# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Zamboni)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/161 "2004-03-15T05:31:10Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Another song that’s been widely misinterpreted by people who listen to the repeated title line and ignore the rest of the lyrics is The Guess Who’s “American Woman”. I’m always surprised by how many people fail to realize that the song is not exactly complimentary towards women from the US. That’s not complimentary to the US in general: "I don’t need your war machines, I don’t need your ghetto scenes… Pink Floyd’s “Time” is a seriously depressing song wrapped in snappy instrumentation. I really like the instrumentation. Pink Floyd is always depressing, though. Why has no one mentioned Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven?” It’s somewhat cliched, but the constant references to death are weird. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/162 "2004-03-15T06:39:12Z")
> [@Green Eyed Stranger](#): > > What about all the original songs by “Weird Al” Yankovic? > \ > Like I said, I don’t know if the rest of his originals are like that (I only have the one album, and the original songs don’t get much airplay). Of course I could be just a result of taking the “Even Worse” theme and really running with it, but I don’t know. GES No, it’s not just you. There is _I Remember Larry_ on the album _Bad Hair Day_, where Al sings about getting back at an obnoxious practical joker thus; _Say, do you remember when I broke in Larry’s house Late at night and tied his mouth with a rag Then I dragged him by his ankles to the middle of the forests And stuffed him in a big plastic bag If the cops ever find him, who knows what they say But I’m sure if old Lar’ were still with us today He would have to agree with me it was a pretty good gag_ At the end of the same album is _The Night Santa Went Crazy_, in which Kris Kringle snaps and massacres all of his elves and barbecues the reindeer. As for the Vanna White song, Al does a repeat with _Everything You Know Is Wrong_, which is just a nonsensical string of happenings that are hilariously absurd, in which he name-drops celebs and and pop culture references seeingly randomly. IMO, the violence is just juvenile black humour. Think about context; no one is going to take Weird Al seriously. Especially not when the offending ditty is squeezed in between a clever parody of Nelly’s last single and a Radiohead song done polka-style. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/163 "2004-03-15T15:45:35Z")
> [@Gail](#): > > I love that song! Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought “Possum Kingdom” was about vampires. I always did too. A friend of mine hated that song because of the “so help me Jesus” line - I guess he interpreted it as religious. One can only assume he wasn’t listening very carefully to any of the OTHER lyrics. When I told him my interpretation was that it was a vampire (“with dark hair/and soft skin/forever”) he said, “Oh, so the ‘so help me Jesus’ is IRONIC!” And then he decided he loved the song. Dork. Glad someone other than me thought it was vampires. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/164 "2004-03-15T16:24:03Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > What these people don’t notice is that the line preceding the famous one is “She lies and says she’s in love with him.” Kind of puts a different spin on things, doesn’t it? Eddie Vedder wrote the lyrics to this song when he was only seventeen. It was inspired by his mother’s unhappy second marriage, and is about a woman who won’t leave a bad relationship because she thinks she can’t find anyone better. I’ve actually heard of people requesting that DJs play this song at their wedding. I **hate** this song. I hate it with the fire of the Cracks of Doom. It gave me such a rollicking case of the relationship insecurities when it was popular that I _still_ turn it off when it comes on. I HATE IT. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/165 "2004-03-16T16:33:49Z")
**Father Figure** by George Michael. It’s a sensual song spoken by a man who wants to be a paternal figure to his child like lover: “That’s all I wanted/To be warm and naked by your side.” “That’s all I wanted/To see my baby’s blue eyes shine.” “I will be your father figure/put your tiny hand in mine.” “Greet me with the eyes of a child.” Well, blech. **If I Could Fly** is also a bit yucky because a grown man is lusting over a teenager. “She’s just 16 years old/Leave her alone they say.” Listen to “them” and be glad you can’t fly lest some father cut off your…wings. Then we have **Sunny Came Home** , a catchy little tune that talks about a disillusioned woman burning the house down, presumably around her husband: "Get the kids and bring a sweater Dry is good and wind is better Count the years you’ve always known it Strike a match, go on and do it. " ---
**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 16, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/166 "2004-03-16T21:37:06Z")
> [@JanetReno.is.hot](#): > > but I am dumbfounded that this thread has lasted this long without the slightest mention of blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t fear the reaper”. Not to worry, I mentioned _Don’t Fear the Reaper_ way back on page two! Post #70 in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/167 "2004-03-18T00:35:04Z")
> [@Fifteen Iguana](#): > > Oh, there’s a wonderful musician named Eddy Lawrence, and on one hof his [albums](http://snowplowrecords.com/guitars.html) he does the John Denver hit **THank God I’m A Country Boy** as it might have been performed by, say, a member of the cast of “Deliverance.” Mucho creepy. My daughter had never heard the original and had no idea why I thought it was hilarious. > > Fifteen Iguana Thanks for the heads up on this guy! I ordered “Guitars, Guns & Groceries” last week and just got it in the mail tonight. I’m having my first listening to it now. A lot of music I have to listen to a couple of times to like, but this one is good on the first play. Haven’t listened to Loudon Wainwright III in years, but Lawrence’s lyrics remind me of Wainwright. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/168 "2004-03-18T01:35:06Z")
A couple of songs that haven’t been mentioned: [The Night has a Thousand Eyes](http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/t/the_night_has_a_thousand_eyes_bobby_vee.html) by Bobby Vee: \*They say that you’re a runaround lover Though you say it isn’t so But if you put me down for another I’ll know, believe me, I’ll know CHORUS 'cause the night has a thousand eyes And a thousand eyes can’t help but see if you are true to me So remember when you tell those little white lies That the night has a thousand eyes\* And then there’s [Delilah](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tom-jones/138361.html) by Tom Jones: _I could see that girl was no good for me But I was lost like a slave that no man could free At break of day when that man drove away, I was waiting I cross the street to her house and she opened the door She stood there laughing I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more_. The message there clearly being - don’t piss Tom off or you’ll be sorry. ---
**Author:** ![HumptysHamhole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f0a364/32.png) [@HumptysHamhole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HumptysHamhole)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/169 "2004-03-18T13:59:32Z")
I always thought that Maxwell’s hammer was some sort of drug reference. I guess as a kid I just figured that if I didn’t know what Beatles lyrics meant they must be some sort of drug reference. Could be, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![HumptysHamhole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f0a364/32.png) [@HumptysHamhole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HumptysHamhole)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/170 "2004-03-18T14:02:38Z")
**Norwegian Wood** as well - Basically he goes to a girls house and she talks all night instead of having sex with him – so he burns her house down the next day. All you need is love. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/171 "2004-03-18T14:25:52Z")
After their early hit _Psycho Killer_, about a psychopathic murderer, I guess it should come as no surprise that the Talking Heads wrote about a baby torturer later on in _Stay Up Late_. This is the chorus: Here we go (all night long) Sister, sister (all night long) In the playpen…woo…(all night long) Little baby goes, ha! (all night long) I know you want to leave me… Why don’t we pretend. There you go, little man. Cute, cute, why not? Late at night, wake him up. Here we go (all night long) Sister, sister…woo… (with the television on) Little baby goes…woo! (all night long) Hey, hey, baby! (all night long) And he looks so cute (all night long) In his little red suit (all night long) ---
**Author:** ![Nathan\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@Nathan\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nathan_S)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/172 "2004-03-18T15:12:31Z")
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned \*Art Lover \* by the Kinks: [snip] \*\*Once…_again_. DO NOT post complete song lyrics. – Uke, Increasingly Cranky Moderator\*\* ---
**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 18, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/173 "2004-03-18T16:39:28Z")
> [@HumptysHamhole](#): > > **Norwegian Wood** as well - Basically he goes to a girls house and she talks all night instead of having sex with him – so he burns her house down the next day. That you automatically turned “So I lit a fire” into “So I burned down her house” worries me in the extreme. BTW, guys, can we actually listen to the mods for once and stop posting complete lyrics? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/174 "2004-03-18T21:09:06Z")
Has anyone mentioned Supertramp’s _Casual Conversations_? Or how about James Taylor’s _Mexico_ “Baby’s hungry and the money’s all gone.” ---
**Author:** ![Patr100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Patr100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patr100)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/175 "2004-03-18T21:58:42Z")
Lou Reed’s “Pefect Day” was covered with various artists (and Reed) for a BBC Children’s charity record a few years back, it’s not really explicit from the lyrics but there were reports that the “inspriration” for the song was Reed’ s fondness for Herion at the time, which was kinda ironic. The Beatles “Sexy Sadie” is about the Majharishi’s less than spirtual attraction to Mia Farrow, apparently one of the main reasons they fell out with him. InkSpots’ - “Poison Ivy” is about venereal disease. “You’re gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion” ---
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/176 "2004-03-18T23:01:59Z")
**Purd Worfect** stole mine; it’s _Allison_ by Elvis Costello. I’d actually never heard (or heard of the song) until a male friend developed a huge crush on me and told me that the song made him think of me (Allison and my first name, Emily, have 3 syllables, he said). I googled the lyrics and it freaked me out: I had a boyfriend (still do) and he knew it, and basically he was putting himself into the position of the narrator in the song: \*Alison, I know this world is killing you Oh, Alison, my aim is true \* Basically, the lyrics say, if I can’t have you, nobody should be able to. I was no longer friends with the guy after this incident. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/177 "2004-03-18T23:59:04Z")
> [@Green Eyed Stranger](#): > > - > > … > So I took her to the homecoming dance > Then I tied her to a chair and I shaved off all her hair > And I left her in the desert all alone > Well, sometimes in my dreams I can still hear the screams > Oh, I wonder if she ever made it home? > …\* > So when I read this thread title, I thought of this song (Good Old Days), but seriously all the original “Weird Al” songs range from slightly goofy to uncomfortably creepy. Like I said, I don’t know if the rest of his originals are like that (I only have the one album, and the original songs don’t get much airplay). Of course I could be just a result of taking the “Even Worse” theme and really running with it, but I don’t know. > > Sorry I rambled on for so long, I think this is by far the longest of my limited posts. I also hope I didn’t cross the too much quoting of the songs (Good Old Days is probably close, although I tried to paraphrase where I could. > > GES A few years ago there was a cheezy commercial for orange juice featuring kids on the farm, grandpa plowing the fields and the narrator talking about how great things were back in the good old days, like their orange juice. Just as the commercial fades out, the quiet guitar track swells and a sound-alike singer pipes up: “Those were the good old days, those were the good old days, The years go by and the memory fades, but those were the good old days…” The chorus to Weird Al’s ode to torturing rats and leaving Sweet Michelle stranded in the desert shaved bald and tied to a chair. Creepy. I laughed my ass off the first time I saw the commercial. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/178 "2004-03-19T00:09:45Z")
KISS’s “Nothin’ to Lose” (or was it “Nuthin’ to Lose”?). Gene is telling his lover she has nothing to lose by having anal sex with him: \*I thought about the back door I didn’t know what to say … Now once I had a baby We tried every way She didn’t want to do it But she did anyway My baby please don’t refuse You know you got nothin’s to lose…\* And has anybody heard “Rollerskating Child” by the Beach Boys? I think this on their Love You album. _Well she’s a rollerskating child with a ribbon in her hair My heart gets to beating when she’s there … And we’ll make sweet love until the sun goes down We’ll even do more when your momma’s not around Well oh my oh gosh oh gee She really sets chills inside of me…_ Making love to a child, followed by “more” when momma’s not around?? I wonder what “more” he had in mind. Another dodgy Beach Boys track is “Hey Little Tomboy”. Again, its Mike Love singing. He’s on about helping a little tomboy “turning right into a girl”, including teaching her to kiss and putting make-up on her. I’ve heard an earlier version of this song (before it got watered down at the insistence of record company execs) which has an instrumental break where all of the band members are talking about the things they’re doing to the girl. Dennis Wilson can be heard saying “OK, now lets shave your legs for the very first time…”. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/179 "2004-03-19T00:20:34Z")
Hope this hasn’t been posted already (hey, it’s a long thread): Steely Dan’s Deacon Blue. It’s a nice, easy-going tune but the lyrics are: “Drink scotch whiskey all night long and die behind the wheel. They gotta name for the winners in the world I wanna name when I lose. They call our family the Crimson Tide Call me Deacon Blue.” ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639/180 "2004-03-19T00:35:20Z")
> [@YellowTail](#): > > Hope this hasn’t been posted already (hey, it’s a long thread): Steely Dan’s Deacon Blue. It’s a nice, easy-going tune but the lyrics are: > > “Drink scotch whiskey all night long > and die behind the wheel. > They gotta name for the winners in the world > I wanna name when I lose. > They call our family the Crimson Tide > Call me Deacon Blue.” I think it might be a bit less disturbing when you realize it’s “they call Alabama the Crimson Tide.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordinary-songs-that-no-one-notices-are-actually-creepy/233639.md?page=10)