# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/141 "2011-05-06T17:34:11Z")
I think it takes a bit more than a self-referential aspect, or of addressing the audience directly, or references to other non-fictional persons, to ‘break the fourth wall’ with a song. The problem is, most songs don’t _have_ a ‘fourth wall’ to begin with. With dramas on stage, TV, or in the movies, there’s an implicit pretense on the part of performers and audience alike that what’s happening on stage/screen/tube is real. When we watch, we suspend disbelief and mentally enter into the world being created there. Being self-referential, or interacting with the audience, or the leading actor making references to his real-world ex-wife, break this pretense. It’s that pretense that is the real ‘fourth wall,’ and a performer singing a song rarely brings that pretense into being to begin with. The singer sings songs, and some of them may be stories that you can enter into, but you don’t lose sight of the singer, and the singer only briefly forgets about you, too. I’m not sure what it would take to create, then break, the ‘fourth wall’ in this context. The closest I’ve experienced to it is on the studio version of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger,” when near the end of the second verse, he sings: _And I’ve just turned twenty-two, I was wondering what to do_ And you (or at least **I** ; YMMV) half expect Neil, in the persona of his fictional protagonist, to step out and ask you for suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/142 "2011-06-01T21:23:33Z")
“I want her to be a big P.M. Dawn fan.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/143 "2011-06-02T01:45:11Z")
How 'bout this one: “Me Neither” by Brad Paisley “This has been a waste of time And I’m running out of lines Don’t you think it’s time for me to end this song? Me neither” Instrumental solo follows… ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/144 "2011-06-02T02:33:28Z")
Chris Rice, “Other Side of the Radio” (pretty much the whole thing, this is just the opening) > [@](#): > > Here I am on the other side of the radio > Wondering why I’m here and why anybody cares what I say > No, I’m not a better man ‘cause I’m singing my songs on the radio > ‘Cause we’re all the same > At the end of the day Jonathan Coulton, “Podsafe Christmas Song” (is a parody of Alvin & the Chipmunks’ The Chipmunk song with JoCo playing the part of Dave) > [@](#): > > We want a podsafe Christmas song > We want a song that’s safe to play > Don’t think us rude > We don’t wanna get sued > By the thugs at the RIAA > We have been good the whole year long > Santa don’t delay > Give us a podsafe Christmas song > To celebrate Christmas day Also, “Not About You” > [@](#): > > This one is not about you > You can put that in your pipe and smoke it > This one is not about you > Baby, you can take that to the bank > Shove it up your big fat ass I suspect this is done relatively frequently in novelty-type songs. Also hip-hop. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/145 "2011-06-02T10:29:01Z")
> [@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. “I believe in a thing called love” by the Darkness. Although it’s more of a “gee-tar!” than a “guitar!” 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 10, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/146 "2011-06-10T18:14:42Z")
Hey! Won’t you play Another somebody-done-somebody-wrong song. And make me feel at home. While I miss my baby. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/147 "2011-06-10T19:31:12Z")
Colosseum, _Jumping Off The Sun_: “This song goes up and up, down and down and up and down again” with each “up” and “down” falling on an ascending or descending interval respectively. Captain Beefheart, _Lick My Decals Off Baby_: “'n this song ain’t no sing-song/It’s all about the birds 'n the bees/'n where it went all wrong/'n where it all belongs” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/148 "2011-06-10T20:18:41Z")
Tom Lehrer, “The Folk Song Army.” _The tune doesn’t have to be clever And it don’t matter if you put a couple extra syllables into a line It sounds more ethnic if it ain’t good English And it don’t even gotta rhyme - excuse me - rhyne_ ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/149 "2011-06-10T21:00:57Z")
Riddlin’ Kids - “[I Feel Fine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXV2BPYLHjI)” _Don’t ever call 'cause I don’t wanna be friends Excuse me now because the chorus is coming up again_ ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/150 "2011-06-11T02:35:56Z")
Pulp’s awesome love song ‘Something Changed’ starts with ‘I wrote this song two hours before we met.’ ---
**Author:** ![rbhughes1016](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@rbhughes1016](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbhughes1016)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/151 "2011-12-15T22:47:29Z")
On Aerosmith’s “F.I.N.E.” S. Tyler sings both Tipper(Gore) & Joe Perry think, “…I’m all right”. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/152 "2011-12-15T23:27:52Z")
Since this thread has been revived, a couple more that are pretty much _all_ breaking the 4th wall: “The B Side” (Blotto) > [@](#): > > Nobody listens to the B side > > Not quite as good as the A side “This Is The Title” (The Swirling Eddies) > [@](#): > > I’ve only come up with a few lines > a few lines, just a few lines > can only come up with a few lines > I just sang the lines > these are the lines > > hmm..hey wait! > > I’m comin’ up with a few more lines and perhaps also Simon & Garfunkel’s “Song For the Asking.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/153 "2011-12-16T01:15:11Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > The Leonard Cohen “the fourth, the fifth” thing wins by a long chalk. Soooooo clever. **Cafe Tacuba** do this in “Esa Noche” – when they sing about how “it wasn’t a great sadness…it was like going from minor to major”, and that’s just what the song does, harmonically, right then. Another example of the OP not yet mentioned: “Is This the Single?”, by **The Negro Problem**. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/154 "2011-12-16T02:12:27Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I can only think of a few right off the top of my head: > > 1. _Philosophy_ by Ben Folds Five (“and now it’s time for this song to end”) > > 2. _This Song Is Just Six Words Long_ by Weird Al Yankovic (this one should be obvious) > > 3. _Little Miss (Can’t Be Wrong)_ by Spin Doctors (“Whatcha gonna do to get into another one of these rock-n-roll songs?”) > > 4. _Your Song_ by Elton Song (again, this should be obvious) > > Come on, Dopers…tell me more! “Ookla the Mok” has a couple “This is My Song” which is all about itself In the middle of “Tandem Bike” the lyrics go “I sat down immediately, and began to write this song” ---
**Author:** ![MsJinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MsJinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsJinx)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/155 "2011-12-16T05:58:42Z")
The Song That Goes Like This, from Spamalot: “Once in every show, there comes a song like this…” “I’ll sing it in your face while we both embrace, and then we’ll change the key…” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/F-fG8c-CMoU/hqdefault.jpg "Spamalot - Song that Goes Like This") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-fG8c-CMoU) ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/156 "2011-12-16T13:13:26Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I think it takes a bit more than a self-referential aspect, or of addressing the audience directly, or references to other non-fictional persons, to ‘break the fourth wall’ with a song. > > The problem is, most songs don’t _have_ a ‘fourth wall’ to begin with. > > … > > I’m not sure what it would take to create, then break, the ‘fourth wall’ in this context. The closest I’ve experienced to it is on the studio version of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger,” when near the end of the second verse, he sings: > > _And I’ve just turned twenty-two, I was wondering what to do_ > > And you (or at least **I** ; YMMV) half expect Neil, in the persona of his fictional protagonist, to step out and ask you for suggestions. Hey, you killed this thread for about a month last summer with this post. Wanna try again? 🙂 You specifically mentioned the studio version of “Powderfinger”, but the lyrics on Live Rust (and other versions) are the same. Why (if there is any) the distinction? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253/157 "2011-12-16T14:47:40Z")
Dresden Doll’s “Coin-Operated Boy” _This bridge was written To make you feel smitten…_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-break-the-4th-wall/579253.md?page=7)