# Post Bad Lyrics (That Still Work) Here! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699 "2002-12-10T03:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/1 "2002-12-10T03:09:01Z")
A) Billy Joel sings of a “real estate novelist” in Piano Man. And, on the “Glass Houses” album, he sings “a buck 3.80 won’t buy much lately on the streets these days…” Excuse me, Mr. Joel, is that redundant, or what? Does he mean $4.80, perhaps? B) Elton John sings of a “prince perched in her electric chair” in the song “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”. Hmm, a little gender confusion, Sir Elton? (Or, was it Bernie Taupin’s fault?) C) John Mellencamp sings “I know a lot of things, and then I don’t know a lot of other things…” This appears on the “Scarecrow” album. IIRC, it’s “You Gotta Stand for Something”? (Please feel free to correct me!) If such lines have bugged other SDopers, please post 'em here! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/2 "2002-12-10T03:45:07Z")
America’s “A Horse With No Name”: “…cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain…” > [@](#): > > B) Elton John sings of a “prince perched in her electric chair” in the song “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”. Hmm, a little gender confusion, Sir Elton? (Or, was it Bernie Taupin’s fault?) The line is actually: “…sitting like a princess, perched in her electric chair…” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/3 "2002-12-10T04:10:44Z")
“Cheer up Sleepy Jean/Oh what can it mean/to a Daydream Believer/and a homecoming queen…” - the whole song makes no sense, but it works. Two Tim Rice lyrics that don’t really work: Judas referring to Jesus as a “faded jaded mandarin” in Jesus Christ Superstar… ? Evita’s “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”… uh, why would they? You’re a beautiful 26 year old first lady who’s done nothing to be pitied, but the song works beautifully. ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/4 "2002-12-10T04:23:41Z")
“WORD to ya mutha” Vanilla Ice ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/5 "2002-12-10T04:30:33Z")
\*Nah nah nah nah Nah nah nah nah Hey hey hey Good bye!\* Just filler lyrics? But, it works so well, chanted to a lame duck politician. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/6 "2002-12-10T06:26:17Z")
There’s always “In this ever changing world in which we live in…” Live and Let Die- Paul Mcartney > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > \*\*“Cheer up Sleepy Jean/Oh what can it mean/to a Daydream Believer/and a homecoming queen…” - the whole song makes no sense, but it works. > \*\* What? The song’s about two people (the titular Believer and Sleepy Jean the homecomeing queen) who got married fresh out of high school with a lot of romantic ideas and now have to deal with the harsh realities of adult life like getting up early and working and of course…shaving. Makes perfect sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/7 "2002-12-10T06:30:57Z")
The Beatles, _It’s All Too Much_, is in most respects a groovy and totally awsome song. Except for one lyric: “Life’s a birthday cake, so let’s take a slice, but not too much.” Yeah… right… ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/8 "2002-12-10T08:35:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jinx \* > \*\*A) Billy Joel sings of a “real estate novelist” in Piano Man. And, on the “Glass Houses” album, he sings “a buck 3.80 won’t buy much lately on the streets these days…” Excuse me, Mr. Joel, is that redundant, or what? Does he mean $4.80, perhaps? > > - Jinx \*\* In defense of Mr. Joel: The “real estate novelist” is one of several examples of failed lives given in the song, i. e. the person fancies himself a novelist although he has probably never published a book and makes his living by selling real estate. Sort of like the would-be movie stars “parking cars and pumping gas” in _Do You Know the Way to San Jose_. And “a buck three eighty” is an old phrase which predates Mr. Joel by quite a bit, meaning “an indeterminate (relatively small, unimportant) amount of money”, less than “umpteen dollars”, which implies a larger sum. “How much did you spend on that shirt? Oh, a buck three eighty.” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/9 "2002-12-10T13:15:18Z")
Hands down the most redundant lyrics belong to “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” performed by Aerosmith, from the movie “Armageddon.” > [@](#): > > I just want to be with you > Right here wich you, just like this. (Sarcastic spelling error mine.) The first line is bland. The second line is a useless repetition of the first line. > [@](#): > > I just want to hold you close > Feel your heart so close to mine. Had my third grader written this line (and make no doubt about it, a third grader _could_ have written this line), I would have told her that the image of hearts beating together has been done to death. How about something original? Something like (and please sing it to the tune in your best Steven Tyler voice): “I’m hungry like Ule Gibbons; And you are my little pine.” Hey! At least it’s original! Okay, back to the bad song. And then we wind down with: > [@](#): > > And just stay here in this moment > For all the rest of time For all the rest of time? Egads. I’m _convinced_ a junior high student wrote this song. The only saving grace is that it’s a rock ballad and Aerosmith gives it some life. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/10 "2002-12-10T13:31:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > > Evita’s “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”… uh, why would they? You’re a beautiful 26 year old first lady who’s done nothing to be pitied, but the song works beautifully. \*\* This gets debated into the ground on theatre forums every once in a while. Does “cry” mean “boo-hoo crying” or is it cry as in “cry out,” which works better with the next line “The truth is I never left you.” She could be saying “don’t cry out for me, I’m still here.” The original line was “It’s Only Your Lover Returning.” They had Julie Covington (the original and BEST Evita) go into the studio to redub the lyric. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/11 "2002-12-10T15:00:04Z")
i nominate the entirety of STP’s “Creep”. “feeling i’m [awe?]-inspired, i think i’ll start a fire, first you think you’re really neat then she tells me i’m a creep” at first i thought this was some horrible writing, then I thought, “hey, they are just speaking in the CHARACTER of an angst-ridden teen.” It works well when looked at from a point of view perspective. About half of Steely Dan’s repertoire works as well, but they are more obviously of the “literary” persuasion, so the “Point of view” is more obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Realhoops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8dc957/32.png) [@Realhoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Realhoops)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/12 "2002-12-10T15:49:08Z")
Speaking of Aerosmith… > [@](#): > > I want to be your lover > I, I wanna wrap you in rubber > And it’s pink as the sheets that we lay on > 'Cause pink - it’s my favorite crayon > Yeah! … I “think” it works, but… “my favorite crayon?” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/13 "2002-12-10T15:58:15Z")
Every song every written by Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-bad-lyrics-that-still-work-here/141699/14 "2002-12-10T16:44:44Z")
Warren Zevon is the king of wonderfully awful rhymes. Gender and blender? Rain and chow mein?