# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/161 "2019-01-31T06:15:31Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > More YES: > > “In and around the lake > Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there” > > Well, what the hell else are mountains going to do?? Twenty-four before my love, and I see you! (I’ve always loved that song, BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/162 "2019-01-31T06:35:41Z")
Ca. 1990, SNL had a TV ad parody (couldn’t find a link) for an album called “Beatles Songs You Sort Of Know The Words To.” Some people I worked with and I proposed a comparable album called “R.E.M. Songs You Sort Of Know The Words To” (specifically regarding their early stuff) but agreed that it would probably be more like this, especially the one with all the question marks. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/T0epZ9tjYdA/hqdefault.jpg "Best of Buh Wheat") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0epZ9tjYdA) ---
**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 31, 2019, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/163 "2019-01-31T06:39:54Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > heh - quite missed edit window > > I would gather burning out would be the same as being strung out, and basically spent from the whole experience, in a deleterious way, as opposed to fading away, which, sure, is a loss in popularity, but simply the end of a chapter that at least doesn’t involve being strung out, per se. That’s about the best I can glean from this, so I’m curious what your (KayT) take is. Burn out: Joplin Morrison Moon Hendrix Fade Away: Jagger Richards McCartney Waters Gilmour You dig? ---
**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 31, 2019, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/164 "2019-01-31T06:45:11Z")
Yeah, I was cottoning on to that. I figure Johnny Rotten, in Niel’s tune, would go under the “fade away” heading, although one could posit that PIL was a perfectly robust enterprise for some time. ---
**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 31, 2019, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/165 "2019-01-31T06:52:06Z")
It’s Neil. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/166 "2019-01-31T13:24:58Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > heh - quite missed edit window > > I would gather burning out would be the same as being strung out, and basically spent from the whole experience, in a deleterious way, as opposed to fading away, which, sure, is a loss in popularity, but simply the end of a chapter that at least doesn’t involve being strung out, per se. That’s about the best I can glean from this, so I’m curious what your (KayT) take is. To me, burning out is having a wonderful time in whatever way is wonderful to you and then dying. Fading away is sitting in the old folks home rocking slowly and wondering what the hell is good about living so long. I choose column A. Personally I like Neil’s other line more (better to burn out than it is to rust) mostly for the sound of it, but it’s the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/167 "2019-01-31T15:02:52Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Fade Away: > Jagger > Richards > McCartney > Waters > Gilmour All of those are still touring, recording, and are hugely successful. They are probably the worst examples of fading away you could have come up with. There are plenty of people out there who haven’t released a record for decades, who are playing hit songs they despise to (small) crowds who are indifferent to most of them - they are the ones who have faded away. Chuck Berry for the last half of his life would be a pretty good example. ---
**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 31, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/168 "2019-01-31T18:02:19Z")
I always got a skeevy impression from Judas Priest’s “Take On the World”. Sure, Halford wrote it as a stadium-chant rival to “We Are the Champions”, but: “Put yourself in our hands so our voices can be heard And together we will take on all the world Put yourself in our hands so our voices can be heard And together we will take on all the world” Came across to me as a rallying-cry to summon all his Aryan catamites together for world domination. “Move a little nearer you know you gotta follow your leaders As we need you like you need us for sure We’re gonna drive you we’re gonna ride you we’re gonna get right inside you:p And if you wanna keep going just shout out for more!” Yeah, Rob, I’m sure you felt the force, writing that, you turbo lover, you. ---
**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 31, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/169 "2019-01-31T18:05:12Z")
Sting’s Every Breath You Take is often considered a love song, and played at weddings. Though it is one of the songs about stalking ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/170 "2019-01-31T18:06:15Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Though it is one of the songs about stalking ever written. It truly is one of them. ---
**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 31, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/171 "2019-01-31T21:14:37Z")
“They call me Mellow Yellow.” That isn’t your name Donovan, stop doing drugs. ---
**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 31, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/172 "2019-01-31T21:17:33Z")
“You’re eyes without a face.” Yes, Wiliiam thinks you’re nothing but a pair of eyeballs. Na-ha. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/173 "2019-01-31T21:23:46Z")
Anna (Arthur Alexander, covered by The Beatles) _Anna, You come and ask me, girl, To set you free, girl, **You say he loves you more than me** , So I will set you free…_ You say he loves you more than he loves me, so I will set you free?? ---
**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 31, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/174 "2019-01-31T22:50:38Z")
“One thing I do have on my mind, if you can clarify please do It’s the way you call me by another guy’s name when I try to make love to you, yeah” At first, I had a mondegreen, here, with “by another guy’s name” - for some reason, up until, oh, ten minutes ago, I had always thought it was “by my last name”, and I was gonna post something along the lines of “So - is she sarcastically goin - ‘Oh, Plant, you’re _so big_ (roll eyes)’, or something?” Now I know what that lyric actually is, I can still point out, though, that the content, itself, is still kinda on the nasty side, especially if this was an intentional habit of hers. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/175 "2019-02-01T02:20:59Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > There are plenty of people out there who haven’t released a record for decades, who are playing hit songs they despise to (small) crowds who are indifferent to most of them - they are the ones who have faded away. Chuck Berry for the last half of his life would be a pretty good example. Much as I’ve loved Blue Oyster Cult, I suspect they’re a much better example. Their last album was around 2001, the last album anyone actually cared about was 1988. I last saw them over a decade ago, and it was small clubs even then, yet they still have tour dates in 2019. I’ve heard reports that there are songs they no longer do because Eric Bloom can no longer hit the notes. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/176 "2019-02-01T04:32:59Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Yeah, I was cottoning on to that. I figure Johnny Rotten, in Niel’s tune, would go under the “fade away” heading, although one could posit that PIL was a perfectly robust enterprise for some time. The Sex Pistols had just broken up when “Hey, Hey, My, My” was a minor hit (the live version, that is) and who would have thought anyone would remember Johnny Rotten in 40 years, let alone that he would still be a public figure? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/177 "2019-02-01T15:52:01Z")
Another Yes lyric, from Love Will Find a Way… _Here is my heart Waiting for you Here is my soul I eat at chez nous_ What the eff does the last line have to do with this love talk? Why did you have change course and go all pretentious about some hipster cafe? If you wanted a word to rhyme with “you,” there’s “I have to go poo.” It’s just as relevant. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/178 "2019-02-03T18:15:03Z")
Picking on Rob again - “And I’m singing all my songs to the girl that won my heart. She is only three years and it’s a real fine way to start.” Yeah yeah I get it that he’s singing about his daughter. Still, though - on the face of it? Yeah, still kinda _ew_. Kinda like the dumb annoying album cover. “I want a new drug, one that won’t make me sick One that won’t make me crash my car Or **make me feel, three feet thick** ” (my bold) Um, Hubert, where can I get some of this shit? ---
**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:** [February 4, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/179 "2019-02-04T18:28:14Z")
ok, picking on Niel again (or Steve?) (David?) "Almost cut my hair Happened just the other day It’s gettin’ kind of long I could’ve said it was in my way But I didn’t and I wonder why" Yes, I know, these decisions in life can leave one in a tizzy. Hey - I _almost_ cleaned out my ears just the other day, myself! ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/180 "2019-02-04T18:42:36Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > ok, picking on Niel again (or Steve?) (David?) > > "Almost cut my hair > Happened just the other day > It’s gettin’ kind of long > I could’ve said it was in my way > > But I didn’t and I wonder why" > Yes, I know, these decisions in life can leave one in a tizzy. > Hey - I _almost_ cleaned out my ears just the other day, myself! David Crosby, there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371.md?page=10)