3 Repetitive Rock Songs That Are So Good They Don’t Need To Say Anything Else

Most rock songs are repetitive. A standard arrangement will return to the chorus at regular intervals. The guitar riff, chords, and groove repeat, often with few variations. They become like nursery rhymes that are hard to forget. But I don’t mind when the following tunes get stuck in my head. Some things, like the bangers on this list, are just worth repeating.

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“Best Of You” by Foo Fighters

When Prince played the Super Bowl halftime show in 2007, he managed to transform “All Along The Watchtower” into this relentless Foo Fighters banger. And if he had kept playing the song for the remainder of the football game, few would have objected. Dave Grohl’s anthem repeats a pounding riff, making the track feel like one long emo crescendo. I don’t know how his vocal cords haven’t been shredded to bits after decades of screaming. But thankfully, they remain intact, because I want Grohl to continue shouting “Best Of You”.

“Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes

Since The White Stripes released Elephant in 2003, “Seven Nation Army” has been a part of our cultural wallpaper. Jack White’s low riff defines his duo’s most recognizable track, but it has since come to define major sporting events. Similar to “Back In Black”, “Whole Lotta Love”, and “Smoke On The Water” before it, White’s riff is simple and repetitive, but it seems to elicit the sense that one is only just experiencing it for the first time. It’s an intangible phenomenon of how a few notes or chords can connect with other humans so deeply and widely. Perhaps tapping into a kind of innate harmony we didn’t realize already existed inside us.

“Got My Mind Set On You” by George Harrison

Decades before George Harrison recorded what became his final U.S. No. 1 single, the former Beatle first heard “Got My Mind Set On You” while visiting his sister in Illinois in 1963. The Rudy Clark-penned hit was first recorded by James Ray the previous year. Then Harrison released his cover as a single in 1987, which appears on his album Cloud Nine. Opening with the chorus, the tune reiterates the narrator’s intentions. Also, the hook and the verses each repeat identical lines as if the author needs to convince himself as much as the person he’s addressing. Along with Jim Keltner’s bouncy drum pattern, Harrison could have put the track on an even longer loop.

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