”He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)” by the Crystals has to be up there. Co-written by Carole King, of all people.
Hehe, I actually like Rush, and I don’t know what you mean by “echo sound”, but: good god, the lyrics to “Closer to the Heart” make me cringe, and I must change the station.
supposedly that song was a parody/joke of little Eva because apparently, she believed that being smacked around by someone meant they cared …and despite them trying to change her mind she never really changed her mind …king says it wasn’t supposed to be made. It was after shed left the job …
Re: David Bowie and China Girl- not exactly David Bowie’s song, either- Iggy Pop did it first. I will say when I finally saw Iggy do this song in real time a couple of years ago, it WAS pretty cringe worthy sounding, as in it didn’t age well.
Yes, Iggy Pop first recorded “China Girl”, but it was written and produced by Bowie. It was inspired by the fact that Iggy had an Asian girlfriend at the time.
“Wrong Way” by Sublime is a cringefest almost all the way through.
Some lyrics:
Annie’s twelve years old, in two more she’ll be a whore
Nobody ever told her it’s the wrong way
Don’t be afraid with the quickness you get laid
For your family get paid
It’s the wrong way
A cigarette rests between her lips
But I’m staring at her tits
It’s the wrong way
The only family that she’s ever had
Is her seven horny brothers and her drunk-ass dad
He needed money so he put her on the street
Everything was going fine till the day she met me
She could be as young as fourteen when the events of the song took place. In any event, it’s clear she’s underage.
It’s not cringe-worthy (to me, anyway), but the lyrics to the Minus Five’s “With A Gun” are a bit…dark.
I like you with a gun
The way you shine
Silver barrel in the sun
It’s no wonder I sleep underground
'cause I just want to
I just want to be around
I’ll kick your sister’s ass
I’ll take your brother’s face and smash it in the grass
It’s no wonder I am spiral-bound
'cause I just want to
I just want to be around
Is there a difference between a song with lyrics that tell a dark story with no happy ending from the perspective of a bad actor, and cringey songs?
That’s about a girl forced into child prostitution from the perspective of someone who putatively “rescues” her only to abuse her himself. If the character or the actions were celebrated or justified that would be cringey; this instead bemoans that the world and people often are horrible as its point. Dark yes but dark was the intent.
Yes. There is a difference between someone telling a ‘dark’ story, and someone who doesn’t realise their story is dark.
I like The Roots’ “The Seed,” but the lyrics are kind of pompous and sad. The narrator talks about how he needs to spread his wings, so he knocks up another girl (Mary) behind his lover’s back. In the end, he says if Mary drops her baby tonight, he would name it Rock N’ Roll.
The narrator is kind of a sociopath. He treats women like garbage, doesn’t plan to attend the birth of his child, but is proud of having children to demonstrate how much of a playah he is.
Echo I guess I mean the garbage way they use synth. Lots of people like Rush, personally I don’t get it.
Other songs that make me cringe: “Island Girl” Elton John. “Under My Thumb” by the Stones. That one pisses me off. 
I always feel like Mick’s a little too cocky there. Is she really down, or is she fooling him?
Mick sang so many songs at the time where he put women down (Yesterday’s Paper, Out Of Time, Stupid Girl) that I have no doubt it was one of their infamous misogynistic pieces.
Mick is the cockiest cock on the walk, but in UMT, I’ve always taken it as him knowing she most certainly is not under his thumb. I think it’s the main guitar riff that to me, gives it an almost comical / playful vibe. Like he’s bragging to his friends and they know and he knows that he’s really just whistling past the graveyard. Probably all in my head. 
Such songs are aimed at guys who fantasize about telling off women and having them worshipfully trail behind.
I know, Mr. Obvious.
Heh, come to think of it, yes, there is a bit of “the gentleman doth protest too much” to it.
Of course, it means the narrator character IS still being a dick…
(then again their ad agency once came up with a promo featuring a woman in bondage and the tagline “I’m Black and Blue for the Rolling Stones and I love it” - probably seemed a brilliant idea before the drugs wore off. “Smell The Glove” was a succesful parody because bands WERE doing that)
With the 60s-generation pop-rock songwriters one also accounts for their having listened to a lot of “mah woman done me wrong, gonna do somethin’ ‘bout that” lyrics in their Blues influences.
“Date Rape” by Sublime is another cringey one. Woman is picked up and sexually assaunted, takes the guy to court, he goes to jail and is “butt-raped by a large inmate.” It’s a weird song to have been a radio hit (at least in L.A., where I heard it what seemed like once a day for several years on KROQ).
Sublime made some absolutely wonderful music: “Bad Fish” and “What I Got” are two of the best songs of hte 90s, I’m convinced, but they had their unfortunate tracks as well.
“Love is the Ritual” by Styx.
C’mon, dance, little sister, little sister wants to dance!
All night looking for a true romance!
Then in a black leather jacket walks little brother
Rock her world to be her lover!
“Kiss With A Fist” by Florence + The Machine falls in the same category.
Lay Lady Lay
Lay across my big brass bed
His clothes are dirty,
But his hands are clean
