3 Rock Songs With Better Verses Than Choruses

Before you fire off a rage message, I want to be clear: Every song on this list is great. But what happens when the verse is so great that it makes the chorus feel like a letdown? When writing about Oasis, Foo Fighters, and The Smashing Pumpkins, you’re talking about bands that defined their generation with multiple timeless anthems. So, everything they do afterward gets weighed against what has come before. Just like an anticlimactic chorus after a better verse.

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“D’You Know What I Mean?” by Oasis

When Oasis began touring in support of Be Here Now, Noel Gallagher noticed the new songs didn’t  “f*cking stand up.” The band had recorded an album with a massive number of layers, including an orchestra. Without a “wall of sound” behind them, the tracks sounded lethargic against hits like “Live Forever” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger”. Be Here Now opens with “D’You Know What I Mean?”, which rambles on for nearly eight minutes. Its verses and pre-choruses are stellar. Yet the chorus feels sleepy after such a lengthy buildup. Not a bad chorus, by any means. But when put up against Gallagher’s other anthems, it doesn’t stand a chance. Do you know what I mean?

“All My Life” by Foo Fighters

Sometimes, as a songwriter, you back yourself into a corner with a brilliant verse. Anywhere you turn, what follows kills the momentum, and this Foo Fighters track is a great example. I’m not saying the chorus is an afterthought, but after such an epic verse, it does feel that way. Dave Grohl had to go somewhere. But Foo Fighters’ fans don’t seem to care. If you’ve watched footage of the band rocking this tune at Wembley, it sends thousands of fans into an unhinged frenzy regardless of the chorus. To be clear, no one’s calling this chorus weak. There’s just no realistic way to top Grohl’s perfect verse.

“Ava Adore” by The Smashing Pumpkins

Adore confused and divided fans. But this album is better than you remember. (See “Perfect” and “Ava Adore”.) Speaking of “Ava Adore”, Billy Corgan constructed a verse that even one of Gen X’s finest songwriters couldn’t beat. A deep electronic groove drives the first single from the Pumpkins’ first album without drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Yet the chorus feels as tired as Corgan must have been from the dizzying fame and addictions breaking apart his band. Still, each time this song returns to the verse, it’s like Corgan fronting Depeche Mode.

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