# 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:** 8
**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:** [February 8, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/141 "2011-02-08T01:25:39Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Since we’re getting into grammatical errors and not just cryptic lyrics, I’ll also throw out Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Wanna Wait”, which starts off: > > So open up your morning light > And say a little prayer for I > You know that if we are to stay alive > And see the peace in every eye > > If you’re going to incorrectly use “I” instead of “me”, at least come up with a better rhyme than “peace in every eye”, which isn’t even a true rhyme. I was going to post this one. “For I” Bleargh. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/142 "2011-02-08T11:55:56Z")
There you see her Sitting there across the way She **don’t got** a lot to say But there’s something about her… ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/143 "2011-02-08T18:01:43Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Rod Stewart: > > “Don’t say a word, my virgin child. > Just let you inhibitions run wild.” > > Doesn’t this mean “be very, very inhibited?” No, it means let go of your inhibitions. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/144 "2011-02-08T18:06:40Z")
Yeah, that’s what it means, but what it says is the opposite. Therein lies the rub. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/145 "2011-02-08T18:12:00Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Mine is the Doors “If I was to say to you girl we couldn’t get much higher”, and I always think “were” to myself. Not that I hate the song, but I don’t like listening to that line. It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t really emphasize the “was”. I think you can start enjoying that line, because it IS grammatically correct. You use “were” if your clause is non-factual, e.g., "If I were the Pope, I would . . . " But if it’s something that may happen such as "If I was to correct your grammar, I would . . . " I believe Jim M was using it in this way, and was planning on saying “Girl we couldn’t get much higher.” ---
**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:** [February 8, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/146 "2011-02-08T18:13:34Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > **Into the West** from the LotR movies is the one I hate the most. > > “Across the sea > A pale moon rises > The ships have come to carry you home” > No Goddamit. > The moon rises in the _east_. Even in Middle Earth the moon rises in the _east_. If you are standing on the \*western \*shore, watching ships coming to take you into the _west_, then you can not see a pale moon rising across the sea. > > You can see a pale moon rising over the mountains. You can see a pale moon setting across the sea. From the Grey Havens you can not possibly see a pale moon rising across the sea. This reminds me of a very subtle scene in _Joe vs. The Volcano_, after Joe has flown from New York (where he’s lived his whole life) to L.A. He spends the night on the beach, and at sunrise he’s sitting there staring out to sea, and we see the light changing as the sun comes up … and Joe slowly turns his head and looks over his shoulder as the sun comes up behind him. > [@Shodan](#): > > Dennis Miller points this out. > > “Jimmy crack corn. But I don’t care.” > > What the hell kind of attitude is that? If you don’t care, why are you bringing it up? “There are innocuous folk songs But we regard them with scorn The people who sing 'em have no social conscience Why, they don’t even care if Jimmy cracks corn!” (Tom Lehrer, “Folk Song Army”) > [@Euryphaessa](#): > > I imagine will.i.am is saying “I’m a bee!” Since I have no idea what any of the other lyrics are, that song to me is about the thug life of bees. [Imma Tree](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph-AZI-Hau8) > [@zoogirl](#): > > I think it’s by Rush- > _Hey baby it’s a quarter to eight > I feel I’m in the mood > Hey baby the hour is late > I feel I’ve got to move!_ > > Since when is eight late!? And that’s why the lyric-writing job was handed to Neil Peart when he joined the band for the next album. From Rush’s 1993 song, “Cut to the Chase”: “I’m young enough to remember the future.” To quote Mr. Peart himself about that line, “Wait, what?” ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/147 "2011-02-08T18:14:04Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yeah, that’s what it means, but what it says is the opposite. Therein lies the rub. It doesn’t say the opposite–it says “let [them] run wild,” which can be interpreted as, let them run away and you won’t have any. ---
**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 8, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/148 "2011-02-08T18:19:55Z")
Billy Joel has a song called _This Is the Time_, where he states: “I’m warm from the memory of days to come” How can you be warm from memories that haven’t happened yet?? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/149 "2011-02-08T18:25:38Z")
> [@fjs1fs](#): > > It doesn’t say the opposite–it says “let [them] run wild,” which can be interpreted as, let them run away and you won’t have any. Running wild means running away? Come on, it’s a crappy lyric. Why not just embrace that fact rather than distorting verbiage like Christina Aguilera with a syllable on her hands. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/150 "2011-02-08T18:33:23Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Running wild means running away? > > Come on, it’s a crappy lyric. Why not just embrace that fact rather than distorting verbiage like Christina Aguilera with a syllable on her hands. Sorry, can’t embrace it. There are too many way better examples in this thread. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/151 "2011-02-08T18:38:40Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Of course it parses – if it means that grandpa literally dripped new clothing from his body when he perspired. > > ETA: or alternatively it could mean that target of the phrase is allergic to many materials, and grandpa had to put the handbags and gladrags through a “sweating” process of some sort to make them safe to buy. > > Okay, I think I’ll stop now. Heh. Yes, of course, I’ve gone through those interpretations. I should have said that it doesn’t parse into something that makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/152 "2011-02-08T19:08:52Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > One thing that gets me, and because of my crappy memory I can’t remember any specific examples right now, is the misuse of the word “but”. The singer will sing something then say “but” and instead of the following lyrics going against what (s)he just sang, for example something like, “I love you, but I can’t be with you.” the lyrics are the logical conclusion of what (s)he just sang, “I love you but I want to marry you.” I’ll try to think of an example and post it later. [Bombast]I! WOULD DOOOO ANNN!YTHING! FOR! LOOOOVE… but I WON’T! DO! THAT![/Bombast] Perfect example of what you’re talking about, and I’m surprised this song hasn’t been mentioned in this thread yet. > [@acsenray](#): > > “… The handbags and gladrags that your poor grandpa had to sweat so you could buy” > > That line drives me completely up the wall … It doesn’t parse in any dialect of English I’m familiar with. Sweat here means “to earn, produce, or obtain (a result, promotion, compliment, etc.) by hard work.” So the grandfather had to work very hard to get the money the object of the song spends on frivolous crap, and the singer’s asking what will become of her when that stuff is gone because she doesn’t understand the world and blah blah blah. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/153 "2011-02-08T19:22:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Sweat here means “to earn, produce, or obtain (a result, promotion, compliment, etc.) by hard work.” So the grandfather had to work very hard to get the money the object of the song spends on frivolous crap, and the singer’s asking what will become of her when that stuff is gone because she doesn’t understand the world and blah blah blah. I know what it’s _meant_ to mean – Your poor grandpa had to sweat so that you could buy handbags and gladrags – but it doesn’t actually say that. Not at all. It’s the “that” clause that screws it up. It says that grandpa had to sweat handbags and gladrags, so that “you” could buy … uh … something? ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/154 "2011-02-08T19:24:06Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Bombast]I! WOULD DOOOO ANNN!YTHING! FOR! LOOOOVE… but I WON’T! DO! THAT![/Bombast] > > Perfect example of what you’re talking about, and I’m surprised this song hasn’t been mentioned in this thread yet. > . In that example you gave, the “but” is actually used properly. I think the earlier poster wanted an example of where “but” made no sense. Maybe you’re problem is that he says he’ll do anything, and then there’s a “but,” which is a contradiction of the word “anything.” But I think most people will forgive the usage, because the main point is that he will do anything but that one thing (I always joked that the one thing was to “go down.”) ---
**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 8, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/155 "2011-02-08T19:34:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Bombast]I! WOULD DOOOO ANNN!YTHING! FOR! LOOOOVE… but I WON’T! DO! THAT![/Bombast] > > Perfect example of what you’re talking about, and I’m surprised this song hasn’t been mentioned in this thread yet. > Sweat here means “to earn, produce, or obtain (a result, promotion, compliment, etc.) by hard work.” So the grandfather had to work very hard to get the money the object of the song spends on frivolous crap, and the singer’s asking what will become of her when that stuff is gone because she doesn’t understand the world and blah blah blah. The “but I won’t do that” part refers to the first line of the verse that states the thing he says he won’t do: “I’ll never forget the way you feel right now…” “I’ll never forgive myself . . .” "I’ll never do it better. . . " And the final part refers to when the girl sings of how “sooner or later you’ll be screwing around”. Absolutely correct on the “sweat” explanation. Is it only us old fogey’s who use that expression? ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/156 "2011-02-08T20:03:45Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > I bet it was the lady from “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”, she be killin folks left and right and leaving others to hang for it. Slain! I am slain! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/157 "2011-02-08T20:09:23Z")
> [@fjs1fs](#): > > Maybe you’re problem is that he says he’ll do anything, and then there’s a “but,” which is a contradiction of the word “anything.” If you read the full lyrics, the “but” doesn’t contradict the “anything.” That’s my point. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/158 "2011-02-09T02:07:14Z")
There was a hair metal song back in the day called “When I’m Gone” that I absolutely loved, except for one line. “Your clothes are hanging on the floor.” They are either hanging, or on the floor. They can’t be both. I can think of about 8 ways to say what they were trying to say in that line without screwing up the syntax. So why couldn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/159 "2011-02-09T03:25:09Z")
There are tons of them - but the Black Eyed Peas sang this gem at the half-time show for the 2011 Super Bowl: _I’m so 2008 you’re so two thousand late…_ ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944/160 "2011-02-09T03:33:14Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > There are tons of them - but the Black Eyed Peas sang this gem at the half-time show for the 2011 Super Bowl: > _I’m so 2008 you’re so two thousand late…_ What? So the song’s a few years old. You’re telling me you don’t still party like it’s 1999? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-always-bugged-you/569944.md?page=9)