# Literal complaints at lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371 "2019-01-07T21:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/101 "2019-01-11T01:33:31Z")
The Best Is Yet To Come _Out of the tree of life I just picked me a plum_ Plums don’t grow IN trees; they grow ON trees. So it should be “OFF of the tree of life I just picked me a plum.” Also: Come Fly With Me (verse 2) _Come fly with me, we’ll float down to Peru In llama-land there’s a one-man band_ Not really a problem with the lyrics so much as with everybody’s pronunciation of “llama.” If they want to pronounce it “lama,” then the lyrics should be _Come fly with me, will float down to Tibet In lama-land there’s a one-man band With a tune you won’t forget Come fly with me, we’ll take my private jet._ (both the song and business jets were introduced in 1957) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/102 "2019-01-11T01:38:12Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Kill himself, as the music had died and life wasn’t worth living anymore. “This’ll be the day that I die”. Heh. When I sing that one at Karaoke, I end the song with _And good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye, “Singin’ that’ll be the day-ay-ay – that I die.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/103 "2019-01-11T07:48:13Z")
“I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He’s gotta be strong And he’s gotta be fast And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight” Bonnie, Bonnie… I get it - you probably went out with some real scuzzie douches and want to move up a bit in the chain. I get it, but - whoa, wait…wait a second here…what, lo and behold!..what’s this?: …these amazing verses I was unaware of (having been subliminally muzak-indoctrinated only by the aforemetioned chorus) that seem to further illuminate a sort of Frazetta-fantasy inspired palette of Nicksian Bonnie-ness: "Somewhere after midnight In my wildest fantasy Somewhere just beyond my reach There’s someone reaching back for me Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat It’s gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet \ “Up where the mountains meet the heavens above Out where the lightning splits the sea I could swear there is someone, somewhere Watching me Through the wind, and the chill, and the rain And the storm, and the flood I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/104 "2019-01-12T00:48:53Z")
Sure, G’NR is quite the sitting duck, but COME, _ON_… “Take me down to the paradise city Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty Take me home (oh won’t you please take me home)” Right - definitely don’t wanna go where the girls are…:eek:ugly:eek: I mean - it’s called “Paradise City”, not “Dog City”, amirite? I can only imagine back in the day, young girls hearing that and rolling their eyes, especially at their dumb male counterparts getting brainwashed by it. ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/105 "2019-01-12T01:32:21Z")
King Missile - “Jesus Was Way Cool” “He walked on the water And swam on the land” “But then some people got jealous of how cool he was So they killed him” Duuuuuuuuuude. Bringing up a band like King Missile could open the floodgates. Most of the rest of the lyrics though are reasonable or hypothetical things Jesus could have done. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/106 "2019-01-12T19:19:14Z")
Apparently the singer of _Land Down Under_ thinks Australians speak another language. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/107 "2019-01-12T20:08:03Z")
INXS - “Never Tear Us Apart” “We could live For a thousand years But if I hurt you I’d make wine from your tears.” You’d make wine from someone’s tears? What the hell’s wrong with you? ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/108 "2019-01-12T20:11:13Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > A ‘69 Chevy with a 396 small block would be highly unlikely. Sure, you could bore and stroke a small block to whatever size you could afford, but how many owners do you think did so, and to that particular displacement? It only takes one, Springsteen’s character in the song. 🙂 I remember this being brought up in a review of the album when it came out, ca 1978. The point being made in that review was that Springsteen’s California/Western/prairie characters were more completely from his imagination than his NJ/NY characters. The real answer is pretty clearly that he just liked the way the lyric sounded as ‘69 Chevy with a 396, fuelie heads…’, better than the original ‘32 Ford she’s a 383…’, (which would check out, ‘stroker’ kit for the small block on that car=383 cu in). There’s supposedly audio of that still around. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/109 "2019-01-12T20:33:06Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Apparently the singer of _Land Down Under_ thinks Australians speak another language. No. The question was asked of a man in Brussels. “Buying bread from a man in Brussels He was six-foot-four and full of muscles I said, “do you speak-a my language?” He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich” ---
**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:** [January 13, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/110 "2019-01-13T01:59:55Z")
I’m listening to the Black Crowes’ _Amorica_, [Nonfiction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M68KaElVDo) comes up and I’m reminded of this thread. What always gave me an uneasy incest vibe were the following lines: And if we had a child I’d like a son, Not a daughter 'Cause she’d be just like you You know that would not do Maybe I’m overthinking it, but what else could Chris Robinson have meant than “I would lust for her like I do for you, so that would not do”? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/111 "2019-01-13T08:45:53Z")
“All I want to do, is to, to be hap-py.” aw _Geeooooorrrrrrgge_. Such an objective is really all around swell. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/112 "2019-01-13T10:09:49Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Sure, G’NR is quite the sitting duck, but COME, _ON_… > > “Take me down to the paradise city > Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty > Take me home (oh won’t you please take me home)” > > Right - definitely don’t wanna go where the girls are…:eek:ugly:eek: > > I mean - it’s called “Paradise City”, not “Dog City”, amirite? > > I can only imagine back in the day, young girls hearing that and rolling their eyes, especially at their dumb male counterparts getting brainwashed by it. Take me down to the Paradise Metro where the grass is fake 'cause the girls are retro. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/113 "2019-01-13T12:36:21Z")
_Eleanor Rigby_ by some guitar group: _Waits at the window, wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door._ So she’s so lonely, apparently she murdered someone just to have their face. And she _wears_ it! That’s straight up Ed Gein territory. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/114 "2019-01-14T14:17:46Z")
That refers to make-up. She’s all gussied up, wearing make-up as she stands at the window waiting for nobody who is going to show up. I love that line. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/115 "2019-01-14T15:43:25Z")
"Try to see it my way, Do I have to keep on talking till I can’t go on? While you see it your way, Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone. … “Think of what you’re saying. You can get it wrong and still you think that it’s alright. Think of what I’m saying, We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night.” Paul - I think you’re getting just a little passive-aggressive, here, with the my-way-or-the-highway thing. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/116 "2019-01-14T15:51:44Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Take me down to the Paradise Metro > > where the grass is fake 'cause the girls are retro. I’m gonna start singing this version! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/117 "2019-01-14T16:41:54Z")
Even more options, courtesy of XKCD. > **[Paradise City](https://xkcd.com/805/)** > > Take me down to the paradise municipality / where the grass is mauve and the girls aren't fromthisreality. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/118 "2019-01-14T17:14:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > That refers to make-up. She’s all gussied up, wearing make-up as she stands at the window waiting for nobody who is going to show up. > > I love that line. Huh, I always thought the jar was full of some kind of narcotic ‘house wife happy pills’. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/119 "2019-01-14T21:40:32Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > On another note, I think that freely admitting that you shot the sheriff is not the greatest defense strategy. And if you didn’t shoot the deputy, who are you saying did it? A second shooter on the grassy knoll? I’ve thought about this, and have come to the conclusion that the sheriff shot the deputy. The sheriff was corrupt and trying to plant evidence. The deputy was an honest cop who threatened to expose him, so the sheriff killed him … and then tried to pin it on our hero, who then shot the sheriff. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/120 "2019-01-14T22:41:53Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No. The question was asked of a man in Brussels. > > “Buying bread from a man in Brussels > He was six-foot-four and full of muscles > I said, “do you speak-a my language?” > He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich” In case it isn’t well known, the point of the song is the singer keeps going farther and farther away from Australia, but wherever he goes, there’s another person from Oz already there. “Do you come from the land down under?” (me, too!) Not entirely unlike John Jacob Jingelheimer Smith. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371.md?page=7)