# Did you actually listen to the words of the song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712 "2007-08-15T19:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/101 "2007-08-17T13:58:11Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] Perhaps you should take a gander at either kissthisguy dot com or misheard lyrics. Not everybody hears the same things. In fact, that’s what this whole thread is about-- misunderstanding the meaning of songs. And honestly, is there that much of a huge difference in meaning between “I’m a man, I’m a man” and “I’m glad I’m a man”? [/QUOTE] Lyrically it makes quite a difference, since “I’m glad I’m a man, and so is Lola”, leaves the possibility open that Lola is a chick. If you meant that there is little difference in sound, I’m not sure I think so. The thing is, he doesn’t just sing “glad”, he sings “gglllaad”. I can understand people who recall the lyrics differently, but listening to it and still not hearing “glad”, I think is weird. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/102 "2007-08-17T14:17:21Z")
My brother-n-law wanted to use **“Come Out and Play”** by **The Offspring** as the play-in song for the youth soccer team he was coaching (under age 10). A song about gang warfare. Sample lyrics: _The kids are strappin’ on their way to the classroom Getting weapons with the greatest of ease … By the time you hear the siren It’s already too late One goes to the morgue and the other jail One guy’s wasted and the other’s a waste … Hey, don’t pay no mind If you’re under 18 you won’t be doing any time Hey, come out and play_ All my brother-in-law got out of that song was “come out and play.” He was stunned when I explained it to him. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/103 "2007-08-17T15:30:11Z")
The Dell Inspiron commercial uses The Wand, by the Flaming Lips. “MF” bleeped over, of course. I keep wondering if the ad agency ever listened to the [lyrics](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/f/theflaminglipslyrics/thewandthewillalwaysnegatesdefeatlyrics.html). ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/104 "2007-08-17T15:34:50Z")
[QUOTE=Cyberhwk] I took that song to mean it was the WOMAN that was struggling with something such as alcoholism. Constant drunkenness was the “angry all the time.” “Loving a man shouldn’t have to be this rough” meant he somewhat blamed himself and felt partly responsible for his wife’s shortcomings. “Splitting image of you when you were young” referred to his kids and how vibrant the wife was when they first met, before the alcoholism took over. [/QUOTE] Wow - I never took that from it. I alson never got any gender confusion like others. He says that loving a man shouldn’t have to be this rough - hey wife, loving me shouldn’t be this hard for you; you ever think that maybe you don’t? Also, he mentions that she’s not the only one who feels this world has left her far behind - basically, her dreams were never realized and it turns out she got a big fat dose of reality when she settled down and raised four kids and that wasn’t what she wanted out of life and she is angry all the time over her lost hopes about what she thought life would be like and takes it out on him by being angry all the time and his response is that you don’t have to be that way and that he can’t be with someone that hates life that much so he has to leave her even though he loves her. I don’t get the “it’s been twenty years” part, though. Is this supposed to be looking back on the day he left, or when they were still a family? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/105 "2007-08-17T15:50:51Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] My brother-n-law wanted to use **“Come Out and Play”** by **The Offspring** as the play-in song for the youth soccer team he was coaching (under age 10). [/QUOTE] Now THAT’S comedy. But hey, soccer is hell. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/106 "2007-08-17T16:31:16Z")
The first time I heard Lilly Allen’s “Smile” on the radio - before it got big, I think - the DJ introduced it with a comment about how it was a nice song that parents and children could both like. Clearly, the guy wasn’t paying attention to the sadism in the lyrics, even though the most prominent line in the song is “At first, when I see you cry/it makes me smile.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/107 "2007-08-17T16:41:46Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] Now THAT’S comedy. But hey, soccer is hell. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Heh. Yeah, my mental image when my brother-in-law told me this idea was of a bunch of nine-year-olds strutting out onto the field all tats-and-gats, and flashing gang signs. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/108 "2007-08-17T17:25:51Z")
[QUOTE=mr. jp] If you meant that there is little difference in sound, I’m not sure I think so. The thing is, he doesn’t just sing “glad”, he sings “gglllaad”. I can understand people who recall the lyrics differently, but listening to it and still not hearing “glad”, I think is weird. [/QUOTE] I’ll listen hard next time. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/109 "2007-08-17T20:09:09Z")
Re: the Toadies “Possum Kingdom:” [QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] Now that is just creeping me out. Chalk that up as ‘‘ignorance I would have rather not fought.’’ :eek: /perfect example of what the OP was referencing [/QUOTE] Heh. Todd Lewis of the Toadies had (and has) a thing for creepy lyrics. If “Possum Kingdom” creeps you out, it’s probably tame compared to “Tyler.” It starts out with a guy apparently wistfully singing about how he’s going to be with a girl, how she’s going to be smiling, how they’ll head off to Mexico in the morning, etc. The chorus is a heartfelt “I will be with her tonight.” Very sweet so far…until the song takes an abrupt left turn: > [@](#): > > I find a window in the kitchen, and I let myself in > Rummage through the refrigerator, pour myself a beer > I can’t believe I’m really here, and she’s lying in that bed > I can almost feel her touch, and her anxious breath! > > I stumble in the hallway, outside her bedroom door > I hear her call out to me, I hear the fear in her voice > She pulls her covers tighter, I press against the door > > I will be with her tonight yeah > I will be with her tonight > I will be with her tonight yeah > I will be with her tonight Creepy as all hell, but a good song. 😃 My old band used to play with The Toadies back when they were less famous and I was more cool. We played opposite them when we both headlined a street fair. ---
**Author:** ![Typo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Typo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/110 "2007-08-17T20:17:09Z")
[QUOTE=mr. jp] Lyrically it makes quite a difference, since “I’m glad I’m a man, and so is Lola”, leaves the possibility open that Lola is a chick. [/QUOTE] So…out of curiosity, does my previous post (mentioning that Ray Davies says the song was inspired by their manager dancing with a transvestite in “The Kinks: The Official Biography”) still leave the possibility open that Lola’s a chick? Because I kinda thought that removed all ambiguity from the equation, but maybe it’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/111 "2007-08-17T20:33:24Z")
[QUOTE=Endiqua] So…out of curiosity, does my previous post (mentioning that Ray Davies says the song was inspired by their manager dancing with a transvestite in “The Kinks: The Official Biography”) still leave the possibility open that Lola’s a chick? Because I kinda thought that removed all ambiguity from the equation, but maybe it’s just me. [/QUOTE] The song is obviously about a transvestite, but the playful ambiguity allowed the song to be played on AM radio in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/112 "2007-08-17T22:51:27Z")
I wonder how many Michael Flatley fans are aware “Lord of the Dance” not only has lyrics, it has lyrics about Jesus. If you know the song it’s impossible not to hear the lyrics in your head, and it really interferes with enjoying the show. I’d rather not think about the Crucifixion during an Irish dance show, thanks. Lyrics [here](http://www.irish-song-lyrics.com/Lord_Of_The_Dance.shtml) for the curious. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/113 "2007-08-18T01:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] My brother-n-law wanted to use **“Come Out and Play”** by **The Offspring** as the play-in song for the youth soccer team he was coaching (under age 10). A song about gang warfare. [/QUOTE] [“Warriors… Come out and plaaaa-aaay!”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/) Huh, I wonder if that was an influence. On this topic, one of my sisters-in-law heard us playing [Lords of Acid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_Of_Acid)’s song “Lover.” She heard the uptempo beat and the sound of the lyrics - but surely not the words - and gushed about how neat that would be for her young teenage daughter’s (our niece’s) dance squad. :eek: Because a lot of lyrics sites have popups and worse, I’ve [linked to a cached version](http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:nk18zpdKuF8J:www.lyrics2day.com/lyrics/Lords%2520Of%2520Acid%2520-%2520Lover%2520Lyrics/92963/+lyrics+lords+of+acid+lover&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=firefox-a) but you can Google “Lords of Acid lyrics Lover” and check out a cached result there if this link doesn’t work any longer. Here are some relevant excerpts: > [@](#): > > Fill me up, don’t stop > Just a little deeper, baby > Give it your best shot > although it seems > a little too fast for you > Do you think I’m too rough for you > > […] > > Be my mean sex machine > Come and take my body > And cover me with cream ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/114 "2007-08-18T03:09:06Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] “What a Fool Believes” is about self-delusion. Here’s a few apposite lines: [/QUOTE] Lyric sites sometimes get a few words wrong here or there, and in this case, they got the punctuation wrong, too. And in “What a Fool Believes,” the punctuation is critical. The key lines are “What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away. What seems to be is always better than nothing.” Translated: There’s no point using reason or logic with a delusional fool- he sees what he wants to see, and smart people who try to make him see reality are wasting their time. But hey, he’s HAPPIER with his delusion. An unattainable fantasy love is better than no love at all. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/115 "2007-08-18T07:40:34Z")
[QUOTE=Endiqua] So…out of curiosity, does my previous post (mentioning that Ray Davies says the song was inspired by their manager dancing with a transvestite in “The Kinks: The Official Biography”) still leave the possibility open that Lola’s a chick? Because I kinda thought that removed all ambiguity from the equation, but maybe it’s just me. [/QUOTE] Well, it does leave it open, doesn’t it? He could be inspired by a transvestite, and then decided: “Now I’ll write a song about a person who’s gender isn’t clear, and about a boy liking him / her.” The song is from the main characters perspective, and he is obviously wondering, but still he thinks Lola is a woman. “I never, ever kissed a woman before.” And we don’t have any info besides what he gives us. Which makes the song faulty if there actually was a line declaring her to certainly be a man, since then, why would he be interested? But still, yes, us as outside observers are rather certain he is mistaken on the gender point. ---
**Author:** ![Butterscotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Butterscotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Butterscotch)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/116 "2007-08-18T10:56:13Z")
To join in the big Lola debate, I also hear “I’m glad I’m a man”. For the OP: my best friend at school was convinced that the song"I’m Not in Love" by 10cc was all about someone who was clearly not in love. I always thought the singer was fooling himself. I also only recently relalised that Joan Armatrading’s “Drop the Pilot” is not actually aeroplane related at all. Well, I was much younger at the time… ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/117 "2007-08-18T11:00:41Z")
[QUOTE=Butterscotch] To join in the big Lola debate, I also hear “I’m glad I’m a man”. For the OP: my best friend at school was convinced that the song"I’m Not in Love" by 10cc was all about someone who was clearly not in love. I always thought the singer was fooling himself. [/QUOTE] The singer in this song definitely doth protests too much. Although I’m not sure if a straight reading of the words conveys that as much as the way the song is sung, if that makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/118 "2007-08-18T13:25:52Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] I thought Afternoon Delight was about candy. Really. About eating candy during the day. [/QUOTE] I thought it was about model rocketry. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/119 "2007-08-18T19:40:41Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] Wasn’t “Rockin in the Free World” used in several contexts in which it was apparent that they listened to the chorus and not much else? [/QUOTE] Spend an evening in a karaoke bar, and you will discover this is the case with most people and most songs. Knowing how the chorus goes seems to be enough for many people to think they know the song. > [@ShelliBean](#): > > basically, her dreams were never realized and it turns out she got a big fat dose of reality when she settled down and raised four kids and that wasn’t what she wanted out of life and she is angry all the time over her lost hopes about what she thought life would be like and takes it out on him by being angry all the time and his response is that you don’t have to be that way and that he can’t be with someone that hates life that much so he has to leave her even though he loves her. This is pretty close to my interpretation of the song. I hear the song as being about a woman who carried a lot of fairy tales into the marriage, and can’t accept that reality isn’t a romance novel with a “happy ever after”. She believed that it was her husband’s job to make her happy, and make all her dreams come true, rather than it being a partnership and a team effort. Maybe she married an auto mechanic and convinced herself that he would become something “better” after they got married. Meanwhile her husband is more like what Trace Adkins sings about in a song from his second CD (this wasn’t released as a single): _There ain’t no knights in shining armor There ain’t no Never Never Land And I won’t ever walk on water I can only love you like a man_. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712/120 "2007-08-19T12:26:41Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Lyric sites sometimes get a few words wrong here or there, and in this case, they got the punctuation wrong, too. And in “What a Fool Believes,” the punctuation is critical. The key lines are “What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away. What seems to be is always better than nothing.” Translated: There’s no point using reason or logic with a delusional fool- he sees what he wants to see, and smart people who try to make him see reality are wasting their time. But hey, he’s HAPPIER with his delusion. An unattainable fantasy love is better than no love at all. [/QUOTE] Thanks for that. For the first time, now, that line makes sense to me. But the fault then lies with the composer for obscuring that meaning with his musical phrasing. It’s evidence _he_ didn’t understand the lyrics. The Doobies never were strangers to inane lyrics and musical phrasing. That song itself is full of them. Definitely a third-tier group, IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-actually-listen-to-the-words-of-the-song/415712.md?page=7)