# Psychologically unhealthy songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064 "2006-06-09T14:28:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jombi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jombi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jombi)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/21 "2006-06-09T17:28:04Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Heart, All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You. A married woman drives alone, picks up a stranger on the side of the road, takes him to a hotel, gets laid and pregnant then goes back after the baby is born to tell him…you were just a sperm donor cause my man couldn’t get me knocked up, have a nice life. Yea, that’s healthy. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah, I remember when I first really listened to the lyrics. I was at a Heart concert and knew the song, liked it, but had never really listened to it. Instantly turned me off the song when I realized what it was about. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/22 "2006-06-09T17:30:09Z")
Wow, I was certain that someone would have mentioned The Police’s “Every Step You Take” before I got in here. Sting has expressed astonishment at how often it gets played at weddings: it’s supposed to be creepy and disturbing, not romantic. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/23 "2006-06-09T17:33:25Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Wasn’t there a song in the Disney movie _Summer Magic_ called “Feminity” about how you have to be all girly and pretend to be something you’re not so you can “trap a beau”? [/QUOTE] Oh good lord yes. I heard this recently (for the first time) on a tape that my niece listens to, and I nearly spit out my non-alcoholic kid’s-birthday-party-appropriate beverage. [Femininity](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/femininity.htm) _Let him do the talking Med adore good listeners Laugh, but not too loudly (Haha) If he should choose to tell a joke Be radiant, but delicate Memorize the rules of etiquette Be demure, sweet and pure Hide the real you_ Clearly ironic, but I doubt that’s apparent to your average five year old. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Logan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Don\_Logan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Logan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/24 "2006-06-09T17:35:14Z")
**Miller** , see post 4 above 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/25 "2006-06-09T17:36:34Z")
Wow, really upbeat Google ads. :rolleyes: Thanks guys! I have new material for my “Songs that are played in Feminist Hell” list. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/26 "2006-06-09T17:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Air Supply’s [Without You](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~maverick/old_public_html/lyrics/WithoutYou.html) There’s not much to the lyrics, except this over and over again: - I can’t live, if living is without you. I can’t give, I can’t give any more. Can’t live, if living is without you. Can’t give, I can’t give any more. \* Dude, get over it! Giving up on life because your girl left you isn’t really a healthy attitude to have… [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure when Air Supply sings it, they aren’t singing because their girl left… 😉 [QUOTE=Miller] Wow, I was certain that someone would have mentioned The Police’s “Every Step You Take” before I got in here. [/QUOTE] Check post #4. ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/27 "2006-06-09T17:40:13Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Air Supply’s [Without You](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~maverick/old_public_html/lyrics/WithoutYou.html) There’s not much to the lyrics, except this over and over again: - I can’t live, if living is without you. I can’t give, I can’t give any more. Can’t live, if living is without you. Can’t give, I can’t give any more. \* Dude, get over it! Giving up on life because your girl left you isn’t really a healthy attitude to have… [/QUOTE] Isn’t that Eric Carmen? My vote is for another perennial wedding favorite: Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” which is about how freakin’ long it takes his wife to get ready and how he has to keep telling her how wonderful she looks. (Guess he should have left her with George after all.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/28 "2006-06-09T17:43:37Z")
[QUOTE=davmilasav] Isn’t that Eric Carmen? My vote is for another perennial wedding favorite: Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” which is about how freakin’ long it takes his wife to get ready and how he has to keep telling her how wonderful she looks. (Guess he should have left her with George after all.) [/QUOTE] Well, she does drive him home that night, with his “aching head” and all, and then “puts him to bed.” Too much coke again, eh Eric? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/29 "2006-06-09T17:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=davmilasav] Isn’t that Eric Carmen? [/QUOTE] You’re thinking of “All By Myself”. “Without You” was originally (I think) sung by Nilsson, then covered by Mariah Carey and apparently Air Supply as well. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Logan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Don\_Logan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Logan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/30 "2006-06-09T17:45:00Z")
Actually I believe “Without You” was written by two of the guys in Badfinger, and topped the charts first by Nilsson and then by Mariah Carey. And since both of the writers later committed suicide, albeit for different reasons, it makes the psychological aspect of the OP sort of interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Logan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Don\_Logan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Logan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/31 "2006-06-09T17:52:31Z")
I believe the theory about “Wonderful Tonight” was first posited by critic Dave Marsh, and it is one of the things I find infuriating about critics like him. Dave Marsh comes up with the brilliantly “insightful” interpretation, and then proclaims it as fact. Did Clapton ever state this is what this song is about? No. So Dave Marsh is telling us what a songwriter “really” meant without verification from the writer? Bullshit I say. It is a simple love song, no more, no less, until Clapton says otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/32 "2006-06-09T18:47:43Z")
I freaking HATE “Anything for You” by Gloria Estefan. Give me a BREAK. "Anything for you Though you’re not here Since you said we’re through It seems like years Time keeps draggin on and on And forever’s been and gone Still I can’t figure what went wrong I’d still do anything for you I’ll play your game You hurt me through and through But you can have your way I can pretend each time I see you That I don’t care and I don’t need you And though you’ll never see me cryin’ You know inside I feel like dying And I’d do anything for you In spite of it all" WHAT?? My favorite was mentioned already: He hit me and it felt like a kiss He hit me but it didn’t hurt me He couldn’t stand to hear me say That I’d been with someone new And when I told him I had been untrue He hit me and it felt like a kiss He hit me and I knew he loved me 'Cause if he didn’t care for me I could have never made him mad He hit me and I was glad ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/33 "2006-06-09T18:49:00Z")
[QUOTE=Don Logan] It is a simple love song, no more, no less, until Clapton says otherwise. [/QUOTE] I’m with you. _Wonderful Tonight_ is pretty free of irony, at least in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/34 "2006-06-09T19:36:04Z")
I think Bloodrock’s “DOA” fits the bill, too. About a guy in a plane crash, dying. Here’s one stanza for an instance: [quote=] Life is flowing out my body Pain is flowing out with my blood The sheets are red and moist where I’m lying God in Heaven, teach me how to die [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/35 "2006-06-09T19:43:57Z")
[QUOTE=Angel of the Lord] …“ **Another prop has occupied my time.** ”… [/QUOTE] You seem to have omitted the most disturbing word in the song: **Fire!** (song as _Fie-ahhhhhhh_). I always assumed the prop in question wasn’t employed by the songwriter - so perhaps he’s implying he’s going out ‘hunting’ with his rifle. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/36 "2006-06-09T21:29:28Z")
Oh good, maybe somebody who can tell me who sings that song that goes “…LIEEEE to me, I promise I’ll believe. LIEEEE to me, but please don’t lee-ee-eeave”? I really like that song. ---
**Author:** ![Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebecca_DiMwitter)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/37 "2006-06-09T22:09:45Z")
OK, so you’re in a great mood, driving along the highway on a sunny, warm day, full of light and love for everything, and suddenly you hear James Blunt’s plaintive, longing voice singing “Goodbye My Lover” on your CD mix…NOTHING reminds you more forcefully of love’s misery and utter despair than Blunt wailing: I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I’m asleep. And I will bear my soul in time, when I’m kneeling at your feet. Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend. You have been the one, you have been the one for me. I’m so hollow, baby, I’m so hollow. I’m so, I’m so, I’m so hollow. Makes me want a triple dose of Welbutrin just to make it thru the end of the song. I can’t really recall hearing so much hurt and pain in one voice before this, tho “I Can’t Live” as done by Harry Nillson (or any of the more recent covers) is a close contender, as others have pointed out. It CANNOT be good for anyone to listen to this song too often! –Beck ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/38 "2006-06-09T23:06:59Z")
[QUOTE=bluethree] Oh good, maybe somebody who can tell me who sings that song that goes “…LIEEEE to me, I promise I’ll believe. LIEEEE to me, but please don’t lee-ee-eeave”? I really like that song. [/QUOTE] That’s “Strong Enough,” by Sheryl Crow. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/39 "2006-06-09T23:25:37Z")
I have _issues_ with the Celine Dion song that contains the lyrics “I’m everything I am because you loved me.” It’s full of lovely sentiments about her loving sticking by her through the bad times but it just ooks me the hell out. What, none of what you are is you? Bleh bleh. Love You Inside and Out which was originally by the BeeGees but was covered by Feist, and I’ve only heard the cover, is just plain stalkery. Maybe it’s meant to be disturbing. Don’t try to tell me it’s all over I can’t hear a word I can’t hear a line No man could love you more And that’s what I’m cryin’ for You can’t change the way I feel inside You’re the reason for my laughter and my sorrow Blow out the candle I will burn again tomorrow No man on earth can stand between my love and I And no matter how you hurt me I will love you till I die ---
**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:** [June 9, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064/40 "2006-06-09T23:36:23Z")
Curse you, **Lightray**! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychologically-unhealthy-songs/360064.md?page=3)