# Profanity in Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556 "2011-09-25T15:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/21 "2011-09-26T21:28:34Z")
> [@GildedLily](#): > > Ween’s Piss Up a Rope uses profanity quite nicely. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfmB-8onoMo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfmB-8onoMo) > > You ride my ass like a horse in a saddle > Now you’re up shit’s creek with a turd for a paddle > And I can’t cope, a-piss up a rope Incidentally, wasn’t that song supposed to be Ween’s homage to David Allen Coe? As for this thread, I’m surprised no one’s mentioned [“Killing in the Name”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxk3c_SbWMg) by RATM. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/22 "2011-09-26T21:38:50Z")
A historical note: back in the day, when the song “Kodachrome” was released by Paul Simon, radio stations routinely bleeped the word “crap” from the first line of the song. Times have certainly changed. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/23 "2011-09-26T21:42:28Z")
Forgot to post Reggie Watts’ [Fuck Shit Stack](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJQU22Ttpwc) earlier. This is IMO one of the finest examples of the creative use of profanity ever recorded. And it’s catchy as hell, too. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/24 "2011-09-26T21:50:53Z")
I always maintained that Afroman’s _Because I got High_ was way funnier when they used sound effects, instead of the uncensored word. \*I was gonna eat your **[meow]** too … Now I’m \*\*[fap fap fap]\*_ing off and I know why, Because I got high, Because I got high, la ti da da da da._ ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/25 "2011-09-26T21:53:03Z")
Btw, almost all the examples offered in this thread are indecencies, not profanities. Profanity has a religious component. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/26 "2011-09-26T22:05:05Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > What year was this song released and why didn’t I ever hear it until now… not that I ever bought Nilsson’s record before. 1. It’s off his album **[Son of Schmilsson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Schmilsson)**. We used to ask freshmen DJs at our record station to play it; they’d freak. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/27 "2011-09-26T22:21:24Z")
Ben Folds Five’s \*[Song for the Dumped](http://youtu.be/MjkMh0tKCZo)\*holds a special place in my heart. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/28 "2011-09-26T23:13:08Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > “Be quiet, you unsavory person” I think that’s actually quite catchy. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/29 "2011-09-26T23:37:55Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > I think that’s actually quite catchy. I think Victor Borge may have done a cover of that in the '50’s. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/30 "2011-09-26T23:59:53Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Btw, almost all the examples offered in this thread are indecencies, not profanities. Profanity has a religious component. Not always. One of the definitions of profane is “common or vulgar”, which certainly requires no religious aspect. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/31 "2011-09-27T00:02:29Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Not always. One of the definitions of profane is “common or vulgar”, which certainly requires no religious aspect. Damn you all to hell! ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/32 "2011-09-27T00:34:41Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Cee-Lo’s “[Fuck You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0mxOXbWIU&ob=av2e).” The sanitized “Forget You” is a terrible song, but the original has such a great angry punch to it. I had never heard the song til it was on Glee. Boy was I surprised when I heard the original! But I like the original better. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/33 "2011-09-27T00:42:42Z")
Peaches’ [Fuck The Pain Away](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHcMqOQt4NY) ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/34 "2011-09-27T00:43:41Z")
My votes: Amy Winehouse’s _Me And Mr. Jones_ Fishbone’s amazingly vitriolic _Lying Ass Bitch_ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/35 "2011-09-27T01:27:28Z")
In a much different vein: [It’s A Motherfucker](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Ew0XRoV6g) by Mark Everett(Eels). ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/36 "2011-09-27T01:51:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Not always. One of the definitions of profane is “common or vulgar”, which certainly requires no religious aspect. That word. I do not think it means what you think it means. 🙂 (It seems you’re thinking of blasphemy.) Whoops, misquote. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/37 "2011-09-27T01:58:06Z")
Blasphemy is a statement that contravenes dogma, such as “there might actually be more gods other than just the god of Abraham and it might nit be so bad to worship him too.” Profanity is taking the lord’s name in vain, like “(god) damn you.” Indecency is references to sex or toilet stuff. Obscenity is illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/38 "2011-09-27T04:26:25Z")
Love these two… [“Fuck Was I”](http://youtu.be/37Zn3cjNu58) - Jenny Owen Youngs (seems like a sweet little folky waltz…but…) [“Are You Fucking Kidding Me? (the Facebook song)”](http://youtu.be/fBEOoQbA7BY) - Kate Miller-Heidke (live but audio-only, with lyrics. I’m surprised gaffa didn’t think of that one) ([here’s a version](http://youtu.be/QeTPNjPiyJM) where she’s singing it sitting at a piano in a studio-type setting, without an audience. It’s cool to see her sing it, but it’s a lot of fun with the audience noises, so I put the other link first). ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/39 "2011-09-27T04:28:57Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Liz Phair specializes in this. Yeah the first thing that came to my mind was “Hot White Cum,” by Liz Phair. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Uu7_MxNF4ps?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque I don’t think “Fuck the Police” by NWA would have had the same ring to it if it was “I am extremely troubled and unsatisfied by the behavior of law enforcement officers.” ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556/40 "2011-09-27T04:34:32Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Mumford and Sons’ “Little Lion Man” has the chorus > > And it was not your fault but mine. > And it was your heart on the line. > I really fucked it up this time, > didn’t I my dear? > > I don’t think “messed it up” or “screwed it up” or other less-offensive phrases would have worked as well. The singer is feeling terribly guilty, and “fucked it up” seems appropriate. Mumford and Sons is a great band. Here’s the song you quoted. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lLJf9qJHR3E/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC6AKKAgwIABABGGUgYShAMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCHlHg2Qn6HytEEU5CfhkpeH63Adw "Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJf9qJHR3E) and here’s my favorite song by them. Just because it’s a good song. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3KkUeRPjc-Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Mumford & Sons - The Cave") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkUeRPjc-Y) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/profanity-in-songs/597556.md?page=3)