# Songs that seemed Cute at the time but now would be considered BAD BAD BAD?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 5, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774 "2004-01-05T08:07:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/1 "2004-01-05T08:07:03Z")
Offer examples of your favorite BAD BAD BAD song lyrics that seemed “cute” when they were originally written but would be considered unacceptable today.
Especially fun would be examples of songs that were so popular that they are still frequently performed but with altered lyrics.
My contribution:
_Chinks do it_
_Japs do it_
_Up in Lapland even Laps do it_
_Let’s do it_
_Let’s fall in love_
Now today this would be considered offensive (because the term “do it” has come to have sexual connotations).
You folks have any examples???
.
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### Author:  [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/2 "2004-01-05T08:57:23Z")
“He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)”
co-written by Carol King!
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### Author:  [@Theios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theios)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/3 "2004-01-05T09:10:24Z")
“Short People” by Randy Newman [Link](http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Lyrics/1978/411978.html)
I remember this being popular when I was pretty young.
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### Author:  [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/4 "2004-01-05T09:23:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by bienville \*
> \*\*Now today this would be considered offensive (because the term “do it” has come to have sexual connotations).
> \*\*
I suspect that the use of the words “chinks” and “japs” has far more to do with the offensiveness of those lyrics than the use of “do it.”
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### Author:  [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/5 "2004-01-05T10:55:36Z")
**Theios** , _Short People_ was satire, and as far as I see it, pretty damn obvious satire. Apparently though, many people did get upset at the time of its release, and I’d say that while there may be the same idiots who don’t get the joke today, it could be released with little controversy.
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### Author:  [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/6 "2004-01-05T11:12:42Z")
From the Cole Porter musical _Anything Goes,_ the original lyric for **I Get a Kick Out of You** has this verse:
> [@](#):
>
> Some get a kick from cocaine,
> I’m sure that if, I took even one sniff
> It would bore me terrifically too…
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### Author:  [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/7 "2004-01-05T11:17:00Z")
I should also add that whenever I think of this song, I picture Cleavon Little singing it in a certain Mel Brooks film…
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### Author:  [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/8 "2004-01-05T12:32:37Z")
I can’t see a song being banned because it’s got the words “do it” in somehow. What **Tarrsk** said.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/9 "2004-01-05T12:45:58Z")
bienville writes:
\> Now today this would be considered offensive (because the
\> term “do it” has come to have sexual connotations).
It was a deliberately ambiguous term back when the song was written. Indeed, that’s the whole point of the song.
gex gex writes:
\> Theios, Short People was satire, and as far as I see it, pretty
\> damn obvious satire.
Despite which, a lot of people thought it was neat to torment short people with it. I remember this quite clearly. Many people thought the point of the song was to make fun of short people by singing it when they walked by.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/10 "2004-01-05T13:06:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tarrsk \*
> \*\*I suspect that the use of the words “chinks” and “japs” has far more to do with the offensiveness of those lyrics than the use of “do it.” \*\*
Whoooooooooooooooooosh
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/11 "2004-01-05T13:12:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \*
> \*\*Whoooooooooooooooooosh \*\*
Thank you **GuanoLad**. Some people _do_ still know how to read a joke. (Though I’m often amazed at how few!)
.
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### Author:  [@Theios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theios)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/12 "2004-01-05T13:33:32Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by gex gex \*
> \*\ ***Theios** , _Short People_ was satire, and as far as I see it, pretty damn obvious satire. Apparently though, many people did get upset at the time of its release, and I’d say that while there may be the same idiots who don’t get the joke today, it could be released with little controversy. \*\*
When it came out, I was far to young to understand satire. So I can’t really remember the song in the context it was meant. Looking at the lyrics as an adult, I can see that it had to be some kind of a joke.
I don’t think it would go over well if it were released today. Many people take these things far too seriously now a days. There would definately be controvery.
**Wendell Wagner** ,
I never song the song to torment short people when they walked by. I found that humming it softly was more than sufficient.
😃
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### Author:  [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/13 "2004-01-05T16:06:20Z")
Well, when I read the title I was going to nominate YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE, but it seems to be more about non-PC songs.
Randy Newman is the king of the modern ambiguous song; in addition to SP, try REDNECKS, DAVY THE FAT BOY, GOD’S SONG, half the songs in his musical FAUST, and SAIL AWAY.
But to get back to the OP, there’s a verse that’s always altered now in the 1960 musical FIORELLO! It’s sung by Marie, LaGuardia’s assistant, who’s finally getting tired of pining after her widowed colleague and resolves to “Marry the very next man who asks me”. It goes:
_And if he likes me,
Who cares how frequently he strikes me?
I’ll do the dishes with my arm in a sling
Just for the privilege of wearing his ring!_
Now, Marie is a tough, savvy cookie and the verse is sung very sarcastically, but…nowadays, there’s a new verse which I can’t remember.
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### Author:  [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/14 "2004-01-05T16:07:08Z")
Err, there _was_ a big controversy when Short People came out back in the day.
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### Author:  [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/15 "2004-01-05T16:37:17Z")
I don’t think a re-release of Michael Jackson’s _Ben_ would be considered, given that the lyrics include the lines:
**If you ever look behind, and don’t like what you find…**
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### Author:  [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/16 "2004-01-05T17:15:24Z")
I just want to chime in on “Short People” - as a shortie, the _song_ didn’t offend me, it was the total strangers who would pick me up and say “Hello! Snerk, snerk snerk…” that I found infuriating!
I always thought “Bobby’s Girl” was mildly offensive, as well as “Wishin’ and Hopin’” - both sung by women, and both incredibly insipid.
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### Author:  [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/17 "2004-01-05T17:58:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Wumpus \*
> \*\*Err, there _was_ a big controversy when Short People came out back in the day. \*\*
I recall a rumor that a midget jumped out a window when he heard it. (Why does this sentence put me in hysterics?)
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### Author:  [@dman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dman)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/18 "2004-01-05T18:19:49Z")
Back on topic:
**Thank Heaven for Little Girls** :dubious: - Without them what would little boys do?
**I like Chinese** :rolleyes: Like a few other Goon & Sellers songs, obviously jokes, but much too non-PC nowadays. “They only come up to your knees, they’re ready and willing, and eager to please”
**Brown Sugar** :eek: apparently had the lyrics tamed down a bit, and I won’t risk the wrath of the nit-pick daemons by mis-quoting what Ms Sugar was supposed to taste like.
Now to consider - at what future date will proto-racist lyrics like “White men can’t Jump” or “Walk like an Egyptian” be looked back on as naive? When will "[Hit em up style](http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/h/hit_em_up_style_blu_cantrell.html) " be compared to "[Put another log on the fire](http://www.banned-width.com/shel/works/log.html) " as harmful gender stereotyping?
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### Author:  [@TartPops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TartPops)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/19 "2004-01-05T22:02:14Z")
Considering some of the vile atrocities that Eminem, Insane Clown Posse and others of a similar ilk have managed to pass off on an accepting public as lyrics/songs and have gotten a free pass on and even acclaim and awards, not to mention some serious bank, I’d say that the examples cited in this thread wouldn’t even get 1/2 a glance.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-seemed-cute-at-the-time-but-now-would-be-considered-bad-bad-bad/222774/20 "2004-01-05T22:15:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RobuSensei \*
> \*\*From the Cole Porter musical _Anything Goes,_ the original lyric for **I Get a Kick Out of You** has this verse: \*\*
It still does, I believe. When my sister was a junior in high school, she played Bonnie, but when that song was performed, they kept that lyric in.
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