Diner-core

League 7 (Dec 2025) · Hearken to the Kitchenette in your heart

Song	Artist	Submitted by	Votes
Islands In the Stream	Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers	Brad Stalcup	7 ared56 +1 SamRobertsND +1 — This is the vibe. Love this song. Peter Seeley +1 — Dolly, I must confess: I love you. judd.baker +1 — I think this is the most inspired submission on this list. I could totally imagine hearing this at a diner. It’s an unexpected pick with perfect sound and vibe for the imagined backdrop, which is delightful. Claire +1 — I can picture the entry for this one on the Kitchenette jukebox so clearly Regina Scime +1 Sam Ary +1 fionmul 0 — Didn’t have enough votes but liked this too Joseph Harvey 0 — Pretty good! Edward James 0 — Honorable mention as runner-up. I like this one a lot, and it would be playing in a good diner.
Don't Let The Good Life Pass You By	Cass Elliot	Regina Scime	5 fionmul +1 — Wait I’ve never heard this I love. judd.baker +1 — Nice. Would listen to while enjoying black coffee and a short stack shea nowicki +1 Claire +1 — This is the vibe Edward James +1 — Similar to Alex’s song, this one gets a vote because it both encapsulates what is most beautiful about what the diner represents, and it also sounds like something that would be playing in one SamRobertsND 0 — Sad story, not good enough though Peter Seeley 0 — Ok.
Bad Moon Rising	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Claire	5 fionmul +1 — Yes A great misheard lyric: “there’s a bathroom on the right” Peter Seeley +1 — Much enjoy. judd.baker +1 — CCR is the sort of thing I would hope for if diner-core is to be interpreted as 70s rock Spicey Riche +1 Regina Scime +1 SamRobertsND 0 — Too hype for diner. Try again please!! Edward James 0 — Great song, and I get where you’re coming from, but didn’t stand out
Solsbury Hill	Peter Gabriel	Spicey Riche	4 ared56 +1 Joseph Harvey +1 — I would be thrilled to hear this in a diner shea nowicki +1 Claire +1 — I could see myself picking to play this on a jukebox SamRobertsND 0 — Almost there. #4. fionmul 0 — Sure Peter Seeley 0 — Good. Edward James 0 — Richard, you were so close with this. I have to say, this, carry on my wayward , and the Dolly Parton song are the ones I think might be most likely to be playing in a diner. But my votes were based on the songs I think best encapsulate the feel of a diner.
Hand of God, Pts. 2 & 3	Them Coulee Boys	ared56	3 Peter Seeley +1 — A good twist on this type of music. shea nowicki +1 Edward James +1 — The diner is the prism of America. This song makes me think of what I love about them. Well done Alex. SamRobertsND 0 — Father John Misty-ass song that plays at a diner called "Doc Brichter's Farmacy" that has a "Boozy Brunch" with a $30 omelette fionmul 0 — Nah judd.baker 0 — Bradcore. Awesome song, loved this. Good lyrics and a cool sound. Not upvoted, I just can’t really imagine hearing this at a diner Claire 0 — This is “song that would play at the end of an indie movie as a scene of characters at a diner transitions to a montage of everyday scenes from a small town”
Mr. Sandman	The Chordettes	shea nowicki	3 Joseph Harvey +1 — Was this big on TikTok or something? Incredibly cute, would enjoy over a Kitchenette omlet Spicey Riche +1 Brad Stalcup +1 — 50's music is a shortcut to winning at diner core SamRobertsND 0 — Song goes hard as theme in Halloween II fionmul 0 — 🩷 cutesy Unfortunately I went with the retro one I didn’t know before because I dont have a 4th vote I’m sry Peter Seeley 0 — "lonely heart like Pagliacci/ with wavy hair like Liberace" is an amazing and messed up line. judd.baker 0 — But doctor, I have a lonely heart like Pagliacci Edward James 0 — See comment above on 50s/60s songs for diners
If You Leave Me Now	Chicago	SamRobertsND	2 Edward James +1 — To me, this is the song that best encapsulates the feel of actually being at a diner at the perfect moment for all the possible emotions it can create. A calm early morning, late night, feeling all the humanity of the people around you radiating out in all their goodness and brokenness. Long live the diner. Regina Scime +1 Sam Ary +1 fionmul 0 — Fits enough Peter Seeley 0 — Good. Joseph Harvey 0 — Pretty interesting in the moment but also forgettable Claire 0 — A close runner up for me but ultimately lost out bc it was the most normie of my top 4 contenders Brad Stalcup 0 — I can definitely imagine myself sipping coffee while this plays through the grainy speaker barely audible over local news. ared56 -1 —
All That Meat And No Potatoes	Louis Armstrong	judd.baker	2 Brad Stalcup +1 — thematically and stylistically on point Sam Ary +1 SamRobertsND 0 — Cute! But absolutely not. fionmul 0 — Nah Peter Seeley 0 — Mmmmm. Edward James 0 — Guys…I don’t think they’re talking about food
Carry on Wayward Son	Kansas	fionmul	0 Joseph Harvey +1 — This song is a total banger and also could quite plausibly play in a diner SamRobertsND 0 — Too hype for diner. Try again please!! fionmul 0 — 🤘🏼feeling motivated to cry less and rock more Peter Seeley 0 — Good. judd.baker 0 — Tempted, this is canonically diner-core I suppose, but it feels too obvious and honestly, how many times have you actually heard this at a diner? Edward James 0 — As mentioned above, definitely likely to be playing in a diner. Great submission, but not getting a vote for the reasons mentioned above. Regina Scime 0 — Not quite diner-core for me, but I love this song Brad Stalcup 0 — Goes a little too hard for diner core. shea nowicki -1
Popsicles And Icicles	The Murmaids	Sam Ary	0 Sam Ary: Meet me at the diner at 8 tonight? We can split a meat pie ;) fionmul +1 — Yeah I like the retro ones. Almost went this route myself. SamRobertsND 0 — Would ghost this person at the diner Edward James 0 — Sorry for the treatise (that’s a lie. I’m not sorry.) this song to me makes me think of the faux 1950s/60s diners that seek to freeze forever in resin a specific time period in America so that they can hoover up the vast surplus wealth of the boomers. The 50s and 60s diner might be iconic, but the diner is a living breathing institution. When I hear this, it just makes me think of cashing in on real American culture. Peter Seeley -1 — Fits the genre. I just think it exemplifies the worst of the genre.
Nirvana	Tom Waits	Edward James	-1 SamRobertsND +1 — Really deserves all three votes but I can't justify that with only 3 to spare ared56 0 — Pure Michigan. Peter Seeley 0 — I still don't see what this has to do with the band. Joseph Harvey 0 — Cool but not a great fit judd.baker 0 — This would be a title winning submission if we were playing a game called Poem League Claire 0 — Respect the unorthodox read of the category and it’s a cool track but with a paucity of upvotes it didn’t quite make the podium Edward James 0 — "And they hadn't noticed the magic." fionmul -1 — …no Brad Stalcup -1 — This is music league not monologue league
Demiurge	Meshuggah	Joseph Harvey	-2 Joseph Harvey: I once used someone’s extra Touchtunes points to play this at a restaurant SamRobertsND +1 — Probably a lot of Kitchenette customers like this so it works fionmul 0 — Love you but no. And no I didn’t listen to the entire thing. Peter Seeley 0 — I like to imagine some modern Phillip Neri had you submit this song as a penance for your vainglory. As the musical scapegoat, you will attract all the downvotes. But I refuse to give you that satisfaction. judd.baker 0 — I was sweeping and mopping my apartment while listening to this and it’s unexpectedly a vibe Claire 0 — Joseph this is a beautiful story but it didn’t make my top 3 sorry :( Brad Stalcup 0 — I could imagine the one highschooler who works in the kitchen playing this. Also I'm not sure I'd patronize a diner that has touchtunes. Spicey Riche -1 Edward James -1 — Joseph, I would be tempted to vote for this if it was a meta critique on the fact that the working class people of America most likely to frequent the remaining real diners might actually be more drawn to this type of music. But I feel like you just wanted to submit it lol Regina Scime -1
His Cheeseburger	VeggieTales	Peter Seeley	-2 Peter Seeley: I have no idea what this category is supposed to mean ared56 +1 — This song demonstrates diner supremacy. Only thing it messes up is that Denny’s would 100% make him that cheeseburger. Love “Love songs with Mr. Lundt” Spicey Riche +1 Brad Stalcup +1 — A very nice pick. Definitely shows the devotion of a man to his local diner. Well done. fionmul 0 — I want to vote for it but I was taking it more seriously and I dont think I’d actually hear this at a diner Edward James 0 — This is a runner-up for sure. I haven’t heard this in at least 10 years, and I forgot how good it actually is. SamRobertsND -1 — Awful submission. Also adulting legitimation of VeggieTales needs to stop. Joseph Harvey -1 — I would hate to have to hear this while eating judd.baker -1 — The diner is the villain in this song Claire -1 — With apologies to the person who submitted this: I would not want to listen to this song at a diner Sam Ary -1