# Songs about unusual topics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952 "2011-11-05T13:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/81 "2011-11-17T17:31:59Z")
Probably a good 50% of Harry Chapin’s catalog would fit this category, but maybe the most fitting examples are: **30,000 Pounds of Bananas** – his epic [paean to brake failure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30000_Pounds_of_Bananas). **Sniper** – based on the [Texas Tower shootings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniper_(song)) **Mr. Tanner** – a song based on a brief [musical review in the NY Times](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Tanner) ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/82 "2011-11-18T02:47:35Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > [QUOTE=jovan] > > Genesis – The Return of the Giant Hogweed > About killer (giant) hogweed invading England. Contains lines like: “Strike by night, they’re defenceless, they all need the sun to photosynthesize their venom!” Nitpick: It’s either “photosensitize their venom” or “photosensitize their victims”. The song is actually based on a true story; the sap of the[giant hogweed](http://www.nobanis.org/files/factsheets/Heracleum_mantegazzianum.pdf)(_Heracleum mantegazzianum)_ contains a chemical that causes photosensitization of the skin (i.e., hypersensitivity to sunlight) that can last for months. [/QUOTE] I waded in to specifically mention this one, and another Peter Gabriel-era Genesis tune, “Get 'em Out by Friday”, which is a future vision in which the government’s department of genetic engineering gets into real estate speculation and starts breeding shorter humans so that they can fit more of them into the same building site… ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/83 "2011-11-18T08:26:48Z")
A Tribe Called Quest - [I Left My Wallet in El Segundo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WILyWmT2A-Q&ob=av3n) Just what the title says. They take a long road trip, wind up stopping in some place called El Segundo, and later he realizes he left his wallet there. Gravy Train!!! - [Burger Baby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDK8LqsaeJ4) (NSFW) She loves burgers so much that it’s a romantic and sexual thing. Then the burger gets her pregnant, and initially she wants an abortion, but she changes her mind and decides to keep it. A\_Rival - [Cybernetic Mariachi](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnld7wDvVN8) A mercenary-for-hire in Mexico can’t get any more work, so he gets a job as a musician in a local bar, with his Game Boy. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/84 "2011-11-18T13:33:41Z")
I have never understood why Dwight Twilley recorded “Max Dog”: _Max dog got no legs Got some wooden legs for that crippled hound But he caught fire and it burned him down Now every time you call his name He does that rock and rollin’ thing_ The thread should not pass without a mention of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, who not only had the classic “Constipation Blues” (“Every time I try/I can’t be satisfied”) but also “Feast of the Mau Mau”: _Shake your hip, bite your lip, shoot your mother-in-law Put on your gorilla suit, drink some elbow soup and have a ball Get it straight, don’t be late, it’s time for mad fun Feast of the Mau Maus has begun_ ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/85 "2011-11-18T19:29:05Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Also _Be My Yoko_ by The Bobs, and _I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono_ by Dar Williams. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, or if the writers of the latter two songs were aware of the previous. I believe the order was Bobs, BNL, Williams. There’s also “Yoko” by Stuck Mojo, so that brings the total “be my Yoko” songs up to four… ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/86 "2011-11-18T21:54:36Z")
Husker Du’s Books About UFOs. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/87 "2011-11-19T02:59:48Z")
Many of Elvis Costello’s earlier songs are about impotence, notably _Lip Service_ (is all you’ll ever get from me), and _Mystery Dance_, whose chorus line is “I can’t do it anymore and I’m not satisfied!” Johnathan Richman and the Modern Lovers did a lot of weird ones, for example _Hey There Little Insect_ (a plea to an insect not to bite) and _I’m a Little Dinosaur_ (about playing at being a dinosaur). ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/88 "2011-11-19T03:06:07Z")
Morrissey’s got some strange topics. When November Spawned A Monster- how the disabled are perceived. Hairdresser on Fire- not being able to get a haircut. Munich Air Disaster, 1958- plane crash that killed members the Manchester United football team. Teenage Dad on His Estate- Don’t mock teen parents because your life probably sucks too. Kind of reminds me of Interesting Drug (which is about welfare I believe). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/89 "2011-11-19T03:16:58Z")
“Father Christmas,” about a department store Santa getting mugged by hooligans (The Kinks). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/90 "2011-11-19T16:28:35Z")
Barenaked Ladies “The Big Bang Theory” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/91 "2011-11-19T16:57:13Z")
And, of course, Chicago’s _[25 or 6 to 4](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1842/what-does-the-chicago-lyric-25-or-6-to-4-mean)_, about not being able to think of anything to write a song about. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/92 "2011-11-19T18:10:38Z")
A favorite song on NRBQ’s _Wild Weekend_ album is “Poppin’ Circumstance”, which is entirely about words and phrases that make you feel good - liftoff, touchdown, success, macaroon, a black Corvette, me and the girls in a Tilt-A-Whirl etc. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/93 "2011-11-24T07:00:29Z")
Styx - _[Mr. Roboto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Roboto)_ > [@](#): > > The song tells part of the story of Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (ROCK), in the rock opera Kilroy Was Here. The song is performed by Kilroy (as played by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung), a rock and roll performer who was placed in a futuristic prison for “rock and roll misfits” by the anti-rock-and-roll group the Majority for Musical Morality (MMM) and its founder Dr. Everett Righteous (played by guitarist James Young). The Roboto is a model of robot which does menial jobs in the prison. Kilroy escapes the prison by overpowering a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside its emptied-out metal shell. When Jonathan Chance finally meets Kilroy, at the very end of the song, Kilroy unmasks and says, I’m Kilroy! Kilroy!, ending the song. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/94 "2011-11-24T08:28:23Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > My Lady D’Arbanville by Cat Stevens, apparently about a mans dead g/f who he won’t admit to himself that shes lying dead next to him. It’s [really](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_D%27Arbanville) not. Rap group Dream Warriors had a song about _Ludi_, which is a Caribbean Pachisi variant. They also had one called _Twelve Sided Dice_ - which is about playing Dungeons and Dragons. And no, they were not nerdcore rappers. Jethro Tull have a couple - I think, probably the biggest hit would be _Heavy Horses_, a moving paean to…[heavy horses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_horse). Or there’s _…and the Mouse Police Never Sleeps_, about a cat. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/95 "2011-11-24T08:34:22Z")
The title track of Kate Bush’s new album _50 Words For Snow_ features Stephen Fry reading, in a stentorian voice, a list of 50 increasingly silly fictional words for snow, while Kate counts them. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/96 "2011-11-24T14:12:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > My Lady D’Arbanville by Cat Stevens, apparently about a mans dead g/f who he won’t admit to himself that shes lying dead next to him. > > It’s [really](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_D%27Arbanville) not. Yes it really is, actually. Your link says that it is all an extended metaphor for him getting over his breakup with a still-live girlfriend, which may well be, but the song is _apparently_ about being in bed with a dead woman, as **Lust4Life** said. Actually, more than apparently: that is how extended metaphors work. There is a surface meaning and a metaphorical meaning. Both are “real”, and, quite often, with songs and poems, the metaphorical meaning (if there even is one) is quite obscure to anyone except the writer and people who have been explicitly told about it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/97 "2011-11-24T15:25:49Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Yes it really is, actually. No - there’s a difference between “apparently” and “really” - my saying “It’s really not” does not mean I’m saying “No, that’s _not_ apparently what it’s about”. I _agree_ with **Lust4Life** that that’s what it’s apparently about, I wasn’t saying he was wrong, just adding more info. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/98 "2011-11-24T17:07:24Z")
Pretty well everything by Tom Lehrer. > **[Tom Lehrer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer)** > > Thomas Andrew Lehrer (/ˈlɛərər/; born April 9, 1928) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He recorded pithy and humorous songs that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His songs often parodied popular musical forms, though they usually had original melodies. An exception is "The Elements", in which he set the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan'... As well as his usual favorites about poisioning park animals (“Poisioning Pidgeons in the Park”) and cannibalistic murderers in love (“I hold your hand in mine”) he had some real oddities … my favourites are “The Elements” which is literally the periodic table in song form: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DYW50F42ss8/hqdefault.jpg "Tom Lehrer CHEMISTRY element song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYW50F42ss8) Even stranger is “Lobachevsky”, about a plagerizing Russian mathematician. Can’t get more obscure than that! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qU_j5cQ2sfQ/hqdefault.jpg "Tom Lehrer: Lobachevsky (concert live) (1960)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU_j5cQ2sfQ) ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/99 "2011-11-24T22:39:36Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Along the same lines-_The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald._ Back to dead miners: - [Gresford Disaster](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCKBhmK95q4) by The Albion Band. There are plenty of traditional songs about death and disaster and, like The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald above, plenty of songs about shipwrecks and other disasters at sea: - Here is a song by Oysterband about _financial_ disaster and subsequent suicide: - [The Story](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-aPUrGqOCg) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/100 "2011-11-24T23:51:13Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No - there’s a difference between “apparently” and “really” - my saying “It’s really not” does not mean I’m saying “No, that’s _not_ apparently what it’s about”. I _agree_ with **Lust4Life** that that’s what it’s apparently about, I wasn’t saying he was wrong, just adding more info. No, it is really about two two things, as I said. The fact that it is about his breakup does not mean that it is not also really about a dead woman. You said “It’s really not”, which is contradicting **Lust4Life** ’s interpretation (or privileging the hidden meaning over the surface meaning). If you were just adding more information, you should have said “It is also about this.” A lot of the other songs in this thread are probably metaphorical treatments of relationships or other standard song topics. That does not mean that they should not be listed here. (And no, I am not accusing you of saying that Lady D’urbanville should not have been listed.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952.md?page=6)