Not just that album…‘bad taste’ is kind of their thing. It was never a single, so it couldn’t be a hit (although the album was, so it kinda counts?), but A Lap Dance is So Much Better When the Stripper is Crying is hard to beat for blatant bad taste.
Goodbye Earl by The Dixie Chicks is about a woman killing her abusive husband.
So wrong on both sides.
Maria Muldar’s Midnight At The Oasis
I’m missing the bad taste I think. It appears to be a simple song of seduction.
I know your Daddy’s a sultan
A nomad known to all
With fifty girls to attend him
They all send him
Jump at his beck and call
That’s not offensive? And talking about camels in a sex song?
I think it’s stretching it to call a pastiche of Arabian “exotica” offensive…I always loved that song, the breezy beat and lilting vocals are catchy as hell. However the thing that annoys me about it is the line “cactus is our friend.” First of all, a cactus won’t be found in an Arabian desert with camels and sultans and shit, that plant only exists in the Americas. Second, “cactus is our friend” is just a stupid-ass line. If it only showed up once in the song, it would be excusable, but she says it over and over again throughout the song.
Not really, no.
Again, not really. The song is set in a desert oasis. It’s like talking about cars in a song set in New Jersey.
Apologies if I missed this being mentioned earlier, but one of the first “bad taste” hits I thought of when seeing this thread (and Mrs. J. concurred) is “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!” by Napoleon XIV, a hilarious sendup of mental illness.
Goes well with this Fuzztones classic.*
*improved immeasurably by having Spanish subtitles.
This song(and a few others mention in this thread) was never a hit. There is a lot of crap that is in bad taste out there…but I’m looking for the stuff that floated to the top.
Yeah, bad behavior by the subjects of the song don’t necessarily make the song in bad taste. Bad taste doesn’t mean illegal or immoral necessarily. Farts and poops are bad taste.
I wouldn’t be embarrassed to listen to say Folsom Prison or even Sex Pistols singing God Save the Queen with my grandmother. Most of say Sublime or Bloodhound Gang, Granny would ask “what does that mean?” I wouldn’t be comfortable explaining oral sex to my grandmother. That’s sort of my bad taste line.
Well if the criterion is “Songs I don’t want to listen to the Gramdma” (May they RIP), then I’d put “You Oughta Know” and “Crazy Bitch” near the top of the list.
The Cover of the Rolling Stone mentions pills and " little teenage blue eyed groupies/Who do anything we say." And just how did Cocaine Katy get her nickname?
Obviously, then to fit in with the other recommendations here, I nominate Louie Louie by the Kingsmen.
*Another factor in the success of the record may have been the rumor that the lyrics were intentionally slurred by the Kingsmen—to cover up the alleged fact that the lyrics were laced with profanity, graphically depicting sex between the sailor and his lady. Crumpled pieces of paper professing to be “the real lyrics” to “Louie Louie” circulated among teens. The song was banned on many radio stations and in many places in the United States, including Indiana, where it was personally prohibited by Governor Matthew Welsh.[30][31][32][33]
These actions were taken despite the small matter that practically no one could distinguish the actual lyrics. Denials of chicanery by Kingsmen and Ely did not stop the controversy. The FBI started a 31-month investigation into the matter and concluded they were “unable to interpret any of the wording in the record.”[3] Ironically, however, drummer Lynn Easton later admitted that he yelled “Fuck” after fumbling a drumstick at 0:54 on the record.[20][34][35]*
Lyrics dont have to be “obscene” to be in “bad taste”, and I cited that they werent obscene already.
How about Run To You by Bryan Adams? A love song to a guy’s homewrecker skank mistress. 
Me and Mrs. Jones is kind of similar but nowhere near as sleazy sounding.
Just providing the link, dude. It gives a lot of interesting info. I remember the rumors myself. The lyrics sung at drunken frat parties made as much sense as the record version. No one ever heard the same thing twice was my take at the time.
Who the fuck are you, and look I’ll pay you for it, what the fu… * were much easier to actually hear
*Van Halen - Everybody Want Some
.
Mary MacGregor:
“Torn between two lovers, feelin’ like a fool
Lovin’ both of you is breakin’ all the rules
Torn between two lovers, feelin’ like a fool
Lovin’ you both is breakin’ all the rules.”
Ya think?
“They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” made it to #3 on the singles chart.
#3 on Billboard’s Hot List? I apologize-I didn’t know it was that popular.