# Songs that take a swipe at other artists **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810 "2015-11-06T15:26:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/101 "2015-11-08T01:56:52Z")
From Elvis Costello’s “This Is Hell”: > [@](#): > > “My Favourite Things” are playing > Again and again > But it’s by Julie Andrews > And not by John Coltrane ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/102 "2015-11-08T03:22:34Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Eminem’s “Without Me” has a few: > > Chris Kirkpatrick you can get your ass kicked > Worse than them little Limp Bizkit bastards, and Moby > You can get stomped by Obie > You 36 year old bald headed fag blow me > You don’t know me, you’re too old, let go, its over > Nobody listens to techno [Nobody listens to techno](http://moby.sandbaghq.com/home/black-nobody-listens-to-techno-t-shirt.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/103 "2015-11-08T04:10:42Z")
Some Taylor Swift songs are said to be about ex boyfriends, such as One Direction’s Harry Styles or John Mayer. Eminem used to pretty much bash other artists earlier in his career. Mariah Carey called out Eminem in her song “Why Are You Obsessed With Me” for talking about her. Pink disses Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson in “Don’t Let Me Get Me”. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/104 "2015-11-08T14:29:24Z")
I don’t recall a swipe at Britney Spears. Running through the lyrics in my head, she said “tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears/she’s so pretty/that just ain’t me” Or is there a line I’ve missed in the song? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/105 "2015-11-09T16:47:14Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Back off Boogaloo was about Paul. It certainly sounds like it, but [Ringo maintains that it was not](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_Off_Boogaloo). He says the title was a reference to Marc Bolan. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/106 "2015-11-09T16:57:26Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > It certainly sounds like it, but [Ringo maintains that it was not](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_Off_Boogaloo). He says the title was a reference to Marc Bolan. That’s interesting. I wonder if the research would uncover the actual contemporaneous thoughts. I have a hard time believing it’s not retrospective adjustment, and throwing Bolan under the bus for the sake of The Beatles Corp, and the Anthology business. My understanding is that Paul’s nickname was Boogaloo because of his Little Richard imitation which he could use to get everyone up and excited. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/107 "2015-11-09T16:58:59Z")
_Silly Love Songs_ was Paul McCartney’s answer to John Lennon’s (and others’) criticism that all Paul wrote were…silly love songs… ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/108 "2015-11-09T17:44:03Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > you know, for [all of these bands releasing songs about how “meh” California is,](http://www.cracked.com/article_15965_6-music-industry-tricks-that-must-die.html) I don’t see any of them leaving. just attention-getting bullshit. So true. Fortunately for me, I did get out 🙂 Unfortunately for me, I’m not a famous rock star who would get to sing about it. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/109 "2015-11-09T18:23:28Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > From Elvis Costello’s “This Is Hell”: > > > [@](#): > > > > “My Favourite Things” are playing > > Again and again I consider Elvis C. probably our greatest living lyricist, but that “are” drives me \*right \*up the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/110 "2015-11-15T10:24:43Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Agreed. Although I seem to recall hearing / reading / learning through osmosis that the Skynyrd guys were friends with Neil Young and didn’t really have a problem with “Southern Man.” Everything you ever wanted to know about Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Southern Man”, “Alabama”, and “Sweet Home Alabama.” [http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2010/02/ronnie-and-neil-laying-to-rest-feud.html](http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2010/02/ronnie-and-neil-laying-to-rest-feud.html) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/111 "2015-11-16T02:29:07Z")
How come no one’s mentioning Macartney’s “Silly Love Songs?” And who was being alluded to in the Dire Straits passage “the little faggot is a millionaire?” addendum: Oooppss… saw Suburban Plankton’s post just now. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810/112 "2015-11-16T02:35:26Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > And who was being alluded to in the Dire Straits passage “the little faggot is a millionaire?” Covered in Post #84 upthread: > [@mhendo](#): > > I grew up with Dire Straits, i owned all of their albums, went to see them in concert, and read a lot about them. I have never heard anything about Boy George as the inspiration for “Money for Nothing.” > > In fact, Mark Knopfler himself was always very clear that the inspiration for the song was not a musical artist at all. The whole song is written from the point of view of a working-class furniture-store worker who is both admiring and also jealous of the music stars who appear on MTV. Knopfler said that some of the lines in the song are copied directly from conversation he overheard among the workers in a New York City store. > > The only time i have ever heard anyone make a connection between the song and a specific musical act, it was the former Motley Crue member Nikki Sixx. Sixx claimed that Motley Crue was playing on the TVs in the NYC store when Knopfler got his inspiration, and that Motley Crue was therefore part of the inspiration for the song. > > As far as i know, though, the only evidence for this is Sixx’s own imagination; Knopfler himself has never, to my knowledge, even addressed the claim, let alone confirmed it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-take-a-swipe-at-other-artists/736810.md?page=5)