This morning were the preliminaries for the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee, with the semifinals and finals tomorrow. In honor of this occasion, we’re presenting a mixtape featuring songs that spell out the song title (or other words) in the lyrics. When I suggested this idea to my fellow Popdose compadres, I found out two things. Firstly, there are a lot more songs that work for this than I thought, and secondly, some of these songs are pretty filthy. (I’m looking at you, Wu Tang Clan!) I was originally going for spelled out song titles, but too many artists cheated on this. (Hall and Oates refusing to spell the word ”modern,” the Ames Brothers spelling ”Rag Mop” with two g’s and two p’s, even though Rag Mop isn’t that difficult to spell.) Note: this mixtape should be mostly safe for work, except for XTC’s ”Your Dictionary,” which does have a couple of bad words. However, they get a free ride because, in the spirit of the mixtape, the bad words are spelled. Enjoy, and best of luck to all the spellers!

Aaron Neville – Mickey Mouse March
Aretha Franklin – Respect
Carla Thomas – B-A-B-Y
Connie Francis – Vacation
Connie Francis – Vacation (in Japanese)
Faith No More – Be Aggressive
Garth Brooks and George Jones – Beer Run
Hall and Oates – Method of Modern Love
Leslie Sarony – Constantinople
Men Without Hats – Safety Dance (remix)
Milton Delugg and the Little Eskimos – Hooray for Santa Claus
Morningwood – The Nth Degree
Old 97’s – W-I-F-E
Pulp – Feeling Called Love
Television – Friction
The Ames Brothers – Rag Mop
The Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night
The Beach Boys – H.E.L.P. Is on the Way
The Cure – Fire in Cairo
The Kinks – Lola
The LeeVees – How Do You Spell Channukkahh
The Rutles – Cheese and Onions
The Sandpipers – Oklahoma
Wu-Tang Clan – Method Man (Radio Edit)
They Might Be Giants – S-E-X-X-Y
XTC – Your Dictionary

And here’s a couple of videos that fit the bill as well!

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DISCLAIMER: This mixtape has not been endorsed by Scripps, the Spelling Bee, or Rebecca Sealfon.