# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/101 "2011-11-25T00:05:35Z")
One of my favorites: Harry Nilsson, “Good Old Desk” “My old desk does an arabesque / in the morning when I first arrive . . .” ---
**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 25, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/102 "2011-11-25T07:17:37Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > No, it is really about two two things, as I said. No, it’s not. It apparently is about a dead woman, but it isn’t about that at all. All it takes is the knowledge that Stevens and D’arbanville were an item. Common knowledge at the time the song was released, to anyone who was a fan of Stevens. So not an obscure metaphor at all. Just poetic bitchiness on Steven’s part. > [@](#): > > The fact that it is about his breakup does not mean that it is not also really about a dead woman. Yes, it does. > [@](#): > > You said “It’s really not”, which is contradicting **Lust4Life** ’s interpretation (or privileging the hidden meaning over the surface meaning). Well, yes. That’s what “really” means. It’s the difference between that and seeming > [@](#): > > If you were just adding more information, you should have said “It is also about this.” No. It’s really about Patti D’arbanville. Anything else is seeming. > [@](#): > > A lot of the other songs in this thread are probably metaphorical treatments of relationships or other standard song topics. I don’t doubt it - _Heavy Horses_ is also an eco-polemic, for instance. > [@](#): > > 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.) Then what’s your problem? I \*didn’t \*say it shouldn’t be listed, you’re right. It’s a cool song and it fits right in here. ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/103 "2011-11-25T14:53:50Z")
Nobody’s mentioned the great Thanksgiving tradition that is [Alice’s Restaurant](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14498498)? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/104 "2011-11-27T20:44:28Z")
“Mack the Knife” is a muderer. “Big Bad John” is about a mining disaster. “Sixteen Tons” is about miners. “James K. Polk” is about that President. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/105 "2011-11-27T22:30:10Z")
Bruce Springsteen’s Murder Incorporated - about the Mafia Bruce Springsteen Johnny 99 - about a guy who loses his job and kills a man and has to face the judge… Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska- about Charles Raymond Starkweather ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/106 "2011-11-28T19:51:35Z")
> [@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!” > > As a matter of fact, most early Genesis songs would be worthy nominations. Prog rock is good for unusual topics, but since that’s one of the features of the genre, in context most aren’t that weird. I had to include [Get 'Em Out By Friday](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIkoolaJTXI) in this - although it is about tenants being evicted (not all that unusual), the theme includes a Genetic Control agency that is restricting the height of all humans to four feet, in order to accommodate twice as many people in a single floor of living space. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/107 "2011-11-29T06:42:59Z")
ZZ Top, “Master of Sparks.” AFAICT, it’s about a guy being welded into a steel cage, put in the back of a pickup, then, at speed, letting fly out the back, or something. ZZ Top, “The Squank.” Nobody knows WTF that’s about. For the soft-rock/easy-listening crew, Steely Dan, “Dr. Wu.” ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/108 "2011-12-20T10:36:23Z")
> [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](#): > > Here is a song by Oysterband about _financial_ disaster and subsequent suicide: - [The Story](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-aPUrGqOCg) Speaking of Oysterband, how about “[Oxford Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACC909NhTG8)”? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/109 "2011-12-20T13:43:29Z")
“Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”, by Tom Lehrer. Also his song, “The Elements.” “Sammy Was a Sailor”, about a guy being encouraged to swim after he fell overboard. And, the immortal, “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/110 "2011-12-20T13:52:00Z")
Heard an amazing new talent featured on the BBC World Service the other day. **Tiny Ruins** She’s from New Zealand, is absurdly young and talented, and writes haunting, minimalist songs, often on unusual topics. One of several standout songs is [Priest With Balloons](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5TGNfDrKIk) It’s about Father Adelir de Carli, a Brazilian priest who tried to break the world record for cluster ballooning in 2008, to raise money for a spiritual truck stop in Brazil, but disappeared instead. _What was he looking for - truth or was it heaven? Or did he just want to go out with a bang, so to speak?_ ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/111 "2011-12-20T15:33:16Z")
“Chain Lightning” by Steely Dan, about a fascist party rally ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952/112 "2011-12-20T20:08:47Z")
This one cracks me up: [“Dear Abby”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2ccC4aULow) by John Prine. As the title would suggest, it takes the form of Dear Abby letters and her stock answers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-unusual-topics/601952.md?page=5)