I nominate “Que sera sera.”
there was a Sheryl Crow song that had a lyric something “If it makes you happy
It can’t be that bad”
now that’s bad wisdom
put the lime in the coconut
“Marry the man today, and change his ways tomorrow.”
“If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life,
Never make a pretty woman your wife.
So from my personal point of view,
Get an ugly girl to marry you.”
Worst??? Try best! That and “first…look at the purse.”
Legitimately bad ones: that George Jones ballad talking about “hopelessly yours,” “in good times, in bad times,” or something sappy and sentimental.
“Jesus is on the mainline – tell him what you want!” (whatever that means)
“Brown sugar…[etc.] just like a black girl should.”
“You can cream on me” (from “Let it Bleed”)
Steppenwolf: “If I was the President of this land, / I’d declare total war on the pusher man.” And he did, and now we see what would have happened if the government hadn’t admitted its mistake and repealed the Volstead Act.
“And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep” – the Gambler. The rest of the lyrics are just inane (and stupid as advice), but I find incredible that people find this song inspiring, since it essentially is a call to suicide. I assure you that I certainly hope for more than just a peaceful death.
I think that’s the exact opposite to what it’s actually saying. It’s not a call to suicide, it’s advice that it’s better to live to fight another day. Dying of natural causes means that you didn’t get yourself killed in the meantime.
Whatever gets you through the night, it’s alright.
Funny, I started a similar thread a couple of weeks ago and it sank like a stone. I’ll give you the one I started mine with.
“To all the people doing lines
don’t do it, don’t do it.
Inject your soul with liberty,
it’s free, it’s free.”
Not so much terrible advice as it is overly simplistic. I’m pretty sure that there would be no drug addiction if it were as easy as “don’t do it.”
If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.
I’ve never been able to decide whether this song is more insulting to men or to women.
The Fray’s “How to Save a Life”
*Let him know that you know best,
'cause after all you do know best
…
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you told him all along*
How to be a patronizing ass who no-one will listen to, is more like it.
I’m pretty sure you’re missing the point of that one.
But that’s the best you can hope for? I certainly hope for much better than that.
Sha la la la la la live for today, and don’t worry 'bout tomorrow
What about a bunch of backup singers insisting that a blind man “hit the road, Jack”?
I remember one song the gist of which was “If you feel aimless, lost, depressed and your life lacks purpose, make a baby”. That’s pretty horrible advice on a multitude of levels.
More prosaically, if you can come on and feel the noise, you’re too close to the speakers and they’re probably too loud anyway. It’s no place to get wild, wild, wild.
What’s wrong the premise of que sera, sera? It’s not saying that you can’t control your future, just that you shouldn’t worry about it overmuch.
Most songs that give really bad advice are intended that way, I reckon. That’s from knowing some songwriters who’ve written sons from the perspective of messed-up people. Like ‘Stand by your man’ - it’s not intended as dogma, but as the way some women with complete arseholes for boyfriends seem to think.
But of course they do kinda seem like advice. So I’m just nitpicking here really. We all do it. 