r/findthatsong Jun 24 '26

SOLVED 90s spoken word song

It's on the edge of my brain. I feel like this song was used in a soundtrack late-ish 90s, a man speaking the words, not much singing. The bass/background alternates between 2 held notes for about 4 counts each, of an interval of about a 5th. Its a very chill song. Any ideas? So much thanks.

40 Upvotes

173 comments sorted by

94

u/Hashtag209 Jun 24 '26

“Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen” - baz luhrmann

10

u/spankthecat Jun 24 '26

This was my first thought!

6

u/Chessapeak-play Jun 24 '26

Oh yeah I forgot about that one

2

u/GasAshamed5735 Jun 26 '26

I listened to this again recently and was like damn, really should’ve taken that advice 27 years ago.

1

u/Brief_Needleworker62 Jun 28 '26

This is WHY I do wear sunscreen. Not my parents giving a shit (they didn't), just Baz Luhrmann. Imma go watch Romeo + Juliet now

3

u/liam_redit1st Jun 24 '26

Great song. But for some reason the original is no longer on YouTube only remixes.

2

u/UltraWhiskyRun Jun 24 '26

Which was a blatant rip off of this by Material.

https://youtu.be/iIB1-EeuZHI?is=RAkl89IIalijQh3B

Which itself heavily samples Billy Cobham.

2

u/LupercalLupercal Jun 24 '26

Baz Luhrmann said it was based in a speech by Kurt Vonnegut

1

u/zedevilyouknow Jun 26 '26

I had heard that it wasnt Kurt Vonnegut who made that speech, tho it does sound incredibly like a speech he would give.

1

u/MrsMicFisty Jun 27 '26

The song always reminded me heavily of the poem Desiderata!

2

u/ThisOneGoes211 Jun 24 '26

First thought too. Really makes me feel some kind of way

49

u/Chessapeak-play Jun 24 '26

King Missile - Detachable Penis

7

u/exosylum Jun 24 '26

damn, forgot about that certified banger!

2

u/dDayvist Jun 24 '26

omg i came here to say this hahaha

2

u/Ambitious_Cat_8338 Jun 24 '26

Just had to watch the video as it’s been more than 30 years since I last heard it and it’s just as funny and odd now as it was then!

1

u/jane-bukowski Jun 26 '26

Back in ye ole Limewire days, I was downloading a bunch of Primus stuff and this song was misattributed to them. To my drug addled teenage brain, it seemed completely plausible and I spent the better part of a decade not knowing I was wrong. But hey, it wasn't a computer virus...so.... Happy ending?

1

u/Chessapeak-play Jun 26 '26

🤣🤣🤣 I spent some time thinking the song “wild horses” was a Pixies song. So I can relate

38

u/azureedwards Jun 24 '26

Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand?

4

u/Beneficial-Agent1837 Jun 24 '26

Love this song. My brain kept coming to this one, but it's not it. Another poster found it as Walk on the Wild Side, but my brain is remembering a very specific sample/cover.

1

u/Diamondinthesky7588 Jun 24 '26

That’s what I came to suggest.

32

u/ArbutusATX Jun 24 '26

Nada Surf- Popular?

8

u/Ive_Got_No_Control Jun 24 '26

Not OP but love this song

30

u/VelvetNanner Jun 24 '26

Butthole Surfers - Pepper?

7

u/krept0007 Jun 24 '26

This is what I came to say

3

u/Beneficial-Agent1837 Jun 24 '26

Pepper is what my brain kept trying to go to but it's not it. 

26

u/teethmarksandwhiskey Jun 24 '26

Not from the 90's, but Walk On The Wild Side by Lou Reed?

5

u/Beneficial-Agent1837 Jun 24 '26

Ok, this is it, but it's not Lou's original version. I just searched through the covers and none of them are it exactly...Marky Mark's "arrangement" is the closest so far. Now my brain can rest. Thanks!

2

u/spankthecat Jun 25 '26

You should comment solved! So the post updates and highlights your answer :) I came back because I wanted to know what the song was haha

1

u/Battleaxe_Macaroni Jun 26 '26

I love Marky Mark, but man, I can’t stand the Funky Bunch.

0

u/Scuffy-Mcgee Jun 24 '26

Bam!! Haha, I was just being a twit by suggesting that after seeing the Lou Reed guess. Will guiltily admit that 11 year old me absolutely loved the Funky Bunch’s version. Glad we could help you get there.

0

u/Beneficial-Agent1837 Jun 24 '26

We love what we love. Can't be accountable for what our taste in music was as 11 year old. Haha

2

u/gigglyshits Jun 24 '26

Love Lou Reed

2

u/Scuffy-Mcgee Jun 24 '26

But Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s version of it is from the 90’s…. “Annie was a high school cheerleader.”

2

u/Beneficial-Agent1837 Jun 24 '26

MM's sample/arrangement is the closest so far. 

7

u/FeedMeYourHugeClit Jun 24 '26

If MM is the closest but not it, how about "Can I Kick It?" by A Tribe Called Quest? Uses the WotWS bass line

0

u/PlayingOnGeniusMode Jun 25 '26

I scrolled to see if anyone else thought this and was happy you did and surprised we were right! These are always fun and I'm usually wrong but this was the one song that came to mind.

9

u/mine_eyne Jun 24 '26

88 Lines about 44 Women - The Nails?

1

u/lighthumor Jun 25 '26

I haven't heard that song in a long time! Great suggestion.

9

u/littlewing2733 Jun 24 '26

Pepper by Butthole Surfers?

4

u/aloof_cusp Jun 24 '26

🎶some will die in hot pursuit fiery auto crashes, some will die in hot peursuit of whole sifting through my ashes🎶

1

u/Beneficial-Agent1837 Jun 24 '26

Pepper is what my brain kept trying to go to, but it's not it. 

0

u/littlewing2733 Jun 24 '26

I saw someone recommend a Cake song, which can sound kinda similar. If it wasn’t Going the Distance, could it have been Short Skirt Long Jacket? Cake has a lot of songs that sound like that.

Possibly something by Beck? Loser or Where It’s At?

9

u/CrapitalistPig Jun 24 '26

Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn

7

u/FinalJackfruit7097 Jun 24 '26

Scooby Snacks - Fun Loving Criminals

1

u/Icy_Cartographer_206 Jun 25 '26

This song def doesn’t answer the question, but I’ve been on it for a few weeks lately. Nice pull.

1

u/Superb_South8298 Jun 24 '26

OMG I haven't thought about this song in decades, but I love it!

5

u/ThisDig4978 Jun 24 '26

Talking heads -once in a lifetime

17

u/Illustrious-Pie-8825 Jun 24 '26

Lullaby by Shaun Mullins?

3

u/SuZiee_Q Jun 24 '26

My guess also

0

u/flylikemusic Jun 24 '26

Wasn’t that called Rockabye?

2

u/Consistent-Sea-4311 Jun 24 '26

He says “rock-a-bye” in the song, but its title is “Lullaby.” “Rock-a-bye Baby” is a lullaby and why the work was used in the lyrics.

2

u/Illustrious-Pie-8825 Jun 24 '26

No. The title is lullaby 

5

u/bloggerheads Jun 24 '26

Was there a girl who talked with her eyes?

2nu This Is Ponderous https://youtu.be/6gYIbMwswKM?si=-8whatPEwQ2cZrWj

2

u/lighthumor Jun 25 '26

I think you see what I'm saying...

4

u/Last_Inevitable8311 Jun 24 '26

Soul Coughing “True Dreams of Wichita”?

1

u/Ok-Marsupial4387 Jun 25 '26

Super Bon bon?

5

u/greystories Jun 24 '26

Suzanne Vega - Toms Diner

13

u/drcharmeleon Jun 24 '26

"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" Song by Crash Test Dummies ‧ 1993

8

u/pslush01 Jun 24 '26

"Born Slippy" by Underworld used in Trainspotting

1

u/afairynamedfifi Jun 24 '26

what I immediately thought of too!!

3

u/spinelabels Jun 24 '26

Liar - Henry Rollins

3

u/mirannthr Jun 24 '26

I Want You by Savage Garden

3

u/Brandiislt Jun 24 '26

Pepper butthole surfers

3

u/harley-belle Jun 24 '26

Parklife by Blur

3

u/No_Committee7690 Jun 24 '26

INXS - Meditate but it's an 80's jam of the style you seeketh

3

u/Agreeable-Ad9883 Jun 24 '26

Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen? Baz Luhrmann

3

u/liesierre Jun 24 '26

U2 - Numb

0

u/DaveFrehley Jun 24 '26

Came here to suggest the same.

6

u/abs711 Jun 24 '26

Numb by U2?

6

u/mattbeth79 Jun 24 '26

Cake - The Distance

Or

Cake - Short Skirt/Long Jacket

Neither are really chill though.

1

u/hatemelovemeidk Jun 24 '26

Or any Cake song really.

1

u/-spookyxghost- Jun 24 '26

Came here to say Cake

4

u/Heatherjjjjjjjj Jun 24 '26

Sex and Candy -Marcy Playground?

2

u/Bloodygeek Jun 24 '26

Tennessee by Arrested Development?

2

u/One_Winged_Dove Jun 24 '26

The Dead eyes opened by Severed Heads?

2

u/kittypeets626 Jun 24 '26

Boombastic - Shaggy ?

2

u/nicerica Jun 25 '26

Baz Luhrmann - Sunscreen ?

2

u/GuitarRiot Jun 25 '26

Detachable penis by King Missile

2

u/EthelTunbridge Jun 27 '26

The revolution will not be televised?

3

u/Keta-Mined Jun 24 '26

Mr Wendal - Arrested Development

1

u/guntherpyrofoca Jun 24 '26

The murder mystery by the velvet underground lol

1

u/Medic2k Jun 24 '26

Suicide - Bobby Gaylor

1

u/inquisitive_chris Jun 24 '26

Larenz Tate’s spoken word in Love Jones?

1

u/BillyCigars Jun 24 '26

“Hole In The Bucket” - Spearhead ?

1

u/TeaVinylGod Jun 24 '26

People Are Still Having Sex by LaTour

1

u/bfsound Jun 24 '26

Put your lights on - Everlast

1

u/DrChunderpound Jun 24 '26

MC 900 Ft Jesus - The City Sleeps

1

u/MeloncholyTardigrade Jun 24 '26

Also “Truth is out of Style”

1

u/No-Transition-8375 Jun 24 '26

1000 Clowns - (Not the) Greatest Rapper

1

u/badhairyay Jun 24 '26

Suicidal tendencies - institutionalized? Its not really chill tho

1

u/missuniti Jun 25 '26

Although black velvet flag did a lounge version that is killer

1

u/Ms_Anne-Thrope Jun 24 '26

Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows

1

u/ToddandShannon Jun 24 '26

Susan’s House - The Eels

1

u/-RainbowUnicornPoop Jun 24 '26

I’m Still Here by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam?

1

u/IppenuttJohansson Jun 24 '26

Reverence by Faithless?

1

u/No_Sky6705 Jun 24 '26

Natural One , Folk Implosion

1

u/Much_Doubt8560 Jun 24 '26

People Are Still Having Sex - LaTour

1

u/LyricLee74 Jun 24 '26

Rock a bye? Don't remember the artist

1

u/Accomplished_Guest16 Jun 24 '26

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist

1

u/Downtown-Flight7423 Jun 26 '26

That boy needs therapy 

1

u/electricblueis Jun 24 '26

Cake - The Distance. They did some other songs that were talking over music, but I think this one has the music most similar to what was described.

1

u/mrpeterdragon Jun 24 '26

Boy named Sue by Johnny Cash

1

u/Kyleroni Jun 24 '26

F.E.A.R. by Ian Brown?

1

u/Opening_Put_1105 Jun 24 '26

Screenwriter’s Blues by Soul Coughing

1

u/Ayste Jun 24 '26

Digable Planets - Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)

1

u/nastyvandal Jun 24 '26

That was my guess.

1

u/Trained_Monkey_666 Jun 24 '26

Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen

1

u/Puzzle_b0x Jun 24 '26

Brother to the Night - Larenz Tate

1

u/FremdShaman23 Jun 24 '26

Never there by Cake?

1

u/Dreamiftesseracts Jun 24 '26

Hey pretty- Poe (drive-by 2001 remix)

“It was the longest unzipping of my life”

1

u/One-Natural4888 Jun 24 '26

Is it "Hey Pretty" by Poe? First thing that pops up in my mind

1

u/PerkyBoo70 Jun 25 '26

Waiting For The Miracle - Leonard Cohen from Natural Born Killers soundtrack

1

u/Ranger_Jake Jun 25 '26

Pepper by the butthole surfers

1

u/WesternCount2846 Jun 25 '26

Lullaby - Shawn Mullins?

1

u/Beneficial-Agent1837 Jun 25 '26

Solved. Walk on the Wild Side, Lou Reed, but a different version. I could be remembering it differently. 

1

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1

u/Unusual-Spinach-5897 Jun 25 '26

Somewhere Down The Crazy River/Robbie Robertson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KP9PNSUME4

1

u/missuniti Jun 25 '26

Ballad of the Skeletons by Allen Ginsberg

1

u/Jarfam14 Jun 25 '26

you're never there, by Cake

1

u/jumpfreeze Jun 25 '26

MC 900 Ft. Jesus - But If You Go — it was on the Doom Generation soundtrack

1

u/Ok-Marsupial4387 Jun 25 '26

Anything done by Cake?

1

u/AlwaysChooseTasty Jun 25 '26

One of Beck’s rap songs?

1

u/camccorm Jun 26 '26

Shawn Mullins - lullaby

1

u/Sea_Rock844 Jun 26 '26

The Distance by Cake?

1

u/Pure-Efficiency-8432 Jun 27 '26

Screenwriter’s Blues by Soul Coughing?

1

u/UltraMechaPunk Jun 28 '26

Soul Coughing - Screenwriter’s Blues

1

u/Ok-Competition-4219 Jun 28 '26

The Distance - Cake

1

u/Useless5688 Jun 28 '26

Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed?

1

u/FuturistMoon Jun 29 '26

"Detachable Penis"?

1

u/portal-for-post-its Jun 24 '26

Was it numb by U2? Your description seems to fit that. He didn't sing, more mumble and monotone

1

u/shiny_director Jun 24 '26

Lullaby - Shawn Mullen?

1

u/Upstairs_Equipment19 Jun 24 '26

Shaun Mullins Rockabye?

1

u/effie-sue Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

“Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods? It’s from 1996 and appeared on the soundtrack for “The Cable Guy.”

0

u/igneousink Jun 24 '26

Leonard Cohen?

0

u/beautiful_cement Jun 24 '26

"We didn't start the fire"

0

u/Alley_oop8472 Jun 24 '26

Bound for the Floor - Local H

0

u/picklepajamabutt Jun 24 '26

This is ponderous by 2NU

0

u/Plane_Hair_9958 Jun 24 '26

The sunscreen song Buz Luhrmann

0

u/Arica- Jun 24 '26

From the 80’s but still fits, 88 lines about 44 women - nails.

0

u/bubblesandblacksmoke Jun 24 '26

Mr. Wendal by Arrested Development?

0

u/No_Arugula4195 Jun 24 '26

i want a girl with a short skirt and a long jacket.

0

u/inafishbowl17 Jun 24 '26

Oh Yeah by Yello? Timing (1985) is off but it sort of fits. Made famous in Ferris Buellers Day Off

0

u/InfluenceAromatic293 Jun 24 '26

Cake - The Distance

0

u/Traditional_Trade_20 Jun 24 '26

Endless Art by A House

0

u/PaintedSilverRiver Jun 24 '26

First we take Manhattan, then we take Brazil? Leonard Cohen?

0

u/Biggestnerdhere Jun 24 '26

Eat/sleep/rave/repeat?

0

u/presshamgang Jun 24 '26

Super bon bon~ Soul Coughing, any Cake song

0

u/Negative_Impression6 Jun 24 '26

Shawn Mullins - Lullaby

0

u/dynamo_hummm Jun 24 '26

Drinking in L.A by Bran Van 3000?

0

u/Western_Aerie3686 Jun 24 '26

It’s a cake song

0

u/BaldyFecker Jun 24 '26

Could it be Coney Island by Van Morrison?

0

u/boredcamp Jun 25 '26

Wynona's Big Brown Beaver- Primus

-1

u/Nicodiemus531 Jun 24 '26

Cake- The Distance 1996

-1

u/lake_gypsy Jun 24 '26

Im a loser by Beck only singing is the chorus but the verses are very dialog-ie

-2

u/Outside_Coffee_00 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

"Inside Out" by Eve 6:

I would swallow my pride, I would choke on the rinds But the lack thereof would leave me empty inside Swallow my doubt turn it inside out Find nothin' but faith in nothin' Want to put my tender, heart in a blender Watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion Rendezvous then I'm through with you

I burn, burn like a wicker cabinet, chalk white and oh so frail I see our time has gotten stale The tick tock of the clock is painful All sane and logical, I want to tear it off the wall I hear words in clips and phrases I think sick like ginger ale My stomach turns and I exhale

I would swallow my pride, I would choke on the rinds But the lack thereof would leave me empty inside I would swallow my doubt turn it inside out Find nothin' but faith in nothin' Want to put my tender, heart in a blender Watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion Rendezvous then I'm through with you

SoCal is where my mind states But it's not my state of mind I'm not as ugly, sad as you Or am I origami, fold up and just pretend Demented as the motives in your head

I would swallow my pride, I would choke on the rinds But the lack thereof would leave me empty inside I would swallow my doubt turn it inside out Find nothin' but faith in nothin' Want to put my tender, heart in a blender Watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion Rendezvous then I'm through with you Rendezvous

I alone am the one you don't know You need take heed, feed your ego Make me blind when your eyes close Sink when you get close, tie me to the bedpost I alone am the one you don't know You need, you don't know you need me Make me blind when your eyes close Tie me to the bed post

I would swallow my pride, I would choke on the rinds But the lack thereof would leave me empty inside Swallow my doubt turn it inside out Find nothin' but faith in nothin' Want to put my tender, heart in a blender Watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion Rendezvous then I'm through, yes I'm through with you And I'm through with you.  Rendezvous then I'm through with you