If you listen to enough music, you’ll start to notice that certain rhymes are repeated in multiple songs. For example, so many songs are about love, but there aren’t that many rhymes for love other than “above.” On the one hand, language is finite and certain words are going to be repeated. On the other hand, some songwriters could expand their vocabularies and imaginations.
I searched a lyrics site for certain word combinations to see what rhymes are the most popular. I chose metrolyrics.com, since it’s a leading lyrics site and it was founded in Canada. In the third and final installment, we’ll check out the most popular rhymes we could find, and the most popular of all doesn’t even actually rhyme.
Together and forever: 82,200 results
These words don’t actually rhyme but they sound nice partnered up. There is something a bit too simple about this pairing, so let me suggest these alternatives: sever (in a song about 127 Hours), Trevor (in a song about being with a pale dude), endeavour (in a song about someone using fancy words like “endeavour”).
Examples:
“I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis (“I love you, always forever / Near or far, closer together”);
“Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green (“Let me say that since / Since we’ve been together / Loving you forever / Is all I need”);
“Together Forever” by Rick Astley (“Together forever and never to part / Together forever we two”).
Sky and die: 129,000 results
While “high” or “fly” seem like they’d be the best partners for “sky,” it is “die” that produced the most search results. This is probably because these are two words that produce pretty dramatic results. Sure, songwriters love drama, but they should consider the following: pie (in a song about a dead pie), Pi (in a song about the infinite sky), Qi (in a song about words that only exist in Scrabble).
Examples:
“Touch the Sky” by Kanye West (“‘Fore the day I die / I’ma touch the sky”);
“Spirit in the Sky” by Doctor and the Medics (“Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky / That’s where I’m gonna go when I die”);
“Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks (“Goodbye, my friend, it’s hard to die / When all the birds are singing in the sky”).
Girl and world: 223,000 results
Easily the most popular rhyme I found, which is strange because it’s not actually a rhyme. This is the epitome of lazy songwriting. Nobody rhymes these two words thinking that it will be original. Alternatives: curled (in a song about Dairy Queen dipped cones), hurl (in a song about a girl with the flu), Merle (in a song about a haggard girl).
Examples:
“Run the World (Girls)” by Beyonce (“Who run the world? Girls”);
“Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel (“Uptown girl / She’s been living in her uptown world”);
“Material Girl” by Madonna (“We are living in a material world / And I am a material girl”).
What do you think? Can you find any more popular rhymes? Let us know in the comments below.
Related links:
Rhyme scheme: the most used rhymes in music Part 1