# Song Lyrics That Always Bugged You **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944 "2011-02-02T21:50:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/261 "2011-03-05T20:19:55Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > You push hard, you stop my circulation > I know you really need a physical **relation** > > Yeah, relationship doesn’t rhyme with circulation, but still, I find it annoying anyway. Yeah, that one bugs me in the REO Speedwagon song, too. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “\*\*In \*\*this ever-changing world \*\*in \*\*which we live **in** …” > > (“Ins” were clearly on sale that day, Sir Paul.) > [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > No offense, but how many times do we have to go through this? Every single time a conversation comes up about lyrics somebody mentions this, usually (as now) multiple times in one thread. Why do so many people refuse to believe Paul McCartney knows how to write a sentence? They’ve heard _Come Together_? ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/262 "2011-03-05T20:27:29Z")
That’s a Lennon song. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/263 "2011-03-05T22:31:45Z")
> [@JayDeeX](#): > > Richard Harris, Donna Summer and others > > MacArthur Park is melting in the dark > All the sweet, green icing flowing down… > Someone left the cake out in the rain > and I don’t think that I can take it > 'cause it took so long to bake it > and I’ll never have that recipe again > Oh, no! Those lyrics are just too ridiculous for me to hate 😃 Growing up listening to a lot of oldies, I was always taken aback a little when I heard lyrics that were…of another time, let’s say. A good example is in the Marvin Gaye song “I’ll be Doggone” where he sings: _Now every woman should try to be Whatever her man wants her to be_ Or in the song “Ain’t No Woman Like the One I’ve Got”, which has the line: _I would kiss the ground she walks on, 'Cause it’s my word, my word she’ll obey, now_ Stuff like that always bugged me, but reminded me that I was listening in on something from the past. I doubt lyrics like that would fly these days. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/264 "2011-03-05T23:17:02Z")
In the '50s, the Kinston Trio had a song _Charlie and the MTA_ about a bloke who didn’t know that the fare had been raised so couldn’t get off the train at his designated station, since he didn’t have enough money. His wife would go down to the station every lunch time and throw him a sandwich through the open window. I could never work out why she didn’t just throw him the 10 cents he needed. I like the song, though. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/265 "2011-03-06T00:55:04Z")
All this time, and no one’s mentioned [He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Hit_Me_(It_Felt_Like_a_Kiss))? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/266 "2011-03-06T03:56:19Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > In the '50s, the Kinston Trio had a song _Charlie and the MTA_ about a bloke who didn’t know that the fare had been raised so couldn’t get off the train at his designated station, since he didn’t have enough money. His wife would go down to the station every lunch time and throw him a sandwich through the open window. I could never work out why she didn’t just throw him the 10 cents he needed. > > I like the song, though. Wait, back then you paid your fare when you got _off_ the train? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/267 "2011-03-06T07:40:47Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Wait, back then you paid your fare when you got _off_ the train? Sounds like the way they have toll roads, which strikes me as a bit of a racket. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/268 "2011-03-08T10:23:10Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I’m pretty sure it’s, “But then again, no.” Because it rhymes with, “Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show.” > > That’s pretty much it. No and show rhyme, that’s why he sang it like that. Irrespective of what the lyrics are, “Who knows” can be determined to rhyme with “show,” in the world of poetry, and lyrics. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/269 "2011-03-08T18:24:27Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Irrespective of what the lyrics are, “Who knows” can be determined to rhyme with “show,” in the world of poetry, and lyrics. > > Best wishes, > hh Right, but… that’s not what he’s saying. It’s “But then again, no”, with 100% certainty. The narrator is trying to come up with ways of impressing this woman (presumably a woman, since Bernie is straight). The previous verse includes the line “I don’t have much money, but boy if I did…”, so in this verse he’s trying to come up with ways of making money. Kind of like, “I could be a sculptor… no, that’s no good. How about a man who makes potions in a traveling show?” And then he finally realizes none of that is going to work. So even though “It’s not much, but it’s the best I can do”, all he can offer her is his song. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/270 "2011-03-08T20:26:32Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > In the '50s, the Kinston Trio had a song _Charlie and the MTA_ about a bloke who didn’t know that the fare had been raised so couldn’t get off the train at his designated station, since he didn’t have enough money. His wife would go down to the station every lunch time and throw him a sandwich through the open window. I could never work out why she didn’t just throw him the 10 cents he needed. > > I like the song, though. 😃 Yeah, that one bugged me as a kid too. My dad told me I think too much. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/271 "2011-03-09T17:22:32Z")
In Elvis Costello’s Oliver’s Army there is a line that really bugs me (more than the obvious line) There was a checkpoint Charlie/ He didn’t crack a smile But it’s no laughing party/ When you’ve been on the murder mile Laughing party? What the hell is that? ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/272 "2011-03-10T01:28:20Z")
I’ve always been a little bugged by Peggy Lee’s [“Is That All There Is.”](http://www.lyricstime.com/peggy-lee-is-that-all-there-is-lyrics.html) Okay, I can accept that she was bored by Fire, The Circus, Love, and Life Itself. No problem. What bugs me is that she doesn’t extend the ennui list to include booze and dancing. Nope, “Let’s keep dancing, let’s break out the booze and have a ball.” As far as world weariness goes, she comes off as a dabbler. ---
**Author:** ![HappyDays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f08c70/32.png) [@HappyDays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HappyDays)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/273 "2011-03-11T15:43:17Z")
> [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](#): > > I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a “Roman cavalry choir”, Chris Martin. I think this [http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary\_Chapel#Musicians](http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary_Chapel#Musicians) is what he meant. Or he really could be referring to singing gladiators on horseback. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/274 "2011-03-11T16:48:21Z")
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”? Ugh. Nobody who lived under a repressive government or survived a concentration camp would ever say something so fatuous. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/275 "2011-03-11T16:53:38Z")
This statement seems to reflect an attitude of ownership over the word “freedom” and its possible meanings. Actually, ithe line could represent some pretty sophisticated thinking on what “freedom” really means in a philosophical sense. I believe the Buddhist concept of eliminating ties to the physical world would mesh quite well with this idea. Philosophically speaking, there’s nothing fatuous about the idea that one could be “free” in some important sense of the word even under a repressive government or in a concentration camp. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/276 "2011-03-11T20:59:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”? Ugh. Nobody who lived under a repressive government or survived a concentration camp would ever say something so fatuous. Context is everything. “Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose” means you are free to do anything, because you don’t care about the outcome. If you care about the outcome, you are constrained to make choices to get the outcome you desire, or the best outcome you can achieve based upon the constraints forced upon you. In context, “freedom” is freedom from the relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/277 "2011-03-13T19:24:47Z")
These don’t bug me; in fact, I enjoy them . “Her name was Magill, but she called herself Lil, although everyone knew her as Nancy.” ~ Ballad of Rocky Raccoon, Beatles “You’ll be dead and in hell before I’m born.” ~ Shaman’s Blues, Doors And then there was a 1969 song from Easy Rider (The Weight) that a cell phone company was using in their ad. “Pulled into Nazareth, was feeling 'bout half-assed dead!” And I thought, wow, TV has gotten more lenient. And after all these years, my wife corrected me, it’s “…half PAST dead…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944.md?page=13)