# Clever (and not so clever) rhymes in songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588 "2016-08-12T18:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/21 "2016-08-12T22:59:10Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The first two that come to mind (there will be more): > “I woke up alarmed” > > ``` > -Liz Phair > > ``` > > “She said that she was working for the ABC News > it was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use” > > ``` > -Elvis Costello > > ``` > > mmm What are you saying about liz Phair? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/22 "2016-08-12T23:00:42Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > File this under not-so-clever rhymes: > > “You keep lyin’ when you oughta be truthin’ > You keep losing when you oughta not bet > You keep samin’ when you oughta be a’changin’ > What’s right is right but you ain’t been right yet > These boots are made for walkin’ > And that’s just what they’ll do, > And one of these day, these boots my friend > Are gonna walk all over you.” > > –Nancy Sinatra There are not that many rhymes in this and they are all cool. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/23 "2016-08-12T23:55:59Z")
Tom Lehrer was a master of the clever/tortured rhyme, there’s this from _Poisoning Pigeons In The Park_: When they see us coming The birdies all try and hide But they still go for peanuts When coated with cyanide ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/24 "2016-08-12T23:56:17Z")
Middlin’ not clever: Dylan’s _Like A Rolling Stone_ > [@](#): > > Ahh you’ve gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely > But you know you only used to get juiced in it > Nobody’s ever taught you how to live out on the street > And now you’re gonna have to get used to it ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/25 "2016-08-13T00:54:14Z")
“And the Jedi I admire most Met up with Darth Maul and now he’s toast Well, I’m still here and he’s a ghost I guess I’ll train this boy” The brilliance here is the play on the original lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/26 "2016-08-13T04:19:28Z")
funny - what a coincidence - I posted this in another thread recently: \*She peed on the carpet, she shot my horse, and now things have gone from better to bad to worse.\* _Seems he died from having too much to drink, And that’s how his truck, landed up, in the drink._ always _hated_ these Nomeansno lyrics: _Above me is a black obelisk And the dangers that I risk_ these Pere Ubu ones, however, are quite chumfly: \*Bare bones are petrified Later they are classified A skeleton may indicate, imagination animates The mind’s eye does need to see the fluid grace and subtlety of animals fitted perfectly to a world not like the one we see \* (as sung @ 0:24 [Pere Ubu - Petrified - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRaoKKYQAt0)) and then later: _Has the short end of the stick been given archaeopteryx?_ ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/27 "2016-08-13T10:52:29Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > File this under not-so-clever rhymes: > > “You keep lyin’ when you oughta be truthin’ > You keep losing when you oughta not bet > You keep samin’ when you oughta be a’changin’ > What’s right is right but you ain’t been right yet > These boots are made for walkin’ > And that’s just what they’ll do, > And one of these day, these boots my friend > Are gonna walk all over you.” > > –Nancy Sinatra Actually, --Lee Hazelwood mmm ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/28 "2016-08-13T11:06:42Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Actually, --Lee Hazelwood > mmm Shit. Shoulda caught that. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/29 "2016-08-13T11:14:34Z")
Bad: [Anything] + “Like we used to do” ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/30 "2016-08-13T11:42:36Z")
He starts to shake and cough Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/31 "2016-08-13T11:53:01Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > He starts to shake and cough > Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov Good lord, could that clank any harder? O Sting, what doggerel hast thou wrought? Oh yeah, this clanks, too: I will see your face turn alabaster, when you see your servant is your master. And this: I guess that I’m always hopin’ that you’ll end this reign, but it’s my destiny to be the King of Pain. So arch. So complex. So insightful. So…_Sting_. A veritable smorgasbord of clank and boast. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/32 "2016-08-13T13:07:50Z")
I’ve always liked the meta-ness of an otherwise forgettable 60’s song sung by Leslie Gore: My life is sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows That’s how this refrain goes, So come on, join in! After googling it, I’m amazed to learn that it was written by Marvin Hamlisch. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/33 "2016-08-13T13:11:23Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The first two that come to mind (there will be more): > “I woke up alarmed” > > ``` > -Liz Phair > > ``` Good line, but where’s the rhyme? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/34 "2016-08-13T14:37:44Z")
From [I Am the Anti-Pope](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGBHfXPqbgI) by Zladko Vladcik, of Molvanîa: _Like a lion kills an antelope! Like a hammer hits a cantaloupe!_ Pure genius. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/35 "2016-08-13T14:55:25Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Under “not so clever”, we must, of course, mention Steve Miller’s “Take the Money and Run”: > > Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas > You know he knows just exactly what the facts is > He ain’t gonna let those two escape justice > He makes his livin’ off of the people’s taxes Woulda been fine if he’d switched lines two and four. Texas doesn’t quite rhyme with taxes, but it goes. And taxes rhymes with “facts is.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/36 "2016-08-13T15:00:20Z")
was the question facing lyric writer Johnny Burke when he wrote a title song for 1933’s movieization of the comic strip _Joe Palooka._ He also got off a clever couplet with the tough word “citizen.” \*Palooka - Palooka From Boston to Paducah You’ll find a Palooka No matter where you go Palooka - Palooka It’s not a prince or duke-a It’s just a Palooka In case you want to know Each and every cit-iz-in Knows the language it-iz-in A ham, a heel, a big schlemiel It’s all the same in the hall of fame Palooka - Palooka Like Denver or Dubuque-a A Harry(?) A fluke-a(?) It’s a grand old American name\* ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/37 "2016-08-13T15:04:29Z")
One critic took Tim Rice to town for rhyming “biscuit” with “district” (His astounding clothing took the biscuit/Quite the smoothest person in the district) Tim responded “If it’s so easy, why doesn’t he do it?” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/38 "2016-08-13T15:09:42Z")
Smut! Give me smut and nothing but! A dirty novel I can’t shut, If it’s uncut, And unsubt- le. I’ve never quibbled If it was ribald, I would devour where others merely nibbled. As the judge remarked the day that he Acquitted my Aunt Hortense, “to be smut It must be ut- Terly without redeeming social importance.” – Tom Lehrer Read more: Tom Lehrer - Smut Lyrics | MetroLyrics ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/39 "2016-08-13T17:02:56Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Woulda been fine if he’d switched lines two and four. Texas doesn’t quite rhyme with taxes, but it goes. And taxes rhymes with “facts is.” So it worked? Following Texas with taxes would be just wrong. I think he was rhyming every other line, but that sequence would have ruined it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588/40 "2016-08-13T17:07:51Z")
Marillion- White Russian Terror in Rue de St. Denis, murder on the periphery Someone else in someone else’s pocket Christ knows I don’t know how to stop it Poppies at the cenotaph, the cynics can’t afford to laugh I heard in on the telegraph there’s Uzis on a street corner [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-and-not-so-clever-rhymes-in-songs/762588.md?page=3)