# Songs about THAT **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 24, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341 "2025-01-24T16:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/1 "2025-01-24T16:49:10Z")
What are some songs that (heh) rely heavily on the concept of “that”? I’m not trying to be deep here. I just heard “I Can Love You Like That” on the radio the other day and started coming up with other songs about “that” and had a list and it’s Friday so here we are. I’m thinking songs that (heh) if you didn’t listen to the lyrics in full and digest them, you probably don’t know what “that” is referring to. Or if we assigned one meaning to the variable “that” it would be humorous to apply it to all songs listed. I’m not looking for songs with the word “that” in the title. The word “that” might not even be in the title! Be cool, let’s have some fun. “I Want It That Way” “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” “Doo Wop (That Thing)” “I Can Love You Like That” ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/2 "2025-01-24T16:58:15Z")
Hall & Oates had a hit in the 80’s called [I Can’t Go For That](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can%27t_Go_for_That_(No_Can_Do)). It was an utterly bland song, and because of this I never really cared enough to listen to the lyrics. To this day, I have NO idea what THAT was, but clearly he couldn’t go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/3 "2025-01-24T16:59:05Z")
That’s Just the Way It Is. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/4 "2025-01-24T17:09:15Z")
“That Thing You Do” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/5 "2025-01-24T17:12:32Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Hall & Oates had a hit in the 80’s called [I Can’t Go For That](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can%27t_Go_for_That_(No_Can_Do)). It was an utterly bland song, and because of this **I never really cared enough to listen to the lyrics.** To this day, I have NO idea what THAT was, but clearly he couldn’t go for it. Obviously, you couldn’t go for that. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/6 "2025-01-24T17:15:41Z")
“**That’s the Way (I Like It)**” - KC & The Sunshine Band ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/7 "2025-01-24T17:20:11Z")
**[I Like It Like That](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEjN42FW2sU)** - Pete Rodriguez ---
**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:** [January 24, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/8 "2025-01-24T17:20:21Z")
“You Can’t Do That” - The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/9 "2025-01-24T17:24:27Z")
“ **That Boy** ” - The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/10 "2025-01-24T17:27:03Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > That’s Just the Way It Is. Do you mean Phil Collins, or just a mistitling of Brice Hornsby? Because in the latter, what “that” is is very clear. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/11 "2025-01-24T17:27:07Z")
Hmm, I think the use of “that” in “That Boy” may be too specific for this list. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/12 "2025-01-24T17:27:25Z")
Ah, this is the one I was searching for: **[I Like It Like That](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdRfA55OOY0)** - Dave Clark Five But the other one was a nice bit of serendipity, no? ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/13 "2025-01-24T17:31:40Z")
Okay. Not sure if this one counts then… “ **That’ll Be the Day** ” - Buddy Holly & The Crickets ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/14 "2025-01-24T17:33:25Z")
Oh man, I think that is also a very specific definition of “that” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/15 "2025-01-24T17:34:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Hmm, I think the use of “that” in “That Boy” may be too specific for this list. In other words, “that” has to be a noun and not an adjective in the song title. And it also sounds like the meaning of “that” should be ambiguous, not obvious in reading the title. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/16 "2025-01-24T17:35:13Z")
“That’s The Way” / Led Zeppelin “Don’t Do Me Like That” / Tom Petty ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/17 "2025-01-24T17:35:55Z")
Yes thank you. I was looking at parts of speech for “that” and I was going to put it that way (heh) but I didn’t want to have anyone come in and fight me about semantics. But I think noun or pronoun is what we’re going for here. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/18 "2025-01-24T17:37:39Z")
My suggestion is the song “Why Is It? (Funk Dat)” by Sagat, which was a pretty big hit in the mid '90s. (Beavis and Butthead also watched that video during their old show, with Beavis thinking the song reminded him of Andy Rooney, and doing an Andy Rooney impression.) Does “dat” work for “that”? Most of the time I’ve heard the song referred to as simply “Funk That” even though that’s technically not accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/19 "2025-01-24T17:45:29Z")
_That Don’t Impress Me Much_ ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341/20 "2025-01-24T17:45:43Z")
Ha! I like it! Totally remember that and my brother & I will occasionally break into that B&B routine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-that/1013341.md?page=2)