# Songs that break the 4th wall **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253 "2011-04-21T17:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/81 "2011-04-22T19:57:57Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Can anyone think of any songs where the singer says “guitar!” as a way to introduce a guitar solo in the song? I’m thinking Kiss might do this, but I can’t think of the song. Revocation does it in [Exhumed Identity](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th5kdbP8QyA) from their first album, **Empire Of The Obscene** (at 6:12). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/82 "2011-04-22T20:46:08Z")
[http://lyrics.wikia.com/Robbie\_Fulks:Fountains\_Of\_Wayne\_Hotline](http://lyrics.wikia.com/Robbie_Fulks:Fountains_Of_Wayne_Hotline) By Robbie Fulks Slightly Distorted Melodic Solo-- CHECK! ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/83 "2011-04-22T21:01:32Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Can anyone think of any songs where the singer says “guitar!” as a way to introduce a guitar solo in the song? I’m thinking Kiss might do this, but I can’t think of the song. Johnny Winter “Tired Of Trying” Shouts something as he goes into the middle solo, sounds like “Guitar!” to me. . ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/84 "2011-04-22T21:32:07Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Not quite what you’re looking for, but it qualifies for the thread: [The Intro and The Outro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DUEAG5eO6c). And similarly [2nd half of part one of Tubular Bells](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyWe17SYDK4) also with Viv Stanshall ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/85 "2011-04-23T19:43:42Z")
“the universe was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/86 "2011-04-24T06:13:55Z")
“A Little Help from My Friends” by…um er… What would you think if I sang out of tune, Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song, And I’ll try not to sing out of key. … [sings the rest of song, a little off key, unless my ears deceive me] … ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/87 "2011-04-24T06:28:18Z")
I’m singing in the rain, Singing in the rain, -----Gene Kelly _It’s not really a new thing._ ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/88 "2011-04-24T06:33:21Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Johnny Winter “Tired Of Trying” > > Shouts something as he goes into the middle solo, sounds like “Guitar!” to me. > . If we are counting stuff like this, there is a _Doctor Feelgood_ song (maybe “Down at the Doctor’s”) with a shout of “Eight bars of piano!” at the start of the instrumental break. The trouble is, there s no piano in it! ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/89 "2011-04-24T06:34:54Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > 1. _Little Miss (Can’t Be Wrong)_ by Spin Doctors (“Whatcha gonna do to get into another one of these rock-n-roll songs?”) Another, in the same song, goes “I hope you heard this song, and it pissed you off.” ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/90 "2011-04-25T06:39:31Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > ‘Down Together’ by The Refreshments contains this lyric: > > “We could chase our shadows around the lawn > until we’re both exhausted > I could forget the words here one more time > and hope that no one notices” > > For all of me that album ‘Fizzy, Fuzzy Big and Buzzy’ is one of the greatest albums of the 90s. It’s astonishing. I love this album, and love this song. _We could find a speck of dust and scribble down our life story_. It’s the one I came in here to mention. There’s at least another reference on that album, though - _Mexico_. > [@](#): > > Here comes another song about Mexico > I just can’t help myself… > > …Here comes the same old verse about Mexico And I suppose it’s debatable whether _Nada_ is referring to itself or not…_there ain’t no moral to this story at all, anything I tell you very well could be a lie_. Man I love this album. From another band, I offer [Satellite](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Satellite-lyrics-Strung-Out/31085E589D832B0948256C7E0026E655), by Strung Out. the whole song is a letter to someone, about writing a song, which is pretty much the one being sang… > [@](#): > > If there’s any wonder how I made it through > Well I tell them that’s between me and you, well > Someday I’ll thank you if I see you around > But for now I’ll just keep this letter to myself > And a song I’ll probably never sing for you > Like a satellite ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/91 "2011-04-25T11:01:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Did Billy Bragg write that song? I had no idea it was a cover. MacColl’s version seems pretty gender specific, with lines like, “I put you on a pedestal, you put me on the pill.” > > Checking Wikipedia, it appears that she added a verse to the song, which I presume was that one. Bragg now includes it whenever he performs it, in her memory. No, that is an original Bragg verse. It was just “They put you on the pill” when he sang it. And yes, you need to get more of his albums! _Talking to the Taxman about Poetry_ and _Worker’s Playtime_ are both brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/92 "2011-04-25T11:54:17Z")
Billy Joel practically lives for this stuff. “They say that no one’s gonna play this on the radio; they said the melancholy blues were dead and gone; but only songs like these, played in minor keys, keep those memories holding on.” “It’s a beautiful song, but it ran too long; if you’re gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit – so they cut it down to 3:05.” “Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullabye, then in your heart there will always be a part of me.” “Nothing left for a dream now, only one final serenade. And these are the last words I have to say, before another age goes by with all those other songs I’ll have to play, but that’s the story of my life .” Not to mention the way he’s got the audience breaking the fourth wall in PIANO MAN. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/93 "2011-04-25T15:32:39Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Billy Joel practically lives for this stuff. > > “They say that no one’s gonna play this on the radio; they said the melancholy blues were dead and gone; but only songs like these, played in minor keys, keep those memories holding on.” > > “It’s a beautiful song, but it ran too long; if you’re gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit – so they cut it down to 3:05.” > > “Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullabye, then in your heart there will always be a part of me.” > > “Nothing left for a dream now, only one final serenade. And these are the last words I have to say, before another age goes by with all those other songs I’ll have to play, but that’s the story of my life .” > > Not to mention the way he’s got the audience breaking the fourth wall in PIANO MAN. This Billy Joel fan is :smack: over not thinking of any of these, then nodding along as I read them. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/94 "2011-04-25T15:52:05Z")
Two more by Strung Out: Alien Amplifier > [@](#): > > just one more verse i swear > just one more line to rhyme with the last one > i didn’t really mean to write at all Dirty Little Secret > [@](#): > > I got nothing but time > To take a walk and find > What I never could explain > I’ll make you understand > There’s nothing in here you’d be interested to hear > So ignore me if this doesn’t rhyme ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Stranger\_Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Another\_Stranger\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Stranger_Me)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/95 "2011-04-25T16:28:17Z")
Fall Out Boy - From “Sugar We’re Going Down”: “I’m just a notch in your bedpost, But you’re just a line in a song” ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/96 "2011-04-25T16:47:44Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And a song I was writing is left undone > I don’t know why I spend my time > Writing songs I can’t believe > With words that tear and strain to rhyme. > > [Kathy’s Song](http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/Kathy's-Song-lyrics-Simon-and-Garfunkel/D808D4ED6108B91A48256896000E2C74) off the Sounds of Silence album. Also, Song For The Asking. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/97 "2011-04-25T18:12:52Z")
I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” (“Woke up this morning and I wrote down this song…”). Richie Havens’ “Handsome Johnny” (“Hey, what’s the use of singing this song/Some of you are not even listening”). A lot of old folk songs are self-referential, either starting with a line like “I’ll sing you a song and it won’t take long…” or ending with a line like “So that’s the end of my story…”. This is off topic, but the one that always gets me is the infinite regress of “The Tennessee Waltz”, which is about someone who loses her lover to another woman while the band plays “The Tennessee Waltz”, which is about someone who… AAAAAGHH ---
**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:** [April 25, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/98 "2011-04-25T19:05:46Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > This is off topic, but the one that always gets me is the infinite regress of “The Tennessee Waltz”, which is about someone who loses her lover to another woman while the band plays “The Tennessee Waltz”, which is about someone who… AAAAAGHH Manfred Mann went one better by recording a version of “Tennessee Waltz” in 4/4 time, so the song itself is no longer the “waltz” referred to in the lyrics, yet it still _is_ “The Tennessee Waltz.” Infinite regress _and_ cognitive dissonance! ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/99 "2011-04-25T19:41:33Z")
Elvis broke the 4th wall in a different way with “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, his second single. It starts out in the slow, Bill Monroe 3/4 tempo. Then Elvis stops the proceedings, saying, “Hold on, boys, that don’t _move_ me none. Let’s get real gone for a change.” Then they restart it as a rock ‘n’ roll version. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/100 "2011-04-25T22:48:22Z")
Canadians of a certain age or older may remember a song trilogy by Edward Bear. First was “[You, Me and Mexico.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvWGgwFP7No)” It isn’t particularly self referential, although the singer is “stuck in the city still going no where” and at that part of their career, they weren’t going anywhere. Song two, back to the same well. [The Last Song](http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNowpI2XfVc&feature=related)" “This is the last song, I’ll ever write for you… the last time I will ever tell how much I really care” which references writing the previous song about the girl who effed off on him to go traveling. He’s written about her before, but now he’s done. Finally in “[Close Your Eyes"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2pbaJmxvlc&feature=related) she comes back home because as she says “I see you’ve written one Last Song” and I realize its mine” of course, in the end she leaves again. So that’s a meta-song trilogy. Or at least 2/3 are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253.md?page=6)