Similiar to the Sting example, R.E.M’s “The One I Love” is definitely not a love song.
Dido’s “White Flag” sounds like any example of contemporary adult pop pablum, but the lyrics are terribly creepy and stalkerish. I’ve been the recipient of unwanted romantic attention before, and hearing this song on the radio pisses me off no end:
Gah! Creepy!
Well, there’s Warren Zevon’s Excitable Boy, which has the wonderful lines,
*He took little Susie to the junior prom,
Excitable boy, they all said.
And he raped her and killed her then he took her home,
Exitable boy they all said (exictable boy)
After ten long years they let him out of the home,
Excitable boy, they all said.
And he dug up her grave and made a cage with her bones,
Excitable boy they all said (excitable boy)
…
*
panamajack I totally agree.
“From a Distance” -
The message of the lyrics is that the world is very, very screwed up - and that God neither notices or cares how fucked up it all is. So, why, when it came out, did I keep hearing it in churches, where presumably, people do not believe that to be true? (Great song for deists and agnostics, but…)
Pretty much all of the Supremes songs are lessons in how to be completely co-dependent.
D.O.A. by Bloodrock
If You’re Not the One starts nice, with the couple seemingly walking hand in hand, but turns creepy with the first chorus, and gets more so as the narrator gets more obsessed. By the time we get to, “And I wish that you could be the one I die with”, I’m not so sure that he necessarily means “grow old and die with”.
I remember speculation that Pearl Jam’s seemingly strong and defiant song “Alive” was actually a twisted reflection on incest. Eddie never talks about lyrics, so I guess you could throw anything on their songs without fear of refutation by the author.
I’ve always heard Eddie wrote the song after he found out that the man he thought was his father turned out not to be.
I don’t doubt that is accurate Short Guy, the other interpretation is probably a spin on the lyrics just to be sensational.
“Crash Into Me” by Dave Matthews Band. That song beats out “Every Breath You Take” for stalker vibes, IMO.
Ugh…
Suzene
Or it would be, if the song had anything to do with that. “Nothing to do to save his life” means he couldn’t think of anything to do if his life depended on it.
Basic plot of the song: A man is totally bored and fed up with running through the same motions every day. In fact, he’s so pissed off with his dull home life that he often works so late he doesn’t see his wife until the next day or his son at all - not that work is any better.
Then one day, he gets so depressed at work he decides to take a day off. On his way home he starts feeling a bit better, so decides to go for a wander round town. He passes his old school, and it wakes up the good memories of being a kid. Next thing he knows, it’s getting dark and everyone’s either going home or hitting the town. Instead of going home for his tea, he starts flirting with other women and as the song ends, is seriously hoping to pick up a bit of extra-marital.
Nuts, hit reply too soon. I meant to add:
If you want a really creepy Beatles song, try She’s Leaving Home (spoilt rich girl runs away with a used car salesman because her home life is so unloving) or Eleanor Rigby (no explanation necessary, I trust).
I had a conversation with a woman at work recently about the song Angie Baby by Helen Ready.
When I asked her if it creeped her out, she didn’t understand.
I explained to her about the kid going into the girl’s room intending to rape her but instead gets shrunk down and sucked into a radio, never to be seen again.
We had to go online and get the lyrics for me to prove to her that something really wierd was going on in the song. I’ve always wondered if it was supposed to be a drug song.
That song is surely about incest. While it’s true that Pearl Jam members have usually abstained from explaining their lyrics, they explained ‘Alive’ on at least one occasion. For the details, I’ll recommend a visit to ‘Five Horizons’, specifically Five Horizons: December 1999 Song X - Mamasan Trilogy
I remember reading Eddie comment on this once:
He said most people though he mean the look on her face. he didnt say explicitly what he meant but you can guess.
Then there’s always My Sharona, which seems to me to be about pedophilia.
Smashing Pumpkins - Today
Amazing how many people think this is a happy song, but it’s obvious from the verses that it’s about suicide.
“Pink ribbon scars, that never forget, I tried so hard, to cleanse these regrets” - refers to a failed suicide attempt - slitting your wrists in a bath of warm water.
“Today is the greatest day I’ve ever know, cant wait for tomorrow, tomorrow’s much too long”
I think greatest doesnt mean happy/good but “important”, things have come to a head.
If anyone knows what the bit near the end means when Billy sings “I want to turn you on” a few times I dont have a clue.
“Daddy’s Hands” by Patti Loveless. My sister, a folk musician, sees it as a kind of celebration/legitimization of child abuse. I think that’s digging pretty deep for it, though.
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” was mentioned earlier. Yeah, it’s creepy, but I always took it as the Beatles’ nod to their Music Hall roots, where gory lyrics pleasantly delivered are pretty commonplace.
What about Live From The Plantation by Mr Lif?
Dead boss, somebody call Red Cross
I guess he got caught up in my mental holocaust
How much did it cost?
Just a little piece of my mind for peace of mind
“But he’s bleeding!”
Oh no, leave him. He’ll be fine
He’ll heal on his own
if you just give him some time
Considering the fact that his face is misaligned
His legs are over there lying right next to his spine
“Lunchtime!” Huh? Oh, Jesus, must have been daydreaming
That’s not creepy! That’s funny!
Evanessence’s current hit “Wake Me Up Inside” has far too much of what I don’t want my next relationship to be:
(The lyrics are from memory, so they may not be accurate.)
No. I came close to the whole “my life is utterly dependent on you” schtick and it’s not fair to the person depended on. Been there, done that, and the t-shirt wasn’t worth it!
John Cougar Mellencamp or whatever he’s calling himself these days also has a couple of songs which, while they’re not exactly creepy, they do bother me. Specifically, “Hurt So Good” and “I Want a Lover Who Won’t Drive Me Crazy”, a case of a good instrumental ruined by obnoxious lyrics. Tell you what, Johnny boy. I’ll cut to the chase and “just go away.”
CJ