My friend Chin, who submitted the idea for our most recent post of an “Over/Under” Playlist, also suggested a list comprised of one-word song titles. With so many potential qualifiers immediately coming to mind, however (such a multiple of singles?), that one just didn’t seem distinct enough to document. No offense to the Chinster. But, what about one-word song titles…that are repeated (like, say, ‘Rebel Rebel’ by David Bowie or ‘Monday, Monday’ by The Mamas & The Papas, just to give you an idea of what we’re getting at)? Now that’s an arbitrary and nonsensical category I can really sink my teeth into!

Okay, you asked for it (well, actually, you didn’t, I’m just running with it anyway), so strap in for the all-new SMGM playlist, “Could You Repeat That?”

But before getting started, here’s three critical qualifiers:

1. To be eligible the title must only repeat the same word, and contain no other words
2. Some title words are punctuated by a separating comma. Others are stressed by an exclamation point. No change in actual wording there; we’ll allow it.
3. Repeated names count (a name is still a word, right?)

Are you already thinking of more songs that meet the requirements? Many should be obvious, but at least as many (I’d hazard) may be off your initial radar. After the customary amount of mind-numbing staff research, we’ve been able to identify a nice round number of exactly 64 examples (with no repeat versions of the same song). And before revealing the full list, here are a few potentially interesting notes of, well, note:

• As you’d likely expect most titles repeat the word twice, but many are actually repeated three times. And the soon-to-be crowned repetition champ hits a highly impressive five times (any early guesses?)
• ‘Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)’ by Otis Redding could have tied the all-time/five-time champ, but met disqualification due to the parenthetical inclusion as part of the actual title (see rule 1 above).
• Another repeated ‘Fa’ still makes the list (my wife would’ve killed me if I’d left off her favorite band), not to mention a solid showing for “La” and “Ya.”
• The greatest garage rock tune ever made is here. C’mon, that one’s got to be a gimme, no?
• In ‘Chewy, Chewy,’ ‘Sugar, Sugar,’ and ‘Yummy, Yummy, Yummy,’ the list contains three of the bubblegummiest songs of all time.
• There are multiple instances of repeat titles (of, of course, repeated words); different songs entirely, still, but the identical words/titles. “Run,” “Gone” and “Promises” come up twice, while “Cry” and “Dance” are duplicated three times (and each with triple repetitions of “Cry” and “Dance”).
• One of those “Dance” examples breaks rule #1, but the disco era chestnut ‘Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ by Chic, with its duplicated triplication, was just too good to pass up.
• We’ve got some titles that may not exactly be real words (“Iko,” “Shoorah,” “Sookie,” and the foul-sounding list-leader “Ack”), plus Miriam Makeba with a South African word, “Pata,” that apparently translates to “touch.”
• There is one instrumental, where, it’s true, the titular repeated word (“Mercy”) is never even uttered. But it’s a favorite jazz tune by the great Cannonball Adderley, whose image appears on a t-shirt my son Max once wore to the New Orleans Jazzfest, garnering numerous laudatory comments. So that stays in!
• The Beach Boys are the only artist to hit the list multiple times, utilizing double triplicates. Brian Wilson, a genius once again.
• Say, can you name the one duet to qualify, by a pair of reasonably well-known singers named Paul and Michael? Say what?
• By the way, I couldn’t begin to figure how best to sort, group, or sequence this odd collection so we’re going to default to alphabetization.
• And lastly, am I the only one that didn’t know that Sinatra’s signature song is technically titled ‘Theme from New York, New York,’ from a 1977 Martin Scorcese film? Sure, Liza Minnelli recorded it under the accepted abbreviated title, but we’re Blue Eyes or bust here. Instead, Ryan Adams carries the Big Apple mantle on our list with a same-titled but entirely different tribute.

Alright then, we’re already well past both ado and further ado, so here it is, the “Could You Repeat That?” playlist. I said, I present the “Could You Repeat That?” playlist. Sorry to repeat myself.

*Serious perusers of the list: fine, you caught me. The 5-time repeat champ – Abba with ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’ – blatantly breaks the stated primary rule by encompassing two different words. But, just look at that pristine lineup of letters. Pretty maids all in a row. And “I Do” almost seems like its own word a bit, doesn’t it? Maybe a compound? Look, do I set my own rules and then conveniently choose to ignore them? I do, I do.