Some records are odd because of a single factor, but the Crash Test Dummies’ Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, a worldwide hit in 1994, is peculiar for all sorts of reasons.
That hummed chorus and title for starters. Of course, many many songs in human history have had banal onomatopoeic names – La La La, Ooh Wee, Um Um Um Um Um, for example. There have been five separate UK hits with the title Ooh La La alone. But the Crash Test Dummies' song was unusual in that the odd title was juxtaposed with lyrics about unspoken pain and the silence that envelops small communities. The effect was striking, and haunting.
