Real"

Tom Jones "What's New Pussycat"

Weezer "Say It Ain't So"

Marvin Gaye "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"

Grizzly Bear "Two Weeks"