Singing About Numbers

Whilst listening to the radio I heard a track called Living by Numbers from 80s group New Musik and this made me wonder how many other songs there may be with the word number or numbers in the title.

I'm sure we've all heard of one or two more, but my search revealed a plethora of tracks, many of which I had never heard of (and some I'd rather not hear again!) It was glaringly obvious to me that the titles of these tracks could take us on a journey through life, so here goes.

Let's start with creation itself and begin with Richard Ashcroft (ex-frontman of 90s band The Verve) and his track God In the Numbers. We venture into the world and through the passage of time we learn that Days are Numbers as sung by The Alan Parsons Project.

As children, we begin to explore our imagination and most of us at some point in our childhood will have Painted By Numbers, a pastime which must have been enjoyed by band The Sounds who took to singing about it. (I've recently seen adults taking up the pastime to Colour By Numbers just as Culture Club were doing in the 80s.)

At school, in Maths, we discover that there are Odd Numbers and Even Numbers, as sung about by the Young Rapids and Gregor Samsa respectively. Some of us become Numberstruck like the band 1200 Micrograms whilst some of us just end up Drowning In Numbers as put to music by Placebo. In Geography we learn about Places Named After Numbers, sung about by Frank Black.

As we grow up, and perhaps have the odd bet, many of us come to believe in our Lucky Numbers as did the Generationals; a note of praise for the artwork on this record, see pic below. We also say that there is Strength in Numbers as sung by The Music; similarly we find Safety in Numbers as sung by We Were Promised Jetpacks.

We learn the certainties of life, that Numbers Don't Lie, and that there is Truth in Numbers, put to music by The Mynabirds and Cut Ribbons. Those who choose not to believe those truths continue to believe that they are all just Crazy Numbers and that Numbers Count For Nothing, according to Victim of Illusion and the Architects.

Some people want to be Alone With Numbers like Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game OST) and others want to get Away From The Numbers as did The Jam (and probably as do most Maths teachers by last period on a Friday).

We see Numbers in Action all around us every day, as we are reminded in the track by Wiley. We see Numbers On The Boards which Pusha T put to lyrics, there are Little Numbers like those sung about by Boy, Numbers as described in the country ditty by Jason Michael Carrol and The Four Tops were interested in Just Seven Numbers. 

Finally, perhaps not the most common weapon of choice, but The Police did warn us about Murder By Numbers, which brings us to the end of a brief journey through life in musical numbers. 

So, on reflection, ask yourself if you Feel Good By Numbers like The Go Team, or if indeed this only goes to show The Meaninglessness Of Numbers as argued by Tom Rosenthal in his melancholy melody.

You can listen to any of the 32 tracks mentioned here on my Spotify Playlist, enjoy if you dare! There are a great many other tracks simply called "Numbers", too many to list here, many are not exactly easy listening, but it is an interesting distraction to do a quick search and take in few sound bytes.

Disclaimer: I can take no responsibility for any offence caused by the poetic licence, creativity, or lack thereof, expressed in the lyrics to any tracks mentioned here. Reader, please note that they are not all suitable for radio airplay and shouldn't be played to young people unless you have listened to them yourself first!

For more of my ramblings give me a follow @jennypeek

All images found via Google search, they are public images, I do not claim to own them.