# Ordinary songs that no one notices are actually creepy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639 "2004-03-11T04:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [March 11, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/81 "2004-03-11T22:56:23Z")
> [@Legolamb](#): > > Thank you! I knew it couldn’t just be me who thought that. The song’s called “Invisible”, BTW. > > On the subject of stalker songs, Barenaked Ladies’ “Straw Hat & Old Dirty Hank” appears to be about a farmer who believes a famous singer is in love with him from the “love” and “O & X” on an autographed photo. He ends up stalking and killing her. There is a famous Canadiana song from the 70’s? by Murray McLachlan that has the line “straw hat and old dirty hankie” in it, talking about a farmer. I also believe there was a farmer who was stalking another famous Canadian, Anne Murray, at some point in the 80’s. Knowing the Barenaked Ladies, I would say this song isn’t creepy so much as it is very much tongue-in-cheek. (This was all from memory, by the way, so don’t quote it as canon.) What really creeps me out about Clay Aiken’s song “Invisible” is the incorrect grammar. “If I **WERE** invisible”, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/82 "2004-03-11T23:06:50Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > The look? I always thought he said, “Except blood … blood … oh, you know where!” I always read this as, inexperienced girl about to have first sexual encounter with older, experienced boyfriend before she’s actually ready, and all she remembers is the pain and blood. Nope, it’s definitely “the look”. Go listen to it again, or search the lyrics on the web, all the sites say “the look”. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/83 "2004-03-11T23:08:13Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > What really creeps me out about Clay Aiken’s song “Invisible” is the incorrect grammar. “If I **WERE** invisible”, dammit! I know. That absolutely kills me every time I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/84 "2004-03-11T23:12:38Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > The Outfield’s Your Love. > > (may not be exact) > > Josie’s on a vacation far away > So come around and talk it over. > So many things that I wanna say > You know I like my girls a little bit older > > I just wanna use your love tonight > I don’t wanna lose your love tonight. > Hey! My girlfriend is on vacation, so why don’t you come over and have sex with me because I’m oh so lonely. Wow, that brought back memories. The beginning of that song was really catchy. As I recall the lyrics: Josie’s on a vacation far away Come around and talk it over Her old man thinks that I want her in bed You know I like my girls a little bit older. I just wanna use your love tonight I don’t wanna lose your love tonight. Not sure who Josie is, but apparently she’s not his girlfriend. So he can hook up if he wants to. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/85 "2004-03-11T23:42:43Z")
**Krokodil** , I’ll agree with you that that’s kinda reaching about _Daddy’s Hand’s_. I always thought the song meant pretty much what it said–Daddy’s love for his family showed in the “callouses and lines” on his hands, and that now she understood that he’d _always_ loved them even though there were times when he had to mete out discipline. Now another one of her songs says something like, “When I say ‘no’ I mean ‘maybe,’ and maybe I mean ‘yes.’” I realize the song was NOT about sex and date rape, but women have fought for a long time to get the message across that “NO means NO!!!” So I didn’t like the message behind _that_ upbeat song. And I’ll agree with the poster (can’t find the damn post now) who mentioned _More Than Words_. There’s a Toby Keith song that says something similar–_A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action._ I renamed that one _Just Shut Up and Screw Me._ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/86 "2004-03-11T23:56:20Z")
Say, would you guys all mind doing me a favor? Would you mind LINKING to the copyrighted lyrics? Or quoting the pertinent lines? Would you mind not quoting _the entire fuggin’ copyrighted song?_ Thenk yew. – Ukulele Ike, Cafe Society Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/87 "2004-03-12T00:03:05Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > On another note, I second “Crash Into Me”. WTF? Why do people think this is some sort of sweet ballad? I like this song, although not because I think it’s a “sweet ballad.” I specifically like it for: “You’ve got your ball you’ve got your chain Tied to me tight tie me up again” and “You wear nothing but you wear it so well Tied up and twisted, the way I’d like to be” But, as I said before, **Hurt So Good** is my theme song. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/88 "2004-03-12T00:17:07Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > [Luca](http://www.alwaysontherun.net/suz.htm#aab) , by Suzanne Vega. A song about child abuse set to a catchy tune. What makes you think that? There’s nothing to indicate child abuse IMO, but plenty stereotypes of SO abuse. Of course, it’d be clearer if Suzanne Vega sounded more than 12 on the song… ---
**Author:** ![terd\_ferguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@terd\_ferguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terd_ferguson)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/89 "2004-03-12T00:20:47Z")
I don’t know if anyone has been [here](http://www.songfacts.com/) before, but it is pretty interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/90 "2004-03-12T00:26:56Z")
How about Bare Naked Ladies’ “I’ll be that Girl.” Pop-y little love song, except whe you actually listen to it, and realize the lead singer has got some wierd _Single White Female_ crush on a lesbian, and hopes that he can get her love by cross-dressing and either committing suicide or killing and replacing her. I think I can get away with just posting the chorus, and a link to the [complete lyrics.](http://www.lyricscrawler.com/song/24768.html) _I’ll be that girl - and you would be right over If I were a field, you would be in clover If I were the sun, you would be in shadow And if I had a gun, there’d be no tomorrow_ Apologies to the mods if that’s too much of the song. I’ll also add just about every song performed by Smog, although I don’t think anyone ever mistakes them for anything other than creepy. “Cold Discovery” has the refrain, “I can hold a woman down on a hardwood floor,” although the song never makes it clear exactly _why_ he would do that. Or [“Cold Blooded Old Times”](http://www.lyricscrawler.com/song/132150.html), which has the verse, _Mother came rushing in She said we didn’t see a thing We said we didn’t see a thing And father left at eight Nearly splintering the gate_ What?! What didn’t they see? Probably just the lead singer spankin’ it, but you never know… ---
**Author:** ![Infectious\_Lass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e56c9b/32.png) [@Infectious\_Lass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infectious_Lass)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/91 "2004-03-12T00:30:15Z")
The song that always creeped me out (and I could never understand why anyone else didn’t seem to see it) was ‘Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen’ by Neil Sedaka. So, this man has known this girl since she was little and it’s like now she’s sixteen and she’s grown breasts _gag_, suddenly he’s leering at her and can’t wait to start pawing her. And the way the protaganist talks about her when she was little and innocent and now she’s sexual…it comes over like some kind of peadophile anthem…yuck. Is it just me? I can’t believe everyone thinks that’s an innocent love song! And talking of annoying grammar in songs, may I just say that every time that I hear ‘Sweet Dreams My LA Ex’ by Rachel Stevens, and the line ‘accuse me of things I never done’ comes up, I go “did! It’s accuse me of things I never did! Agggh!” Alright so ‘did’ wouldn’t rhyme, but that really, _really_ annoys me! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/92 "2004-03-12T00:47:57Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > What makes you think that? There’s nothing to indicate child abuse IMO, but plenty stereotypes of SO abuse. [Suzanne Vega FAQs](http://www.vega.net/faq/luka.htm): > [@](#): > > The song Luka is written from the point-of-view of an abused child and tells his story in a subtle and psychologically realistic way, only hinting at the horrible secret of his life. Some people have also read it to be a song about an abused woman, and although this was not what Suzanne though of when she wrote the song, it is certainly also a valid interpretation. > > The name “Luka” is indeed taken from a real person with that name, whose outer character Suzanne borrowed. There is, however, no reason to believe that Luka was an abused child in real life. This is what Suzanne said in a Swedish television special recorded 3 November 1987: > > _“A few years ago, I used to see this group of children playing in from of my building, and there was one of them, whose name was Luka, who seemed a little bit distinctive from the other children. I always remembered his name, and I always remembered his face, and I didn’t know much about him, but he just seemed set apart from these other children that I would see playing. And his character is what I based the song Luka on. In the song, the boy Luka is an abused child – I real life I don’t think he was. I think he was just different”_ ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/93 "2004-03-12T02:04:15Z")
I always thought **Just My Imagination** by the Temptations was creepy and wondered why people thought a song about a besotted man and his imaginary girlfriend was so romantic. ---
**Author:** ![RealTronic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/94 "2004-03-12T02:52:28Z")
What about one of the most famous domestic-abuse songs around: > [@](#): > > My loneliness is killin me (and I) > I must confess I still believe (still believe) > When I’m not with you I lose my mind > give me a sign, **hit me baby one more time!** > > Oh baby baby, the reason I breathe is you > **Boy you’ve got me blinded** > Oh pretty baby, there’s nothin that I wouldn’t do > that’s not the way I planned it It’s clearly the voice of a desperate woman who is stuck in an abusive relationship; but holds on to her man even though she’s so bruised sometimes she cannot see… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/95 "2004-03-12T02:52:48Z")
Thank you **Marley23**! I’ve always held that You are my Sunshine is one of the saddest songs ever and it’s really creepy how they teach that to little kids as a happy song. My nom is for another Dido song. To me, the lyrics to _Here with Me_ sound like something a ghost would sing. A ghost that does not plan on waiting for her lover to die, but intends to take matters into her own cold hands. I won’t go I won’t sleep I can’t breath until you’re resting here with me ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/96 "2004-03-12T02:57:14Z")
How about Stephen Stills’s celebration of infidelity, \*Love the One You’re With: And if you can’t be, with the one you love Love the one you’re with Don’t be angry, don’t be sad Don’t sit cryin’ over good times you had There’s a girl, right next to you And she’s just waitin’, for something to do \* ---
**Author:** ![Nanook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nanook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/97 "2004-03-12T03:04:10Z")
Most of the songs of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap which, in one way or another, deal with relations with under-age girls. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/98 "2004-03-12T03:04:50Z")
I had a friend in middle school whose favorite bands were Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Pantera… and, inexlicably, [Klymaxx](http://www.klymaxx.org/). I tease him about that to this day. One of their songs had a bit in the middle where hte lead singer said, “Slap me. Please slap me.” Then, a few beats later, “Don’t slap me.” Honestly, I was not of a mind to aquiesce to either request. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/99 "2004-03-12T03:10:36Z")
I want to say “Obsession”, but I think that’s pretty obviously creepy. I’ve always thought “Sister Christian” is kind of creepy: “What’s your price for flight in finding Mr. Right You’ll be alright tonight” Maybe it’s just me, but I always pictured this as the sister in question making a nieve boy think she loves her, when she really only wants people to think she can snag any boy, and will dump the boy when she has no more use for him. Or perhaps I’m reading too much into this. Come to think of it, the two songs I mentioned, plus “Your Love” and “Dance Hall Days” are all in GTA: Vice City. Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/100 "2004-03-12T03:15:02Z")
OK Ike- Alison Krauss’s [Baby, Now That I’ve Found You](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/heartbreakers/babynowthativefoundyou.htm) ; should have been called \* Alex’s Theme\* from Fatal Attraction: \*Baby, now that I’ve found you I won’t let you go I built my world around you I need you so Baby even though You don’t need me, You don’t need me oh, no Spent my life looking for that somebody to make me feel like new Now you tell me that you want to leave me But darling, I just can’t let you\* -All sung in in that folkie-angel voice. Woogah! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639.md?page=6)