Popular songs that give terrible advice

The continued survival of Keith Richards speaks against this :slight_smile:

…shave your face with some Mace in the dark…

Its not really advice but I Shot The Sheriff seems to layout a really bad defense strategy. I mean the DA isn’t going to need to push it with the murder charge for the deputy when you’re admitting to capital murder of the sheriff.

Rock and roll generally, and Rolling Stones lyrics specifically are full of awful and flat out abusive descriptions of relationships, not sure how much counts as advice.

The nearest that could be described as advice is “19th Nervous Breakdown”.: “You better stop, look around” how about get professional psychiatric help instead? “On our first trip i tried so hard to rearrange your mind” instead of getting amateur counseling (and psychoactive drugs) from your emotionally abusive arsehole rock star boy friend, maybe just dump his arse and deal with your problems in positive way?

And you can’t get much worse than Mungo Jerry:

Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

I’ve played in some sketchy games. I once had to jump a six foot fence to escape a cop raid. Really, no one cares if you count your chips. :slight_smile:

Wait, do orders to dance in a certain manner constitute advice? If so, “The Safety Dance” is advice to look like a total asshole. “Everyone look at your hands”? What kind of dance is that? Who does that when they’re dancing?

The actual advice given is very good, basically the devil telling his listeners that he’s a very dangerous individual and should be treated with respect so as not to elicit a harmful reaction.

Right on:

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste

From Neil Young:
A man needs a maid
Even Richard Nixon has got soul

Also Neil Diamond, Girl You’ll be a Woman Soon. “Don’t let them make up your mind”, “Please, come take my hand.” Seriously, do listen to the adults in your life, they have good reasons to put down the dodgy grown ass man who’s creeping on a teenage girl, do not go near him or touch his hand or anything else.

Like this?

Never mind a spoonful of sugar, ‘feed the birds’, specifically pigeons, is terrible advice. Pigeons are regarded as vermin in towns and cities.

Sondheim got there first:

Pretty sure that was a scam the old lady was running. Probably got the discarded bread and was selling it in small bags to make a buck.

Jimmy Dean told us to smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette. Very bad advice.

It was self defense.

how about the Police “with every breath you take/I’ll be watching you”–stalking anyone?

Still dubious as a legal strategy, how many defense lawyers would fancy their chances of getting a client off on self defence who had admitted to shooting a sheriff?

Oh and “it wasn’t me” by Shaggy has to be up there with worst advice. Its recommending gaslighting, and seeing as the advisor says “if she pack a gun you know you better run fast”, that’s clearly an eventuality that seems realistic, which makes the advice doubly bad.