# Songs with weird subjects **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566 "2002-03-16T02:41:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![meyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@meyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meyer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/21 "2002-03-17T11:23:50Z")
**Mona** by James Taylor - he has a pet pig, he kills her, he’s going to eat her, but then he can’t. Awwww, isn’t that sweet! ---
**Author:** ![toonerama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@toonerama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toonerama)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/22 "2002-03-17T15:23:59Z")
**Alan’s Psychedlic Breakfast** by Pink FLoyd. ( … corn flakes … I like corn flakes … ) ---
**Author:** ![Tabeitha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b3f665/32.png) [@Tabeitha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabeitha)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/23 "2002-03-17T16:02:41Z")
Anything by “The Presidents of The United States of America” I am especially fond of \*\* Puffy Little Shoes\*\* about, well, puffy shoes. Also. Naked and Famous , Bug City, Kitty… Every single one of their songs crack me up. I love them for the silly songs. Frank Zappa also comes to mind. Least we forget Domino Hum, she bet him 50 dollars he couldn’t make her cum. That one about Don’t you eat that yellow snow. Frank is just strange. period. I too am a fan of the _Detachable Penis_ song. (Tabeitha, who is a long time lurker. First post on new board. You think I like the colors?😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/24 "2002-03-17T19:33:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tabeitha \* > > Frank Zappa also comes to mind. Least we forget Domino Hum, she bet him 50 dollars he couldn’t make her cum. Hi Tabeitha! I think you might mean “Dinah-moe Humm.” You can imagine why I take an interest:D ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/25 "2002-03-17T21:46:24Z")
“Horizon” by the Arrogant Worms. A ballad about love, hate, revenge, and the trials of a Plymouth Horizon. on Highway 401 east of Toronto… “Phanta” and “Slideshow At Free University” by Le Tigre. Girl punk from New York. “Phanta” is about a bunch of hippies living in a bunker in Colorado, and “Slideshow…” is about art theory. This whole CD is great for blasting roomies out of bed or waking oneself up after a project-management meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Tabeitha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b3f665/32.png) [@Tabeitha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabeitha)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/26 "2002-03-17T22:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dinahmoe \* > \*\*Hi Tabeitha! I think you might mean “Dinah-moe Humm.” You can imagine why I take an interest:D \*\* I knew I wasn’t spelling that right, but I no longer own that album so I couldn’t go check, and I was to lazy to research the net. ---
**Author:** ![cercaria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@cercaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cercaria)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/27 "2002-03-17T22:21:32Z")
“Where’s Jerry Lewis?” by the Frogs. Actually, everything by the Frogs is pretty weird. “Know Your Chicken” and “Birthday Cake” by Cibo Matto are also odd-- the latter is from the POV of some mother screaming at her son to eat the moldy birthday cake she made him. Yep. ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/28 "2002-03-17T22:37:41Z")
“Turning Japanese” – The Vapors. Not necessarily a “weird” subject (who doesn’t do it?), but not one common in R&R… ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/29 "2002-03-17T23:26:39Z")
Presidents of the United States of America has some strange songs. “Peaches” is odd. “Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man, in a factory downtown” Also by the same band, who can forget the lovely song called simply “Kitty” “Kitty reeowww, scratching at the screen door, little bag of bones been out all night” Beautifully incorperated into the song is the band members going “RREEEEEEEEEEEOOWWWWWW” like thru the whole song. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/30 "2002-03-18T00:07:29Z")
**Dead skunk in the middle of the road** I can’t remember who sang it. **Junk food junkie** Larry Groce **Wildwood weed** Jim Stafford **Don’t eat the yellow snow** Frank Zappa ---
**Author:** ![tigergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@tigergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tigergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/31 "2002-03-18T00:14:40Z")
“I f@#k dogs” by D.A.A.S. I think you get the general idea… Apparently "…the Great Dane is too tall, Chihuahua’s are too small… but the Dachshund is best of all " Disturbing… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/32 "2002-03-18T00:39:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tinkertoy \* > **Dead skunk in the middle of the road I can’t remember who sang it.** Loudon Wainwright III ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/33 "2002-03-18T02:26:03Z")
**Genesis** , in the early Peter Gabriel days, had a number of them: **The Return of the Giant Hogweed** was about a murderous plant which accidentally gets imported into English gardens and starts wiping out all the people. **Get 'Em Out By Friday** takes place in the future, when the people in charge of the government’s genetic engineering program also happen to be heavily into land speculation… they start breeding people smaller so that they can get more of them into the same building site and make more money. **Harold the Barrel** was a sad-funny song about a man about to jump off a window ledge (he does). None of this even vaguely resembles the Phil Collins-dominated Genesis of the 90’s, which all sounded like a Michelob ad. Other Stuff: **DOA** by Bloodrock is the last thoughts of an airplane crash victim who is missing at least his arm. Truly a lovely tune. :rolleyes: **The Last Rhino** by Adrian Belew is a first, er, person account of a rhino’s life in a zoo and his longing for home. And, as has been noted, it would be hard to find a Frank Zappa song, having lyrics, which doesn’t qualify for this thread. Certainly our family favorite (really) is **Evelyn, a Modified Dog** , a 90 second poem about not much more than a dog’s reaction to seeing a doily’s fringe move a little in a light puff of wind. I’ll bet as I flip through my bizarre music collection, I could add pages and pages more. I’ll spare you.:o ---
**Author:** ![Ironblayde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@Ironblayde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ironblayde)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/34 "2002-03-18T02:30:51Z")
There’s a band I listen to a lot called [Bal-Sagoth](http://www.bal-sagoth.co.uk). Their lyricist has created this entire fantasy world, and each album is an “episode” of the story of the world. The song lyrics are all dialogue between characters in their world, or narration for the story. I know some bands will release concept albums once in awhile, but Bal-Sagoth does only that, and they take it further than anyone I’ve seen. Plus they have the best song titles ever, like “The Splendor of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/35 "2002-03-18T04:48:17Z")
"[Marie Provost](http://www.guitaretab.com/gtab/t/10850) ", by **Nick Lowe** : “She was a winner/Who became a doggie’s dinner”. He got the name wrong – the song is about silent film star [Marie Prevost](http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/bio/celeb/344944). “Meet James Ensor”, by **They Might Be Giants** : “Meet James Ensor/Belgium’s famous painter”. Not to mention any number of **Jonathan Richman** numbers, like “Ice Cream Man”, “Roller Coaster by the Sea”, “Dodge Veg-o-matic” – hell, nearly everything on _Rock 'N’Roll With the Modern Lovers_. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/36 "2002-03-18T09:12:40Z")
Wow, somebody else has heard of Rasputina! ---
**Author:** ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/37 "2002-03-18T11:46:05Z")
Placebo~ [Bubblegun](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/bubblegun.html) All I can say is…It’s a fun song. 😛 [Leni](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/leni.html) He’s a fly and she’s a sci-fi lullaby. [Brick Shithouse](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/brickshithouse.html) The ghost of a lover is talking to his adulterous love. [Burger Queen](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/burgerqueen.html) Song about an arousal-challenged guy. [Evil Dildo](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/evildildo.html) Um…It’s scary. [Mars Landing Party](http://www.purelyrics.com/index.php?lyrics=pdlmqhoi) A lovely sentiment. [Swallow](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/swallow.html) While I can’t quite understand it, it is quite amusing. [Miss Moneypenny](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/moneypenny.html) Bond, James Bond. “Some of you tonight are going to go home with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Some of you who are lucky and good looking may just go home with a Rock Star. But those of you who go home alone should remember that there is always an 8 inch object made of plastic and with a motor that will never let you down. This is [Bionic](http://www.thebsh.com/lyrics/bionic.html).” Okay…I’m tired. If I think of any more artists or songs, I will post them. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/38 "2002-03-18T12:48:56Z")
There is ever so much more to King Missile than “Detachable Penis.” Why not try out “The Little Sandwich That Got a Guilt Complex” or “The Bunny Who Wanted to Be a Rat” or “Martin Scorsese?” All about …well, what they say they’re about, and all pretty damned amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/39 "2002-03-18T13:08:39Z")
**Birdhouse In Your Soul** by They Might Be Giants is about a little bird nite-lite. Of course, they have a lot of songs about weird subjects. Another one is about how someone died and came back as a bag of groceries. ---
**Author:** ![mazza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@mazza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazza)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566/40 "2002-03-18T13:55:18Z")
**Turning Japanese - The Vapors** Nothing to do with the Japanese, more to do with masturbation…odd. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-weird-subjects/98566.md?page=3)