# Songs that make you say, "WTF?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005 "2007-03-29T17:32:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/61 "2007-03-30T22:30:09Z")
**I Want You** by Savage Garden contains the immortal lyrics: > [@](#): > > Magenta feelings take up shelter > in the base of my spine > Sweet like a chic-a-cherry cola 😕😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/62 "2007-03-30T22:33:10Z")
**Lucky 13** - I thought the line was “sweet like a sip of cherry cola”? ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/63 "2007-03-30T22:53:35Z")
I never really understood [Hollywood Nights](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/bob-seger/hollywood-nights.html) by Bob Seger. Are the two verses seprate scenarios, or is it an explanation of why he was there and flash to the present? I have convinced myself that it was two different guys and maybe one girl. But what does she get out of it. Also, the Top 10 of WTF is _Lola_ by the Kinks. Is she, or is he? Sgt Schwartz ---
**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:** [March 30, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/64 "2007-03-30T23:15:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sgt Schwartz] Also, the Top 10 of WTF is _Lola_ by the Kinks. Is she, or is he? [/QUOTE] Well I’ll be damned. Was going to point out the line that completely gives it away: _Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man But I know what I am and what I am is a man And so is Lola_ However, I decided to do a quick lyric check, just to make sure I had my bases covered. And whaddaya know
I’ve been wrong about this song my entire life: _Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man But I know what I am and **I’m glad I’m a man** And so is Lola_ I had to check three different sites just to convince myself that they were right and I was wrong, and then I finally had to track down the MP3, but yup
I was wrong. So, is he saying “I’m glad that both Lola and I are men”, or is it “Both Lola and I are glad that I’m a man”? It’s not nearly as clear-cut for me as it was 15 minutes ago. FWIW, I did find [this tidbit](http://en.allexperts.com/e/l/lo/lola_(song).htm): > [@](#): > > In the book _The Kinks: The Official Biography_, Ray Davies says that he was inspired to write this song after the band manager Robert Wace had spent the night dancing with a transvestite. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/65 "2007-03-31T00:21:23Z")
Phish are fantastically talented musicians, but the same marijuana that makes them gifted composers makes them the most atrociously goofy lyricists in recent memory: > [@](#): > > Smegma dogmatagram, fishmarket stew > Police in a corner, gunnin’ for you > Appletoast bedheated fur-blanket rat: > Laugh when they shoot you, say > “Please don’t do that!” and also > [@](#): > > Won’t you step into the freezer? > Seize her with a tweezer. > > Won’t you step into the freezer? > Tease her with a tweeze. > > It’s gonna be cold cold cold cold cold > (cold toniiiiight) > > Look who’s in the freezer: > Uncle Ebenezer! and of course, > [@](#): > > Spasm! Waiter, dropping to his knees, sees > Slander on wrap-paper ties. > Lifting up his head he feels the sunlight in his eyes. > > Grasp a kettle top and shoot the breeze, please. > Ramble while slop scraper sighs: > Tossing in his bed at night he’ll dream until he dies > > 
 > > Mask a pretty hopper’s foot with squeeze cheese. > Dangle some grape apple pies! > Tranquil and serene until he runs out of supplies > > (CHORUS) > Your hands and feet are mangos > You’re gonna be a genius anyway This last one has a special place in my heart: the final verse consists of all three verses sung simultaneously in three-part harmony, with a different voice part on each set of lyrics. The result is gibberish on every line until you get to the last syllables, where everyone sings “Xeeeeeeese, Jeeeeeese” or “Qiiiiise” or what-have-you. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/66 "2007-03-31T00:52:21Z")
I’ll take **Piano Fire** for five hundred, Alex. [QUOTE=Sparklehorse] I got sunburnt waiting for the jets to land. Circus people with hairy little hands. Hey there boys, strike up the army band! [/QUOTE] . The weird thing is, that where I’m at right now, I have met carnies and circus people with hairy little hands, and I did acquire a tan waiting for jets to land. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/67 "2007-03-31T01:14:31Z")
Bah. Pillars of Logic compared to Andy’s Chest, by the **Velvet Underground** : > [@](#): > > If I could be anything > of the things in this world that bite > Instead of a giant Ocelot on a leash > I’d rather be a kite ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/68 "2007-03-31T01:22:22Z")
I never even thought to question that Lola was a transvestite. Given the nature of the remainder of the lyrics I would think that it is obvious. [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_%28song%29) seems to agree although they don’t explicitly say. I think they don’t explicitly say though because they assume it is obvious. I think that would be a good edit if I knew how. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/69 "2007-03-31T03:34:08Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] I’ve heard explanations, but I still have a “WTF?” reaction to the alleged fact that “the lights went out in Georgia” when they “hung an innocent man.” Were they using one of those high-wattage electric gallows? [/QUOTE] I think it was supposed to be a sign from God that an innocent man had been executed. I’m sure the brother would have preferred something a little more practical, however, like the rope breaking every time they dropped him, or the trapdoor refusing to open whenever he was standing on it. You’ve got to wonder about the singer’s mindset. She killed her brother’s cheating wife and the guy wifey was screwing around with, then ran away and let her brother hang for the crime, and it’s the _judge’s_ fault? That’s some major rationalization going on there :dubious: Plus, she makes it sound like the trial lasted about two minutes before they hung him, but apparently there was a lawyer involved somehow. I’m guessing that there was nothing wrong with the trial (except that it reached the wrong verdict) and the singer is simply attempting to shift blame away from herself. On a not-too-dissimilar note, I’ve always wondered about Richard Marx’s [“Hazard.”](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/richard-marx/hazard.html) > [@](#): > > My mother came to Hazard when I was just seven > Even then the folks in town said with prejudiced eyes > That boy’s not right 
 Now hold on a second. Let me get this straight: At only seven years old, people were already thinking that there was something wrong with you? Were you starting fires or torturing puppies or something? We also hear that when his girlfriend disappears, “a thousand fingers” point right at him. There’s more to this guy’s history than he’s letting on. I think he’s a sociopath, and was displaying symptoms of that sort of behavior even at a young age. Perhaps he didn’t kill her, but the fact that so many people are prepared to believe the worst about him speaks volumes about what sort of guy he is. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/70 "2007-03-31T03:53:20Z")

and you carry a pitchfork and torch. I don’t know which criminals scare me worse, the sociopaths, or the _sociopaths_. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/71 "2007-03-31T04:19:04Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] Bah. Pillars of Logic compared to Andy’s Chest, by the **Velvet Underground** : [/QUOTE] Even funnier is that it’s always explained as a song about the shooting of Andy Warhol, which people seem to just accept, despite none of the lyrics having anything obvious to do with it! ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/72 "2007-03-31T04:47:54Z")
[QUOTE=CaerieD] **Lucky 13** - I thought the line was “sweet like a sip of cherry cola”? [/QUOTE] I found these lyrics on [songmeanings.net](http://songmeanings.net). Before that, I had thought the guy said “Like a chicken cherry cola”, which still makes no sense. I like your interpretation better. Although I’m still wondering what the hell is a “magenta feeling”. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/73 "2007-03-31T05:58:16Z")
“All Along The Watchtower” always bugs me: I can’t see how you can be “along” a watchtower. It’s tall and narrow: you could be along the battlements, you could be along the ramparts, but you’d have to be atop or upon the watchtower. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/74 "2007-03-31T15:00:33Z")
Two comments: 1. You cannot trust lyrics obtained from websites without checking several sites, and even then you may not get the “Straight Dope.” I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve gone to lyrics sites for songs and seen complete disagreement about phrases that are relatively simple to comprehend from the song itself. Not to mention, simply buying the CD and looking at the lyrics printed on the foldout. 2. I think the OP was not talking about songs with incomprehensible lyrics (read: just about any song by America, e.g.). Instead the OP was talking about lyrics where the underlying premise leaves you wondering what the songwriter was thinking. That is, they lyrics are comprehensible, you understand their meaning (not a _Ulysses_ moment), but the concept either doesn’t make sense (P does NOT imply Q), or you are not sure what message is being sent (P implies ??). Going back to the OP, I don’t think of that song as particularly WTFish. Yeah, perhpas in real life, there would be a less rosy resolution. Piña coladas flying, etc. But the point to the song is that he is bored by the relationship, yet ends up finding out two things: she is also bored with it, and it’s because they have commonality they’ve never explored, like getting caught in the rain. Realizing this, and not that serious about wanting out of the relationship to begin with, they have a mutual epiphany and all is well. And, yes, I can see it happening. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/75 "2007-03-31T18:29:30Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Two comments: 1. I think the OP was not talking about songs with incomprehensible lyrics (read: just about any song by America, e.g.). Instead the OP was talking about lyrics where the underlying premise leaves you wondering what the songwriter was thinking. That is, they lyrics are comprehensible, you understand their meaning (not a _Ulysses_ moment), but the concept either doesn’t make sense (P does NOT imply Q), or you are not sure what message is being sent (P implies ??). 🙂 [/QUOTE] Yes. That’s exactly what I had in mind. And I get what you’re saying about the point of the song. I understood what he was trying to say. Maybe I hang out with a more violent class of people, but I can’t see it happening that way AT ALL. Maybe I just need new friends. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/76 "2007-03-31T23:20:01Z")
I just listened to [El Paso](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/robbins-marty/el-paso-11889.html) by Marty Robbins. Another great WTF moment. He knows he has no chance with this girl, kills for her, and then she kisses him before he dies? What kind of an abusive relationship is Felina looking for? Sgt Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/77 "2007-03-31T23:32:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sgt Schwartz] I just listened to [El Paso](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/robbins-marty/el-paso-11889.html) by Marty Robbins. Another great WTF moment. He knows he has no chance with this girl, kills for her, and then she kisses him before he dies? What kind of an abusive relationship is Felina looking for? Sgt Schwartz [/QUOTE] Heh, just about all the women guys shoot other guys over are like that. ---
**Author:** ![Havik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Havik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havik)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/78 "2007-04-01T00:19:49Z")
“Don’t You Want Me” by Human League always made me think the singer was a little crazy. Like, as if he’s threatening to kill the chick for leaving. “But dont forget its me who put you where you are now And I can put you back down too.” Also, “You think youve changed your mind Youd better change it back or we will both be sorry.” Maybe it’s just me, but it creeps me out. Especially now that they’ve been using the song in those Chips Ahoy commercials. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/79 "2007-04-01T08:35:50Z")
Does anyone have any insight whatsoever into “Badger Badger Badger”? Yes, yes, random sillines, one of those waste-'o-time websites, I get it. Even randomness has to come from somewhere. _Why_ did its creator go with badger/mushroom/snake? University of Wisconsin alumnus who had a weird encounter, things seen while driving through the countryside, what? Anything? And before anyone asks, Chicken Tunafish Gopher is _similar_, but not a ripoff. And Mata already explain that it’s just randomness (w/pictures he happened to have on hand, of course). (“Ironic”? Bah. Overrated. Dunno, dun’care.) ---
**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:** [April 1, 2007, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005/80 "2007-04-01T09:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=Redfrost] Led Zepplin: the line “And he saw a lion standin with a tadpole in a jar” :dubious: [/QUOTE] A while ago I was listening to that song (Dancing Days) - actually, listening to Stone Temple Pilots’ cover of it - with my girlfriend, and those lyrics were sung. The actual lyrics are: _You told your mama I’d get you home but you didn’t say I had no car. I saw a lion, he was standin’ alone: a tadpole in a jar._ I asked her, “what do you think that’s supposed to mean?” About one second later, she told me her interpretation of it was: The narrator, who we are to assume is a bad boy of ill repute, is taking a girl out for the night. Said girl tells her mother about the narrator’s intent to bring her home - but doesn’t say that he doesn’t have a car. In other words, he _won’t_ really be able to bring her home, at least not at a reasonable time. This much is obvious. The second part, though, is (at least according to her) a description of how the narrator is feeling. As she explained it, while the girl is lying to her mother about him being able to bring her home on time, the guy is visualizing the girl’s _father_ - the lion - and how angry he might get when his daughter is brought home too late And as this lie is being told and this awkward situation being set up, the guy is feeling trapped - like a tadpole in a jar. Yes, there was marijuana involved in this interpretation. Yes, it’s an outlandish explanation. However, it’s as good an explanation as I could ever come up with, and it is a vivid mental picture, at least for me, which is part of the fun of listening to cryptic lyrics in the first place. And I have to say I admire her for coming up with it so quickly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/398005.md?page=5)