Songs that are puns (and other wordplay)

Cafe Society
21

Several of the Greg Kihn band’s album titles are puns:

Next Of Kihn
Rockihnroll
Kihntinued
Kihnspiracy
Kihntagious
Citizen Kihn
Kihn of Hearts

22

Marrillion’s Charting the Single is full of word play.

“Schnapping my fingers on an alcoholiday” and other stuff.It’s pretty neat.

http://www.lyrics007.com/Marillion%20Lyrics/Charting%20The%20Single%20Lyrics.html

23

Country music does have a lot. Michelle Wright’s “Take It Like A Man” uses the title idiom as both the “be a tough guy” idea, and as a command, telling the guy to “take my heart.” The pun comes when she uses the same idiom for both:

And my poor heart needs somebody who
Can take it like a man, steady and strong
Not a lot of fuss and carrying on…

It’s not a pun, but for the wordplay, I’ve got to mention “All My Exes Live In Texas (That’s Why I Hang My Hat in Tennessee)” by George Strait. I just like the way he rhymed “exes” with “Texas.”

24

Would you count Weird Al’s “Gotta Boogie”?

“Gotta boogie on my finger and I can’t get it off!”

25

Isn’t this just straight English slang?

26

Or how about I C U?

27

Well, the song title is pronounced “jah-may-kah,” a sound-alike for Jamaica. D’yer Mak’er is a reggae-influenced song.

28

But the song was done in a reggae style, making the title a pun on “Jamaica”.

29

Bra Size 45 By: Ivor Biggun & the D Cups: Bra Size 45 - Everything2.com
a (loose) pun of Stars on 45.

30

“The Sky is Crying” predates “Purple Haze”, having been written in 1959 by Elmore James (arguably, with Levy and Morris, I believe). Forgive the nitpick, but whenever I get a chance to make people aware of James, I take it.

CH

31

Cool. Do you know if that particular line is in the original, or if Stevie Ray added it in his version?

32

From Number One Blind by Veruca Salt, “Levolor, which of us is blind?”

Slays me.

33

Rocky Raccoon

Rocky is wounded and checks into room, only to find Gideon’s Bible.
Gideon left it no doubt to help in Good Rocky’s revival.

Disraeli Gears by Cream is a pun on Derailleur Gears. The alternate album name
was Elephant’s Gerald.

34

Thanks. Had almost reached the point where I could listen to “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” without the lyrics for that encroaching. Now it’s back . . .

35

Well, if we start listing all the puns in TMBG songs, we’ll be here all year. In the case of “The World’s Address”, the whole song turns around the pun, and it comments on that fact.

36

John Prine’s It’s a Big Old Goofy World is basically line after line of cliches:

full lyrics here

37

Aerosmith has a (new?) song called Devil’s Got a New Disguise, some of the lyrics are:

“If you see kay, tell her I love her
She did me in but Ill recover”

If you don’t get it, say the first 4 words to yourself. Or shout them. I don’t care.

38

I’d count Benny Bell’s Shaving Cream as wordplay.

Basically it’s a switcheroo, where all the lyrics and rhymes suggest the next word will be “shit”, but Bell says “shaving cream” instead.

Bell specialized in these kinds of lyrics - he also had a song called “Everybody Wants My Fanny”, about his girlfriend named… you guessed it… Fanny. (A double entendre)

39

Squeezebox by The Who

40

“Call careers information Have you got yourself an occupation” from Oliver’s Army. Nice double meaning there.