Ref

Album: Pentatonix (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Pentatonix teamed up with actress/singer-songwriter Taylor Parks, who also penned Fifth Harmony's "Bo$$," to write this song that leaves the narrator with the upper hand in a broken relationship: "You ain't gonna win, 'cause I'm the ref."

    Scott Hoying, the group's baritone vocalist, explained: "It's so funny 'cos the lyrics…we didn't start out with the concept that it was going to be about like a referee and that type of thing but it just kind of turned into that. And I remember Taylor Parks going: 'Keep on going 'cos I'm no ref.' We all just like screamed. We just jumped up so excited. And we were like: "The name of the song is 'Ref' and we were like so pumped about it."
  • The a cappella group used a real whistle to accompany the "I'm the ref," lyric. Hoying said: "The biggest struggle with the song was deciding if we wanted to emulate a whistle sound or use a real whistle, because we feel like we were losing integrity using a real whistle. But we decided to push ourselves and move forward and be progressive and so we used a real whistle.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.

Boy Bands

Boy BandsFact or Fiction

From NKOTB to 1D, how well do you know your boy bands?

Maria Muldaur

Maria MuldaurSongwriter Interviews

The "Midnight At The Oasis" singer is an Old Time gal. She talks about her jug band beginnings and shares a Dylan story.

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.