# Lyrics that give you pause... In a bad way. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514 "2010-06-01T16:33:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/21 "2010-06-01T19:54:35Z")
> [@Mr.Krebbs](#): > > I was driving back from dinner with my girlfriend and she suggested that we listen to the city’s new hit music station. Shortly thereafter, we heard [Keri Hilson’s “Knock You Down,”](http://artists.letssingit.com/keri-hilson-lyrics-knock-you-down-feat-kanye-west-and-ne-yo-dfr92nt) featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo. The lyrics in question: > > I only caught that first line before my mind filled with questions. Just how many commanders does a pimp ship need? What the hell is this pimp ship anyway: is it a plane or more like an airborne yacht? Though my questions remain unanswered, it was just a brief pause before I was laughing hysterically. > > What other lyrics do you know of that feature such tortured metaphors, or otherwise are so bad to induce cringing or hysterical laughter? [Pimp ship](http://cowshell.com/uploads/drawergeeks/pixie-pimped.jpg). And what appears to be [a pedophile’s pimp ship](http://riotinthesky.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/img_4826.jpg) (it came up in Google images for the phrase). ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/22 "2010-06-01T19:55:38Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > From _Johnny Be Good_, by Chuck Berry: > \* > Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode > He never ever learned to read or write so well > **But he could play the guitar just like a ringin’ a bell** > \* > So I guess that must mean … > > … he could only play one note? I think he meant playing a guitar came easily to Johnny, as easy as ringing a bell. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/23 "2010-06-01T19:55:39Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > From _Johnny Be Good_, by Chuck Berry: > \* > Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode > He never ever learned to read or write so well > **But he could play the guitar just like a ringin’ a bell** > \* > So I guess that must mean … > > … he could only play one note? Surely you’ve heard of Johnny One Note? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/24 "2010-06-01T19:59:10Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > I have the album on vinyl (shut up!). It’s written that way in the lyrics too, but the “e” in “modren” is also upside down, IIRC. So it’s seems to be some kind of deliberate effect, but I have no idea what the purpose is supposed to be. It’s a pronunciation guide – that upside-down “e” is a schwa. (Which was borrowed from the Persian – you’ve heard of the Schwa of Iran?) 😉 ---
**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:** [June 1, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/25 "2010-06-01T20:00:40Z")
I was considering posting this a few months ago, but it seemed to insignificant for creating a thread. But I was listening to the radio when the following two songs struck me with the bizarre juxtaposition of lyrics: > [@Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts](#): > > There is a distance between you and I… > [@Bad Romance by Lady Gaga](#): > > You and me could write a bad romance… All I could think about was that they should get together and swap pronouns. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/26 "2010-06-01T20:01:07Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I think he meant playing a guitar came easily to Johnny, as easy as ringing a bell. Yes, of course. But the overly-literal interpretation amuses me more. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/27 "2010-06-01T20:02:59Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > I have the album on vinyl (shut up!). It’s written that way in the lyrics too, but the “e” in “modren” is also upside down, IIRC. So it’s seems to be some kind of deliberate effect, but I have no idea what the purpose is supposed to be. YOU think it’s embarassing…try googling my handle sometime. It’s spelled that way to indicate that there are, at that point, backward masked messages in the song and other songs on the LP. _sigh_ I even saw them on that tour. I saw the leg where they did it as a sort of ‘theater’ production where the music stopped and the performed the storyline. Oy. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/28 "2010-06-01T20:03:24Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > _You’re wondering who I am > Machine or mannequin > With parts made in Japan > I am the modern man._ > (Mr. Roboto - Styx) > > But he sings the word modern as “modren” - grates every time I hear it (or rather every time I heard it). Should be “I am the _maudlin_ man”! ::snort:: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/29 "2010-06-01T20:04:10Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I was considering posting this a few months ago, but it seemed to insignificant for creating a thread. But I was listening to the radio when the following two songs struck me with the bizarre juxtaposition of lyrics: > > All I could think about was that they should get together and swap pronouns. The pronoun problems persistently pester me. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/30 "2010-06-01T20:11:58Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > YOU think it’s embarassing…try googling my handle sometime. :: squints suspiciously:: Oh, I _know_ who you are, Mr. Tommy Shaw all fancied up. > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > It’s spelled that way to indicate that there are, at that point, backward masked messages in the song and other songs on the LP.. I knew about the backward bit before Heavy Metal Poisoning, but are there messages hidden in the printed lyrics? I never thought to look for them. And yeah, I pushed my turntable backwards to hear the message. Not good for the turntable belt. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/31 "2010-06-01T20:12:18Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > The Kinks: “The only time I feel alright is by your side…” > > I want to scream at the radio: “That’s a PLACE, not a time, pinhead!!” The only time I feel alright is the time when I’m by your side. Shortened to fit the meter, but it makes perfect sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/32 "2010-06-01T20:15:00Z")
> [@batsto](#): > > I disagree. Any song referring to both the way someone ‘walks’, and then rhyming it with the way that person ‘talks’, is exhibiting a horrific level of lazy rhyming. School/cool/fool is the lazy rhyme that makes me want to kill. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/33 "2010-06-01T20:32:38Z")
_I did it all for the nookie The nookie So you can take that cookie And stick it up your yeah! Stick it up your yeah! Stick it up your yeah!_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/34 "2010-06-01T20:35:58Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > _You’re wondering who I am > Machine or mannequin > With parts made in Japan > I am the modern man._ > (Mr. Roboto - Styx) > > But he sings the word modern as “modren” - grates every time I hear it (or rather every time I heard it). That reminds me of the part in Killer Queen when Freddy sings, “Mesticulous and precise!” :smack: I’m sure Elton John does this too, but I can’t think of an example at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/35 "2010-06-01T20:41:20Z")
When I was a kid, I used to really hate poems that used the same work to rhyme. I think I figured it was cheating. I can’t really think of an example that really stands out as bugging me. But if it was like this: Roses are red violets are blue The grass is green and the sky is blue It made me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/36 "2010-06-01T20:49:03Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > **Three Dog Night, “Easy to Be Hard”:** > > _Especially people who care about strangers > Who care about evil and social injustice_ _Easy to Be Hard_ is from the musical _Hair_. I like the lyric. It think it underlines the over-intellectualism and hypocrisy of certain types of people who get caught up in social movements. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/37 "2010-06-01T20:51:42Z")
For bad rhymes what about “car” and “far”? “Badge” by Cream _Thinkin’ ‘bout the times you drove in my car. Thinkin’ that I might have drove you too far._ “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith _I pulled into town in a police car Your daddy said I took you just a little too far_ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/38 "2010-06-01T21:17:39Z")
You come over unan_nounced_ Dressed up like you’re someone _else_ ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/39 "2010-06-01T21:26:34Z")
> [@batsto](#): > > Any song referring to both the way someone ‘walks’, and then rhyming it with the way that person ‘talks’, is exhibiting a horrific level of lazy rhyming. Perhaps, but you have to admit the other available rhymes in this case — chalk, balk, gawk, hawk, caulk, auk — might take your song in directions you won’t want to go. I’m trying to imagine a “fixed” version of _Suzie Q_ (by Creedence Clearwater Revival): \* I like the way that you **walk** I like the way that you **caulk** I like the way you walk I like the way you caulk Suz-ay Q \* Okay, sure, that’s probably a refreshing surprise for your audience. _They weren’t expecting **that** _. But will the young people take to it? No way. Home repair is for _squares_, man. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/40 "2010-06-01T21:39:06Z")
My first thought was of the already-mentioned “Horse With No Name,” but for me, the line is “The heat was hot.” Then there’s Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” with the ever-grammatical “In this ever-changing world in which we live in . . .” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514.md?page=3)