# lyrics that don't sound right/make you cringe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831 "2003-05-17T03:48:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/181 "2003-05-27T16:11:53Z")
“Drops Of Jupiter” and now “Calling All Angels”, as I mentioned, several pages back in this thread are my evidence that Train is trying to turn into Collective Soul. Earnest, sappy, overproduced adult contemporary radio fodder with more strings laid on than a 1960s Jim Reeves-style “Nashville Sound” country song. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/182 "2003-05-27T17:04:54Z")
“Like a dog without a bone An actor out on loan” from \*Riders on the Storm \* by The Doors. WTF? I like the song but you’ll never convince me Jim Morrison was a poet. Just about any lyrics written by Steve Miller sound ridiculous to me but the line “My situation goes round and round” from _Abracadabra_ is another WTF. So is Mr. Miller a dizzy situationist? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/183 "2003-05-27T18:04:37Z")
It’s “An actor out alone.” Not the deepest thing ever, but it makes sense. That sounds like something from one of those ‘misheard lyrics’ sites. This one makes me nuts: “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes/ It’s getting hot in here, so I’m gonna take my clothes off.” Come ON, man! You’re making millions of dollars- would it kill you to rhyme just once? Or at least be less redundant? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/184 "2003-05-27T20:38:14Z")
Just listening to one of my all-time favourite albums, the Trash Can Sinatras’ _Cake_. Their songwriting was amazingly clever, and there are **so** many little lyrical gems on this record, the following verse is all the more shocking: “She’s a funny kind of girl Set ship on a sail in a bottle She’s a funny kind of girl _And do the Swiss fake it when they yodel?_” :eek: ANYTHING would have been better than that, lads. ANYTHING. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/185 "2003-05-27T22:18:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diceman \* > \*\*“Turn The Page.” I don’t remember who sings it. You hear it on classic rock stations, and I think Metallica covered it. The first verse ends with the line “You think about the woman or the girl you knew the night before.” The woman _or the girl_??? Um, wouldn’t that be statutory rape? > \*\* Bob Seger, as someone has already said. It’s two lines: You can think about the woman [pause] Or the girl you knew the night before “The Woman” you left behind at home, taking care of the kids. Your wife or significant other. “The Girl” groupie that you took back to the hotel room for some cheap/easy comfort. _Really, officer, they all swore they were 18. I had no idea!_ You can think about one OR the other, but if you think about both you’ll be in trouble with yourself, 'cause you know you done her wrong. And to support **NDP** (who may or may not want any support 🙂 You durn kids don’t know what it was like to be a musician on the road in the '70s in Nebraska or Texas and to walk into some cheap joint for a bite on the way from here to there and hear the muttered and sometimes not-so-muttered remarks about your hair length. It was frightening on more than one occasion, trust me. I’m not defending the lyrics all that much, but the song sure grabs those of us it was meant for. I’ll listen to the radio on the way home this evening and have a contribution that is in line with the OP tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/186 "2003-05-27T22:53:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoCoolUserName \* > \*\*Bob Seger, as someone has already said. It’s two lines: > > You can think about the woman [pause] > Or the girl you knew the night before > > “The Woman” you left behind at home, taking care of the kids. Your wife or significant other. > > “The Girl” groupie that you took back to the hotel room for some cheap/easy comfort. _Really, officer, they all swore they were 18. I had no idea!_ > > \*\* If that were true, wouldn’t it be “your woman, or the girl you knew the night before”? Julie ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/187 "2003-05-28T00:24:33Z")
I can’t believe we made it this far without seeing this gem from Mick Jagger and the boys: “_She blew my nose and then she blew my mind_” Altogether now… “EEWWWWWWWWWWW” ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/188 "2003-05-28T02:31:40Z")
> [@](#): > > You can think about the woman [pause] > Or the girl you knew the night before > > “The Woman” you left behind at home, taking care of the kids. Your wife or significant other. > > “The Girl” groupie that you took back to the hotel room for some cheap/easy comfort. _Really, officer, they all swore they were 18. I had no idea!_ > > You can think about one OR the other, but if you think about both you’ll be in trouble with yourself, 'cause you know you done her wrong. Ah, now it makes sense 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/189 "2003-05-28T03:01:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xizor \* > \*\*I can’t believe we made it this far without seeing this gem from Mick Jagger and the boys: > > “_She blew my nose and then she blew my mind_” > > Altogether now… “EEWWWWWWWWWWW” \*\* She didn’t really blow his nose. She just gave him a few lines of coke 🙂 Jon ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/190 "2003-05-29T20:28:28Z")
“Ventura Highway” by AMERICA '‘Cause the free wind is blowin’ through your hair And the days surround your daylight there Seasons crying no despair Alligator lizards in the air, in the air" Quite possibly the most ridiculous song ever written. (that was a hit) ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/191 "2003-05-30T18:10:01Z")
> [@](#): > > And then for the sadly ungrammatical:… > > Brang? I _love_ this song, and you had to screw it up by _brang_?! Brought! Songs she brought to you! Grr! Brought? _Songs she sangtumee, Songs she BROT tumee, Words that ranginme…_ You prefer words that clunked instead? The word’s grammatical(ly correct); it’s the wrong declension, which sounds more right than the “right” declension. Kumonn, BRAWT would fall off and go _thunk_ on the floor. It’s supposed to lead right into “warm the night.” What other word works in the context and contains _–ang_? Here is one more from “Play Me” and two grammatically **in** correct: _Rhyme that sprang from me warm the night, Tell me what was right tuh kay meee_… Tell me, what was the word? _What if God **was** one of us? Faaa guuuut! But do you hate him? 'Cause he_\*'s pieces\*\* of you.\* **HIJACK** I dislike people’s use of _there’s_ with a plural noun. There’s no gun’s in your hand’s. There’s one’s in my hand’s. ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/192 "2003-05-30T18:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > And then for the sadly ungrammatical:… > > Brang? I _love_ this song, and you had to screw it up by _brang_?! Brought! Songs she brought to you! Grr! Brought? _Songs she sangtumee, Songs she BROT tumee, Words that ranginme…_ You prefer words that clunked instead? The word’s grammatical(ly correct); it’s the wrong declension, which sounds more right than the “right” declension. Kumonn, BRAWT would fall off and go _thunk_ on the floor. It’s supposed to lead right into “warm the night.” What other word works in the context and contains _–ang_? Here is one more from “Play Me” and two grammatically **in** correct: _Rhyme that sprang from me warm the night, Tell me what was right tuh kay meee_… Tell me, what was the word? _What if God **was** one of us? Faaa guuuut! But do you hate him? 'Cause he_\*'s pieces\*\* of you.\* **HIJACK** I dislike people’s use of _there’s_ with a plural noun. There’s no gun’s in your hand’s. There’s one’s in my hand’s. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831/193 "2003-05-30T20:47:58Z")
Can I be vague? (“Hi, Vague!” “Shut up!”) Anything written by Paul McCartney, post-Beatles. _Live and Let Die_ is cool, _Maybe I’m Amazed_ is perhaps a bit corny, but sweet. Other than that? Gah. I can almost hear Macca’s thought process when he writes - I think it goes something like this: “Ho hum, I’ve written another dozen excellent, flowing melodies, because I’m so gifted at that. Time to find a six-year-old child to write the words.” He did that sort of stuff with the Beatles sometimes too, but somehow it didn’t seem so egregious. Ever seen the lyrics to _Band on the Run_? “The Jailer Man and Sailor Sam were searching everyone…” WTF? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-dont-sound-right-make-you-cringe/175831.md?page=9)