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What to sing Karaoke songs if you can't sing
Karaoke was never a singing contest. The songs that work for a nervous voice are the ones where the talking, the room or the joke does the heavy lifting, and there are more of them than you would think.
The worst karaoke is not a wobbly voice. It is a quiet, careful ballad sung by someone hoping nobody notices. A bar forgives a missed line far faster than a timid one, so pick a song you can commit to, and then commit to it.
The groups below are the escape routes. Songs that are mostly talking, where rhythm matters and tune barely does. Songs so loud and so known that the room drowns you out in the best way. Songs that are a bit of a joke, where going all in is the act. And songs that never asked for a polished voice in the first place. If you can stay on the beat and read a screen, you can do any of them.
Mostly talking
Songs that are mostly talking
Rhythm matters here and tune barely does, which is good news if tune is the worry.
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We Didn't Start the Fire
Billy JoelThe verses are a list of names at speed, with no tune to miss; the chorus is your breather.
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Ice Ice Baby
Vanilla IceRapped at a walking pace, and the room shouts the title every time it comes round.
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Baby Got Back
Sir Mix-a-LotThe spoken opening gets a laugh before you have done anything, and the rap never rushes you.
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Mambo No. 5
Lou BegaHalf-spoken and fully silly; the list of names is the whole song, so get them in order and you have won.
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Loser
BeckMumbled on purpose over a slow groove, with a chorus that is a shrug in two languages.
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Once in a Lifetime
Talking HeadsThe verses are a sermon, not a tune: say them with conviction and save your singing for the chorus.
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It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
R.E.M.Nobody in the room knows the verses either, so the blur is expected; the chorus is the only part that counts.
The room sings
Choruses the bar sings for you
Some songs are so loud and so known that whoever holds the microphone is mostly conducting.
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Sweet Caroline
Neil DiamondThe room adds the horn part and the shouted replies, so you are leading a crowd more than singing a song.
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Mr. Brightside
The KillersNobody will hear a word you sing, because every person in the bar is singing it louder.
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Livin' on a Prayer
Bon JoviThe last chorus climbs out of reach for nearly everyone, and the whole bar tries anyway, which covers you completely.
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Bohemian Rhapsody
QueenNobody sings all of it well and nobody expects to; the bar takes the operatic middle and you just point at people.
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Take On Me
a-haNo one can reach the high bit in the chorus, and everyone in the room will try at once.
Commit to the bit
Songs where going all in is the act
These work better the less polished you sound. The only way to get them wrong is to hold back.
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Tequila
The ChampsThe only word in it is the title, said a handful of times at the right moment. That is the whole job.
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Who Let the Dogs Out
Baha MenThe chorus is mostly barking, and there is no wrong way to bark.
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I'm Too Sexy
Right Said FredDelivered in a flat, bored voice on purpose; the less you sing it, the better it lands.
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Never Gonna Give You Up
Rick AstleyThe room gets the joke from the first beat and laughs before you open your mouth; after that it is steady and friendly.
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Blue (Da Ba Dee)
Eiffel 65Half the words are nonsense and the original voice is run through a machine, so nobody knows what it is meant to sound like.
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Tubthumping
ChumbawambaShouted by a whole band at once, and the chorus is about getting knocked down and getting back up — the right message for this page.
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Total Eclipse of the Heart
Bonnie TylerPure melodrama: go as big and as rasping as the record and nobody will be checking accuracy.
Rough voices welcome
Songs that never asked for a polished voice
A rasp, a shout or a small voice is the sound these songs were made with.
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With a Little Help from My Friends
The BeatlesBuilt for a modest voice and a room of friends; in the middle, the backing singers ask the questions and you only answer.
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Lean on Me
Bill WithersSlow, steady and never jumps, and the chorus is an invitation the room always accepts.
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Louie Louie
The KingsmenThe words on the original are famously impossible to make out, so nobody can say you got them wrong.
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Twist and Shout
The BeatlesShouted by design, so a hoarse voice sounds right, and the rising build before the last chorus is a group yell.
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Wild Thing
The TroggsGrunted more than sung, done in about two and a half minutes, and the room gives you the title.
How to find the ones that work for you
Can't sing usually means hasn't found the right songs yet. Somewhere between the talkers and the shouters are the ones that sit right for you, and KaraokeList is for keeping them: tag a song Fun if the room loved it, Skill if you pulled it off, or both.
After each song it asks one thing: Too high, Just right or Too low. No theory, no scoring. Give the night a star rating, and flag the one that went wrong as Not again so it is never suggested back to you.
Then consult the crystal ball. It reads what worked and what did not and suggests songs you don't have yet, each with a one-line reason — and some of the best reasons are simply that a whole bar will sing it with you.
Questions
What is a good karaoke song if you can't sing?
Pick one you can talk through or one the room will shout for you. We Didn't Start the Fire and Ice Ice Baby barely need a tune, and Sweet Caroline turns the whole bar into your backing singers.
What should a bad singer sing at karaoke?
Something loud, known and a little silly, sung with total commitment. Tequila, I'm Too Sexy and Who Let the Dogs Out work better the less polished you sound.
How do you do karaoke when you can't sing?
Stay on the beat, face the room, and pick a song the room already knows. Confidence covers more than a good voice does, and a bar forgives a wobble faster than a whisper.
Is karaoke fun if you can't sing?
Yes, and for most of the room that is the point. Karaoke rewards whoever commits, and Take On Me or Bohemian Rhapsody is more fun sung badly by a whole bar than well by one person.
Know what you’re singing before you’re called.
KaraokeList keeps every karaoke song you can actually pull off — and when the list runs dry, it finds you new ones, each with a reason.
