# Songs with only one or two swear words **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381 "2012-07-16T03:46:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 16, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/21 "2012-07-16T18:48:01Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Warren Zevon: “Send lawyers, guns, and money - the shit has hit the fan!” _A Quiet Normal Life: The Best of Warren Zevon_ which I got back in 1986, has the radio edit version of _Lawyers, Guns and Money_ which doesn’t even include that verse. I never understood why they just completely deleted an entire verse of the song. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/22 "2012-07-16T19:48:38Z")
Bowling For Soup has a few songs like that. Occasionally, Jaret and Erik will play an acoustic show, or the band will do an all-ages show (I last saw them at Animefest in Dallas), or they’ll even get invited to appear on our local Fox affiliate’s morning show… plus, you know they get airplay on Radio Disney - the whole _Phineas and Ferb_/Love Handel connection… The only one of George Carlin’s Seven Words that appears in “High School Never Ends” is when Jaret sings the s-word: > [@Bowling For Soup](#): > > … and you still don’t have the right look > … and you don’t have the right friends > … and you still listen to the same shit you did back then. > High school never ends! He sings “same _stuff_” at the all-ages shows or on TV, changing a few other words here and there depending on the audience. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/23 "2012-07-16T22:42:41Z")
When Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” was first released, some stations edited it to eliminate the word “crap.” Others played it as recorded. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/24 "2012-07-16T22:48:51Z")
_Devil Went Down To Georgia_ has “I told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been.” Radio edit changes it to “son of a gun,” which I actually kind of like better due to the rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/25 "2012-07-16T22:49:45Z")
Lily Allen “Smile” has a first verse with the only naughty word, but it sounds so natural. > [@](#): > > When you first left me > I was wanting more > But you were fucking that girl next door, > what cha do that for ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/26 "2012-07-16T23:51:15Z")
R.E.M.'s “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” has the line “don’t fuck with me” in the last chorus. Pretty sure I heard it on the radio a few times. Michael Jackson’s “Scream” - a duet with Janet - has the line “Stop fucking with me” in it. It’s bleeped in the video but generally not in radio AirPlay if I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/27 "2012-07-16T23:58:39Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > _Devil Went Down To Georgia_ has “I told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been.” Radio edit changes it to “son of a gun,” which I actually kind of like better due to the rhyme. Huh. I think that edit ruins the effect of the climax of the song. Johnny kicked the Devil’s ass and told him so, in no uncertain terms. “Son of a gun” is just a cop-out, internal rhyme or no. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/28 "2012-07-16T23:58:39Z")
Original “Boy Named Sue” has the term “son of a bitch” which was bleeped on most radio. Nilsson’s “You’re breaking My heart” has only the one swear word, but he does use it repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/29 "2012-07-17T00:13:41Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Johnny kicked the Devil’s ass That’s a matter of opinion! ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/30 "2012-07-17T00:19:47Z")
Radiohead’s “Creep” has the line “You’re so fucking special” in it. I can’t recall if it’s repeated, but there was a radio version that replaces it with “You’re so very special.” ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/31 "2012-07-17T00:21:14Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Huh. I think that edit ruins the effect of the climax of the song. Johnny kicked the Devil’s ass and told him so, in no uncertain terms. “Son of a gun” is just a cop-out, internal rhyme or no. 🙂 Yeah, it does soften the impact of the line, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![kirk1168](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@kirk1168](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk1168)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/32 "2012-07-17T00:23:00Z")
Sarah McLachlan, _Building A Mystery_: “You’re a beautiful A beautiful fucked-up man” ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/33 "2012-07-17T01:31:58Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > The way I see it, cuss words are like cheat codes. (I’m talking the _good_ stuff you get from a Game Genie or Codebreaker, not those pathetic in-game crumbs.) It’s absolute black and white…in for a penny, in for the whole dang mortgage payment…so if you’re gonna use them, use a _lot_ of them. That’s not really the way I see it, is I guess the answer. Profanity doesn’t bother me, so I’ll occasionally swear when I’m speaking, but I don’t sound like the script of _The Boondock Saints_. To me it’s just another word you might put into a line, if it makes sense, rhymes, etc. Copious amounts of swearing sound like you’re 15 and trying to impress your friends. Although I have nothing bad to say about [the song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzHLTy33qWM) with [the second highest number](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Don%27t_Give_a_Fuck) of instances of ‘fuck’. My example for the thread is [AFI - Death of Seasons](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1r5rfjcmXI). It contains the word ‘fucking’ twice, and it’s the only profanity on the whole album. They put ‘scuking’ or something like that in the printed lyrics probably because they assumed correctly that the RIAA people would just do a Ctrl+F on the lyrics. And thus there was no Parental Advisory sticker on the album and little 12 year old **Electric Warrior** could get mom’s permission to buy the CD. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/34 "2012-07-17T03:42:13Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > _Devil Went Down To Georgia_ has “I told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been.” Radio edit changes it to “son of a gun,” which I actually kind of like better due to the rhyme. Daniels himself refuses to say “son of a bitch” anymore when he performs the song. He always says “son of a gun” now. Too bad, I always preferred “son of a bitch” myself. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/35 "2012-07-17T04:36:16Z")
Crowded House, Four Seasons In One Day _Smiling as the shit comes down, you can tell a man from what he has to say. Everything gets turned around, and I will risk my neck again._ I honestly couldn’t tell you if it gets censored on radio, I’m too busy singing along. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/36 "2012-07-17T04:45:44Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > There are a few classic rock songs with cuss words that are routinely played on FM radio without getting the station in trouble with the F.C.C. > > The Who’s “Who Are You?” has the line “Who the fuck are you?” a couple of times. I want to say that line is only in the song once, but I could be wrong. Alanis’ Hand In My Pocket has the line “I’m brave but I’m chicken shit” that seemed to get by for the first few months (I’m certain I knew the lyric before I owned the CD, but I could be wrong…maybe not). Argue it either way you want, but in Money for Nothing they use the word ‘faggot’ either two or three times. Now that it’s been re-released with the entire section of the song gone because Canada won’t allow it on the airwaves with the line in the song, I’ve been hearing it both ways on the radio. I’m guessing I’m hearing it w/o the line on XM and with it on FM. I see they lifted the ban, but I know some stations still use the alternate version (which I’m reading has always existed). ---
**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:** [July 17, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/37 "2012-07-17T05:57:07Z")
The first thing that sprang to my mind was Steely Dan’s _Show Biz Kids_: Show biz kids making movies of themselves You know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/38 "2012-07-17T14:43:12Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Kate Bush has used profanity in a song only once, and that rarity made it have some amount of power. “Don’t want your bullshit, just want your sexuality.” from "Song of Solomon. > [@cochrane](#): > > Steve Miller’s “Jet Airliner”: “I don’t want to get caught up in any of that funky shit going down in the city.” > > And Pink Floyd’s “Money”: “Money, it’s a hit. Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit.” > [@Krokodil](#): > > John Mellencamp, “Play Guitar”: “Forget all about that macho shit/And learn how to play guitar.” Good advice. > > Steve Forbert, “Romeo’s Song”: “Been shoveling shit for so long…” > [@Zweedo\_Rodriguez](#): > > AC/DC- Rock and Roll Singer: > And all the other shit > That they teach to kids in school Am I the only who had difficulty identifying the swear words in these examples? It actually took me three or four similar posts before the light dawned! ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/39 "2012-07-17T16:40:50Z")
Tim Fite “Big Mistake” Everybody gets to make one big mistake So, I’m saving mine up for a very very special date So I can fuck it all up in the most spectacular way. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381/40 "2012-07-18T00:50:51Z")
Bob Dylan’s _Hurricane_ has between 1 1/2 and 3 swear words, depending on your taste. “That sonofabitch is brave and gettin’ braver We want to put his ass in stir” “And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger” It is, to my knowledge, the only song wherein he uses any profanity at all. Makes it that much more powerful, IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-only-one-or-two-swear-words/628381.md?page=3)