# Pop songs that aren't about romance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475 "2009-03-15T00:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/1 "2009-03-15T00:53:15Z")
It seems like every song on the radio is about love, or lack thereof. Which is fine up to a point, but it can get a little boring after a while. At least to me, anyway. (Of course, I appear to be missing some key hormones, so all love stories sound boring to me). Anyway, what are some pop songs, past or present, that have nothing to do with love? One fairly recent one I like is Rihanna’s Disturbia, a creepy tune about someone who’s going insane. I’ve been going through some mental health issues myself, so it really speaks to me. (Not that I hear pictures on the wall talking to me or anything, but I identify with the hopelessness and dread the narrator feels). Certaintly not a love song of any sort. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/2 "2009-03-15T01:23:29Z")
_Hurt_ - I like the Cash version _The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_ - Gordon Lightfoot _Guitar Town_ - Steve Earle _Born in the USA_ - Bruce Springsteen (he had a lot of hits that didn’t have romantic love or loss/lack thereof as the theme) _Piano Man_ - Billy Joel (see Springsteen note) Any number of country songs, especially the ballads, although I don’t know if you are counting those among the pop. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/3 "2009-03-15T01:31:53Z")
Eminem’s Crack a Bottle, Mosh, Like Toy Soldiers, My Name Is, The Real Slim Shady, and quite a few of his other singles Pink’s Sober Michael Jackson’s Beat It Greenday- American Idiot, Holiday, Jesus of Suburbia White Stripes Icky Thump Linkin Park’s Bleed it out, Crawling, and a few others Fall out boy’s This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race Gnarls Barkley’s crazy Gorillaz- Feel Good Inc, Dare Weird Al’s White and Nerdy Weezer’s Beverly Hills System of a Down- BYOB, Cigaro, Hypnotize Are some of the songs I reconized when going back through to top 100 song lists randomly from now until 2006. There’s plenty more, but do you have any specific criteria in mind other than popular released singles? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/4 "2009-03-15T01:36:26Z")
There are thousands - tens of thousands. Most of the best ones from the past aren’t. \*\*Like A Rollin’ Stone Tax Man Hey Jude Revolution Sympathy for the Devil \*\* and lots of others. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/5 "2009-03-15T01:45:08Z")
> [@Ro0sh](#): > > Are some of the songs I reconized when going back through to top 100 song lists randomly from now until 2006. There’s plenty more, but do you have any specific criteria in mind other than popular released singles? I dunno, I was just trying to reassure myself that there really were some out there. Songs you like, I guess? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/6 "2009-03-15T02:21:02Z")
You need to consider more songs about food, it’ll take your mind off romance. A sampling: The Cramps “Shortnin’ Bread’” NRBQ “Howard Johnson’s Got His Ho-Jo Workin’”, “RC Cola And A Moon Pie” Southern Culture on the Skids “Eight Piece Box”, “Fried Chicken and Gasoline” Squeeze “Pulling Mussels From The Shell” Booker T & the MGs “Green Onions”, “My Sweet Potato” The B-52s “Quiche Lorraine” Fats Waller “All That Meat And No Potatoes” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/7 "2009-03-15T04:02:42Z")
Jeremy, Even Flow, Alive ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/8 "2009-03-15T07:59:43Z")
By “pop” we mean radio hits, not just bubblegum pop, right? Here are the first few that come to mind: Weezer “Say it Ain’t So” Red Hot Chili Peppers “Higher Ground,” “Aeroplane,” “My Friends” Feeder “High” Jimmy Eat World “Bleed American” Garbage “Stupid Girl” Dave Matthews “Grave Digger” Geggy Tah “Whoever You Are” Temple of The Dog “Hunger Strike” etc etc etc ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/9 "2009-03-15T08:39:28Z")
“My Friends” (me and my me and my me and my me and my FRIENDS!) was a radio hit? The other two RHCP songs, yeah, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever heard that one on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/10 "2009-03-15T11:19:57Z")
Paperback Writer Revolution Come Together Nowhere Man Lady Madonna Help Get Back Let It Be Hey Jude Sgt. Pepper Eleanor Rigby Penny Lane Strawberry Fields Forever Yellow Submarine Rain I Am The Walrus Baby You’re a Rich Man All by the Rutles, of course. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/11 "2009-03-15T14:21:52Z")
REM’s It’s The End of the World As We Know It Every Beach Boys song that deals with cars. Cadillac Ranch Many, many, many folk songs that became hits in the sixties and seventies Hurricane by Bob Dylan Plenty of country songs as well Actually, several of Kanye West’s hit songs aren’t about love. Jesus Walks, Diamonds from Sierra Leone, and The Good Life are not. ---
**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, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/12 "2009-03-15T14:38:10Z")
Depends on the bands you choose, I’d wager Rush: The Spirit of Radio Free Will Tom Sawyer Queen Bohemian Rhapsody We Will Rock You/We are the Champions Another One Bites the Dust Radio Ga Ga AC/DC Highway to Hell Manilow I Write the Songs Bush Everything Zen Cranberries Zombie Dire Straits Sultans of Swing Walk of Life Don Henley Dirty Laundry And that’s just a cursory look. While I’d agree that a plurality of pop song hits are about relationships, whether romantic or physical, I think a strong minority would not be. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/13 "2009-03-15T15:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] While I’d agree that a plurality of pop song hits are about relationships, whether romantic or physical, I think a strong minority would not be. [/QUOTE] During the 1920s and '30s, that “strong minority” were invariably about a) the South or b) artificially manufactured dance crazes such _The Varsity Drag_. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/14 "2009-03-15T15:38:37Z")
Songs that come to mind immediately… “Lip Gloss,” Lil Mama “Circus,” Britney Spears “Paper Planes,” M.I.A. “Rehab,” Amy Winehouse ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/15 "2009-03-15T17:26:13Z")
Wow this topic is something I’ve been thinking about lately. I’ve been listening to an 80s station on Jango and it plays a lot of Genesis – and I’ve been astonished by two things: 1) realizing/recalling how much I like their music (I’d forgotten a lot of their songs), and 2) how many of their songs are political/social rather than romantic. **Genesis** : In the Air Tonight Illegal Alien Land of Confusion Tonight, Tonight, Tonight No Son of Mine Jesus He Knows Me **Solo Genesisites** : Another Day in Paradise (Collins) Silent Running (Mike & the Mechanics – a group I really liked) The Living Years (Mike & the Mechanics) Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel) Games Without Frontiers (Gabriel) Red Rain (Gabriel) Big Time (Gabriel) **Police** : Demolition Man (I think this was a popular song? At least the remake by Manfred Mann?) Synchronicity II Invisible Sun Message in a Bottle (well, it’s ambiguous – could be loneliness in general) King of Pain (ditto) Spirits in the Material World **Sting** : Russians Fragile Englishman in New York All This Time **Other songs off the top of my head** : New York, New York My Way Swing on a Star It Was a Very Good Year I Believe Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime Bad, Bad Leroy Brown Mack the Knife Sounds of Silence Bridge Over Troubled Water She Works Hard for the Money Thriller Ebony & Ivory And there’s a lot of songs about music / dancing that aren’t necessarily romantic: Sir Duke The Hustle (heh … well, it does have lyrics kinda) Charleston I Love Rock & Roll Disco Duck King Tut There are almost too many to list. As others have said, it’s really not that rare. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/16 "2009-03-15T17:36:16Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > One fairly recent one I like is Rihanna’s Disturbia, a creepy tune about someone who’s going insane. I’ve been going through some mental health issues myself, so it really speaks to me. (Not that I hear pictures on the wall talking to me or anything, but I identify with the hopelessness and dread the narrator feels). Certaintly not a love song of any sort. I can relate to that. Hell, that song is my ringtone right now. Another song with a similar theme that is popular right now is “Day 'n Nite” by Kid Cudi. The protagonist is described as a “lonely stoner,” but you don’t have to have ever touched controlled substances to relate to his feelings of loneliness and alienation. I also would recommend the music of Sheryl Crow. Not all her songs are about romance. One I particularly enjoy is “Soak Up the Sun,” from a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/17 "2009-03-15T19:19:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Piano Man - Billy Joel (see Springsteen note) Off the top of my head, “Allentown” and “Nantucket Bound” also aren’t romantic. Quoth **choie** : > [@](#): > > It Was a Very Good Year I dunno; I think that Sinatra singing about how he got laid a lot isn’t really in the spirit of the thing. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/18 "2009-03-15T19:49:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > “My Friends” (me and my me and my me and my me and my FRIENDS!) was a radio hit? The other two RHCP songs, yeah, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever heard that one on the radio. It made it to [#25](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hot_Chili_Peppers_discography#Singles) on US charts in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/19 "2009-03-15T20:15:38Z")
Bruce Cockburn’s “If I Had A Rocket Launcher”. Quite the opposite of love. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475/20 "2009-03-15T20:49:54Z")
It isn’t 1963 anymore. There are countless pop songs that are not about romance. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-that-arent-about-romance/489475.md?page=2)