# First major songs with swearing in the lyrics \[new title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642 "2003-05-07T13:05:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/21 "2003-05-08T21:02:39Z")
How about “Louie Louie”? : d&r : ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/22 "2003-05-09T01:42:31Z")
Going through some very old antique recordings that were my great grandfathers, they were played on a gramaphone on the old vinyl cylinders before flat records came out, I found a very politically incorrect song titled “Nigger loves his possum.” Maybe not too riske in those days it sure would not be tollerated these days. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/23 "2003-05-09T06:38:17Z")
I don’t know if you would classify it as “swearing”, but “Good golly, Miss Molly, you sure like to ball!” was pretty risque for the mid-50s. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/24 "2003-05-09T07:29:23Z")
Limiting myself to songs to songs that got a lot of airplay: “Romeo’s Song” by Steve Forbert “Play Guitar” by John Cougar Mellencamp “Give Back My Heart” by Lyle Lovett I’ve heard that Al “Year of the Cat” Stewart holds the distinction of being the first to get the word “Fuck” printed on his album cover (lyrics portion). He also got Dr. Strange on two album covers, but that’s a whole 'nother thread. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/25 "2003-05-09T12:15:48Z")
“Uncle John’s Band,” by the Grateful Dead contains the words “God Damn!,” and came out in 1970. It did manage to make the charts, unlike a few of the others mentioned here that were more album cuts. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/26 "2003-05-09T14:44:54Z")
Early blues records were often very suggestive, and occasionally veered into the explicit. According to some transcriptions, the 1931 Skip James recording of “Hard Times Killing Floor Blues” (covered by Keb Mo in the movie ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’) contains the line, “If I ever get off this shit-assed floor, I won’t never sink this low no more” (or some such – quote is from memory). ---
**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/27 "2003-05-09T15:51:45Z")
I was reading an essay on this very topic the other day. It claimed John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” was the first mainstream instance of the word “fuck”. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/28 "2003-05-09T16:01:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mudshark \* > \*\*There was also “fuck” on Absolutely Free by Frank Zappa, issued in 1967. \*\* Where do you hear that? Do you mean the album _Absolutely Free_ or the song of that name on _We’re Only In It for the Money_? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by gex gex_ > **I’m pretty sure there was a Kinks record back in the 60s that yelled it loud and proud.** You may be thinking of “Apeman” from 1970. The official lyric is “The air pollution is a-foggin’ up my eye,” but some listeners believe that Ray Davies is really singing “a-fuckin’ up my eye.” Similarly, some people insist that Desmond Dekker’s “The Israelites” contains the line “My wife and kids they fuck off and leave me” rather than the official “pack up and leave me.” Personally, I think these are both in “Louie Louie”-ville, and the innocuous official lyrics are the correct ones. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by plnnr_ > \*\*“Uncle John’s Band,” by the Grateful Dead contains the words “God Damn!,” and came out in 1970. It did manage to make the charts, unlike a few of the others mentioned here that were more album cuts. \*\* However, the “Goddamn” was edited out of the single version. Not a major label release, but “Miss Morse” by Pearls Before Swine’s 1967 debut album had a chorus that consisted of F-U-C-K in Morse code! Dit-dit-dahhh-dit… ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/29 "2003-05-09T16:13:37Z")
Its not “fuck” or “shit”, but on ? and the Mysterians’ “Girl You Captivate Me”, the bands other hit, Question Mark sings “Girl, you masturbate me”. That was, maybe '66 or something. There’s a few other 60s garage songs that I can’t think of right now that say ‘fuck’, shit, and even cunt :eek: and like others had said, pre-late 50s Blues and R&B had plenty of of things to say about fucking. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/30 "2003-05-09T16:21:08Z")
The Doors song, _The End_, contains the immortal line, “Mother, I want to fuck you.” I believe the Beatles song _Daytripper_ contains the line, “She’s a prick teaser,” although it was changed to “big teaser” on lyric sheets. The Beatles also sang about Penny lane being full of “fish and finger pie,” which were both Liverpool slang terms for the female genitalia. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/31 "2003-05-09T18:42:55Z")
Aw, c’mon, most of these are simple attempts to slip a single word past the censors. Gotta give more credit for blatant, proud, direct use, I think. I hereby nominate Grace Jones’ “The Bullshit Song” from her 1980 album “Warm Leatherette”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/32 "2003-05-09T18:43:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > **The Doors song, _The End_, contains the immortal line, "Mother, I want to fuck you."** Actually, Morrison sings “Mother, I want to . . . aaaaarrrrghhhhh!” - unless you have some recording different than the one I have. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/33 "2003-05-09T19:56:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colibri \* > \*\*Actually, Morrison sings “Mother, I want to . . . aaaaarrrrghhhhh!” - unless you have some recording different than the one I have. \*\* Diogenes may be thinking of the version from the Oliver Stone film… 🙂 There was an interview with Doors producer Paul Rothchild in _Crawdaddy_ (reprinted in Paul Williams’s book _Outlaw Blues_) which went into great detail about the recording sessions. Rothchild comments that Morrison screamed at that point because “even for Jim there are cultural limitations.” He also points out that at one point Morrison was rhythmically chanting “fuck…fuck…fuck…” (just as he can be heard murmuring “kill…kill…kill…” at the song’s climax), but this was mixed down so as to be inaudible on the released record. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/34 "2003-05-10T01:26:16Z")
This won’t answer the question, but I thought it was interesting. Many people know that Jimmy Buffet has a song called “Let’s get drunk and screw.” In 1936 there was a very popular song done by both Tampa Red and Harlem Hamfats called “Let’s get drunk and Truck.” But people knew what they were euphemizing. The style of dancing at the time called “trucking”(truckin’) was a form of what was previously called “strutting.” The older generation hated the word “trucking” which the younger generation loved. I wonder why. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/35 "2003-07-15T01:18:58Z")
Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham, an old black comedian from the Southern vaudeville circuit (known for his “Here Come Da Judge” routine on _Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In_), claimed in his autobiography that he originated the truckin’ craze. He achieved national TV fame late in his life in the crazy 1960s, coinciding with cartoonist R. Crumb reviving the craze with his bigfooted “Keep On Truckin’” cartoons. “Truckin’ my blues away!” R. Crumb is a fanatical aficionado of 1920s and 1930s jazz and blues. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/36 "2003-07-15T02:01:41Z")
A thoroughly cheesed-off Joni Mitchell in _Woman of Heart and Mind_ (1972): After the rush when you come back down You’re always disappointed Nothing seems to keep you high Drive your bargains Push your papers Win your medals Fuck your strangers Don’t it leave you on the empty side? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642/37 "2003-07-15T03:04:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew \* > \*\*Not a major label release, but “Miss Morse” by Pearls Before Swine’s 1967 debut album… \*\* Hey! ESP may not have been a MAJOR but they were IMPORTANT! And your mention is the second time an ESP record has been cited as containing early oscenity (see my post in [the other dirty lyric thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=197694) for a Fugs mention). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-major-songs-with-swearing-in-the-lyrics-new-title/173642.md?page=1)