History Main / PatterSong

* ''Guns and Ships'' of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' holds the distinction of being the fastest song in one of the fastest shows in Broadway history, courtesy of Lafayette. There's a section where 19 words are sung in about 3 seconds. And it's all done in an over-the-top French accent. Angelica's main song (''Satisfied'') also counts- Lin himself can't pull off her rap sections, and she's got fewer opportunities to sneak a breath in than Lafayette does.

A common feature of TheMusical is the Patter Song, a light and rapid melody sung by a {{Motormouth}} character – less commonly, more than one. This will often take the form of a LongList, resulting in a ListSong. Very commonly the song will involve [[TongueTwister tongue-twisters]] that test the singer’s ability to pronounce the lyrics clearly, and occasionally the ability is tested even further by raising the tempo of the song little by little until it goes at a frighteningly fast pace. A semi-patter song is a [[DownplayedTrope toned down version]] that has a patter song feel, but where the words are more important than the rapid delivery.

* The song "Brand New Day" in ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' is a notable example. The whole cast and crew were amazed that Creator/NeilPatrickHarris actually managed to sing it.
* Most of Mettaton's numbers, mainly "Metal Crusher" and parts of "Death by Glamour" in ''WebVideo/UndertaleTheMusical''.

* Bunsen's song about [[BlatantLies how to grow a rubber chicken tree]] in the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2018'' episode "Bunsen Knows All".
* "Summer Sunshine", which opens ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInAMermaidTale'' is one of these.

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* This was one of Creator/DannyKaye's signatures.
** Remarkably averted in ''Film/ASongIsBorn''. (Danny's songwriter wife refused to write any songs for the film as they were estranged at the time.)

* "Queen of Mean" from ''Film/Descendants3''.

* In the MusicalEpisode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Dr Cox's traditional long, funny rant becomes this.

* "One Week" by Music/BarenakedLadies.
* "I've Just Seen a Face" by Music/TheBeatles.
* "Une Valse à Mille Temps" by Music/JacquesBrel.
** Similarly, in its English rewrite, "Carousel."

* "88 Lines about 44 Women" by The Nails.

* "It's The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by Music/{{REM}}. The TropeNamer for SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', the segments "Yakko's World" and "All the Words in the English Language", both of which are sung by Yakko, seem to be this.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' summed up all 37 of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's plays this way in "That Is The Story That's Told By The Bard."
* ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'': Francis X. Bushlad gets brief one (set to the tune of "Modern Major General") extolling the virtues of his lemonade in "Francis Takes a Stand".
* There's a Creator/CartoonNetwork promo listing all the aliens in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' in song form.

* "Chemo Limo" by Music/ReginaSpektor contains sections in which the narrator rails against her diagnosis and decides to spend the money she would've spent on treatments to take her kids on a limo ride.

* "I Really Don't Hate Christmas" from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb's Christmas Vacation'' is a song in which Dr. Doofenshmirtz sings about how much it bugs him that he can't work up more than "an intense, burning indifference" towards a holiday he, as an evil genius, feels obliged to hate, while [[ListSong rattling off a number of holidays and other things]] that he unambiguously hates.

** "Another Hundred People" and Amy's part of "Getting Married Today" from ''Theatre/{{Company}}''. The latter is such a fast patter that the printed notes are never sung.

* The theme song to ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is a patter song performed by Music/TheBarenakedLadies.

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* In the MusicalEpisode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Dr Cox's traditional long, funny rant becomes this.
* The theme song to ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is a patter song performed by Music/TheBarenakedLadies.
* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' had one klezmer patter song sung by the main character's mother called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jOVk1ViQCw "Where's the Bathroom?"]]
** Also from season one, "Cold Showers Lead To Crack," a ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' homage song in which Rebecca tries to convince a bunch of apartment residents to join a class action suit about cold showers by claiming the cold water will [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext make them heroin addicts]].
* [[IncrediblyLamePun Neo of Sporin]] had one in ''Series/{{Galavant}}'', called "Time Is Of The Essence," in which they [[spoiler: try to revive Gal after he'd been stabbed by Sid's sword]].
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** In "The Elements", he rhymed all the chemical element names from the Periodic Table (at least, all the ones that were known at the time; several more have been discovered since [[note]] Lehrer knew this was going to happen -- the last words of the song are "These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard, and there may be many others but they haven't been [[PainfulRhyme discahvered"]].[[/note]]) and set them to the tune of the MajorGeneralSong.

->This particularly rapid unintelligible patter \\
Isn't generally heard, and if it is it doesn't matter!

* The Creator/{{McDonalds}} "Menu Song" jingle, which featured patrons singing the restaurant's entire menu to the tune of the obscure 70s hit "Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)." This was eventually turned into a contest to see if any real-life customers could recite the entire list on the spot for a free drink.

--> Look before you leap has never been the way we keep
--> Our road is free

* The 1974 novelty song "Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)," where each verse [[ListSong lists]] various musical personalities, pop songs and record labels from the 1950s to the then-present in rapid succession. The tune and concept was later lifted for a Creaotr/{{McDonalds}} jingle, where patrons would sing the restaurant's entire menu.
* "Salty Dog" from [[Music/FloggingMolly Flogging Molly's]] first album, ''Swagger''

* ''Theatre/{{NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812}}'' has the beginning of preparations, which instead of typical comedy, uses the format to sound vaguely ominous.

* "Rock Island" from ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' is a rare example involving many people. It also can hardly be considered a song, and it lost its musical accompaniment when the pianist was unavailable. The authors performed it ''a cappella'', and it worked so well that they [[ThrowItIn kept it that way]].
** Oh, and, of course, "Trouble" from the same score is possibly the ''most'' well-known American patter song.

* In the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audio adventure ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho043DoctorWhoAndThePirates Doctor Who and the Pirates]]'', the Sixth Doctor sings "I Am The Very Model of a Gallifreyan Buccaneer". Listen to it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00T_ft5RCdc here]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
** In the episode "Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", the Flim-Flam Brothers get a patter song that's heavily based on the previously mentioned "Trouble" from ''Theatre/TheMusicMan''.
** Discord gets a patter song in the episode "Three's a Crowd" simply titled "Glass of Water", where [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin he asks for a glass of water]]. [[LongList Along with many, many,]] ''[[LongList many]]'' [[LongList other zany things]].

The MajorGeneralSong, which parodies and/or homages a Gilbert & Sullivan song, is a common example.

* The TropeCodifier are the comic operas of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan, everyone of which has at least one patter-song (most often these were originally written for the actor George Grossmith). Specific examples: