# Songs that make guys stupid. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561 "2009-10-21T02:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/21 "2009-10-22T19:01:18Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > AC/DC, [Thunderstruck](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1cwycSWq0) would do it for me. Nah. That doesn’t make me want to run across the field and gut the Hun, it makes me want to play air guitar with my rifle and do power slides in my foxhole 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/22 "2009-10-22T19:53:49Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Another to add: [Land of Hope & Glory](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_ROlkMOL9s&). (singing starts at about 0:45) I dunno. Just makes me feel like I’m graduating from high school. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zephyurs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/dfb087/32.png) [@Zephyurs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zephyurs)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/23 "2009-10-22T21:59:26Z")
Not exactly military, but what about Solidarity Forever? It serves the same essential purpose, except instead of war it has people stupidly risking life and limb for the sake of better wages and working conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/24 "2009-10-22T22:23:20Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > This thread is so not what I thought it was going to be, because I was going to say [this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4XgP5tnI4c) That was what I thought the thread would be about too. Either that, or songs with lyrics that portray men as being stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/25 "2009-10-23T07:54:58Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I dunno. Just makes me feel like I’m graduating from high school. 😉 Hmmm… 🙂 OK… perhaps a bit similar (and maybe not in the “sprint to your death” vein – but more of the "We shall never surrender! **Never**!! variety), how about [Jerusalem](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk)? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/26 "2009-10-23T08:10:53Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Hmmm… 🙂 OK… perhaps a bit similar (and maybe not in the “sprint to your death” vein – but more of the "We shall never surrender! **Never**!! variety), how about [Jerusalem](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk)? Why do I get the urge to stand in a box with a fishbowl on my head? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/27 "2009-10-23T20:50:02Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Why do I get the urge to stand in a box with a fishbowl on my head? Some issue with your meds? 😛 (Or was that the whirring sound of a joke buzzing over my head?) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/28 "2009-10-24T01:52:17Z")
Well, perhaps not the fishbowl. But as for the [other bit . . . (from 4:00)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpn1anVPZsc) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/29 "2009-10-24T02:27:33Z")
In _Barry Lyndon_, the British and Prussian armies during the 1700s had fife and drum corps which played ridiculously jolly music as line after line of men marched straight into enemy gunfire. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/30 "2009-10-24T02:30:06Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Hmmm… 🙂 OK… perhaps a bit similar (and maybe not in the “sprint to your death” vein – but more of the "We shall never surrender! **Never**!! variety), how about [Jerusalem](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk)? Not even close! Your first was “Pomp and Circumstance” with lyrics and all “Jerusalem” inspires me to do is maybe sabotage a dark, satanic mill. Completely missing the point of a song that switches off two thirds of your brain. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/31 "2009-10-24T02:34:35Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > In _Barry Lyndon_, the British and Prussian armies during the 1700s had fife and drum corps which played ridiculously jolly music as line after line of men marched straight into enemy gunfire. Like [Garry Owen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0g4TLmvaX8) for the 7th Cavalry (Custer’s men)? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/32 "2009-10-24T17:33:56Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Like [Garry Owen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0g4TLmvaX8) for the 7th Cavalry (Custer’s men)? That song makes me either want to: Start dancing Riverdance Imitate Space Ghost 😃 It may be hard to sing but I still love the Star Spangled Banner ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1h9NN5FhJ7I/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/1h9NN5FhJ7I?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque or how about God Bless America ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pCavKL2zdjM/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/pCavKL2zdjM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/33 "2009-10-24T17:44:50Z")
[The British Grenadiers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLc-bvcdNTw&feature=related) makes me want to go over the top and give the Hun a proper stabbing. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/34 "2009-10-24T20:00:25Z")
> [@Zephyurs](#): > > Not exactly military, but what about Solidarity Forever? It serves the same essential purpose, except instead of war it has people stupidly risking life and limb for the sake of better wages and working conditions. _In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold; Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousandfold - We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old! For the union makes us strong…_ Oh yeah. Suit me up, I’m ready for Minneapolis 1934. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/35 "2009-10-25T06:12:06Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Well, perhaps not the fishbowl. But as for the [other bit . . . (from 4:00)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpn1anVPZsc) Oh, that makes rather more sense. 🙂 Very amusing. > [@dropzone](#): > > Not even close! Your first was “Pomp and Circumstance” with lyrics and all “Jerusalem” inspires me to do is maybe sabotage a dark, satanic mill. Completely missing the point of a song that switches off two thirds of your brain. 😉 You sir are clearly not British! 😛 (Well, neither am I. but…) IMO both _Land of Hope and Glory_ and _Jerusalem_ to have that irrational sense of patriotism that makes men do stupid things. Oh, and add [Rule Britannia](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UcvBLd06wA&feature=related). 🙂 (Trouble finding a decent version – but it’s only the chorus that’s important anyway – first one at about 0:45) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/36 "2009-10-25T11:48:40Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Is there ANY American song that shuts down the “This is suicidal!” receptors in a guy’s brain? I’ll try to limit this to men because, despite Edith Piaf’s [La Marseillaise](http://adinoto.org/images/La%20Marseillaise.mp3) and young Charlotte Church’s [Men of Harlech](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz9_ELpil9w), I suspect that it works better on guys. And are there other songs that inspire otherwise-sensible men to walk–nay, RUN–to their deaths? Well, it’s a bit modern, and not so much “running” is involved, but [this one seems to fit the bill](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1a_ikfUico). ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/37 "2009-10-25T12:20:23Z")
I’m going to change this up a bit. There are certainly, as mentioned here, a good number of songs that encourage young men to march to their deaths on the battlefield. However, there are far FAR more that put younger men in a mind set where taking suicidal risks seem acceptable or even desirable. These songs are about cars and girls. Hot Rod Lincoln Radar Love Born to Run (which even refers to cars as ‘suicide machines’) Countless others These songs play on the inherent believe that young men hold in their own immortality…that consequences are for other people and that taking insane risks will impress the girls and get the young men laid. Heck, I’d be willing to bet that FAR more men aged 18-22 get killed in avoidable automobile accidents than on the battlefield (and I’d include training accidents for the soldiers as well). ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/38 "2009-10-25T16:40:48Z")
I think the preeminent example of this from the world of musical theatre has got to be [Do You Hear the People Sing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VR1bOha40U) from Les Miserables. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/39 "2009-10-25T18:41:01Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii1tc493bZM)once came on the car radio, and I immediately acelerated by 20mph and began performing evasive maneuvers. I think that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561/40 "2009-10-25T19:02:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii1tc493bZM)once came on the car radio, and I immediately acelerated by 20mph and began performing evasive maneuvers. I think that counts. Yes, this definitely has a place somewhere on my top ten list of Most Dangerous Driving Music. 😃 Right up there with “Ride of the Valkyries.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-guys-stupid/514561.md?page=3)