Though in the context of “he decked some f_cking black shirt who was cursing all the y_ds” which is ok IMO. I mean it’s literally about physically assaulting a Nazi for abusing Jewish people.
I have more problem with “Now you’ll sing a song of liberty for blacks and p_ks and jocks”. Abbreviating Pakistani is literally the UK equivalent of the N word.
Likely misheard, “Whistling tunes we piss on the goons in the jungle”
Ah, how could I have forgotten that line? Yeah, that’s the likely explanation.
Fair 'nuff on the first though it’s still pretty rough. I’d forgotten about that last verse as I was writing my contribution here. But yeah…horrible.
That is the line I am talking about. I have heard both sides (the lyrics listed don’t match the word sung vs no, you misheard it).
It’s definitely “goon” and not “coon”. If you look at Peter Gabriel’s career and activities, he’s really the last person in music who would be suspicious for racism, rather the very opposite. Again, think of “Biko”, which was a milestone for awareness of the horrors of apartheid and the later “Free Mandela” movement.
I disagree. She was just being Peggy Lee is all. I highly doubt she sang it mockingly, with some malicious intent.
What’s wrong with “Hey Joe”? Yeah, he shoots his old lady for messing around with another man, but then he has to go way down to Mexico. It was wrong at the time, they knew it, and it’s still wrong now.
My example that I’ve used before is Jimmy Buffett’s “Livingston Saturday Night”. Written in the 70s, when most states had legal drinking age of 18, and Jimmy was in his 20s. “Hittin’ on the honeys right out of high school” at a bar is a little more acceptable. Now that the drinking age is 21, and those “honeys” aren’t (generally) in a bar… it’s a little skeevier, especially when Jimmy was singing it in his 50s. Oh, and it is a lot less acceptable for the “15 will get you 20, but that’s all right”
This song is one of my guilty pleasures. There is nothing socially redeemable in the lyrics (never was). The guy is a total scumbag. But that music…
I didn’t realize there were two versions; the only one I’ve ever heard was the original one. Then again, I’m not much of a country listener, and most of that was involuntarily when I was younger and my dad and friend’s dads listened to it in the car. Almost certainly pre-1988 too.
Yes, it was ‘piss on the goons’ on the album and ‘kissing baboons’ was dubbed in for the radio edit. If anyone doubts that it’s ‘goons’ check it out live:
The idea that Gabriel is expressing some racist sentiment is ridiculous.
Ah, thanks, that explains my confusion. I first heard the song on the radio when it came out and bought the single (which had the “baboon” line), but I never had the album or listened to the album version with much attention.
What about L.A. Woman by The Doors? “Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light, or just another lost angel…”
A few people have mentioned Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, due to the homophonic lyrics, but this is a rant based on a conversation Mark Knopfler heard in a store in New York and clearly is being sung ironically given the status of the band performing it. Les Boys on the other hand… probably Dire Straits’ worst song.
Someone mentioned The Pogues. Their most famous song, you know, the Christmas one, has had its lyrics changed for radio play due to the use of the F word (no not Father Christmas).
I disagree - I still believe “what’s in this drink” is about more alcohol than “should” have been there (deliberately getting someone drunker to get her to go against her good sense and do something she wouldn’t do sober), despite the protestations to the reverse I’ve seen. And, if a person chooses not to stay because if can ruin them (socially speaking - including possibilities for marriage if this relationship fails, which may mean financially speaking), then that is a good reason. Just because your hormones - or even your heart - want something doesn’t automatically make it a good life decision.
That line is completely misinterpreted. The answer to the question “what’s in this drink” was always “nothing.” It was used when someone accidentally spoke the truth and was trying to cover for it (e.g., “Boss you’re ugly!” “What did you say?” “Gee, what’s in this drink.”).
It’s clear from the song that the woman wants to stay; there is no lyric that indicates she wants to leave; just that other people’s expectations say she should leave, preventing her from doing what she wants to do. Note also that the man does not dispute any of her excuses (e.g., after “My mother will start to worry,” he doesn’t say, “Don’t listen to your mother.”). Instead, he gives excuses for her to use.
The song is feminist in nature, saying a woman can do what she wants without worrying about what society thinks.
Kate Bush isn’t saying “she’s so popular” in the background either.
“A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part III)” by George Michaels definitely seem problematic. Opening lyrics:
It’s late
Time for bed
So I sit and I wait
For that gin and tonic
To go to your headI know
It’s a devious plan
But it’s the only way that I know
To get those big bad car keys
Out of your hand
You know
That I remain a gentleman
But even so
There’s only so much
A gentleman can stand
Sleep with me
Oh
Sleep with me, tonight
Ooh, that Italian accent! I’m guessing Irving Berlin wrote it for a woman to sing, since the first verse is “I got a husband”, but I could only find a recording by a man:
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000151311/3679-Hey_Wop
~Max
Took me decades to figure that out.
I’m astonished that you could find it!