# Hit Songs in Bad Taste **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784 "2019-05-30T16:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/181 "2019-06-03T23:19:27Z")
Good morning little schoolgirl Good morning little schoolgirl Can I go home with you Can I go home with you Tell your mama and your papa I once was a schoolboy too. “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.” Written (I think) by Willie Dixon. Covered by many. My favorite version is by Muddy Waters. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/182 "2019-06-03T23:27:12Z")
Once we get into the realm of punk, bad taste is almost required. Of course, mostly, those songs didn’t turn into hits. Here’s a golden oldie by a local band, Ism: [John Hinckley Jr., What Has Jodie Done To You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb70QXAAiws) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/183 "2019-06-03T23:36:02Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Well, that’s pretty easily fixed in this really modern world, what with the internet and whatnot. > > Pretty catchy. Honestly, no small portion of song lyrics are complete shit. If the music has merit and/or the voice singing them sounds good, then the content of the lyrics doesn't seem to matter. “Timothy” is too damn catchy. I agree with the critique you provided, but the frikkin’ song is still stuck in head, decades later, anyway. I think I can even recall all the lyrics. ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/184 "2019-06-03T23:37:24Z")
I heard this song on top 40 countdown over the weekend. Apparently it was #29 on the Charts on 5/27/72 [Troglodyte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglodyte_(Cave_Man)) by Jimmy Castor Bunch: > [@](#): > > When he got tired of dancing alone, he’d look in the mirror, > “Gotta find a woman, gotta find a woman, gotta find a woman, gotta find a woman”. > He’d go down to the lake where all the women would be swimming or washing clothes or something. > He’d look around and just reach in and grab one. > “Come here…come here”. > He’d grab her by the hair. > You can’t do that today, fellas, 'cause it might come off. > You’d have a piece of hair in your hand and she’d be swimming away from you (Ha, ha) Maybe it was the origin of this line > [@](#): > > Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/185 "2019-06-04T01:01:31Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I heard this song on top 40 countdown over the weekend. Apparently it was #29 on the Charts on 5/27/72 > > [Troglodyte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglodyte_(Cave_Man)) by Jimmy Castor Bunch: > > Maybe it was the origin of this line Oh lord, another song that plays in my head whenever it gets mentioned. It did introduce us to Bertha Butt, however. But no, “sock it to me” predated that song, having been popularized on Rowen and Martin’s Laugh-in, in the 1960’s. Seeing Nixon appear on the show during the campaign and say that phrase with a straight face was mind blowing. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/186 "2019-06-04T01:41:33Z")
Has anyone heard of the dying teenager songs of the late 50s - early 60s? The one best remembered is _Tell Laura I Love Her,_ but there was also a semi-parody of the genre (full of safe driving tips) called [Transfusion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jojuPQXMm44) that had its own priceless lines and sound effects. I’m-a never never gonna speed again Slip the blood to me, bud It hit #13 on the Billboard charts, despite many radio stations refusing to play it. One DJ who did like it was Barry Hansen, later known as Dr. Demento. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/187 "2019-06-04T02:50:08Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > The old-timey classic “Little Sadie” could be called a murder ballad, I guess, but the protagonist doesn’t seem to have ANY rationale for the killing…he just guns her down cold. > > _Went out one night to make a little round > I met little Sadie and I shot her down > Went back home, jumped into bed > .44 smokeless under my head…_ I never before realized how similar these lyrics are to the Kingston Trio song “Bad Man Blunder”: _Well early one evenin’ I was rolling around I was feelin’ kinda mean I shot a deputy down, Strolled along home and I went to bed Well I laid my pistol up under my head_ The melodies, however, are completely different. [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDMGMztg16g). The song by the Trio is a light, folksy tune, and the lyrics are humorous. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/188 "2019-06-04T03:22:45Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > Not if only US hits are considered. While it reached No. 2 in the UK, “God Save the Queen” gained only notoriety, not popularity, in the US. I remember it (along with the rest of the London Punk movement) being introduced to us Yanks by the NBC news magazine show, “Weekend”. But what’s in “bad taste” about that song? It’s rebellious, but nothing I would call “bad taste.” It’s critical, it’s pointed, it’s sarcastic, but “bad taste?” Come on. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/189 "2019-06-04T03:30:47Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Maybe I’m still naive, but I took the line “two girls for every boy” to mean that it would be a fun place to hang out because as a boy/young man, you would have an excellent chance of picking up a date because of the availability…not that there were threesomes happening everywhere. Yeah, really, that is so obvious. I’m more shocked that anyone would be shocked. Even 50 years later. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > Worse yet, Jagger sang “_thirteen_ years old” in the live version (on _Get Yer Ya-yas Out_), recorded in Nov. 1969). Ah, the golden era of rock star lifestyles, yes… the reason many a guitar or drumkit was bought and practiced on 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/190 "2019-06-04T04:45:17Z")
In the early 1990s, The La’s had a college hit with a song called “There She Goes”, which is often interpreted as being about heroin. A decade later, it was covered by (and was a hit for) Sixpence None The Richer. Hmmmmm. As teenagers, my friends and I sang “Surf City” as “…two guys for every girl…” for the same reason the Beach Boys most likely did. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/191 "2019-06-04T12:47:50Z")
A lot of people think that the song, “Short People” is offensive, although it was never intended to be about what most people thought it was about. I recently watched a video in which the hosts trashed the song because they thought that the lyrics were meant to be literal. Unfortunately, too many people have either forgotten about or never learned about things like satire and irony : [Randy Newman - Short People (Official Video) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bfyS-S-IJs) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/192 "2019-06-04T13:07:30Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > does every song written by the sex pistols count? > [@pulykamell](#): > > But what’s in “bad taste” about that song? It’s rebellious, but nothing I would call “bad taste.” It’s critical, it’s pointed, it’s sarcastic, but “bad taste?” Come on. How about this charming ditty, then? _“Belsen was a gas I heard the other day In the open graves where the Jews all lay”_ I’m not sure if that was a hit. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/193 "2019-06-04T17:06:20Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > The word in Rum and Coca Cola is clearly “workin’”, not “singin’”. > > BTW, the song was the subject of a copyright lawsuit. Morey Amsterdam had claimed copyright in the U.S., but the song was originally written by Lionel Belasco and the calypso singer Lord Invader (real name Rupert Westmore Grant). The original was even more clearly about prostitution. You can hear it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-CE4xYIyng). Just now, really listening to it for the first time, I realize it isn’t about a Cuba Libre cocktail. The two drinks rum and Coca-Cola are symbolic for the two nations of the song. The song is about the impact of an influx of American servicemen on local society. ---
**Author:** ![NeeCD](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neecd/32/386_2.png) [@NeeCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeeCD)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/194 "2019-06-04T18:56:12Z")
Dave Matthews Band - Crash Into Me I refer to it as “The Creepy Stalker Song”. The whole thing is sung from the perspective of a Peeping Tom, looking at a girl through the window as she is undressing, and fantasizing about her. It doubles my irritation with it when I then get it stuck in my head for days because it is also catchy. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/195 "2019-06-05T01:25:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > How about this charming ditty, then? > > _“Belsen was a gas I heard the other day > In the open graves where the Jews all lay”_ > > I’m not sure if that was a hit. [Bodies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzFFtBsl5ps)is also quite charming and cozy. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/196 "2019-06-05T02:06:20Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > [Bodies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzFFtBsl5ps)is also quite charming and cozy. Yeah, that’s the one that popped into my mind as a counter example after I wrote my post but, again, not a hit and hardly “every song written by the Sex Pistols.” ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/197 "2019-06-05T02:41:23Z")
_Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver_, by Primus, reached number 12 on Billboard’s alternative rock chart. Does that count as a hit? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/198 "2019-06-05T15:20:11Z")
Though Is doesn’t bother me (heck, I quite like it), I’ve heard many people express distaste of The Toadies’ _Possum Kingdom_. Sure it’s dark, but I wouldn’t say tasteless. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/199 "2019-06-06T05:20:08Z")
Almost everything on Bloodhound Gang’s “One Fierce Beer Coaster” is in bad taste. Kiss Me Where it Smells Funny and Lift Your Head up High (and blow your brains out) spring to mind. https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLumfVetwKHx9cSdTQjHQnjyPqgzN8kyQV&wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=1&enablejsapi=1 Catchy as hell, but i wouldn’t want to have it playing with my mother in the car. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/200 "2019-06-06T14:11:03Z")
Neil Sedanka’s “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” But since you’ve grown up Your future is sewn up From now on you’re gonna be mine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784.md?page=11)