# Let's talk about your favorite "upbeat" song that is actually quite fucked up **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306 "2009-12-15T03:12:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/21 "2009-12-15T17:29:56Z")
**Luka** by Suzanne Vega has a pretty upbeat sound, but is about child abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Intercourse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Textual\_Intercourse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Intercourse)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/22 "2009-12-15T17:46:56Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > "Excitable Boy’ is extremely upbeat sounding and dancable in beat and it was the song I came in here to post - I remember hearing it at my high school dance and thinking “they obviously never listened to the lyrics”. The penultimate verse is about the “excitable boy” raping and murdering a girl after taking her to the “junior prom”. Perhaps the fact that said boy was excited offsets the whole raping and murdering thing thus negating this particular song as a candidate. Or perhaps not… ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/23 "2009-12-15T17:49:29Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Miss Gale Garnett, performing “We’ll Sing In The Sunshine”. For some reason, when I hear this, I picture a Pixar Studios almost-real world, of sunflowers and split rail fences and a cute little farm in the country. There’s gingham and denim involved. … Year’s gone by? Gotta split, bye now! I’d never heard of this song until just now. I did a quick listen online, and I gotta say, I stopped paying attention to the lyrics and found myself tapping my foot, and enjoying listening to the word “sunshine.” So I guess that means you’re right! > [@Malthus](#): > > "Excitable Boy’ is extremely upbeat sounding and dancable in beat and it was the song I came in here to post - I remember hearing it at my high school dance and thinking “they obviously never listened to the lyrics”. The penultimate verse is about the “excitable boy” raping and murdering a girl after taking her to the “junior prom”. You know, another song that gives me a “Did you listen to the lyrics?” moment is “Imagine.” Back when my parents still forced me to go to church, the choir sang this. I thought, “Huh?” > [@Markxxx](#): > > Andrew Gold had a top ten hit with the song “Lonely Boy,” which is some messed up song from pretty much all angles. > > It is an upbeat song about a boy who’s life is all messed up because \ his parents had another baby Man, I can think of four people I know who should be _pissed_ at me. > [@joebuck20](#): > > **Luka** by Suzanne Vega has a pretty upbeat sound, but is about child abuse. When I first heard this song, I was a kiddo (the user name is a bit misleading) and I remember liking it because Luka seemed like such a nice lady. I heard it again some years later and thought, “Hey, is this song… is this about…?” Yes. It is. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/24 "2009-12-15T17:55:55Z")
_Brown Sugar_ Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields Sold in a market down in New Orleans Scarred old slaver knows he’s doing alright Hear him with the women just around midnight ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/25 "2009-12-15T18:05:04Z")
“True Faith” by New Order. To the extent that it can be deciphered, it seems to be about drug addiction. Also, pretty much all the songs by The Boy Least Likely To. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/26 "2009-12-15T18:11:36Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > **Luka** by Suzanne Vega has a pretty upbeat sound, but is about child abuse. “What’s the Matter Here?” by 10,000 Maniacs has the same vibe, and theme. > [@Textual\_Intercourse](#): > > Perhaps the fact that said boy was excited offsets the whole raping and murdering thing thus negating this particular song as a candidate. > > Or perhaps not… Isn’t it for the excuse people use about their kid who shows signs of being a monster-- Oh, he’s just excitable. Like, she’s just high-strung. :: off to make a cage with some bones ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/27 "2009-12-15T18:14:46Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > You know, another song that gives me a “Did you listen to the lyrics?” moment is “Imagine.” Back when my parents still forced me to go to church, the choir sang this. I thought, “Huh?” This is tripping me out. Imagine is actually one of those songs that is so straight forward that he is practically just talking. Flat out, monotone. Telling you straight up that he is a godless heathen. I am cracking up that they sang that in church. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/28 "2009-12-15T18:18:14Z")
10,000 Maniacs also have that fun one about the person who can’t read, “Cherry Tree”. And the upbeat one about her partner who drinks too much “Don’t Talk”. 10,000 Maniacs may be the king of this kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/29 "2009-12-15T18:20:59Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > This is tripping me out. Imagine is actually one of those songs that is so straight forward that he is practically just talking. Flat out, monotone. Telling you straight up that he is a godless heathen. I am cracking up that they sang that in church. My mom reported that their pianist was playing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” before Mass one Sunday. I mean, there are Biblical references it is but yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/30 "2009-12-15T18:23:36Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > My mom reported that their pianist was playing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” before Mass one Sunday. I mean, there are Biblical references it is but yikes. Hallelujah is one of my favorite songs. I would be shocked to hear it in church. Well, I would be shocked to _be_ in church. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/31 "2009-12-15T18:40:43Z")
Shirley Ujest: > [@](#): > > Exhibit A: Thank God It’s Them Insteaaaaad of YOU. > > It is so much better that the poor people in Africa are starving than you. It’s certainly better for _you_, and you’re supposed to react to that notion by being moved to share your good fortune with those less fortunate. Or were you unaware that this song was written a fundraiser? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/32 "2009-12-15T19:00:42Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > This is tripping me out. Imagine is actually one of those songs that is so straight forward that he is practically just talking. Flat out, monotone. Telling you straight up that he is a godless heathen. I am cracking up that they sang that in church. My grandparents are Mennonite and I doubt my grandma (who grew up Amish) has heard any rock music ever. She has never danced in her life. I totally forget where we were when it happened, we heard the song “Imagine” and she said how much she liked the song because she’s heard it at church. Not sure if she heard it from her church’s choir or a visiting choir performance, but she’s heard it. And she likes it. I guess it’s not TOO bad, because Mennonites are pacifists so they would like to see a world living in peace. They’d be ok with no religion…well, no religion other than Mennonite 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/33 "2009-12-15T19:59:32Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > “True Faith” by New Order. To the extent that it can be deciphered, it seems to be about drug addiction. Apparently one of the lines made it pretty obvious, before it was changed. > **[Classic Tracks: New Order 'True Faith'](https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-new-order-true-faith)** > > Producer Stephen Hague took New Order into the studio with an ambitious brief: to write and record a single that would break the band in America. > [@](#): > > "As if by magic, we had nearly complete lyrics to two songs, although we made a couple of changes; the second verse of ‘True Faith’ goes, ‘When I was a very small boy, very small boys talked to me. Now that we’ve grown up together, they’re afraid of what they see.’ The original line that Barney brought in was ‘Now that we’ve grown up together, they’re all taking drugs with me.’ ‘Well,’ I thought, 'that’s quite cool, but… ’ By now, this song was sounding like it was maybe going to be the single, so I said ‘Do you think radio’s going to have a problem with that line?’ > > “The band’s manager, the late, great Rob Gretton, was around for all the sessions, and he said ‘Well, you know, it’s the culture, man. This drug reference is all around us.’ I knew what he meant but still felt there should be an alternate line, even if we did two versions. So we changed it, and once we had, everyone seemed happy to stick with it. Live, they’ve always used the drugs line, though.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/34 "2009-12-15T22:24:19Z")
**Wrong Way** by Sublime is a pretty messed up song that people smile while singing. _A Lap Dance is so much better when the Stripper is Crying_ by the Bloodhound Gang is obviously fucked up but it has a goofy Casio keyboard tune in the back that makes me happy. ---
**Author:** ![cgg419](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cgg419/32/2847_2.png) [@cgg419](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgg419)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/35 "2009-12-15T22:55:17Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > “Run for your Life” on the Beatles’ \*Rubber Soul \*album. Here we have a “wicked guy” who was “born with a jealous mind” threatening to kill his girl friend if she cheats on him or tries to leave. Upbeat, catchy tune with lyrics about a controlling, dominating, potentially violent creep. I understand John Lennon regretted having written it. Not to mention “Getting Better” > [@John Lennon](#): > > I used to be cruel to my woman > I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/36 "2009-12-15T23:17:18Z")
The Beatles’ “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is the one I always think of. _Bang bang Maxwell’s silver hammer came down upon her head. Bang bang Maxwell’s silver hammer made sure that she was dead._ ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/37 "2009-12-15T23:49:53Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > \*\* Do They Know Its Christmas\*\* is a very disturbing holiday song. > > **Exhibit A** : \* Thank God It’s Them Insteaaaaad of YOU\*. > > It is so much better that the poor people in Africa are starving than _you._ > > **Exhibit B** : _There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas._ > > Snowfall over the entire continent is ummmm..not happening. An area in South Africa has had snow once in a little over two decades. Not exactly a common occurence. > > **Exhibit C** : \*The greatest gift they’ll get this year is liiiiiiiiife \* > > So they can live to starve another year! How AWESOME! > > **Exhibit D** : _Do they know it’s Christmas time at allllllll?_ > > Well, since 40 % of [Africa is Muslim](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Africa), the real question is _do they care?_ It’s meant to disturb you. It’s not a holiday song; it’s a fundraising song. And besides, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure (who wrote it) freely admit that the lyrics are pretty awful because they had to write it fast, because they wanted to do something that would raise money **now.** I think they deserve a pass on this one. I will go a little further and focus on two of your pieces of evidence as well. Exhibit B is clearly a bit of figurative nonsense - Kilimanjaro is snow capped a lot of the year. Exhibit C, however - are you saying there’s no point ever giving to famine relief, because they’ll only die of starvation later anyway? Hmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/38 "2009-12-16T00:08:09Z")
[Steamhammer Sam - Intaferon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL9V19As2Ro) ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/39 "2009-12-16T00:09:50Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > “Artificial Flowers” is a quite fucked up song that people swing to. My lords, this song is about a girl whose parents died when she quite young, so she spent her entire life working tirelessly just to get by, and her entire life’s efforts, making artificial flowers, did nothing other than make enough money for her to get by… for rich people who gave not two shits about her. And then the girl died. “Fashioned from Annie’s despair.” What the hell? This is not an uplifting song. Why are people dancing to this? Artificial Flowers is a hilarious song and about ten people know why. Why is it funny? Because it’s a lie. So here’s the deal. It’s from a little-known musical called [Tenderloin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenderloin_(musical)), which is what the red light district in New York used to be called. The story is that there’s a do-gooder preacher who has come in to clean up the streets. The whores and grifters don’t want to be driven out of business, so they’re fighting back. Enter the hero, a sleazy yellow journalist who writes for the local rag. He’s got ambition and he thinks that if he can turn this little conflict into a major event, and cover it personally, he can write his own ticket. So he starts playing both sides against each other. Artificial Flowers(the original version is slow and dramatic) is his song to prove to the preacher how serious he is about how horrible life in the slums is and how he wants to change it. Now the audience knows he’s a liar and he’s conning the good preacher, so the more over-the-top the song gets the funnier it is, because it’s all bullshit. He’s wrapping the preacher and his group around his little finger with this sob story that he’s making up on the fly. Oh, and the “flowers for ladies of fashion to wear” doesn’t refer to rich people. Little Anne makes flowers for the whores to wear while they try to attract customers. I actually can’t hear that song without laughing, or at least grinning, and I sometimes sing it with the original cadence, which is more like a waltz, and it really throws the Darrin fans for a loop. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306/40 "2009-12-16T00:16:49Z")
Andrew Bird’s _Fake Palindromes_ is a catchy upbeat euphoric little ditty that, among other disturbing lines, ends with “I want to drill a tiny hooole…into your head!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-your-favorite-upbeat-song-that-is-actually-quite-fucked-up/521306.md?page=3)