vwbeetlvr

I've been thinking about this and my guess would be about 10,000 songs. I am 26 years old and got into music around 1991. I would say most of these songs would be top 40 stuff, rap from 1992-2000ish, some current hip hop and lots of rock, adding my current taste in radio friendly classic rock.

I know this questions is impossible to answer accurately even with a +- 5% variance, so throw any number that comes into your head.

If you think about how much your brain is storing not only with the lyrics you know but the variances in tone in those lyrics and all the "mouth guitar" in between words and such, that is a lot of space!!!!


edit:

I am starting to think that I am crazy here but I can not believe some people here saying that they only have a handful of songs memorized! I swear that I can sing at least 5,000 songs with only screwing up 1 or 2 words. Another couple of thousand I can sing 80-90% of the way through. I guess I am just really into music!!!

cungar

Well from a much older perspective, there are many entire albums that I listened to from the mid 70's on that I can sing almost all the way through. I can probably sing almost every lyric to albums like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Quadrophenia, London Calling and This Years Model because I listened to them so many damn times.

islandclaws

A couple dozen, maybe? Pretty much every Metallica album. Most Slayer. Hmmm... maybe more than a couple dozen now that I think about it.

Groucho

Only one: "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by REM.

Numanoid

I bet that estimate is way, way, way, way high.

jdodd

I know every word of that song except for...... what's the name of the conductor they reference in one of the lines? I always forget that part.

Giles

"I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar... that much is true"

vwbeetlvr

Dont you want me baby? Dont you want me, ohh - ohh - ohh - ohh!!!!!

Groucho

Ringo Starr, George Carlin, or Alec Baldwin?

cranberries fan

If I hear a few bars of the opening from most of music I listen to I recall most of all of lyrics.

And I play Keyboards and Piano and drums by ears!

EdTheRipper

Quite a few I'd imagine. I have no actual way of determining exactly how many so I'll leave it at that.

sauce07

I can do a bunch but for the most part just mumble the wrong lyrics to myself

mndtrp

This is similar to the "how many movies have you seen" thread that was in the movie forum several years ago.

nateman

I like a lot of songs, but I can't remember every single line and sing with the song all the way through. I can sing most of curtain songs, but a lot of them end up being just the chorus and the odd other word here and there.

The only song I can sing from start to finish is "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.

das Monkey

Not a fan of that one, but I do know all the words to "There's Too Many Car Thieves" from the same album.

das

cungar

Leonard Bernstein

nodeerforamonth

Three:

The Star Spangled Banner
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
"School" by Nirvana

dugan

Ice T's entire discography.

reverie

I have no clue myself.. hundreds... thousands...? It's certainly a lot. Makes you wonder how much you could *really* learn if you were inclined to.

Hixx

Seriously, if you knew 90% of the lyrics to 10,000 songs that would be nearly a thousand albums worth of material, no way anybody knows that many.

In the hundreds or maybe one or two thousand I could believe.

atariharikari

Yes, 10,000 seems virtually impossible for anyone in their 20's. Then again, just Phish and Grateful Dead combined I know close to 1,000 songs right there.

Probably 250 hip-hop songs I could hit 90%...

200 classic/prog rock songs...

50 children's and patriotic songs that everyone knows...

...maybe 300-500 other miscellaneous pop and rock tunes.

Nope, that ain't even gonna get close to 10,000 and I am very good with lyrics. 2000-2500 is a nice number for anyone in their 20's and I'm not believing anything over 4,000 for someone in their 20's.

I'm sure anyone could name 10,000 tunes after hearing a few bars, but 90% of the lyrics? Fuhgeddaboutit.

Hixx

Knowing all three words of YEM or all three lines of Harry Hood doesn't count!

terrycloth

i wont even guess a number but i listened to alot of rap prolly own 100-200 albums from the late 80s till the mid 90s and amaze my friends when they pick a cd i usually can tell them what the good tracks to play and almost able to sin...say the lyrics to most of them

redhenry

As a singer in various cover bands over 20 or so years (relax, I only write and sing originals now) I can say it would be in the thousands for sure. The best thing about singing them rather than singing along is that you can afford to screw lyrics up (or even make them up - done that before). Most punters are to pissed to know the difference. Of course this makes it an interesting challenge for backup and harmonising vocalists.

Rypro 525

Even the heavy metal Body Count stuff he did