I think “Sympathy for the Devil” fits the bill:
"Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I’m in need of some restraint
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste"
But nowhere in the song does the word “Devil” appear.
Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine.”
Closest lyrics are “Closer I am to fine.”
NOTE: I skipped my pouring-rain college graduation ceremony that was outside, without a scheduled alternate venue, in favor of drinking tea and playing this song over and over on the stereo for an hour. Loudly. None of my neighbors complained. Got my degree in the mail a week later, and it’s still in the envelope.
Run Like Hell- Pink Floyd (just says Run Run Run)
Get together-Youngbloods (Everybody get Together)
The one that pops into my head instantly is Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks”.
Yeah or How about “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”, while in the song it is “And if you think I’m sexy…”, the title is more like a question, which is not the case with the song itself.
REM’s “Bang and Blame:” Some lyric sites show “bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, you blame, blame, blame,” while others have “then” instead if “you.” It doesn’t sound like he ever says “and” between those two words.
“Send Me No Flowers,” written (one assumes) to order for the movie, does not to my recollection have those words in that order but rather “Send No Flowers to Me.”
This has annoyed me for about 50 years.
EDITED IN: Youtube shows me wrong. I feel so much better.
“Windfall” by Son Volt. The line “May the wind take your troubles away” appears in the chorus but not the word “windfall.”
Ode to Billie Joe?
Strawberry Letter 23 by Brothers Johnson. The song mentions 22 not 23! Very odd, what is the purpose.
Strawberry Letter 23 by Brothers Johnson. The song mentions 22 instead of 23, which is odd and makes you wonder what is the purpose?
Okay why the double post?
I was just going to mention this exact song.
So people would still talk about it almost 40 years later, I guess.
That made me think of your roommate, who will try to play as long as you can stand it.
The Iron Maiden song “Killers” counts, as it contains the lyric: “Killer behind you”
In addition, that song also contains the lyric: “Another tomorrow, remember to walk in the light” – which almost, but not quite, matches the titles of “Remember Tomorrow” and “Another Life”, two songs which don’t contain the title at all.
4 Non Blondes “What’s Up”
Just thought of another one. “Rudderless” by The Lemonheads. It contains the words “ship without a rudder” but not “rudderless.”
You’re looking at these lyrics and asking for reason? :dubious:
I thought of this thread when I heard a new song at the gym: “Superheroes” by The Script. Despite the fact that the title is a plural noun, in the song, the word only appears in the singular, in one line of the chorus, when he says “that’s how a superhero learns to fly.”
I can think of a few nitpicky linguistic examples from country music where the words appear in the song, but chopped up so that they’re not the natural grammatical unit.
There’s a song on Mindy McCready’s second album titled “Cross against the moon.” Now, those words in that order do appear within the chorus, however, when I see the title, I naturally parse it as a verb phrase, with “cross” as a verb. It’s used in the song, though, always as “The cross against the moon”; two nouns that are opposing each other.
Similarly, Adam Gregory had a song called “Only know I do”, which by itself sounds imperative, like he’s telling somebody else what to know. But in the song, it’s used as “I only know I do.”
Come on, people! You can’t just drop words out and have the rest of them mean the same thing!
Strawberry Letter 23 is the song, a reply to 22 strawberry-scented letters the singer’s girlfriend sent him. So said Casey Kasim on his show when the song was climbing the charts.