# Songs whose lyrics don't match their composition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933 "2020-08-24T23:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/21 "2020-08-25T17:09:25Z")
Lean Years, Come and See (a sweet ballad): https://www.youtube.com/embed/ccSmk6cJGw8?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLL8KbkIBseJ1E96fmDybrRCxENvdUea6a ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/22 "2020-08-25T17:12:55Z")
Chip Taylor & The New Ukranians (almost a lullaby): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dt9GBafFzjE/maxresdefault.jpg "Fuck All The Perfect People - Chip Taylor & The New Ukrainians") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt9GBafFzjE) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/23 "2020-08-25T17:56:14Z")
This is something I noticed a while back. Ninety percent of all depressing songs have upbeat melodies. My personal pick for mismatched lyrics and the melody is “Let it Go.” from Frozen. Here’s a woman who’s talking about being a supervillian and the melody sounds like Mary Poppins trying to cheer some kids up. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/moSFlvxnbgk/maxresdefault.jpg "Disney's Frozen "Let It Go" Sequence Performed by Idina Menzel") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/24 "2020-08-25T19:09:51Z")
Ooo, Ooo - poppy, happy upbeat tune? Sweet, smooth sounds? Heartbreakingly dark, depressing lyric? Band of Gold by Freda Payne: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/daxiMb0rITA/maxresdefault.jpg "Band Of Gold , Freda Payne , 1970 Vinyl") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daxiMb0rITA) j ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/25 "2020-08-25T23:55:33Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Ooo, Ooo - poppy, happy upbeat tune? Sweet, smooth sounds? Why don’t they let me go home? This iiiis the worst trip I’ve ever been on… ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/26 "2020-08-26T01:34:07Z")
There’s a whole bunch of YouTube videos where people change the key of the song, which generally has the effect of changing its apparent mood, too. Consider Take Me Home, Country Roads (in minor key): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZoVtHLxNVlU/maxresdefault.jpg "Country Roads in Minor Scale") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoVtHLxNVlU) Another song I thought of with mismatched lyrics/composition is Discovering Japan by Graham Parker: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XcYnaZQB1Ek/maxresdefault.jpg "Discovering Japan (Digitally Remastered 1996)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcYnaZQB1Ek) ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/27 "2020-08-26T02:19:19Z")
Macy Gray. [The Letter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUQ2Z2Uwo_c). It’s a suicide note. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/28 "2020-08-26T02:27:39Z")
Bruce Hornsby & The Range - The Valley Road [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KfKIq1Pmc8Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Bruce Hornsby, The Range - The Valley Road") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfKIq1Pmc8Q) A happy, catchy little song about a rich girl getting pregnant by some poor country guy who happens to work for the girl’s father. The father doesn’t want his daughter marrying some poor worker, so he sends the guy packing and the girl is sent away to either have an abortion or to have the child and put it up for adoption. The phrase “gone to her sister’s” can be interpreted either way, though it usually meant adoption and visiting the sister was a cover story for why the girl had to be away for so long. The video shows people smiling and walking happily and completely ignores the actual subject of the song. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/29 "2020-08-26T03:18:59Z")
Really odd - today, for the first time in decades, I started singing to myself “oh death, and grief, and murder, and sorrow”, and then this thread pops up. Huh. (It was a line from Steve Martin’s _Let’s Get Small_ album - he was riffing on how difficult it is to come up with something depressing while playing the banjo. Not a bad effort.) Henry Rollins’ “Drive By Shooting” is upbeat, with perky backing vocals. _This is the way_ _We get our thrills_ _We get in our car_ _And kill, kill, kill!_ (backing vocals) _DRIVE BY- SHOOTING!_ Speaking of kill kill kill, Dead Kennedy’s “Kill the Poor” makes you wanna get up and dance sorta Frankie and Annette style or something, never mind the lyrics about: _Efficiency and progress is ours once more_ _Now that we have the Neutron bomb_ _It’s nice and quick and clean and gets things done_ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/30 "2020-08-26T03:25:59Z")
Who here remembers [Bye Bye Love as performed by Simon and Garfunkel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0gLnfSgdLA)? Sad song, catchy up-beat music and tempo. Just listen how the live audience gets all into it everywhere they perform this! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/31 "2020-08-26T08:34:21Z")
You can hear Paul McCartney stifle a laugh while singing (a) something that sounds bouncy and kid-friendly if you don’t speak English, but is (b) about people dying as a result of blows to the head from Maxwell’s silver hammer. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/32 "2020-08-26T08:38:46Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > This is something I noticed a while back. Ninety percent of all depressing songs have upbeat melodies. > My personal pick for mismatched lyrics and the melody is “Let it Go.” from Frozen. Here’s a woman who’s talking about being a supervillian and the melody sounds like Mary Poppins trying to cheer some kids up. Are we thinking about the same song? Because she’s not talking about “being a supervillain” at all. She’s admittedly not fully in control of the powers she’s been desperately suppressing since early childhood but she’s just asking to be left alone, not to rule with an icy fist (which, as a superpowered Queen, she could already do). ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/33 "2020-08-26T10:54:12Z")
“Veronica” by Elvis Costello (co-written by Paul McCartney) is a bouncy tune. But the lyrics are about a woman losing her mind to Alzheimer’s disease - based on Costello’s experiences with his grandmother. Bittersweet at best. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/34 "2020-08-26T11:12:20Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > she’s just asking to be left alone, not to rule with an icy fist (which, as a superpowered Queen, she could already do). As an aside, I really like the part where she’s contemplating breaking free and when she finally decides to do so, I was anticipating fake difficulty that writers seem to throw in every superpowered person’s way, but that didn’t happen. I think she’s tied along with Dr Manhattan for not treating superpowered individuals artificially equally. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/35 "2020-08-26T11:37:34Z")
Yes! Reeling In the Years is one example. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/36 "2020-08-26T11:44:42Z")
Warren Zevon’s, “Excitable Boy,” is the poster child for this kind of thing. Jaunty piano, girl-group backup singers, fun little sax solos…about a serial killer/rapist. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fZokPAuhD6k/maxresdefault.jpg "Excitable Boy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZokPAuhD6k) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/37 "2020-08-26T12:34:10Z")
My favorite hippie folk-song peace and love lyrics: Maybe it’s not too late To learn how to love and forget about hate of course, Ozzy’s (and Randy’s) delivery isn’t very hippie folk-song. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/38 "2020-08-26T14:23:12Z")
[Outside of a Small Circle of Friends](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMeG6dAFqXw) - Phil Ochs. In the style of early jazz dance music. A song about [the murder of Kitty Genovese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese) and the bystander effect. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/39 "2020-08-26T15:43:57Z")
NM; ninjad. ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933/40 "2020-08-26T15:55:58Z")
I remember the Heart song “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You” sounding like a romantic ballad until you realize that the song is about a married woman hooking up with strangers trying to get pregnant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-whose-lyrics-dont-match-their-composition/918933.md?page=3)