# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/141 "2019-06-01T10:38:15Z")
This one is such bad taste its funny, Teen Angel - Mark Dinning [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IE-AcC53OYY/hqdefault.jpg "Teen Angel-Mark Dinning-original song-1960") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE-AcC53OYY) ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/142 "2019-06-01T12:53:53Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > i don’t know the exact name of it but there was a garth brooks song that was sung sort of tongue in cheek where dad was a trucker and mamma was always lonely so she developed wandering eye > > dad came home a couple of days early and caught her fooling around and drove the rig through the house… the tag line was “mammas in the graveyard papas in the pen” > **[Papa Loved Mama](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Loved_Mama)** > > "Papa Loved Mama" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in February 1992 as the fourth single from his album Ropin' the Wind and also appears on The Hits, The Limited Series, Double Live, and The Ultimate Hits. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Country Charts. The song was written by Brooks and Kim Williams. > A trucker's son reflects on a tragic incident he experienced as a child. His father worked as a truck driver and his time away... “He never hit the brakes and he was shifting gears.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/143 "2019-06-01T14:43:09Z")
As for glorification of murder, “Hey Joe” (#6 for Jimi Hendrix) has probably been recorded by more people than any other such song. Joe is going out to shoot his old lady and the main singer/narrator doesn’t seem to have any problem with it. Interesting to see all the commentary about “Rum and Coca-Cola”. Those interested in the legal battle over plagiarism of the song should read the relevant portion of Louis Nizer’s “My Life In Court” in which he ties a defense expert into knots and provides interesting sidelights on calypso. I fondly remember a radio show I co-hosted in college called the “Bad Taste Special” in which we aired every recording we could think of that would offend people (I handled the rock/pop playlist; my cohort did jazz and blues). One memorable song from the show was Senator Bobby’s “Wild Thing”, a rendition by an R.F.K. impersonator. Not all that offensive in itself, but not in the best of taste to play it after he’d been assassinated. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/144 "2019-06-01T15:40:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One memorable song from the show was Senator Bobby’s “Wild Thing”, a rendition by an R.F.K. impersonator. Not all that offensive in itself, but not in the best of taste to play it after he’d been assassinated. I remember that one–singer wasn’t allowed to sing, but was constantly being coached on tone & volume to maximize his appeal. Visionary work, really. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/145 "2019-06-01T16:19:44Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > The lyrics to [Vehicle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXvegzWNIps) by Ides of March are pretty skeevy, especially at the beginning: Around the same time, 1970 - The Jaggerz had ‘The Rapper’ warning a girl about a seemingly nice guy who just wants a ‘companion, a girl he can talk to’. Don’t be alone with him! We all called that song ‘The Raper’. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/146 "2019-06-01T19:35:12Z")
With Van Halen’s “Jump,” which charted #1, David Lee Roth says his lyrics were inspired by news footage of a guy on top of a roof threatening suicide. “Might as well jump!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/147 "2019-06-01T20:03:57Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > No, there’s no question by anyone involved what the song is about. Here are the some of the original lyrics sung by Lord Invader: > > Literally, the only lyrics online for the Morey Amsterdam version that uses “singing” is the one Google links to, and that appears to the version by Hot Chip. I have no idea why Google returns that link but it’s not the lyrics as written. So congrats. You have managed to show that this song, with totally different lyrics before it became a hit, had lyrics that were solidly suggestive. I concur, those lyrics are pretty obvious. How does that make the\* hit \*version, with different lyrics, sung by a different group- a song with bad taste? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/148 "2019-06-01T20:25:42Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I remember that one–singer wasn’t allowed to sing, but was constantly being coached on tone & volume to maximize his appeal. Visionary work, really. “…and watch the pronunciation of the word “heart”” “Oh wild thing, you make my, ah, haht sing.” “that’s perfect, Senator.” It’s been long enough, it’s not in bad taste anymore. And it’s ok to watch The Manchurian Candidate, too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/149 "2019-06-01T20:29:43Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > The lyrics to [Vehicle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXvegzWNIps) by Ides of March are pretty skeevy, especially at the beginning: Yep, and that was used for a ad campaign also. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/150 "2019-06-01T21:09:36Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > A few months ago, in a bookstore, my kids and I heard a Beach Boys song gleefully looking forward to going to the beach where there’d “have some fun” because there’d be “two girls for every boy”. They all literally said out loud, “What the f–?” (They are teenagers and we were doing a college visiting tour.) > > I Googled what the song title was. It was… “Surf City”, it reached #1 in 1963, and was actually recorded by “Jan and Dean” but written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/151 "2019-06-01T23:46:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So congrats. You have managed to show that this song, with totally different lyrics before it became a hit, had lyrics that were solidly suggestive. I concur, those lyrics are pretty obvious. How does that make the\* hit \*version, with different lyrics, sung by a different group- a song with bad taste? The people who wrote the hit version, and the people who sang it, all acknowledge that the song was about prostitution. Whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter to me any more. > [@](#): > > Before he left the island Mr. Amsterdam claims to have written 105 verses, all slightly off-color, all based on the same theme. Here’s an example: > > "From Chica-chi-carry to Mona’s Isle > Native girls all dance and smile. > They wear grass skirts, but that’s okay - > Yankee like to “hit the hay”. > > The soldiers loved this sort of thing so much that Morey kept singing the song throughout the rest of the tour - in Aruba, Curaçao, and other islands. He used the same formula and simply changed the place names as he went along. > [@Maxine Andrews](#): > > The rhythm was what attracted the Andrews Sisters to ‘Rum and Coca-Cola’. We never thought of the lyric. The lyric was there, it was cute, but we didn’t think of what it meant; but at that time, nobody else would think of it either, because we weren’t as morally open as we are today and so, a lot of stuff—really, no excuses—just went over our heads. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/152 "2019-06-02T00:06:31Z")
> [@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. Exactly. On some TV crime show, a guy was describing the appeal of a certain gay bar: It had two guys for every guy. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/153 "2019-06-02T00:29:41Z")
Maybe I should write a remake / parody about [this place](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Way,_Arizona) where the implications of that ratio _is_ as tasteless as it sounds to some. ---
**Author:** ![Wisp00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@Wisp00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wisp00)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/154 "2019-06-02T03:40:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Extreme’s “More Than Words” is not appropriate for weddings either. It’s a dude telling his girlfriend that she’s history unless she has sex with him. Wow, you and I have very different interpretations of that song. I don’t think he’s giving a sex ultimatum, and I don’t think it’s in poor taste at all. But I do agree it might be in poor taste to play at a wedding, since the guy is clearly dissatisfied with his relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/155 "2019-06-02T03:52:03Z")
> [@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. There’s no other reasonable interpretation of this. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/156 "2019-06-02T07:42:43Z")
> [@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. My interpretation exactly. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2019, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/157 "2019-06-02T08:29:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Exactly. > > On some TV crime show, a guy was describing the appeal of a certain gay bar: It had two guys for every guy. That was Lenny Briscoe on\* Law & Order\*: " Two boys for every… boy." I recently picked up a “ZZ Top Greatest Hits” album. They kind of peaked in the 1970s and I was reminded why they never appeared on _the Mike Douglas Show_: LaGrange (a legendary Texas brothel) Pearl Necklace (Porn term that goes way back, apparently) Tube Steak Boogie ("Nuff said) Tush (Ditto) And many more! “We’re a American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad. “Sweet sweet Connie performed her act/Before the whole show and tht’s a natural fact.” The video is a total sausage fest, four dudes hanging around without their shirts, a lot. They sing about banging every groupie on the road, but no girls are in view. ---
**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 2, 2019, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/158 "2019-06-02T10:10:17Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Extreme’s “More Than Words” is not appropriate for weddings either. It’s a dude telling his girlfriend that she’s history unless she has sex with him. > [@Wisp00](#): > > Wow, you and I have very different interpretations of that song. I don’t think he’s giving a sex ultimatum, and I don’t think it’s in poor taste at all. But I do agree it might be in poor taste to play at a wedding, since the guy is clearly dissatisfied with his relationship. Nope, neither. No demand for sex, no statement of dissatisfaction. It’s a statement that people need to demonstrate love by doing more than just saying the words. [From Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Than_Words#Content): The song is a ballad in which the singer wants his lover to do more to prove her love other than saying the phrase “I love you.” Bettencourt described it as a warning that the phrase was becoming meaningless: “People use it so easily and so lightly that they think you can say that and fix everything, or you can say that and everything’s OK. Sometimes you have to do more and you have to show it—there’s other ways to say ‘I love you.’”[[cite](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DjBDAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Uq0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2983,3179561&dq=extreme+pornographitti&hl=en)] ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/159 "2019-06-02T19:11:52Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > That was Lenny Briscoe on\* Law & Order\*: " Two boys for every… boy." It sounds like him, but I wasn’t sure. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784/160 "2019-06-02T19:44:03Z")
What about the Rolling Stones’ “Stray Cat Blues?” “I can see that you’re fifteen years old/ No I don’t want your I.D.” Then it has an invitation for a _menage a trois_ at the end. Best jailbait song ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-in-bad-taste/834784.md?page=9)