# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/61 "2010-06-02T02:47:10Z")
Paula Cole makes my brain bleed when she sings: _Open up your morning light And say a little prayer for I_ And how about _She had two babies One was six months, one was three_ Wow, had them kinda close together there, didn’t she? (Yes, I know it’s supposed to be three YEARS–still sounds wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/62 "2010-06-02T03:13:41Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Also: > > It’s gonna take a lot to take me away from you > There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do > > A hundred men, you say? _Or more!_ My favourite part is: > [@Toto](#): > > I know that I must do what’s right > As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti It’s just so shoehorned in there - like they thought “Hey, wait, we should mention some stuff about Africa. Shit, what’s in Africa. Kilimanjaro?” I also enjoy: > [@Elton John](#): > > If I was a sculpter… > but then again no Hmmm, deep. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/63 "2010-06-02T03:39:15Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > It’s just so shoehorned in there - like they thought “Hey, wait, we should mention some stuff about Africa. Shit, what’s in Africa. Kilimanjaro?” Also the incredible lameness of describing a mountain by comparing it to… _a mountain_. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/64 "2010-06-02T04:06:11Z")
One of my favorite WTF lyrics comes from “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses: > [@](#): > > Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place > Where as a child I’d hide > And pray for the thunder and the rain > To quietly pass me by Hmm . . . **Quiet** thunderstorms? And then there’s Cyndi Lauper’s application for entry to the [Tautology Club](http://xkcd.com/703/) (From “All Through The Night”): > [@](#): > > Until it ends there is no end Uh . . . yep, can’t argue with you there . . . ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/65 "2010-06-02T04:40:47Z")
I remember some dopey Christian rock tune (aren’t they all?) that climaxed with the singer complaining about his problem and then: “_God helped me through them all_” Which had me thinking, you needed God’s help through the mall? Weren’t there any of those “You are here” maps? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/66 "2010-06-02T04:50:11Z")
[MacArthur](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHS8hj4TdT8) [Park](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaZim6ybvdA). There, I’ve said it so no one else has to. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/67 "2010-06-02T15:05:52Z")
> [@Nutty\_Bunny](#): > > My first thought when reading the OP was The Knack’s “My Sharona”. When the song was popular when I was 9, I didn’t pay attention to the lyrics. Now I cringe when I hear the line “I crave the touch of the younger kind”. It’s worse than you think, the line is “I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind.” Ew. ---
**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 2, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/68 "2010-06-02T15:51:22Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned that this is from Hair and the lyrics are very meaningful in the context of the story. > > Meaningless trivia: In the 1979 [Milos Forman movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079261/), they changed the singer of the song and who it was being sung to. Instead of Sheila (Beverly D’Angelo) singing it to Berger (Treat Williams), it was sung to Hud (aka Lafayette, Dorsey Wright) by his never-named fiancee (Cheryl Barnes). A lot of people didn’t like the movie (I did, I loved it) but I don’t know how anyone can [hear Cheryl sing the song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj4vfrPdfdo) and not be moved by it. I just watched the whole scene and it made me cry. Again. Hey, I never said “very meaningful”, I just said that it fit well with Sheila specifically singing to/about Berger who was being a jerk. But I totally agree the context of the film version is way better and more heartbreaking. **But back to the OP…** the other song lyrics that drive me nuts are most of the lyrics from “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” _And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time…_ — No, shit. Really? Sure when you start climbing the mountains you’ll get subarctic weather near the peaks, but I don’t think people generally expect a whole lot of the cold, white fluffy stuff, even in December. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/69 "2010-06-02T17:59:40Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by **Bytegeist** > > 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, is it a Mary/merry/marry thing, or is “caulk” a homonym for “cock”? > Because if Suzy Q is wielding one of those, it would be a refreshing surprise indeeed! 😕 So, to you “cock” is a homonym for “cork”? Or is it that you hear “walk” as a homonym for “wok”? For me, “caulk” is a lot closer to being a rhyme for “walk” than “cock” is, but “cork” (like “talk”) is a true rhyme, or near as dammit.\* (Perhaps he’s a vintner. ;)) \*I will grant that “walk” does have a very faint hint of that “l” sound, but nowhere near as strong as in “caulk”. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/70 "2010-06-02T18:06:43Z")
Bowie’s _Space Oddity_: “Tell my wife I love her very much.” “She knows.” The first line is clearly spoken by Major Tom (itself rather a cringeworthily childish name), the second appears to be Ground Control’s reply. At this point I always want to interject, “Oh, well then, don’t bother to tell her if she already knows.” I still love the song though. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/71 "2010-06-02T18:10:25Z")
Walk = homonym for wok, talk = homonym for tok (as in tic-tok), caulk = homonym for cock. They all rhyme. Walk and cork don’t rhyme at all, to me, unless you’re reallllllly stretching it. (Los Angeles, CA, USA) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/72 "2010-06-02T18:28:06Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’ve heard this song twice recently while I was out shopping, and it wasn’t until the second time that I realized the singer was saying “hurtful” and not “her fault”. The first time I was like “Wow, way to own up to your mistakes. You wrote a whole song repetitively blaming the ‘other woman’?” > > Once I understood the correct lyrics I decided that while they weren’t as sleazy and jerkish as my misheard version, they were actually even stupider and less interesting. Especially after a quick image search reveals it’s being sung by [Beaker](http://www.arjanwrites.com/.a/6a00d8341cabbe53ef0120a5493401970c-400wi). ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/73 "2010-06-02T18:59:51Z")
This may not be exactly what the OP was looking for, but one song that always grated on me lyrically was Spandau Ballet’s “True”. Leaving aside such gems as “With a thrill in my heart and a pill on my tongue” (which might conceivably have seemed clever if it hadn’t been delivered in such a pompous, dramatic way), what bugged me most was the fact that the central line of the song was “I know this much is true”… and then he never says what he knows to be true. When it came out, that song was almost singlehandedly responsible for me losing interest in current music. (That’s something of an overstatement, of course, but it seemed to be emblematic of everything that I thought was wrong with the course that popular music took in the early 80’s. Apologies to lovers of Spandau Ballet, the New Romantic movement, 80s synth-pop, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/74 "2010-06-02T19:03:48Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > … > The Who’s _You Better You Bet_: “You better bet your life/Or love will cut you, just like a knife” > Of all the obvious forced rhymes in rock, the “life/knife” one is the most trite, narrowly beating out “self/shelf”. And the fact that Pete not only repeats the rhyme but uses the rhythm to give it extra emphasis, makes me feel like his rubbing my nose in it: “Ha, you stupid sheeple rock fan, I can put whatever jerk-off words in my song that I want and it will be played on the radio a bazillion times and you can’t do anything about it, Bwah-haa-haa!” The funniest thing I ever read was an interview with Steve Miller in Rolling Stone. He proceeded to make fun of Pete Townshend’s lyrics. This from the man who wrote “Abra-abra-cadabra ,I’m gonna reach out and grab ya”. And who can forget “the pompitous of love”? From that moment, Steve Miller became dead to me. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/75 "2010-06-02T19:44:31Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > The funniest thing I ever read was an interview with Steve Miller in Rolling Stone. > He proceeded to make fun of Pete Townshend’s lyrics. This from the man who > wrote “Abra-abra-cadabra ,I’m gonna reach out and grab ya”. And who can forget “the pompitous of love”? > > From that moment, Steve Miller became dead to me. Oh, you didn’t even mention Steve’s worst offense: “_Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas You know he knows just exactly what the facts is. He ain’t gonna let those two escape justice. He makes his livin’ off the people’s taxes._” Really, Steve? Really? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/76 "2010-06-02T20:45:31Z")
_You’re so vain, You probably think this song is about you_ To which I always go “yeah, well, he’s right, the song is about him, how is it vain to think a song that’s about you is about you?” ---
**Author:** ![HepToTheJive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@HepToTheJive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HepToTheJive)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/77 "2010-06-02T20:49:33Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > You mean like Kid Rock’s > “We were trying different things > We were smoking funny things” > > It’s not like the remainder of the words are very good either, but that’s especially bad. THIS IS THE WORST OFFENDER OF THE “SAME WORD RHYME” EXAMPLE. I can not stress that enough. It is a terrible lyric especially since the second line fundamentally repeats the meaning expressed in the first line (smoking funny things _is trying different things_) Ah. How could this pass inspection! Ah! > [@cornflakes](#): > > [MacArthur](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHS8hj4TdT8) [Park](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaZim6ybvdA). There, I’ve said it so no one else has to. I think this a great song. Sad and kind of ridiculous. That’s why it works so well. So the song isn’t about an actual cake, it’s a metaphor. If it WAS about a cake that would be even better because everyone can identify with getting attached to inanimate objects. Although the third movement is rather annoying. My choice is Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s the Night — _'Cmon Angel my heart’s on fire Don’t deny your man’s desire You’d be a fool to stop this tide Spread your wings and let me come inside 'cause Tonight’s the night (gonna be alright)_ …that…is… **gross.** Spread your wings? How artistic. I’m not prude; if you’re going to be over the top gross be gross, if you’re going to be sexually subtle be subtle. If you’re thinking “spread your wings and let me come inside” is romantic or reassuring to a virgin you’re dead wrong. AND he implies she is fool if she won’t have sex with him. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/78 "2010-06-02T21:31:39Z")
> [@Mr.Krebbs](#): > > What other lyrics do you know of that feature such tortured metaphors, or otherwise are so bad to induce cringing or hysterical laughter? I love your screen name. It makes me laugh because it reminds me of Krebbs in the Hitler parody videos 😃 I always want to say, “My Fuhrer” Rage Against The Machines song, “Killing In The Name” because they say the F\* word how many times in the song? I lost track? Well in the uncut version? It always makes me laugh that at Guantanamo Bay they played it non stop to break down prisoners. If RATM didn’t work they water boarded them . BTW-Neither is considered torture according to the gov. [Killing In The Name](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkuOAY-S6OY&a=LIRPMZWoaRs&playnext_from=ML) The other is the creepy girl in “The Prodigy” video Omen. The song rocks but the girl scares the bejezus out of me when ever she pops up. I have to play the vid w/o her in it. [The Prodigy, Omen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olHnyslc-OM&playnext_from=TL&videos=_VOdJE3elr4) ---
**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 2, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/79 "2010-06-02T21:36:54Z")
> [@HepToTheJive](#): > > My choice is Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s the Night. . . From the same song: _Don’t say a word my virgin child Just let your inhibitions run wild_ Someone get the man a dictionary. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514/80 "2010-06-02T22:01:51Z")
_Magic_ by The Cars “… high shoes with the cleats a clickin’…” What kind of funky footwear is that woman sporting? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-that-give-you-pause-in-a-bad-way/541514.md?page=5)