# Common song phrases **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689 "2010-07-14T18:17:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/1 "2010-07-14T18:17:29Z")
What song phrases do you hear over and over again in different songs? I’ll start a few: “Take all my money, give it to another man.” “Got thrown in jail had nobody to draw my bail” “I love you” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/2 "2010-07-14T18:19:10Z")
“I woke up this morning.” ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/3 "2010-07-14T18:30:53Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > What song phrases do you hear over and over again in different songs? I’ll start a few: > > “Take all my money, give it to another man.” > > “Got thrown in jail had nobody to draw my bail” > > “I love you” Strange - of these three- I’ve only heard the third; never the other two. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/4 "2010-07-14T18:44:09Z")
The lyrics won’t always be exactly the same word-for-word. Take all my money give it to another man was first introduced to me in “The Lemon Song” by Led Zeppelin, which was heavily borrowed/influenced by many blues songs. I think I’ve heard it in newer songs too. “Got thrown in jail…” I first heard in the soundtrack to “O Brother Where Art Thou?”, but that soundtrack of course was from the 1920s/30s era music including Jimmie Rodgers, but the same general phrase is heard in many older folk/country songs. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/5 "2010-07-14T18:58:58Z")
“Rather see you dead”, in different songs by The Beatles, Helmet, Mando Diao, and Woody Guthrie. Another old blues phrase it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/6 "2010-07-14T20:43:48Z")
About 20 years ago some friends and I made a compilation of song snippets where they sang “down on your/my knees”, or some variation thereof. We had 63 of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/7 "2010-07-14T20:45:18Z")
Too many songs begin with “I was walking down the street.” There are also certain obvious rhyme pairs that engender cliche, such as _toys_/_girls and boys_, which is so overused in Christmas songs. (And I know from my own compositions–I specialize in propaganda for the Free State Project–that I get sick to death of rhyming _free/liberty/Don’t Tread on Me/Liberty Tree/life, liberty and property_, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/8 "2010-07-14T20:49:39Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > About 20 years ago some friends and I made a compilation of song snippets where they sang “down on your/my knees”, or some variation thereof. We had 63 of them. Good one. That phrase is often followed by a phrase including the word “please.” ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/9 "2010-07-14T20:53:35Z")
Blues songs recycle a lot of lyrics: - Ain’t got a nickel, ain’t got a lousy dime - Gonna make a pallet on the floor - Found another mule kicking in my stall ---
**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:** [July 14, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/10 "2010-07-14T21:36:14Z")
“The dinosaur wet his underpants” I can’t tell you how many songs I’ve heard that line in. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/11 "2010-07-14T21:56:53Z")
“Foolish pride.” Nobody in songs ever has justifiable pride, quiet pride, or overweening pride; it’s always _foolish_. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/12 "2010-07-14T23:28:54Z")
Anything that rhymes Magic with Tragic or Rambler with Gambler. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/13 "2010-07-15T01:43:44Z")
“Yeah” Ok, it’s not a phrase. But still. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/14 "2010-07-15T01:47:58Z")
I/you/we can’t stop XYZ I/you/we can’t go on XYZ ---
**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:** [July 15, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/15 "2010-07-15T01:59:47Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > Anything that rhymes Magic with Tragic or Rambler with Gambler. Or dance with romance and take a chance Or school with cool Or reason with season Or passion with fashion Or miss with kiss Also tired of keep on keepin’ on. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/16 "2010-07-15T03:46:45Z")
Do you remember the thread asking what English sounds to someone who doesn’t speak it? A Doper provided a video (from 1972) that was gibberish that was put together by someone who didn’t speak it–but this is what Engish sounded like to them. One sound that kept popping up was “Oil Riii” Based on what the language sounds like to the remainder of the world who doesn’t speak it I’ll vote for “All Right!” ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/17 "2010-07-15T04:10:58Z")
I’ve often wanted to undertake the task of compiling all the songs of the 50s…R&B and doo-wop in particular…that use the couplet “I love you so/I’ll never let you go.” There’s got to be hundreds of them. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/18 "2010-07-15T04:54:18Z")
I find this strange, if only because until I recently heard these recent songs, I’d never encountered this imagery: “I might fall like a rock from your heart” - White Lies, E.S.T. 2009 “You’ll find a stone in your heart” - The Gutter Twins, Each To Each 2008 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-song-phrases/546689/19 "2010-07-15T14:00:09Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > Do you remember the thread asking what English sounds to someone who doesn’t speak it? > > A Doper provided a video (from 1972) that was gibberish that was put together by someone who didn’t speak it–but this is what Engish sounded like to them. One sound that kept popping up was “Oil Riii” > > Based on what the language sounds like to the remainder of the world who doesn’t speak it I’ll vote for “All Right!” Here are a couple of quintessential examples of the phenomenon: [http://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=Eilart+Pilarm&aq=f](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Eilart+Pilarm&aq=f) > **[Listen to sample clips from Wing's CDs Wing Music discography, CD sales, bio,...](http://wingmusic.co.nz/listen.html)** > > Wing's official web site presents Wing the singer and samples of her singing popular songs. Her CDs are available for online sales or digital downloads. There is a full discography, bio, events guide, and news about Wing the singer of popular songs...