# Good songs, Bad lines **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614 "2000-07-14T22:36:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TN\_hippie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TN\_hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TN_hippie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/1 "2000-07-14T22:36:48Z")
Here’s the rule to this thread: The song itself must be good or at least tolerable. (this rules out McArther Park, Young Girl,etc.) So the song is great, but there is one line you find stupid, silly, ridiculous, or whatever. RULES: the song must be good or at least tolerable. (This rules out MacArther Park, Having My Baby, Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon, etc.) My entries: **Riders On The Storm** _The Doors_ “There’s a killer on the road; His brain is squirming like a toad.” **Stairway To Heaven** _Led Zeppelin_ I realize that this may fall into the “intolerable” category, but that is more from overplay than the song itself. It’s actually a pretty good tune, except for: “If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow don’t be alarmed now; It’s just a spring clean for the May Queen.” I’m drawing a blank (much to your relief)…so help me out here… ## Drawing a blank (much to your relief)… Help out here! It’s just a spring clean for the May Queen," ---
**Author:** ![TN\_hippie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TN\_hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TN_hippie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/2 "2000-07-14T22:45:06Z")
Sorry for the repetition and redunancy. I tend to repeat myself, especially when I say things over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/3 "2000-07-14T22:47:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by TN_hippie \* > \*\*I tend to repeat myself, especially when I say things over and over again. \*\* Can I use that for a sig? As for the OP, I have nothing to add. All I can do is agree with you on Stairway to Heaven. Spring clean? May Queen? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/4 "2000-07-14T22:52:08Z")
One of my favorite songs of all time that has the most idiotic lyrics: _Paint It Black_, by the Stones. I see a red door and I want to paint it black? WTF? Anyway, I love that song. Too bad they couldn’t have come up with better lyrics… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/5 "2000-07-14T23:13:04Z")
Creed has this gem on the Human Clay album: In life, there are many quotients And I hope I find the mean. Can you tell these guys got out of school recently? ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/6 "2000-07-14T23:15:32Z")
I think any Beatles song will have at least one bad line in it, though I like many of the songs. If you think about their drug-induced phase… Magical Mystery Tour album, I am the Walrus: “I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.” Hey, that could be a sig. I don’t know if this qualifies on second thought, there are just too many weird lines in these songs. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/7 "2000-07-14T23:55:42Z")
You people probably don’t know this, but I am a big fan of Rush 🙂 Way back in the past, before Neil Peart joined the band, all lyrics were written by Geddy Lee. But let’s not go there. Even Peart, who is widely regarded as a great lyrcist (is that a word?), has a few blunders. From _The Alien Shore_, which in itself is a great song: "\*For you and me–We hold these truths to be self-evident For you and me– **We’d elect each other president** For you and me–We might agree But that’s just us Reaching for the alien shore\*" We’d elect each other President? Woohoo, how romantic, dude! A very rare example of Peart struggling to rhyme his lines. ---
**Author:** ![Brunetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Brunetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brunetter)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/8 "2000-07-15T00:04:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\* Even Peart, who is widely regarded as a great lyrcist (is that a word?) \*\* Well it would be, Coldy, if you spelled it right. 😃 L-Y-R-I-C-I-S-T. I don’t do this often, but couldn’t resist that one. As for the “we’d elect each other president,” I have to say that’s one of the best bad lines I’ve heard in a while. Is that even \* possible? \* ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/9 "2000-07-15T00:08:06Z")
Not in Canada, it ain’t 😃 Would you believe that leaving the “i” out or lyricist was actually a typo? I meant to type lyricist! Really! ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/10 "2000-07-15T00:16:03Z")
Good quote tradesilicon, NOT :rolleyes: If you were gonna quote a Beatles song, you should have gone with “Don’t Pass Me By” \* “You were in a carwreck And you lost your hair.”\* I’ll think of more later. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/11 "2000-07-15T00:20:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*…leaving the “i” out or lyricist was actually a typo? \*\* Yeah, like typing OR instead of OF was a typo too? Just too many to be believeable, Coldfire. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/12 "2000-07-15T00:32:35Z")
Most of these aren’t truly LAME, but rather just ridiculous, like most of They Might Be Giants or the Pixies. As far as suddenly BAD goes, in some Dead Can Dance song Jarboe sings this line very fast as it doesn’t even fit the meter of the music: “sonambulistic, maniacal, in the dark,” where it definitely doesn’t belong. ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/13 "2000-07-15T01:17:40Z")
I’d participate, but the lyrics of the music I listen to don’t make any sense to begin with. Alice in Chains: “20 hours a day/ won’t let you paint/ my picture/ milk carton sized.” Soul Coughing: “Normalize the signal and you’re banging on freon paleolithic eon put the fake goatee on and it booms as cool as sugar free jazz” Hooverphonic: “Prophet 60091 This is the flight number of our galactic sun.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/14 "2000-07-15T01:23:05Z")
Well, one of my all-time favorites is the Grateful Dead’s “China Cat Sunflower,” lyrics by Robert Hunter: Look for a while at the China Cat Sunflower proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun Copper-dome bodhi drip a silver kimono Like a crazy-quilt star gown Through a dream night wind Krazy Kat peeking through a lace bandanna Like a one-eyed Cheshire Like a diamond-eye Jack A leaf of all colors plays A golden-string fiddle To a double-_e_ waterfall over my back Comic book colors on a violin river Crying Leonardo words From out a silk trombone I rang a silent bell Beneath a shower of pearls In the eagle wing palace Of the Queen Chinee. So just what the hell is a “double-_e_ waterfall” ? And how does it go “over my back” ? I mean, that just doesn’t fucking make any SENSE. ---
**Author:** ![LabyrinthCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f19dbf/32.png) [@LabyrinthCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabyrinthCoyote)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/15 "2000-07-15T02:30:23Z")
I always laugh when I here the local ‘Oldies’ station play _In The Ghetto_ by Elvis Presley I think?? "And then one day in desperation, the young man breaks the law “He fires a gun, he steals a car, he tries to run, but he don’t get far.” Ummm…if he just stole a car, why is he running? If he’d just got in the damn car and drove off he might have gotten a lot further! ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/16 "2000-07-15T02:32:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LabyrinthCoyote \* > \*\*I always laugh when I here the local ‘Oldies’ station play _In The Ghetto_ by Elvis Presley I think?? > "And then one day in desperation, the young man breaks the law > “He fires a gun, he steals a car, he tries to run, but he don’t get far.” > > Ummm…if he just stole a car, why is he running? If he’d just got in the damn car and drove off he might have gotten a lot further! \*\* You can “run” from the cops on a bicycle if you want. It isn’t to be taken literally, which is to say he wasn’t really running. ---
**Author:** ![Eggs\_a\_la\_Ted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Eggs\_a\_la\_Ted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggs_a_la_Ted)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/17 "2000-07-15T02:36:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silver\_Fire \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by LabyrinthCoyote \* > > \*\*I always laugh when I here the local ‘Oldies’ station play _In The Ghetto_ by Elvis Presley I think?? > > "And then one day in desperation, the young man breaks the law > > “He fires a gun, he steals a car, he tries to run, but he don’t get far.” > > > > Ummm…if he just stole a car, why is he running? If he’d just got in the damn car and drove off he might have gotten a lot further! \*\* > > You can “run” from the cops on a bicycle if you want. It isn’t to be taken literally, which is to say he wasn’t really running. \*\* Or maybe he stole the car from Fred Flintstone. ---
**Author:** ![Gammu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b77776/32.png) [@Gammu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gammu)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/18 "2000-07-15T03:14:36Z")
Pete Townsend, truly one of the all-time great rock lyricists, came up with this clinker in The Who’s otherwise fine song _Naked Eye_: ``` "you can cover up your guts, but when you cover up your nuts you're admiting that there must be something wrong." ``` Well I’m sure it sounded profound when he wrote it, but it makes me wince. ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/19 "2000-07-15T03:23:42Z")
Most of the Led Zeppelin song “Going to California”–“There’s a woman with love in her heart and flowers in her hair” and then that line about the queen with no king who plays guitar and cries. Yes, I know it’s about Joni Mitchell, but I still think it’s stupid. My “Stairway” vote-intolerable. Hmmm–I should point out, despite this post, I’m actually a huge Zeppelin fan. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Vega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@Lord\_Vega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Vega)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614/20 "2000-07-15T03:49:05Z")
> [@](#): > > So just what the hell is a “double-e waterfall” ? And how does it go “over my back” ? I mean, that just doesn’t fucking make any SENSE. It makes perfect sense when in the umm… right state of mind! Maybe I’ve been to too many dead shows? V. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-songs-bad-lines/25614.md?page=2)