7 of the best shower sing-a-long songs
Taken at face value, the shower is a place where people wash themselves under a pressurised stream of water. Beyond washing, however, the shower has a very-important yet not-often-advertised second function – a stage.
Stepping into the shower for some people is like stepping onto the stage at the O2 Arena; an opportunity to belt out some classic hits and give the vocal cords a much needed work out. Unlike the O2 Arena, there is no audience beyond the one in your head which, unlike real audiences, is always full of praise for your vocal acrobatics.
In the olden days, most shower performances were accapella. Nowadays, advances in bathroom technology means that most bathroom singing enthusiasts can benefit from a backing track – our Bluetooth audio mirrors being just one of the ways to blast some beats into your bathroom.
But what should one sing in the shower? How best can one display their vocal talents to…erm, themselves? To celebrate the last week of our audio mirror competition on Love Chic Living, we’ve put together a short shower setlist for you all.
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Widely regarded as one of the finest songs ever recorded, we’d like to think that a significant chunk of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s success can be put down to its suitability as a shower sing-a-long song (and Wayne’s World, maybe).
Starting with a soft, soulful couple of verses, ‘Bohemian’ makes way for a powerful chorus that provides a test for even the most experienced of bathroom singers. The chorus is just the beginning of the challenge, however; just when you’ve hit your vocal stride, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ throws a curveball in the form of that bridge, before exploding into a monster riff that requires some serious vocal chops.
The song then closes with a reprise of the softer opening melody, which is the perfect time to wash off suds or rinsing your hair out. Majestic stuff.
I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston
To be honest, we could probably fill this post with belt-out classics from female divas, with Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ another potential choice. For sheer vocal power and emotion, however, ‘I Will Always Love You’ just cannot be beaten. From the emotional chorus’ to that weird pitch thing Whitney does with her jaw, through to that final, epic key change, ‘I Will Always Love You’ is a stone cold shower karaoke classic.
Kiss from a Rose – Seal
The soaring high notes of ‘I Will Always Love You’, while a doddle for the veteran female shower singer, aren’t easy to hit for your average male vocalist. Therefore, we include a song that could be considered the male version of Houston’s classic – Seal’s ‘Kiss from a Rose’. A powerful chorus, a delicate verse and infinite opportunities for dramatic air grabs make this a natural choice for singing while you wash.
Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N’ Roses
Another rock classic, ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ follows the same soft-loud dynamic as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, except with slightly higher pitched vocals. The opening riff, incidentally, provides the ideal tempo for lathering your hair in shampoo.
Up until the 4 minute mark, ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ is a pretty easy song to sing – you might even get a chance to indulge in some shower air guitaring, which is a real treat. The real test in ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ comes right at the end with the ‘where do we go?’ breakdown. Anyone who can rival Axl Rose’s unique wailing in their shower is bound to receive untold levels of respect – and possibly a noise restraining order.
Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice
Power ballads aren’t for everyone; some people would rather spend their time in the shower spraying some bars (that’s rapping to you and me). Unfortunately, without practice, rapping the verse to the vast array of hip hop classics down the years is very difficult, which can lead to undue stress.
Enter Vanilla Ice, with ‘Ice Ice Baby’. Perhaps the simplest rap ever performed (apart from John Barnes’ in ‘World in Motion’), almost anyone can nail ‘Ice Ice Baby’ and feel pretty dang cool afterwards. Once you’ve hit your flow with ‘Ice Ice Baby’, try adding ‘Can’t Touch This’ and ‘Gangster’s Paradise’ to your bathroom hip-hop repertoire.
Ace of Spades – Motorhead
Picture the scene: you’ve just had a terrible day at work, your train home was late and you’re harbouring a burning hatred towards all things. You get into the shower, still seething, ready to explode.
This, our friends, was the reason Motorhead wrote their seminal hit ‘Ace of Spades’, a furious two minute blast of sheer aggression. It’s a scientific fact that even the most stressful of days can be blown away by screaming this song at the top of your lungs, even though it may stress out your neighbours.
How Deep Is Your Love – The Bee Gees
Some would argue that this is technically a song for the bath, as showers aren’t usually measured by depth. Those people, however, cannot appreciate the acoustics a good shower provides, acoustics that accentuate the beautiful harmonies of this Brothers Gibb classic perfectly.
Yes, we said harmonies. This is a group song, making it ideal for romantic showers with your partner (provided they can sing). You could even try to get everyone in the showers down the swimming baths to sing it with you, although we can’t promise that you won’t get arrested.
So those are some of the songs we think are perfect for shower sing-a-longs. What do you like to belt out in the shower? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter @bathroom_mirror!
