# Love the music hate the lyrics (It has a good beat and the kids can dance to it.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130 "2013-09-06T00:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/42 "2013-09-11T01:33:07Z")
Prince has to be among the champions of this type of thing. I’m a huge fan, and his music’s mostly great, but if he’s ever written a good lyric I must have missed it. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/43 "2013-09-11T11:23:21Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > At least obscure/nonsensical lyrics allow a creative mind to come up with interpretations. > > What’s worse is really, really, really, obvious lyrics that say nearly nothing in the most trite manner possible. > > And of course bad lyrics with crappy music are just avoidable. > So, the worst are really obvious, trite lyrics with kick-ass music behind them, so you get sucked in by the music’s opening riff, then suddenly get bludgeoned with the painfully trite. > > So for me, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is the clear #1, by quite a lot. One of the top ten guitar parts in history, and lyrics that make me want to stab my own ears to never have to hear them again, and keep stabbing into my brain until all knowledge of them has been erased. Wow, couldn’t disagree more. I think Sweet Child of Mine’s lyrics are pretty good, at least for Guns n Roses. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/44 "2013-09-13T12:57:30Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Wow, couldn’t disagree more. I think Sweet Child of Mine’s lyrics are pretty good, at least for Guns n Roses. OK, so you’ve made your point…where do we go, now? Where do we go? Where do we go? Where do we go? Where do we go? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/45 "2013-09-13T15:01:22Z")
“Gangnam Style.” In the original Korean, an English speaker might get the idea he’s singing something political and satirical. But the translated lyrics are all “Baby, let’s make it, yeah!” ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/46 "2013-09-13T15:06:32Z")
Icona Pop - “I Love It”. “I got this feeling on a summer day when you were gone…” - hey, this song’s kind of catchy. “I crashed my car into the bridge. I watched, I let it burn…” - wait, what?! ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/47 "2013-09-13T15:36:59Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > OK, so you’ve made your point…where do we go, now? Where do we go? Where do we go? Where do we go? Where do we go? LOL - you’ve reminded me of a comment I read years and years ago, pointing out that the George Harrison Beatles song, “Blue Jay Way” ironically repeats the phrase “don’t be long” something like 43 times. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/48 "2013-09-13T16:08:55Z")
Sheryl Crow was on Colbert the other night and she was talking about her latest album, which is country. She said that in her opinion you can’t hide bad lyrics in country music like you can in rock. I’m sure that’s an exaggeration (I know little about country and I’m sure those who know more can certainly show examples of horrid lyrics in country songs) but it definitely is true that there’s a lot of crap lyrics in rock music. Makes me appreciate Rush all the more. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/49 "2013-09-13T17:13:23Z")
Going back to Blurred Lines in the OP - the song that it immediately reminded me of was Bowie’s _TVC-15._ Not so much the music, but the odd cadence it’s sung in. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/50 "2013-09-13T20:16:53Z")
“Run For Your Life” by The Beatles comes to mind. A nice little upbeat song about murder. _I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man You’d better keep your head, little girl, or you won’t know where I am You’d better run for your life if you can, little girl Hide your head in the sand, little girl I catch you with another man, that’s the end Little girl_ In a related note, my sister hates “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” so much that it wakes her up out of a sound sleep. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/51 "2013-09-14T00:48:43Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > OK, so you’ve made your point…where do we go, now? Where do we go? Where do we go? Where do we go? Where do we go? That part wasn’t the best, but I think it worked in the song. But the verses were pretty good. I love the line “She got eyes of the bluest skies as if they thought of rain.” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/52 "2013-09-14T07:09:33Z")
“Every Hungry Woman” by the Allman Brothers is one of their classic driving bluesy power ballads, but the lyrics are some guy taunting a woman who’s been driven to prostitution by poverty and having lots of kids. Sick stuff, really, all the more so for its totally conscience-free hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/53 "2013-09-14T07:54:44Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > That part wasn’t the best, but I think it worked in the song. But the verses were pretty good. I love the line “She got eyes of the bluest skies as if they thought of rain.” I thought that the song was t_otally awesome_, but, I think that the repetition made it akin to putting the Mona Lisa on display at a McDonald’s. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/54 "2013-09-14T15:49:38Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Don’t be alarmed now…it’s just a spring clean for the May queen. Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/55 "2013-09-14T15:59:29Z")
To pick another current example, the lyrics to the song “Cups” are kind of nonsensical but I still like listening to it. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/56 "2013-09-15T17:13:20Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Going back to Blurred Lines in the OP - the song that it immediately reminded me of was Bowie’s _TVC-15._ Not so much the music, but the odd cadence it’s sung in. Thank you. I thought I was the only person in the world who had noticed this. In the odd lyrics department, Capital Cities’ current bouncy hit “Safe and Sound” includes the couplet “Even if we’re six feet underground / I know that we’ll be safe and sound” which makes me think this should be a Grateful Dead tune. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/57 "2013-09-16T02:32:00Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Pretty much every song ever song by\* America\*, especially, > “… I been to the desert on a horse with no name. > It felt good to be out of the rain. > In the desert you can remember your name, > 'Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.” > > Wha… ? Me, I’m no fan of the _music_ in that song, either. A good portion of it is the same two or three notes over and over again. (I dig the “la-la-la” part, though.) I’m reminded of something a stand-up comedian once said about “A Horse With No Name”. “You’re in the middle of the desert. You’ve got nothing else to do. NAME THE DAMN HORSE!” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/58 "2013-09-16T02:39:24Z")
Another song that comes to mind, because I heard it while walking at the mall today: .38 Special’s “Second Chance.” It’s not a love song either. You messed up, and she’s gone. Get over it. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130/59 "2013-09-16T04:04:52Z")
Bob Dylan’s 1979 album _Slow Train Coming_ was renowned for being musically awesome, if you could only shut out the lyrics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-the-music-hate-the-lyrics-it-has-a-good-beat-and-the-kids-can-dance-to-it/668130.md?page=2)