10 Amazing Rock Songs With No Lyrics
Words are nice and all, but they're not the be-all and end-all when it comes to music.
For some people, music is all about the lyrics.
The beautiful way in which thoughts and feelings are conveyed through words has made millionaires and icons out of many a performer, as fans flock to buy their records and hear what stunning wisdom they've thought up now.
Think of someone like Bob Dylan, who managed to become a famous singer despite the fact that his voice sounds like a bag of marbles going round in a washing machine.
Other music fans aren't as fussed, preferring the music itself over the words. This list is for them, as none of these songs have any proper lyrics.
The rock instrumental has been a staple of the genre since its early days. Although it's not nearly as popular now, the fine traditional still has a place in modern music thanks to a select group of fearless guardians.
Whilst some of these songs may have some vocal elements to them, they're not enough to be classed as proper lyrics. Instead, they let the instruments do the talking, proving definitively that a singer is always expendable.
Sorry to any insecure rock singers out there.
10. Misirlou - Dick Dale
During a concert by surf rock pioneer Dick Dale, a young fan made a bet with the guitar maestro that he couldn't play a song using just one string.
Dale remembered his Lebanese-American uncle playing a traditional Eastern Mediterranean folk song one day on an instrument called an oud, and quickly adapted the music for his guitar.
That song was Misirlou.
Though it had been around since the 1920s, Dale's 1962 version of Misirlou helped introduce it to Western audiences and it remains one of the most famous rock instrumentals of the period.
A much faster interpretation, Dale's track fit right in with the rock 'n' roll landscape and quickly became a hit. In 1994, its inclusion in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction ensured its place in cultural history.
No song from over 60 years ago should slap this hard, but this one is still as powerful and infectious today as it was back then. You can hear the very early days of heavy metal in Dale's overamplified guitar sounds, making this track one of the most influential in rock history.
Even if The Black Eyed Peas did their best to sully its name.