*Folsom.
And I’m more offended by people who cover the song but tweak the lyrics. I won’t even give individual credit, but there are a few covers that use “They say I shot a man in Reno; but that was just a lie”. Don’t like the song? Well, don’t cover it.
Murder ballads? They’ve been around for centuries, about someone who needed killin’, or was killed. Off the top of my head, ‘Delia’s Gone’, ‘Daemon Lover’, ‘The Knoxville Girl’, ‘The Long Black Veil’, and ‘Mack the Knife’
My research says different.
How is that date rape? That’s a date, a seduction.
Take This Job and Shove It, Johnny Paycheck. Charted #1
Everyone gets frustrated with their job. Expressing that venom in a song is over the top. Especially with violence at the workplace a modern reality.
Seriously?
When someone says “who you gonna believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?” I never thought anyone actually believed their own eyes (or in this case, ears) were lying.
Threatening to quit a job is a far cry from threatening violence. The closest he comes to the latter is in the lines,
I just don’t see this as being in bad taste at all.
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.
My then-12 y.o. wife thought it was a fun song about fireworks. Who doesn’t like fireworks?
I, too, don’t get the hate for “Afternoon Delight”. Good harmonies, nice beat, and cheerful lyrics that to me are not in bad taste at all; it’s obvious the narrators are singing the praises of happy, joyful, consensual sex.
Fun little trivia fact - Starland Vocal Band had a short-lived musical variety show. For the presenter and emcee, they chose an up and coming young comedian named…
David Letterman.
The Andrews Sisters sang “workin” on their hit recording. The lyrics to the original song by Lord Invader is “workin”. They modified lyrics that Morey Amsterdam (yes, that Morey Amsterdam!) plagiarized are “workin”.
Andrews Sisters version
Lord Invader version
There appears to be a version recorded by Hot Chip that changed the lyrics to “singing” but I can’t find a recording of it and it’s clearly not the original lyrics.
ETA - Ninja’d, but I’m posting anyway
Which reminds me, no Jerry Lee Lewis contenders?
“I Want My Baby Back” was a quite clever, if a bit over the top, parody of the dead-lover-tear-jerker genre that was popular at the time. It made fun of hits like "Tell Laura I Lover Her, “Where Can My Baby Be”(the original, not Pear Jam’s cover), and “Leader of the Pack”. I am glad to find out that it actually charted. I got introduced to it through Doctor Demento.
It may be somewhat obscure at this point, but in 1972 the Fort Worth Texas group Bloodrock had the top-40 hit “D.O.A.” It describes the grizzly aftermath of a plane crash in sickening detail as told from the perspective of a dying man. On the strength of that single, its source album, Bloodrock 2, went gold. Pity they could not continue their success. They were a good group and they made several albums worth hearing.
The Rake’s Song
–The Decemberists
#5 on Billboard
If you dislike that one, your certain to not like “Baby Talks Dirty” from the same album.
Was far less a reality 38 years ago when the song came out though.
And in reading the full lyrics the only things he threatens to do is quit the job.
But I suspect this post was meant as a joke.
Because according to some, with truly twisted standards, if persuasion is employed than the woman is being manipulated and is not truly consenting.
“Norwegian Wood” is more subtle, but almost as sinister.
Of course, I meant Pearl Jam. God I hate auto-correct!
Yep, that one’s so common it doesn’t even register for me. And across genres. “Two Black Cadillacs” being a more recent country example. But I could probably name 10 without having to look too hard.