# Puzzling lyrics that drive you nuts
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 5, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761 "2007-01-05T02:15:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/1 "2007-01-05T02:15:03Z")
Doing a search came up with loads of misheard lyric threads, but what I want to talk about are the one or two lines in a song that just don’t make sense; lines that bug the crap out of you every time you hear them.
There’s a radio station here that plays recent songs, but also a few from the 90s. I frequently hear odd lyrics on my drive to and from work, but these two are the worst offenders:
R. Kelly’s [Ignition Remix](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rkelly/ignitionremix.html)
> [@](#):
>
> You must be a football coach
> The way you got me playin the field
Does he know what “playing the field” means with regards to seeing women? I wonder, 'cause if I’m trying to get a guy to play the field, it’s because I’m not that interested and would prefer that he goes off and sees other ladies.
> [@](#):
>
> Now it’s like murder she wrote
> Once I get you out them clothes
I have no idea what that means. None at all. Is everything clear while she’s clothed, but it’s suddenly a mystery once she’s naked? A murder mystery with an old white lady?
Then there’s Neneh Cherry’s [Buffalo Stance](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Buffalo-Stance-lyrics-Neneh-Cherry/5F3996BA3908A54648256A84002B0A02)
> [@](#):
>
> We always hang in a Buffalo Stance
> We do the dive every time we dance
What, exactly, is a buffalo stance? No clue. Not a one.
So what lyrics poke at you regularly? Oh and if you know what mine mean, feel free to explain.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/2 "2007-01-05T06:49:53Z")
The entire song “You’re So Vain.” (If the song’s not about me, then what do you mean by “you”?)
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### Author:  [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/3 "2007-01-05T06:57:18Z")
[QUOTE=panache45]
The entire song “You’re So Vain.” (If the song’s not about me, then what do you mean by “you”?)
[/QUOTE]
I don’t know if we’re supposed to answer or not, but You’re so vain is about a particular person and the point is that you’d have to be obnoxiously vain to think it was about you, even if it was.
Like if I’m bitching about “Guy A” a guy would have to be pretty vain to assume it was him, even if it was.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/4 "2007-01-05T13:29:35Z")
I can find something to puzzle over in the lyrics of almost any song, so I guess I’ll just start with the song that’s stuck in my head right this moment: Paul Simon’s Loves Me Like a Rock.
> [@](#):
>
> My mama loves me
> She loves me
> She gets down on her knees and hugs me
> And she loves me like a rock
You mean one of those cute litte Pet Rocks from the seventies? Maybe she was a geologist? A crackhead?
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/5 "2007-01-05T14:06:42Z")
Tennessee Waltz:
I was dancin’
With my lady
To the Tennessee Waltz
'The hell? You’re writing a song about a past event in which the music was that which you are now currently writing? Is this some sort of time warp thingy?
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Thespis:
Mercury: Here come your people
Thespis: People better now
I contend that not a single person in the world knows what that means. Lord knows many have tried to figure it out. All have failed.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/6 "2007-01-05T14:07:33Z")
“She loves me like the Rock of Ages”; she loves him in a steadfast way that will never change?
Now it’s like murder she wrote
Once I get you out them clothes
He’ll inspect every inch of her for “clues”??
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### Author:  [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/7 "2007-01-05T14:50:40Z")
I think the “Ignition” lyrics are purposefully absurdist. My favorite line from that song is “We got food everywhere/As if the party was catered.” If there’s food everywhere, than the party _actually was_ catered! It’s not a simile!
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/8 "2007-01-05T14:58:00Z")
Hootie and the Blowfish “Everytime I look at you I go blind.”
Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/9 "2007-01-05T15:42:35Z")
Most of a _Hollaback Girl_. I guess the most confusing line is “This my shit/this my shit.” I don’t even bother wondering why she spells bananas, because that might be the funniest, dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in a song.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/10 "2007-01-05T15:46:57Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland]
I don’t know if we’re supposed to answer or not, but You’re so vain is about a particular person and the point is that you’d have to be obnoxiously vain to think it was about you, even if it was.
Like if I’m bitching about “Guy A” a guy would have to be pretty vain to assume it was him, even if it was.
[/QUOTE]
Absolutely. Carly has even revealed who she wrote the song about:
Carly’s participation in this year’s charity auction created an intense media buzz when she offered to reveal the identity of the person(s) she had in mind when she penned the song “You’re So Vain” to the highest bidder, but only after they agreed to abide by a confidentiality agreement.
…
On August 4th, the gavel cracked at $50,000 for Carly’s “Dream Secret”. The winner (Dick Ebersol - an NBC executive) and nine of his friends will join Carly at her home in a few weeks, at which time she will sing You’re So Vain while her guests enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and vodka on the rocks. At midnight, Mr. Ebersol alone will learn Carly’s closely guarded secret.
[http://www.carlysimon.com/vain/vain.htm](http://www.carlysimon.com/vain/vain.htm)
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/11 "2007-01-05T16:30:03Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Most of a _Hollaback Girl_. I guess the most confusing line is “This my shit/this my shit.” I don’t even bother wondering why she spells bananas, because that might be the funniest, dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in a song.
[/QUOTE]
Without knowing the song, “This my shit” would mean “This is my shit” to me.
Checks…yep, right [there](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/gwenstefani/hollabackgirl.html) in the first line
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/12 "2007-01-05T16:39:01Z")
From [_Sympathy for the Devil_](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/sympathy+for+the+devil_20117881.html)
> [@](#):
>
> And I laid traps for troubadours
> Who get killed before they reached bombay
The Hell does that mean, if you’ll pardon the expression?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/13 "2007-01-05T16:44:00Z")
[QUOTE=gigi]
Without knowing the song, “This my shit” would mean “This is my shit” to me.
Checks…yep, right [there](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/gwenstefani/hollabackgirl.html) in the first line
[/QUOTE]
I got that, but I have no idea what “this” is. The song doesn’t give a single clue what her shit is. It might be hard to keep discussing this…
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### Author:  [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/14 "2007-01-05T16:45:23Z")
Heard a Black Eyed Peas song on the radio, where I’m pretty sure one of the lyrics was something like “I’ll play Bobby, you play Whitney.” And it was song about how much he loved her. Um, of all the relationships in the world, that’d be one of the last I’d use to demonstrate my love.
“Hey baby, wanna be the Tina to my Ike?” is worse, but only by a little bit.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/15 "2007-01-05T16:48:03Z")
[QUOTE=JSexton]
“Hey baby, wanna be the Tina to my Ike?” is worse, but only by a little bit.
[/QUOTE]
“Eva to my Adolph?”
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### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/16 "2007-01-05T16:54:26Z")
[QUOTE=panache45]
The entire song “You’re So Vain.” (If the song’s not about me, then what do you mean by “you”?)
[/QUOTE]
The way I read it, hundreds of people will listen to that song on the radio, but only one of them is vain enough to say, “Aha, I’ll bet it’s about me!” while the rest of us wonder, “What jerk did she write that about?”
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/17 "2007-01-05T17:03:54Z")
Greg Kihn’s “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write 'Em)”:
\*We been living together for a million years/
Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh/
But now it feels so strange \*_out in the atmospheres \*\* / …_
😕
Any of you all ever take a peek at America’s lyrics? “Horse With No Name”? “Ventura Highway”? “Tin Man”?
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### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/18 "2007-01-05T17:15:58Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
From [_Sympathy for the Devil_](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/sympathy+for+the+devil_20117881.html)
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached bombay
The Hell does that mean, if you’ll pardon the expression?
[/QUOTE]
Well troubadours were medieval travelling musicians. However some say that lyric refers to the Beatles who went to India and got all metaphysical.
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### Author:  [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/19 "2007-01-05T17:22:16Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire]
Hootie and the Blowfish “Everytime I look at you I go blind.”
Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?
[/QUOTE]
I don’t know, but you can blame that on the band that originally did the song, **54-40**. Their lead singer sings backup on the Hootie version, too.
But I never thought of that. It does sound like an insult.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/20 "2007-01-05T18:12:59Z")
[QUOTE=JSexton]
Um, of all the relationships in the world, that’d be one of the last I’d use to demonstrate my love.
[/QUOTE]
“Butterfly” always gets me:
Whatever tickles your fancy Girl
It’s me and you like Sid and Nancy
:eek:
[QUOTE=Marley23]
I got that, but I have no idea what “this” is. The song doesn’t give a single clue what her shit is. It might be hard to keep discussing this…
[/QUOTE]
Like, the song is her shit, not someone else’s, and she can roll how she wants to, in her own inimitable style. Now it’s her turn, pay attention, playah. 😛
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