# Ruin a favorite song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 13, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806 "2021-03-13T04:06:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/1 "2021-03-13T04:06:01Z")
Rush _Red Barchetta_ _On Sunday…_ _Commit my weekly crime…_ _One-lane bridge…_ Jesus Christ! How lax is law enforcement that they haven’t caught this guy yet??? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/2 "2021-03-13T05:06:14Z")
[Grenade (Bruno Mars)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6iYWJxHqs) I’d catch a grenade for you, Throw my hand on a blade for you, I’d jump in front of a train for you, You know I’d do anything for you… _(Except that train thing, that’s pointless!)_ Wait, wait, see, I could probably throw that grenade away, and heal from a knife wound… so I’d be saving your life… with a chance we’d be together afterwards. _But jumping in front of a train for you?_ Girl, if you’re… (what, tied to the tracks? I’m TRYING to picture a situation where you need someone to play chicken with a locomotive)… I am not even going to slow it down one mph. We both dead there, girl, now 'scuse me, I’ve got a song to rewrite. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/3 "2021-03-13T06:39:02Z")
I had always loved the Beach Boys’ Dont Worry Baby. Beautiful song… until I started listening to the words in the verses. They seem kind of, oh I don’t know, immature? Example: “I guess I should have kept my mouth shut when I started to brag about my car, But I can’t turn back now because I’ve pushed the other guys too far”. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/4 "2021-03-13T06:49:18Z")
The Beach Boys singing about teen male Californian concerns? That never happens. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/5 "2021-03-13T06:56:43Z")
“Woo-Woo! Woo-Woo!” Sympathy for the Devil. I’ve always found it to be a bit much. I’ve annoyed two ppl by mentioning it to them, and afterwards it was all they could hear. Well, I don’t know how long it lasted, but it was a few months in one case, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/6 "2021-03-13T08:23:12Z")
More of a dumb mondegreen from childhood that I didn’t feel right putting in the concurrent Jim Croce thread, but - hearing “Operator” through static-y, quiet department store speakers made me go “A burrito, a burrito, will you…” (Pardon the slight derail.) Meatloaf’s’s lyric: _I want you, X2_ _I need you, X2_ _But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you,_ _So don’t be sad X2,_ _'Cuz two outa three ain’t bad._ Well, actually, it still is the short end of the stick, Marvin. Not that you’d be high on most dating lists, yourself, anyway. [Some earlier song ruining.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/7 "2021-03-13T14:37:07Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > “Woo-Woo! Woo-Woo!” Do not, under any circumstances, see the movie called “Sympathy for the Devil”. It is nothing but two hours of the Stones recording that song. Two hours, mostly just the guys laying down the background vocals. Two. Effing. Hours… of them standing around a huge microphone, take after take of them singing… well, you get the idea. I’d never walked out on a movie before, but it felt so good to be free. … eta: Just read the linked thread from years ago, and I’d complained about the same lyrics. At least I’m consistent… ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/8 "2021-03-13T15:01:55Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Rush _Red Barchetta_ > > _On Sunday…_ > _Commit my weekly crime…_ > _One-lane bridge…_ > > Jesus Christ! How lax is law enforcement that they haven’t caught this guy yet??? > > 😉 Oh man don’t get me started on Red Barchetta. I mean, I love the song, but it makes no sense when you really start to think about it. Motor vehicles have been outlawed for “fifty-odd years” but there’s still gasoline to run the car? The tires haven’t rotted off of it? They still have bridges that are too narrow for the “air cars”? (I’ve never been sure what an air car is, but I always assumed it was some sort of hovercraft, which makes me wonder why it would need a bridge anyway…) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/9 "2021-03-13T15:05:56Z")
After you hear enemy after enemy being destroyed in [Galaxian](https://youtu.be/XhYVcwhSWjI), all I can hear is someone playing a somewhat similar videogame in the background of [this Beyonce song](https://youtu.be/4m1EFMoRFvY) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/10 "2021-03-13T15:17:22Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I’ve annoyed two ppl by mentioning it to them, I remember that thread! I was thinking about your post just the other day when that song came on in the Jeep. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/11 "2021-03-13T15:30:43Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > “Woo-Woo! Woo-Woo!” Here’s another way of ruining _Sympathy For The Devil_: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gwt7ABrajvU/hqdefault.jpg "Satans - Makin' Deals") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwt7ABrajvU) Predates _Sympathy_ by two years. j ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/12 "2021-03-13T15:36:20Z")
Cowbell. Turns out it’s in far more than _Don’t Fear the Reaper_. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/13 "2021-03-13T16:09:45Z")
“I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.” “an American” is not a place! Grumble, grouse, blather, blather. “Where” is a locative pronoun, as it is being used here, which is a type of relative pronoun. “Relative” means it relates two ideas in a sentence; here, it is that _where_ I live, I’m _free_. However, all pronouns must have an antecedent; the antecedent of “where” is “an American.” Since “where” is a _locative_ pronoun, however, it must refer back to a _location_. “An American” is not a location. Possible fixes: 1. Change “an American” to “in America.” “America” is a place. The entire relative clause is now a modifier, and modifies the object of the preposition “in,” which is “America.” 2. Change “where” to “because.” “Because” is a subordinating conjunction; it connects an independent clause to a subordinate clause. Both of these fixes maintain the meter of the line, and therefore fit the song. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/14 "2021-03-13T16:16:52Z")
> [@digs](#): > > > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > > > “Woo-Woo! Woo-Woo!” > > Do not, under any circumstances, see the movie called “Sympathy for the Devil”. It is nothing but two hours of the Stones recording that song. Two hours, mostly just the guys laying down the background vocals. Two. Effing. Hours… of them standing around a huge microphone, take after take of them singing… well, you get the idea. > > I’d never walked out on a movie before, but it felt so good to be free. > > … > > eta: Just read the linked thread from years ago, and I’d complained about the same lyrics. At least I’m consistent… I think I was gonna miss that anyway, but thanks for the warning. 🙂 I think I would have enjoyed watching them record just about ANY other song, dammit! As for consistent, I did a search and found out this is the FIFTH time I’ve posted about this song. I gotta get a new shtick. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > > > I’ve annoyed two ppl by mentioning it to them, > > I remember that thread! I was thinking about your post just the other day when that song came on in the Jeep. Great, now I’m known as the guy who ruins songs for people. . . (thinks a moment) Hey, I’ll take it! 👍😃👍 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/15 "2021-03-13T16:25:17Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Great, now I’m known as the guy who ruins songs for people. . . Nah, you didn’t ruin it. I love the song, ‘Woo-Woo’ notwithstanding. I wasn’t laughing with you. I was laughing _at_ you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/16 "2021-03-13T16:27:03Z")
I must be some kind of weirdo, because the “woo woo!” has always been my favorite part of Sympathy for the Devil. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/17 "2021-03-13T16:41:49Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > > > Great, now I’m known as the guy who ruins songs for people. . . > > Nah, you didn’t ruin it. I love the song, ‘Woo-Woo’ notwithstanding. I wasn’t laughing with you. I was laughing _at_ you. 😉 Oh. I’m more comfortable with that, I think. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/18 "2021-03-13T16:42:11Z")
John Lennon “Imagine”. “Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world…” One doesn’t have to be a rabid Randian to know where that ends up. Too bad, it is a nice tune. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/19 "2021-03-13T16:46:35Z")
“Who’s unlovable?” (“You!”) “Who’s unlivable?” (“You!”) “Whose existence is quite unforgivable?” (“You!”) 1. How can a person be “unlivable?” 2. The pirates’ response to the third question should be “Yours!” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806/20 "2021-03-13T20:05:13Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > John Lennon Speaking of Lennon, “All You Need Is Love” is a string of meaningless tautologies. “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.” Well, yeah, obviously, if you can do it, it can be done. So? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-favorite-song/937806.md?page=2)