# 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:** 3
### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/41 "2007-01-06T05:49:07Z")
The lyric “For there ain’t no one for to give you no pain,” from the song “Horse with No Name” by America. I haven’t been able to work out if someone or no one is or is not giving / about to give someone pain.
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### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/42 "2007-01-06T09:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
From [_Sympathy for the Devil_](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/sympathy+for+the+devil_20117881.html)
[/QUOTE]
I’ve heard it was a reference to Brian Jones who had recently kicked the bucket.
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### Author:  [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/43 "2007-01-06T11:50:39Z")
Well, damn…I looked up my favorite “can’t figure 'em” lyrics to make sure I had the artist right, and found the words that I never understood.
Back in the day, it was a hit song. Lately, I hear it on the informercial “'70’s Music Explosion” with Greg Brady and somebody else. The song was evidently written by someone named Alicia Bridges…
I always heard it as:
“I love the nightlife, I love to boogie, out on the disco and owowougghrelyeahh…” which (needless to say) didn’t make any sense.
By researching this song to post to this thread, I’ve found that the true lyrics are:
> [@](#):
>
> I love the nightlife,
> I got to boogie on the disco 'round, oh yea.
This, unfortunately, doesn’t make much more sense than how I heard it. The “disco 'round”?
Greg Lake (w/Sinfield sometimes) could write some pretty nonsensical lyrics during his ELP days, but I mostly didn’t pay attention to them. It was like he just pulled random expressions out of a phrasebook that rhymed:
> [@Still](#):
>
> You see it really doesnt matter
> When you’re buried in disguise
> By the dark glass on your eyes
> Though your flesh has crystallised
> Still…you turn me on
> [@Hallowed be Thy Name](#):
>
> There may be an om in moment
> But there’s very few folk in focus
> Not the first, not the last, not the least.
> You needn’t be well to be wealthy
> But you’ve got to be whole to be holy
> Fetch the rope, fetch the clock, fetch the priest.
> Oh this planet of ours is a mess
> I bet Heaven’s the same
> Look the madman said, “Son,
> As a friend, tell me what’s in a name,”
> Hallowed be thy name.
Maybe I’m just insufficiently sophisticated, but I do love some of his lyrics. “Lucky Man” (for example) is a brilliant and beautiful song, IMO.
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### Author:  [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/44 "2007-01-06T13:04:27Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23]
“Eva to my Adolph?”
[/QUOTE]
[Millhous]
It started like _Romeo and Juliet_ but then it ended in tragedy.
[/Millhous]
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/45 "2007-01-06T14:10:05Z")
In the '70s Yes was famous for lyrics in which the phrases had no discernable linear meaning, and the syntax of the English language was thrown out the window to boot.
Linguists like to quote the sentence “Green ideas sleep furiously” as an example of a sentence that makes no sense, but in which the syntax is perfectly arranged. A lot of puzzling lyrics are like that. But Jon Anderson went further and deconstructed English syntax itself, so that you no longer have any idea what relation any word has to any other word. I think this takes the lyrics to a depth of obscurity most songwriters only dream of attaining.
> [@](#):
>
> My eyes convinced, eclipsed with the younger moon attained with love.
> It changed as almost strained amidst clear manna from above.
>
> “Close to the Edge”
I have a personal rule: Deduct 100 points anytime someone rhymes “love” with “above.” It’s been overdone. It was overdone before Jon Anderson was born.
> [@](#):
>
> Guessing problems only to deceive the mention,
> Passing paths that climb halfway into the void.
> As we cross from side to side, we hear the total mass retain.
That isn’t English!
> [@](#):
>
> And space between the focus shape ascend knowledge of love.
> As song and chance develop time, lost social temp’rance rules above.
He rhymed it again :smack: twice in the same song, while fracturing the syntax even further.
> [@](#):
>
> The music dance and sing
> They make the children really ring
>
> “Roundabout”
It’s like slips of paper were cut up with sequences of words from unrelated sentences, jumbled in a hat, and randomly pulled out while writing the song. Except that he rhymes the jumbled lines. The rhyming is the only remaining semblance of ordered language and seems oddly out of place here.
> [@](#):
>
> Cold summer listening
> hot colour melting the anger to stone
>
> “Long Distance Runaround”
Yeah, I remember how psychedelics were everywhere in those days…
I could go on citing incoherent Yes lyrics all day, but I’ll finish with the possibly the most discombobulated English of any Yes song, “Heart of the Sunrise”
> [@](#):
>
> Lost on a wave and then after
> Dream on on to the Heart of the Sunrise
> SHARP-DISTANCE
> How can the wind with so many around me
> Lost in the city
The music swells to this emotional, dramatic intensity. Musically, it’s a great song. And you listen for meaningful lyrics to go with this sweeping symphony of emotion only to hear a puzzling word salad.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/46 "2007-01-06T14:40:20Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir]
I’ve heard it was a reference to Brian Jones who had recently kicked the bucket.
[/QUOTE]
Brian Jones died in July, 1969. _Sympathy for the Devil_ was the first cut on the album _“Beggar’s Banquet”_, released 5 December, 1968.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/47 "2007-01-06T14:59:41Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna]
> [@](#):
>
> And space between the focus shape ascend knowledge of love.
> As song and chance develop time, lost social temp’rance rules above.
He rhymed it again :smack: twice in the same song, while fracturing the syntax even further.
[/QUOTE]
Not to mention the scansion. I dont mind “temp’rance” so much, but he has “knowledge” accented on the wrong syllable. What’s the point of using nonsense lyrics when they don’t even scan?
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/48 "2007-01-06T15:36:01Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends]
If you can make sense of these lines from “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis -
There’s Winston Churchill dressed in drag,
he used to be a British flag, plastic bag, what a drag.
The frog was a prince, the prince was a brick,
the brick was an egg,
the egg was a bird,
Hadn’t you heard?
Yes we’re happy as fish, and gorgeous as geese,
and wonderfully clean in the morning.
- you’ll be doing better than me.
[/QUOTE]
Perhaps the idea is not to make sense of them at all. From the [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supper's_Ready) for “Supper’s Ready”:
> [@](#):
>
> Nearly 23 minutes in length, the song could be described as a medley of seven separate shorter songs, although some musical and lyrical themes do re-appear throughout… “Supper’s Ready” may be considered a good example of the long, multipart songs often recorded by progressive rock bands of that era.
>
> [snip]
>
> Lyrically, [“Willow Farm,” the section quoted above] has a Python-esque quality, dealing with elements of the absurd in the English psyche, mentioning Winston Churchill, dressing in drag, and numerous elements of word play, boarding schools and agricultural depravity.
So, perhaps it’s simply meant to be absurd, to be word play, without any deeper meaning.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/49 "2007-01-06T15:42:19Z")
‘=“[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_065.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_065.html)”]Pompitous of love’ used to puzzle me.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/50 "2007-01-06T15:43:21Z")
Crap.
‘[Pompitous](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_065.html) of love’ used to puzzle me.
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### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/51 "2007-01-06T15:43:39Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
Brian Jones died in July, 1969. _Sympathy for the Devil_ was the first cut on the album _“Beggar’s Banquet”_, released 5 December, 1968.
[/QUOTE]
Hmmm…fair enough. Maybe they were hoping. Or expecting. Poor Mister Jones. Whereras you can’t kill Mister Richards with a stick.
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### Author:  [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/52 "2007-01-06T16:51:09Z")
Although there have been many covers of the Velvet Underground song, I’ll never understand the meaning of [Sweet Jane](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/v/velvet+underground/sweet+jane_20143864.html)
Sgt Schwartz
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### Author:  [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/53 "2007-01-06T16:56:16Z")
Also, I just thought of Sara Evans’ “Always be my Baby”
> [@](#):
>
> There I was
> Twenty-one
> I was so ashamed of what I’d done
> On a country road
> Parked one night
> What started out so innocent crossed the line
> There was no denying I had let God down
> But instead of being angry
> He let his love surround me and I heard
What did she do? Lose her virginity _AT 21?_, have an abortion? Freaky sex act? What could she do on a back country road that would make a religious person fear God?
Sgt Schwartz
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/54 "2007-01-06T19:26:33Z")
> **[Song Lyrics, Song Meanings & More at SongMeanings](https://songmeanings.com/)**
>
> SongMeanings is a community of thousands of music lovers who contribute song lyrics, discuss song meanings and interpretations, and connect over songs and artists they love!
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### Author:  [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/55 "2007-01-06T19:39:47Z")
My favorite **REM** song is _What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?_ ; at least musically.
But I’ll be damned if I know what _any_ of the lyrics mean!
“Butterfly decal, rear view mirror, dogging the scene”
“You said that irony was the shackles of youth”
“You wore a shirt of violent green”
😕😕😕
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### Author:  [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/56 "2007-01-08T01:17:50Z")
First off, R. Kelly is an _idiot_. The songs don’t make sense because he’s _just that idiotic_. This is the man who released a series of songs titled **trapped in the closet** , that _aren’t_ about being gay. The man who videotaped himself peeing on an underage girl as a practice of sexual degradation. Many of his songs are ridiculous, especially many of his love songs, which completely fail to express anything even slightly romantic.
Blackeyed Peas are equally unsuited to writing lyrics. All I need point out is that there 3 recent “hits” consist of: **Let’s get retarded in here** (cleaned up as let’s get is started in here for the radio version), **My bump** (an entire song about a girl using her, presumably impressive, ass to manipulate a guy), and **don’t fuck with my heart** (radio-edited to don’t funk with my heart; this is the one referenced earlier in the thread).
As for Gwen Stefani’s **Hollaback Girl** , I don’t get what’s so hard to understand about this. The lyrics are a disjointed mess, but this is typical of the kind of song it’s meant to be- rapper braggadocio. When guys wolfwhistle and catcall a passing girl, this is considered giving a “holla,” and hollaback girls are the floozies who will respond to this. The song is her asserting that she’s strong, independent, no fool, and don’t mess with her (because “this my shit;” this music is her stuff --\> look at how cool she is --\> she’s a bad-ass). This shit’s bananas is refering to the situation of someone disrespecting her is _crazy_.
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### Author:  [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2007, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/57 "2007-01-08T01:23:30Z")
[QUOTE=want2know]
My favorite **REM** song is _What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?_ ; at least musically.
But I’ll be damned if I know what _any_ of the lyrics mean!
“Butterfly decal, rear view mirror, dogging the scene”
“You said that irony was the shackles of youth”
“You wore a shirt of violent green”
😕😕😕
[/QUOTE]
I can’t really explain specific lyrics, but I would like to ask if you’re aware of the song’s genesis? “What’s the frequency Kenneth?” was shouted at TV news reporter Dan Rather by one of two assailants as they beat him 1986. It’s possible that the lyrics are meant to sound like the nonsensical ravings of a madman. Or just the usual REM disestablishment wistful youth bullshit.
I’m sorry… REM writes great music, but Michael Stipe is a self-absorbed psuedo-intellectual moron. There, I said it.
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### Author:  [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/58 "2007-01-08T01:39:38Z")
> [@Interpol](#):
>
> Could you put my hands away?
> Could you be my man?
> Serve it up, don’t wait
> Let’s see about this ham
- From “Hands Away”
It’s the ham part that really gets me. Was he just thinking about having lunch when he wrote that song? Paul, what happened?
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/59 "2007-01-08T02:02:49Z")
[QUOTE=tdn]
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
[/QUOTE]
That’s what puzzles me about the song “Inside of You” by Hoobastank:
So can I ask you this?
Not to be forward, miss,
**But I think I’ll kill myself
If I never know**…
What do I have to do
To get inside of you?
To get inside of you?
**Cuz I love the way you move,
When I’m inside of you**.
When I’m inside of you…
Um, what? If he’ll kill himself if he doesn’t get to sleep with her, how can he love the way… we shifted time part way through the chorus, or he means he’s imagined how it would be?
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puzzling-lyrics-that-drive-you-nuts/386761/60 "2007-01-08T03:13:17Z")
Like Billy Pilgrim… unstuck in time.
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