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Many songs have "minor" phrases added in - either officially or in common practice - at the ends of lines, which comment on the lyrics but can be left out without affecting the lyrics' meaning.

For example, when people sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", at the end of the line "had a very shiny nose" they often add "(like a light bulb!)".

These seem especially common in rap songs, where they are usually very short and written in parentheses in the written lyrics. For example, in 50 Cent's "In Da Club", at the end of the line "Been hit with a few shells, but I don't walk with a limp" he adds a quick "(I'm aight)".

Is there a term for these minor/optional and short "additional, background" lyrics?

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    They could be called glosses.
    – Xanne
    Commented Feb 25 at 20:24
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    @tchrist Another desirable set CV comment (with a slot for the dedicated site).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Feb 25 at 22:48
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    Sometimes called patter?
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Feb 25 at 23:15
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    Round here, these would be parentheticals or parenthetical lyrics or maybe interjections.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Feb 26 at 2:30
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    If sung by the lead singer, I'd run with embellishments until someone over at music produces a term that's comprehensible in English, and they probably will.
    – Phil Sweet
    Commented Feb 26 at 3:27

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(Semi-improvisational) phrases in music and other performing arts are shortly referred to in English to 'ad-libs'. But this is short for the latin 'ad libitum' (as you desire); this question is probably more suited for the music stackexchange, as noted by @tchrist.

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    I don’t think that these kind of phrases are usually improvised, though - they seem quite standardized.
    – tparker
    Commented Feb 25 at 21:10
  • @tparker much 'improvisation' is standardized! hence the popular 'skrt', 'pshh', 'brrr', etc. even producer/rapper tags are used as pseudo-ad-libs in many tracks
    – shea
    Commented Feb 25 at 21:14
  • They are not ad-libs, which are improvised. Those in the ancient Gilbert & Sullivan musicals for example are traditional extra lines. More like de rigueur.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Feb 25 at 23:16
  • They might have been ad libs originally, but they've caught on and have become common. Kind of like "extra" rules in Monopoly such as winning the Free Parking money when you land on Go.
    – Barmar
    Commented Feb 25 at 23:28
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    Sometimes called an aside perhaps, an actor's speech heard by the audience but supposedly not by other characters.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Feb 25 at 23:37

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