Ordinary songs that no one notices are actually creepy

[dotchan]

Last Dance for Mary Jane , although I think maybe it’s more well known that it’s about a guy with an obssession for a certain posthumous lady. (I watched the music video on Pop-Up Video…it’s creepy, but I couldn’t stop laughing because of the Pop-Ups. “Most realistic acting by a dead body” )

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life isn’t disturbing in and of itself, but in the context of the movie, they’re being crucified as they sing. :eek:

And how about nursery rhymes? I know we Chinese often disguise socio-political commetary in seemingly innocent-sounding poetry, so I’m not surprised if the Europeans did it to. Although maybe I’m reading just a little too much into some of them 'cause I’m older now…

Ring Around the Rosie - is about the Black Death, or at least that’s the Urban Legend.

Georgy Porgy - “kissed the girls and made them cry”, eep. And of course, every time I read that now, I think of Bill Clinton. ^^;

Alouette - creeps the heck out of me every time I hear it. “Little bird, I’ll pluck your feathers off”? Even if, according to my friend, it means, “little darling, I’ll kiss every part of your body”, it’s still massive ick.

London Bridge - yeah, yeah, it’s just a game, but isn’t it morbid?

And when I do indulge in some writing, I find that the best way to establish a creepy mood is to have the antagonist quote some sort of “harmless-sounding” nursery rhyme and then give it an ominous twist.

[LtningBug]

@dotchan

Alouette - creeps the heck out of me every time I hear it. “Little bird, I’ll pluck your feathers off”? Even if, according to my friend, it means, “little darling, I’ll kiss every part of your body”, it’s still massive ick.

I learned this one in my high school French class. Our teacher never did mention the more interesting interpretation. Oh well, I still think it’s about plucking a bird to eat.

[jovan]

Another very famous French nursery rhyme with sexual inuendo is Savez-vous planter des choux? (Litterally, do you know how to plant cabbage.)

Savez-vous planter les choux,
À la mode, à la mode,
Savez-vous planter les choux,
À la mode de chez nous?
On les plante avec les mains,
À la mode, à la mode,
On les plante avec les mains,
A la mode de chez nous.

Comes out as:

Do you know how to plant cabbage,
In the way, in the way,
Do you know how to plant cabbage,
In the way of our home?
We plant them with our hands,
In the way, in the way,
We plant them with our hands,
In the way of our home.

(The song then goes through several body parts.)

Throughout my childhood I thought this was a song about planting cabbage. Then, someone made me realise where kids supposedly come from.

And for Alouette, I take it to mean: “I’ll take your clothes off, little bird.”

[gaba]

@misstee

Has anyone mentioned Alanis Morissette’s You ought to know
It makes me think that the chick that got dumped is stalking the dumper.

Well, she is. I always thought that’s what the song was about and intended to be. A really, intense, near-psychotic sense of having been used and just abandoned.
Don’t tell me you never felt like throwing a brick into your ex’s window.

[Rilchiam]

@epepke

Actually, it’s [YMCA] about having sex with other men in the YMCA. The YMCA used to function like a gay hostel/bath house. They rented bunks, cheap. Hence the line, “Young man, there’s a place you can go, I say young man, when you’re short on your dough.”*

No, I’ve never thought that song was about hooking up. Check these verses:

*Young man, I was once in your shoes
I said, I was down and out with the blues
I felt no man cared if I was alive
I thought the whole world was so jive

That’s when someone came up to me
And said, ‘Young man, take a walk up the street
There’s a place there called the YMCA
They can start you back on your way’*

I interpret it as counsel to a gay teen who’s just been kicked out of his parents’ house, with no money and nowhere to go. Not a comeon; just advice on where to “get yourself clean” and “have a good meal”.

Now, the song I find creepy is Everything I Own by Bread.

*You sheltered me from harm
Kept me warm, kept me warm
You gave my life to me
Set me free, set me free

The finest years I ever knew
Were all the years I had with you*

Sounds to me like the guy’s singing either to his mom, who physically gave life to him, but couching it in romantic terms, or to his ex-girlfriend or -wife, but claiming that he’s absolutely nothing without her co-dependency. Either way, creepy!

And one that’s not quite creepy, but still has me scratching my head. In Lovely Rita, Macca tells of taking Rita, the Lovely Meter Maid out to eat, where they “got the bill, and Rita paid it”. Huh? Why does she get stuck with the check, or where are they, that she can afford dinner for two on a meter maid’s salary? Only thing I can figure is, she paid so that he wouldn’t be able to claim she owed it to him to sleep with him. Still, that’s not what I call a courtship.

And, what did he mean when he “took her home [and] nearly made it/Sitting on the sofa with a sister or two”? You know, forget what I said earlier: this song is creepy!

[Evil_Death]

@Rilchiam

And one that’s not quite creepy, but still has me scratching my head. In Lovely Rita, Macca tells of taking Rita, the Lovely Meter Maid out to eat, where they “got the bill, and Rita paid it”. Huh? Why does she get stuck with the check, or where are they, that she can afford dinner for two on a meter maid’s salary?

He got the bill, but she said she’d pay. She’s falling for him, IOW.

And, what did he mean when he “took her home [and] nearly made it/Sitting on the sofa with a sister or two”?

It means they went back to one of their houses to cop off, but were thwarted by the presence of siblings.

[Patr100]

[QUOTE=Rilchiam]

And one that’s not quite creepy, but still has me scratching my head. In Lovely Rita, Macca tells of taking Rita, the Lovely Meter Maid out to eat, where they “got the bill, and Rita paid it”. Huh? Why does she get stuck with the check, or where are they, that she can afford dinner for two on a meter maid’s salary? Only thing I can figure is, she paid so that he wouldn’t be able to claim she owed it to him to sleep with him. Still, that’s not what I call a courtship.

QUOTE]
I think it’s just used so “Rita paid” can rhyme with “Meter Maid” . Also it’s an ironic joke that she paid the bill because Traffic Wardens in the UK are traditionally giving you a parking ticket (with a bill) .

[Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker]

What Have I Done to Deserve This? by The Pet Shop Boys with some assistance from Dusty Springfield. This sounds like a guy who’s hired a (probably male) prostitute just for fun, but ends up falling in love, and getting really depressed when it doesn’t work out.

Or maybe not.

[rolandgunslinger]

Didn’t read the whole post so forgive me if this has already been mentioned.
Christeen 16 byKISS
“when I saw you coming out of the school that day”
“I knew, I knew…”
“I’ve got to have you, I’ve got to have you.”

[Bambi_Hassenpfeffer]

I always thought there was a tendency to misinterpret “Sunny Came Home”. It may have been mentioned upthread, but I love this set of lines:

@Shawn Colvin

Sunny came home with a list of names
She didn’t believe in transcendence
It’s time for a few small repairs she said
Sunny came home with a vengeance

That she refers to her plans to set her house aflame and take care of those on her list as “a few small repairs” always eeked me out a little bit. A Few Small Repairs was also the name of the album.

I’ve also always loved “Angel”, from Sarah McLachlan.

in the arms of an angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you’re in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort there

I’ve heard it played at weddings and as a slow song for dances. Guess that they don’t know it’s about a death from a drug overdose. Yeah, that “silent reverie”? Drug OD. Wreckage? Dying. It’s not about a loving angel, people.

In the “upbeat and therefore played in retail environments, even though the message isn’t really appropriate” category I have two contenders.

10,000 Maniacs’ Like the Weather

well by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe
lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave
shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather
quiver in my voice as I cry
…
it is such a long time since my better days
I say my prayers nightly this will pass away

It’s about a crippling depression, where the singer is begging for someone to pull her out of it. She doesn’t really see any hope for the future at all. Anyone who’s been there would understand. That’s why I don’t understand why I hear it while I’m picking bananas in the produce department.

The other one is played by people whom I assume have never actually listened to the words, only the melody. “Voices Carry”, by 'Til Tuesday.

he wants me
but only part of the time
he wants me
if he can keep me in line

Hush hush
keep it down now
voices carry

Hush Hush darling
She might overhear
oh, no - voices carry

he says shut up he says shut up
oh God can’t you keep it down

It’s written from the POV of a mistress whose lover is trying to keep her from falling in love because he won’t leave his wife. This song does not belong at a wedding, nor does it belong in my ears at the mall.
BTW, maybe the only creepy thing about “You Oughta Know” is that it was probably written to Dave Coulier.

[Loopydude]

Hi, folks, this is casey Kasem, with the Top 40 Creepiest Songs! Tonight we’re gonna start off with an undergroung phenomenon of the late 80’s. So, want a little gory death mixed in with Oedipal incest? Well, we’ve got it all here, so let’s listen to a fun little ditty (it really is!) by the Pixies: It’s “Nimrod’s Son”

One night upon my motorcycle through the desert spead
And smashed my body so that all my friends thought I was dead
My sister held me close and whispered to my bleeding head
“You are the son of a mother fucker”

One two three four

I shook all night and held her hand
Chocolate people well I’ll be damned
Land of plenty, land of fun
To find out I’m Nimrod’s son

Oh bury me
Far away please
Bury me

Huaaaaaaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!
The joke has come upon me!

In my motorcycle mirror I think about the life I’ve led
And how my soul’s been aching all the holes where I have bled
My image spoke to me, yes to me and often said
“You are the son of incestuous union”

One two three

Now my head is clear
My luke hands washed
My daughter’s pure
My son is tall
Land of plenty, land of fun
To find out I’m Nimrod’s son

Oh bury me
Far away please
Bury me

Huaaaaaaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!
The joke has come upon me!

Next up in our countdown, we’ve got some disturbingly obsessive codependancy, complete with the not-so-vague threats of a jilted lover. An alt-rock icon who needs no introduction, but this next one is brought to you with tenderness by P.J. Harvey. It’s the rockin’ tune “Rid of Me”!

Tie yourself to me
No one else
No, you’re not rid of me
Hmm you’re not rid of me

Night and day I breathe
Ah hah ay
Hey, you’re not rid of me
Yeah, you’re not rid of me (3x)
I beg you, my darling
Don’t leave me, I’m hurting

Lick my legs I’m on fire
Lick my legs of desire

I’ll tie your legs
Keep you against my chest
Oh, you’re not rid of me
Yeah, you’re not rid of me
I’ll make you lick my injuries
I’m gonna twist your head off, see

Till you say don’t you wish you never never met her?
Don’t you don’t you wish you never never met her? (3x)

I beg you my darling
Don’t leave me, I’m hurting
Big lonely above everything
Above everyday, I’m hurting

Lick my legs, I’m on fire
Lick my legs of desire
Lick my legs, I’m on fire
Lick my legs of desire

Yeah, you’re not rid of me
Yeah, you’re not rid of me
I’ll make you lick my injuries
I’m gonna twist your head off, see

Till you say don’t you wish you never never met her
Don’t you don’t you wish you never never met her (3x)

Don’t you don’t you wish you never never met her
(Lick my legs I’m on fire) (7x)

Lick my legs I’m on fire
Lick my legs of desire
Lick my legs I’m on fire
Lick my legs of desire
*

We’ll be back with more songs of the macabre you can’t help but hum along to in a few moments, but first a few words from our sponsor, Taser Stun Guns!

[Second_Star_to_the_Right]

@caphis

I have to second “Invisible”. Not only do I find Aiken himself somewhat creepy, but the song just gives me the shivers. “If I was invisible… then I would just watch you in your room”.

How romantic.

And not to mention: “If I was invisible/I’d make you mine tonight…” Lovely. (Apologies if that’s been said already- I didn’t read the entire thread.)

[sub]BTW, Loopydude, I think its against the rules to post entire song lyrics due to copyright issues. Just FYI. [/sub]

[shy_guy]

Heh, I was trying to make someone see how creepy “Invisible” was the other day, and he just wouldn’t get it. Finally I said:

“Okay, seriously, he’s saying ‘If I was invisible, I’d stalk you then rape you,’ I mean honestly.”

[Sternvogel]

@Mayflower

Krokodil, I’ll agree with you that that’s kinda reaching about Daddy’s Hands. 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.*

Although the “her” referred to by Krokodil (and, by extension, Mayflower) was Patty Loveless, Daddy’s Hands and Maybe I Mean Yes are both featured on Holly Dunn’s Milestones: Greatest Hits album. I can’t find any cites for Loveless covering either song. Dunn seemed to be a rising star, but never recovered from the controversy engendered by Maybe I Mean Yes. Interestingly, Holly is a preacher’s daughter and attended Abilene Christian University. Perhaps this helps explain why she was genuinely stunned by the backlash.

[Superdude]

@Coulbean

People also fail to realize that Brick by Ben Folds Five is about an abortion.

Unless they listen to Ben Folds Live, where he explains what the song is about.

[Askia]

And nobody mentioned Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean?”

And mother always told me / be careful of who you love
And be careful of what you do / ’cause the lie becomes the truth.

Allegations, schmallegations.

Or as Neil Gaiman put it (in the persona of drag queen commedianne Vixen LaBitch in THE KINDLY ONES) “Prancing around telling us the kid was not his son. Well, obviously – it was his boyfriend.”

[Askia]

Can’t believe I left off Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror” – the refrain almost sounds like a confession.

I’m starting with the man in the mirror / I’m asking him to change his ways…

[umop_ap_sdn]

Well Every Breath You Take and Wrapped Around Your Finger have already been mentioned, but some of the other songs on that album (Synchronicity) are creepy too. I don’t remember all of them off the top of my head but the one that takes the cake is a piece called Murder By Numbers which is just as creepy as the name sounds. :eek:

http://www.letssingit.com/?http://www.letssingit.com/police-the-murder-by-numbers-tf6q8vk.html

[Nutty_Bunny]

@cityboy916

Well Every Breath You Take and Wrapped Around Your Finger have already been mentioned, but some of the other songs on that album (Synchronicity) are creepy too.

In fact, the title song (Synchronicity 2), itself, is rather dark and depressing.

Here’s the first verse:

Another suburban family morning
Grandmother screaming at the wall
We have to shout above the din of our rice crispies
We can’t hear anything at all
Mother chants her litany of boredom and frustration
But we all know her suicides are fake
Daddy only stares into the distance
There’s only so much more that he can take
Many miles away
Something crawls from the slime
At the bottom of a dark
Scottish lake

[vivalostwages]

@Tenar

If I get logged out again I’m going to SCREAM.

Let’s try this again…

Was anyone else as creeped out as I always was by this sick song we used to sing in Catholic church?

“Sons of God
hear his Holy Word,
Gather 'round the table of the Lord
Eat his bo-dee! Drink His blooood!
And we’ll sing a song of love
Hale-luuu, Hale-luuu, Hale-luuu, Hale-luuuuia!”

Sheesh.

Oh man, that’s unpleasant.

They made us sing one at camp (religious camp; no fun campfire songs) that had a chorus like this:
“And I don’t want to see them burn
While I’m alive in the sky”

It was supposed to make you evangelize like crazy.