# Song lyrics that make you go "Wait, what?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263 "2011-10-01T17:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/41 "2011-10-04T01:42:39Z")
Duran Duran’s “New Moon on Monday” contains the following line: _Shake up the picture The lizard mixture With your dance on the eventide_ WTF? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/42 "2011-10-04T01:46:17Z")
“I walked forty-seven miles of barbed wire, I got a cobra snake for a necktie A brand new house on the road side, and it’s a-made out of rattlesnake hide … Who do you love?” "Making believe this is what you’ve conceived From your worst day, I’m takin a dive Oh moving in line when you look back in time To the first day, I’m taken I’m taken And you and your sweet desire, don’t you do it, don’t you do it you took me ohh, higher and higher baby It’s a living thing, It’s a terrible thing to lose, It’s a given thing What a terrible thing to lose" "Keep a-wearing your bracelets and your new rara Cross your heart with your living bra Chimney sweep sparrow with guise Judy in disguise, with glasses Come to me tonight, come to me tonight Taking everything in sight Except for the strings on my kite" ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/43 "2011-10-04T01:51:07Z")
I am the Walrus > [@](#): > > I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. > See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly. > I’m crying. > > Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come. > Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday. > Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long. > I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. > I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob. Itchycoo Park > [@](#): > > Over bridge of sighs > To rest my eyes in shades of green > Under dreamin’ spires > To Itchycoo Park, that’s where I’ve been ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/44 "2011-10-04T01:54:18Z")
> [@Trick\_Rider](#): > > I guess that leaves me with Oasis’ immortal “Walking slowly down the hall, faster than a cannonball.” Have you ever been stoned? That describes the sensation perfectly. I can tell you, as there was a lot of weed in my freshman/sophomore college dorm, I spent a _lot_ of time walking down long halls while stoned. And it seems to take forever, yet at the same time, it feels like you’re moving fast. Also, it’s “_Slowly walking_ down the hall.” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/45 "2011-10-04T03:05:09Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I am the Walrus > … > Itchycoo Park > > > [@](#): > > > > Over bridge of sighs > > To rest my eyes in shades of green > > Under dreamin’ spires > > To Itchycoo Park, that’s where I’ve been He is stoned in a park where there are a lot of mosquitoes (or gnats more likely, as i tis England - real mosquitoes aren’t common in England, but gnats that leave an itchy bite are). Presumably you have to cross over a bridge to get into the park (the gnats suggest theer is water, anyway), and presumably there is a spired church or churches (or some other tall buildings, or maybe just trees - he is stoned, after all) nearby. What did we do there? We got high, high! I already discussed _I Am the Walrus_ upthread. (And of course, it is _supposed_ to be nonsense.) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/46 "2011-10-04T03:15:03Z")
Pretty much every song from **Yes** in the 1970’s. And although I know what the song “Blue Monday” is about overall, most of the verses make me go, “WTF?” I’ll just post a couple of what I think are the worse offenders in this song. Those who came before me Lived through their vocations From the past until completion They will turn away no more and I see a ship in the harbor I can and shall obey But if it wasn’t for your misfortunes I’d be a heavenly person today ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/47 "2011-10-04T03:15:26Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Have you ever been stoned? That describes the sensation perfectly. I can tell you, as there was a lot of weed in my freshman/sophomore college dorm, I spent a _lot_ of time walking down long halls while stoned. And it seems to take forever, yet at the same time, it feels like you’re moving fast. Also, it’s “_Slowly walking_ down the hall.” I can’t say I ever have been stoned, so I guess that’s why I didn’t get that. I’m learning so much today. And I have to admit, you are right about me misquoting the song. :smack: I am out of it tonight. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/48 "2011-10-04T03:37:53Z")
> [@Trick\_Rider](#): > > I can’t say I ever have been stoned, so I guess that’s why I didn’t get that… Then you have nothing in common with the authors of the songs quoted in this thread. My son listens to a genre of music I call _ **“We were totally wasted when we wrote this song; we’re counting on you being equally wasted when you listen to it”** _. He agrees with me on the categorization. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/49 "2011-10-04T04:01:04Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Keep a-wearing your bracelets and your new rara > Cross your heart with your living bra For those too young to remember, the Living Bra was a real product (as was/is the Cross-Your-Heart bra), much advertised on TV in those days. This inspired the oft-used stand-up comic’s line from the '60s: “My wife\* bought a Living Bra and it starved to death!” \*Or Twiggy, if they wanted to sound hip. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/50 "2011-10-04T05:05:29Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > From some song by the Back-Eyed Peas: > > _I’ll play Bobby > You be Whitney_ > > The context seems to be a love song, though. Is that _really_ the metaphor you want? Considering that BEP pretty much say dumb shit that rhymes, I think they probably own this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/51 "2011-10-04T06:31:51Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > He is stoned in a park where there are a lot of mosquitoes (or gnats more likely, as i tis England - real mosquitoes aren’t common in England, but gnats that leave an itchy bite are). Presumably you have to cross over a bridge to get into the park (the gnats suggest theer is water, anyway), and presumably there is a spired church or churches (or some other tall buildings, or maybe just trees - he is stoned, after all) nearby. > What did we do there? > We got high, high! You’re on the right track. “It’s a place we used to go to in Ilford years ago. Some bloke we know suggested it to us because it’s full of nettles and you keep scratching.” Ronnie Lane (bass player of Small Faces) “Itchycoo Park wasn’t really a park, it was an area in Ilford which was a bombsite, an area of wasteland all wild and overgrown that ran down the railway lines, which was full of stinging nettles.” Kenney Jones (drummer of Small Faces) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/52 "2011-10-04T12:59:13Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > “I walked forty-seven miles of barbed wire, I got a cobra snake for a necktie > A brand new house on the road side, and it’s a-made out of rattlesnake hide > … > Who do you love?” What’s so hard about this one? The guy’s bragging about what a bad-ass he is (I’m so not scared of poisonous snakes, I’ve killed enough of them to cover the walls of a house; heck I wear one around my neck just for fun), then asking the woman if she’s impressed enough yet to sleep with him. [I mean, come on, this is the bottom line interpretation of 99% of pop music…] ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/53 "2011-10-04T13:02:22Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I see a ship in the harbor > I can and shall obey It makes enough nonsense that many people think its “I see a ship in the harbor I can and shallow bay” which only make slightly less sense. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/54 "2011-10-04T13:25:39Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > What’s so hard about this one? The guy’s bragging about what a bad-ass he is (I’m so not scared of poisonous snakes, I’ve killed enough of them to cover the walls of a house; heck I wear one around my neck just for fun), then asking the woman if she’s impressed enough yet to sleep with him. > > [I mean, come on, this is the bottom line interpretation of 99% of pop music…] Well, ok, but what does the ice wagon flying down the alley have to do with it? (And how come the sky was blue when the night was dark?) ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/55 "2011-10-04T14:27:07Z")
If you want the weirdest and most hilarious lyrics, then check out [Bad Lip Reading](http://www.youtube.com/user/BadLipReading) on YouTube. They create random lyrics to songs that match up with the lip movements of the original lyrics. This allows them to come up with lyrics such as: > [@](#): > > I got a porcupine called “Zazoom” > He leaves his scent on people’s graves > (Why is Zazoom always around so many graves?) ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/56 "2011-10-04T16:00:30Z")
Quote: Originally Posted by PlainJain Keep a-wearing your bracelets and your new rara Cross your heart with your living bra > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > For those too young to remember, the Living Bra was a real product (as was/is the Cross-Your-Heart bra), much advertised on TV in those days. This inspired the oft-used stand-up comic’s line from the '60s: “My wife\* bought a Living Bra and it starved to death!” > > \*Or Twiggy, if they wanted to sound hip. To expand on what **Biffy** says, when I was in high schoool in 1968, “rah rahs” was a term for the black and white saddle shoes many of the girls wore. Just about every high school cheerleader in those days wore saddle shoes as part of her uniform. Hence the use of the term. I always heard that as “new rah-rahs” instead of “new rara,” so that line has always made sense to me. I’m probably completely mistaken. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/57 "2011-10-04T16:24:18Z")
Pete Sinfield, the lyricist for the early King Crimson, deserves to be ranked highly in this thread. He was responsible for such deathless lines as: “Go Polonius or kneel The reapers name their harvest dawn All your tarnished devil’s spoons Will rust beneath our corn” and “‘Worship!’ cried the clown, ‘I am a T.V. Making bandsmen go clockwork; See the slinky seal Cirkus policeman Bareback ladies have fish’”. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/58 "2011-10-04T19:24:49Z")
Dr. Dre > [@](#): > > Never let me slip, cause if I slip, then I’m slippin’. Uh. Ok. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/59 "2011-10-04T20:06:39Z")
Pretty much all of “Stairway to Heaven,” but these lines give me the most pause; “If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now, It’s just a spring clean for the May queen.” Um, okay. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263/60 "2011-10-05T22:23:50Z")
“And your father still perfected ways of making sealing wax. Here it comes, Here comes you nineteenth nervous breakdown.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-that-make-you-go-wait-what/598263.md?page=4)