# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/41 "2011-02-03T11:04:29Z")
> [@pope\_hentai](#): > > “Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger > But we kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger” > > seriously? your looking for dudes that look like your crusty old grandfather, who only swaggers because of that time he broke his hip? My wife (well, my girlfriend at the time) listened to that song All. The. Time. Until I finally found a picture of Mic Jagger from the last 10 years and showed it to her. I think it kinda ruined the song for her for a while. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/42 "2011-02-03T13:26:02Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > And what does “rings” mean anyway? Sand and hills and rings? What are the rings? Where in a desert are there rings? Well, it gets lonely out in the desert, but the horse insisted on a commitment first… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/43 "2011-02-03T13:57:59Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > You ever listen to a song, and you get to a lyric where you’re just “Wait, what?” Not necessarily songs that are bad or even ones you don’t like, just where you find particular lyrical choices that got under your skin for some reason. > > My favorite example of this is from the Beatles song “Come Together”. > > “He’s got feet, down, below his knees…” > > Now, I know this song isn’t strictly supposed to make any sense, but… he’s got feet down below his knees? Where the hell else would he keep them?!😕 It happens to be a great, funny lyric because _no one_ would have thought to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/44 "2011-02-03T13:59:30Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > Back in the '50s there was a popular song in which a very pedantic man was writing a love letter to his girlfriend, writing it in “perfect” English. It began “Sweetheart semi-colon I love you exclamation point Some day comma in the future comma can we go steady question mark” It used to drive me crazy because the songwriter, obviously in over his head when it came to punctuation, incorrectly used a semi-colon. A comma is called for where he had a semi-colon. This misuse of a semi-colon invalidates the whole premise of the song. Because I am an editor, this is my favorite post in this thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/45 "2011-02-03T14:00:41Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > And for me, it’s “Hot, sweet cherries on the vine” from Sammy Hagar. While I’m not a botanist, my brain does know cherries do not grow on trees, and it bugs me. I think you mean that cherries _do_ grow on trees… not on a vine. Don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/46 "2011-02-03T14:13:50Z")
“And so I quit the police department And got myself a steady job” Now I guess there are part-time jobs at police facilities, but I picture a part-time detective working for minimum wage… couldn’t Paul have used something else? ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/47 "2011-02-03T14:15:52Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > From _Wildfire_: > > “Oh they say she died one winter, when there came a killing frost.” > > So what was she, a tomato plant? A killing frost is not the same thing as a blizzard you California dipshit. Dave Barry talked about this song and the whole killing frost thing in his Bad Songs book. Very Funny. Anyway, mine is “Second Chance” by Shinedown, which contains this lyric: > [@](#): > > I just saw Haley’s comet, she waved > Said “why you always running in place?” > Even the man in the moon disappeared, > Somewhere in the stratosphere. Huh? What bothers me most is that the moon isn’t in the stratosphere. It is in _space_! (Did just the man disapppear? That doesn’t make any sense either. And it makes no sense in the context of the song.) Argh. It irks me. It is irksome. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/48 "2011-02-03T14:35:49Z")
As much as bad lyrics get on my nerves I can’t believe I’m drawing a blank. How about a combo of mondegren and misheard lyric in which my version is better? Adam Lambert’s “If I Had You” has the line “. . .and I’m doin’ me up with the **black color liner** ”. I’m ashamed to admit that I initially thought he was saying something about a “black colada”, thinking it was some cool cocktail that Teh Gays were drinking these days that I’m not hip enough to be familiar with:smack: Then I “figured out” that he’s saying “with the black _kohl_ liner” and that was cool because he is after all Mr Eyeliner. Now I find out that it’s actually “the black color liner” and it irritates me because it’s redundant and just kind of awkward. Avril Levigne’s “Sk8er Boi” is a pretty fun song but the opening line " He was a boy ,she was a girl can I make it anymore obvious" kind of grates because she’s starting of all snarky and really, how is it obvious when she’sonly just started telling the story? Also, “all of her friends stuck up their nose” really could have been “\*looked down \*their nose” and avoided the whole mental picture of noses and things being stuck up them. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/49 "2011-02-03T15:25:09Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > You young punks probably never heard of it, but there was a #1 song in the 70’s called “The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia.” You might be surprised how much that song’s been discussed here. The only one that we might have mentioned more often: Rio, by Duran Duran 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/50 "2011-02-03T15:40:28Z")
I don’t mind the song itself but the Black Eyed Peas ‘I Gotta Feeling’ bugs me something chronic because “gotta” is a way of saying “got to” not “got a”. When the song first came out I’d always render it in my brain as ‘I Got To Feeling’. Over time I’ve become used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/51 "2011-02-03T15:43:09Z")
“A-with-a Teeth-a” The lyric doesn’t bug me so much as how Trent Reznor phrases it. If he needed five syllables in a song line that only has two one-syllable words… why not add a word or two? The song would still flow if he’d sung “With sharp, pointy teeth” and would bug me a hell of a lot less. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/52 "2011-02-03T17:55:10Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > Back in the '50s there was a popular song in which a very pedantic man was writing a love letter to his girlfriend, writing it in “perfect” English. It began “Sweetheart semi-colon I love you exclamation point Some day comma in the future comma can we go steady question mark” It used to drive me crazy because the songwriter, obviously in over his head when it came to punctuation, incorrectly used a semi-colon. A comma is called for where he had a semi-colon. This misuse of a semi-colon invalidates the whole premise of the song. This reminds me of _I Love You Period_, by Georgia Satellites frontman Dan Baird. The concept of the song is that he’s a schoolboy writing a love note to his teacher, who returns it to him, saying “that the spelling was a masterpiece; the punctuation could be better.” “I love you period Do you love me question mark Please please exclamation point I wanna hold you in parenthesis” ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/53 "2011-02-03T18:04:02Z")
_Champagne Supernova_ by Oasis: “ **Slowly** walking down the hall **Faster** than a cannon ball” Pick a speed already. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/54 "2011-02-03T18:12:58Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > _Champagne Supernova_ by Oasis: > > “ **Slowly** walking down the hall > **Faster** than a cannon ball” > > Pick a speed already. Not to mention how the singer can be \*\*caught beneath \*\*the landslide \*and \*be in a chamnpagne supernover **in the sky**. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/55 "2011-02-03T18:50:29Z")
> [@pope\_hentai](#): > > “Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger > But we kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger” > > seriously? your looking for dudes that look like your crusty old grandfather, who only swaggers because of that time he broke his hip? Really, that whole song should bother you. Not just the lyrics, but the way that every line is repeated, repeated. It seems so affected, affected. And I don’t think I need to mention the skankiness, skankiness. > [@multimediac17](#): > > I don’t mind the song itself but the Black Eyed Peas ‘I Gotta Feeling’ bugs me something chronic because “gotta” is a way of saying “got to” not “got a”. When the song first came out I’d always render it in my brain as ‘I Got To Feeling’. Over time I’ve become used to it. [Some people hate that song more](http://www.cracked.com/video_17618_black-eyed-peas-have-officially-written-worst-song-ever.html). ---
**Author:** ![zyzzyva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@zyzzyva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zyzzyva)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/56 "2011-02-03T20:58:29Z")
“Hold on to 16 as long as you can” Look, no matter how hard you try, even in a leap year you’re not gonna get more than 366 days. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/57 "2011-02-03T22:27:24Z")
When I first heard of the song “Baby Got Back” my initial thought was, “From where?” I’ll have to second **Skara\_Brae** ’s comment about “Second Chance” by Shinedown > [@](#): > > Anyway, mine is “Second Chance” by Shinedown, which contains this lyric: > > > [@](#): > > > > I just saw Haley’s comet, she waved > > Said “why you always running in place?” > > Even the man in the moon disappeared, > > Somewhere in the stratosphere. > > Huh? What bothers me most is that the moon isn’t in the stratosphere. It is in space! > (Did just the man disapppear? That doesn’t make any sense either. And it makes no sense in the context of the song.) > > Argh. It irks me. It is irksome. To me though, it’s all of those lyrics that bug me. That whole part sounds stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/58 "2011-02-03T22:33:32Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > _Champagne Supernova_ by Oasis: > > “ **Slowly** walking down the hall > **Faster** than a cannon ball” > > Pick a speed already. I dunno, I’ve never actually seen a cannon ball move much at all, unless someone was carrying it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/59 "2011-02-04T00:45:43Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > I had just posted it in another thread (for laziest song lyrics), but it certainly could go here too: > > From “Superstar” by the Carpenters: > > "Don’t you remember you told me you loved me baby? > You said you’d be coming back this way again baby? > Baby baby baby baby oh baby… > > AAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! It rhymes, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/60 "2011-02-04T03:45:47Z")
From The Little Mermaid: I don’t know **when** I don’t know how But I know something’s starting **right now** … That’s been bugging the crap out of me since I was ten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944.md?page=4)