Nutshell by Alice in Chains
Say It Ain’t So - Weezer
Don’t Let Me Down - The Beatles
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own/Beautiful Day/Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2
Patio Lanterns - Kim Mitchell
Every Sperm is Sacred - Monty Python
Mama Tried - Merle Haggard
Anything from Marty Robbins’ Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs when I can get away with it.
You Oughta Know - Alanis Morrisette (and it’s a mistake every time)Big on my maybe list:
Earache My Eye - Cheech and Chong. Aka as a straight cis guy, the only thing that would get me to perform in drag (preferably good drag, with help from people who know what they’re doing)Puppy Love/Put Your Head on My Shoulder - Paul Anka (been on a Paul Anka kick recently, and one of the karaoke spots I like is really close to where the restaurant his parents ran eons ago was)
I’m a Gun - Lorne Green (similar reasons as Paul Anka)
My go-to artist is Chappel Roan.
I warm up with either Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by Crash Test Dummies, or Collide by Howie Day. Once I’m warmed up I have a huge repertoire of songs. I don’t sing Meatloaf songs back to back anymore though. And Rob Zombie is only for Halloween.
We don’t have to dance - Andy Black
Lesser known song, but right in my range. It has an ironic message as long as you’re clearly having a good time at the function.
The Cure - Friday I’m in Love.
The Distance by Cake. I can’t sing so this works every time.
I’ll do a lot, but I’ll often start with Wagon Wheel, because it gets people singing along, and once they’re singing, they’re signing up to sing.
Sometimes people need encouragement.
Don’t do karaoke often, but I’ve done Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo more than once.
Next time I might try Das Model by Kraftwerk, or I wanna be your dog by Iggy Pop. My singing voice is not great, but I might pull that off.
Creep by Radiohead
Depends on the setting.
Nobody seems into it? Kiss from a rose- seal.
Need to set the bar? The Widow- Mars Volta
Classic crowd? Plush- Stone temple pilots
Easiest for my voice: There’s a reason these tables are numbered- Panic at the Disco
People are worried to be embarassed? Brand new key- Melanie
And on the occasion I want to make everyone laugh and impress them: It’s all coming back to me- Celine Dion.
I’m a large, traditionally masculine guy. It’s a lot more fun to subvert expectations.
Edit: forgot one. If I’m attempting to impress girls: Mon amant de saint-jean- Patrick Bruel
I used to love singing One Armed Scissor on Rock Band but I’ve never had the guts to try ATDI or Mars Volta in public.
This is a phenomenal list.
If you or the host use Karafun, you can drop the key an octave when selecting. In which case Let It Go from Frozen is a solid crowd pleaser and might be in your range.
Good to know, although my range is unreasonably high for the way I look. While on the topic of tips to help with karaoke, if you have the option on your setup, or can ask the DJ to do so, add about 10-15% reverb to the microphone. It allows the singer to hear themselves and pitch correct on the fly.
This is a proper answer.
The Widow- Mars Volta
Surprised to see Mars Volta! It’s a little too high for my range to try it in public, but I could get down with Televators.
I fell in love with them while I was finding my singing voice, so that’s where my range ended up
Brandy by Looking Glass
Tequila.
I don’t like singing in public.
You should try … ‘Oh Yeah’ by Yello
Karaoke is like Dick Pics.
Never do it.
I wish I could ever have as good of a go-to karaoke song as that skinny white dude who got overcome by the spirit of Shaggy
Say It Ain’t So by Weezer is a good one to get the entire bar singing along. Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind is good to get people try to sing along and then they realize they don’t actually know the words and wait did he just say crystal meth??
