# Songs where the protagonist is a dick **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659 "2018-01-28T15:49:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/41 "2018-01-28T21:35:28Z")
[Adventures in Failure](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmSMQH5j-QU)–MC900Foot Jesus ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/42 "2018-01-28T21:36:45Z")
**Getting Bette** r by the Beatles - I used to be cruel to my woman / I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved… But he’s all better now! My favorite though, would be **The Free Electric Band** by Albert Hammond - a self-absorbed trust-fund kid screws over everyone that helps him because he wants to be a rock star. my father sent me money and I spent it very fast on a girl I met in Berkeley in a social science class yes and we learnt about her body but her mind we didn’t know until deep rooted attitudes and morals began to show she wanted to get married even though she never said but I knew her well enough by now to see inside her head she’d settle for suburbia and a little patch of land so I gave her up for music and The Free Electric Band! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/43 "2018-01-28T22:29:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Are we talking about ANY song about a bad person, or songs sung from a bad guy’s POV? POV. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/44 "2018-01-28T22:32:25Z")
_he said he had a story_ by **The Dear Hunter** , Tale of an encounter at a brothel. There’s a lot more to it, as this is part of a 6-album concept. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/45 "2018-01-28T22:35:34Z")
> [@Arizona\_Mike](#): > > **Getting Bette** r by the Beatles - I used to be cruel to my woman / I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved… But he’s all better now! Well, he’s doing the best that he can. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/46 "2018-01-28T22:44:53Z")
“Sad Eyes” by Robert John I cheated on her with you, and now I’m dumping you. You knew I was a jerk. It’s your fault, so stop looking at me! Don’t look at me that way! ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/47 "2018-01-28T23:11:36Z")
People think that “Leaving On A Jet Plane” is this oh-so-sweet tale of parting. Wherein the narrator states: “Tell me that you’ll wait for me” after having confessed that “There’s so many times I’ve let you down, So many times I’ve played around…” ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/48 "2018-01-28T23:27:17Z")
This could be another meta-dick example. You can say this about several of the songs on **Rumours** but for example: **Lindsey Buckingham** of \*\*Fleetwood Mac \*\*wrote the popular **Go Your Own Way** about his failed romantic relationship with fellow band member **Stevie Nicks** and basically calls her promiscuous. An accusation she finds hurtful and denies. But the real dick move is since they both remained in the band she was forced to be on stage and hear the song played every concert. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/49 "2018-01-29T00:00:47Z")
“We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles. I know the belief that the song is about compromise, but pay attention to the lyrics. The singer is saying “do it my way or it’s over.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/50 "2018-01-29T00:03:14Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > But the real dick move is since they both remained in the band she was forced to be on stage and hear the song played every concert. _Hear_ it? She had to **sing harmony**! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/51 "2018-01-29T00:55:19Z")
“Cocaine Blues” by Johnny Cash (among others) _“Early one morning while making the rounds, I took a shot of cocaine and shot my woman down”_ That’s pretty dickish and it’s the first line of the song. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/52 "2018-01-29T01:04:21Z")
R.E.M. _The One I Love_ “… a simple prop to occupy my time.” That’s harsh, and yet people who didn’t listen past the first line found the song romantic. As another song protagonist dick once said, “Ah, 'tis a queer world!” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/53 "2018-01-29T01:04:23Z")
> [@Arizona\_Mike](#): > > **Getting Better** by the Beatles - I used to be cruel to my woman / I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved… But he’s all better now! That one has the protagonist going through a general reflection on “man, was I an angry dick when I was younger…” but at least there is the promise to change, as opposed to the proud domestic violence of _Run For Your Life._ Lennon culminated that cycle some years later solo with _Jealous Guy_ – oh, I was letting my insecurities get the best of me, I never meant to hurt you, I’m so sorry; it’s not you, it’s me. Again, dick protagonist, aware he’s done wrong, looking for absolution. In a lighter tone \*and \*from the same author and team, Bungalow Bill in _The Continuing Story Of…_ is an “All-American bullet headed Saxon mother’s son” and sounds like quite the putz. And his mother seems quite a beeyotch. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/54 "2018-01-29T01:40:57Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > This could be another meta-dick example. > > You can say this about several of the songs on **Rumours** but for example: > > **Lindsey Buckingham** of \*\*Fleetwood Mac \*\*wrote the popular **Go Your Own Way** about his failed romantic relationship with fellow band member **Stevie Nicks** and basically calls her promiscuous. An accusation she finds hurtful and denies. > > But the real dick move is since they both remained in the band she was forced to be on stage and hear the song played every concert. > > TCMF-2L Similar situation with Johnny and Joey Ramone and **The KKK Took My Baby Away** , which Joey wrote after his gf left him for Johnny (whom she eventually married). They still played it together all the time in shows. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/55 "2018-01-29T01:43:08Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > “Cocaine Blues” by Johnny Cash (among others) > > _“Early one morning while making the rounds, I took a shot of cocaine and shot my woman down”_ > > That’s pretty dickish and it’s the first line of the song. Hey, c’mon. He thought he was her baby but she had five more! ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/56 "2018-01-29T01:53:52Z")
“Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)” by The Monkees features Davy Jones being in love with two different girls, Mary and Sandra. Tomorrow is when he has to choose between them, so he wishes that tomorrow would never come. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/57 "2018-01-29T02:07:09Z")
Ooh! Also, “Part-time Lover” by Stevie Wonder ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/58 "2018-01-29T02:15:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles. > > I know the belief that the song is about compromise, but pay attention to the lyrics. The singer is saying “do it my way or it’s over.” I just read the lyrics, you’re right. It’s my way or the highway. It’s not at all about compromise. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/59 "2018-01-29T03:12:04Z")
“Boyz 'n the Hood” by Eazy-E “We Are Young” by Fun ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-protagonist-is-a-dick/807659/60 "2018-01-29T03:25:14Z")
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