# Songs you liked better before you knew the lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 18, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951 "2026-10-18T19:45:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/61 "2026-10-19T14:21:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m not sure exactly where the line is but I think Aerosmith crossed it. Yeah, I think so too! I was a big fan of Ratt when I was in high school. Now I think, what a bunch of assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/62 "2026-10-19T14:40:53Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > [“Baby Now That I Found You”](https://youtu.be/wogkzMTAhNs?list=RDwogkzMTAhNs) Geeze, if that song was as popular as Every Breath You Take, we’d have a new go-to reference for stalker songs. I think the singer will actually murder her love in this one! ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/63 "2026-10-19T14:46:36Z")
“I’m Blue” by Eiffel 65. I’ve always had a sneaky suspicion they had meaningful lyrics ready to go (“I’m blue and I’m in need of a guide” would have been a strong choice), but then never bothered to go back and re-record the track. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/64 "2026-10-19T15:57:36Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > I’m torn on one song: _Boom Boom Ba_ by Metisse. You’ve heard it if you’ve watched _Dead Like Me_. > > Originally, I liked it. Loved the keyboards. Thought it was a song about a lady who had the hots for some guy. But that seems not to be. More like it’s about a lady who’s desperately seeking a human connection. That alone doesn’t change how I feel about the song. > But it baffles me. I don’t get a lot of the things mentioned. Some might be personal to the songwriter. Others might be specific to the Ivory Coast cultures. So sure, _One, two, three, four, five_ okay… but who the hell is Annie? > In the end, I liked casually listening to it better when I thought it was a plain old love song, but the newer interpretation I’m coming around to is the more interesting. A corollary to that is “Love Fool” by The Cardigans, which features the line “I don’t care if you don’t care as long as you don’t go.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/65 "2026-10-19T18:11:47Z")
I think this one is the limit case of that. The fact the performer looks like a total creepazoid child molester / flasher and the young woman looks more like 13 than 16 and looks scared makes it all the “better”. Uggh. What were we THINKING? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iTRaRQQGOVY/hqdefault.jpg "Benny Mardones - Into the Night") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTRaRQQGOVY) Awesome 1970s tune though. Even awesomer 1970s low budget special effects. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/66 "2026-10-19T18:59:04Z")
On the Classical side of things… Nessun Dorma seems to be a beautiful passionate song about something, but it turns out to be the Calif gloating over his plans coming to fruition. I will win! I will win! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/67 "2026-10-19T19:30:48Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I LIKE that one: Great energy and chorus. But it aint pro-America as many think. Mind you i still do not hate it, just that it is a bit decieving. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/68 "2026-10-19T19:46:15Z")
Anyone who thinks that it is pro-America has never listened to a single word of the lyrics. There’s nothing deceptive about it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/69 "2026-10-19T19:48:49Z")
Correct. It is widely sung as a Pro-America song, with the audience yelling along to the chorus, waving flags and such. Many people just do not listen to the lyrics, as this thread shows. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/70 "2026-10-19T21:13:38Z")
I don’t listen to lyrics, but i noticed what that one said. I think it’s a moving song. (And not at all deceptive.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/71 "2026-10-19T21:46:25Z")
And a few years later, they released “Shiny Happy People.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/72 "2026-10-19T21:47:53Z")
I thought “You’re Sixteen” was written from the viewpoint of a teenage boy, as was “I Saw Her Standing There” (and “…Him…” from a girl’s POV when Tiffany remade it). ---
**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:** [October 19, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/73 "2026-10-19T22:05:54Z")
You may be right. I was going from memory. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/74 "2026-10-19T22:30:05Z")
Also, 16 was (and still is) the age of consent in the UK and in most of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/75 "2026-10-19T22:41:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > . Many people just do not listen to the lyrics, as this thread shows How does this thread show people don’t listen to those lyrics? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/76 "2026-10-20T01:40:28Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > How does this thread show people don’t listen to those lyrics? Title- **Songs you liked better before you knew the lyrics** OP- > [@Ludovic](#): > > All three of my examples are soft rock songs from the 70s. In all three cases I didn’t know any of the lyrics until 10 or so years ago, because while I liked them, I didn’t like them enough to find out more about them. > > They laid down a very smooth, easy-going 70s light rock vibe that doesn’t seem to comport well with the lyrics: > > 1. _What a Fool Believes_ by the Doobie Brothers. If I had known the title I may have guessed the lyrical content, but I didn’t even know tha > [@Chronos](#): > > Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is beautiful, until you pay attention to what he’s saying. > [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > “Brown Sugar” - Rolling Stones > > White english guy being into black girls…ok maybe a little problematic… But after looking at the lyrics…it’s a song about raping enslaved women and generational fetishization…that’s much less fun. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/77 "2026-10-20T01:42:46Z")
Oh, so in the last sentence you weren’t talking about Born in the USA any more even though that’s the thing your post was talking about? Gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/78 "2026-10-20T02:05:53Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Oh, so in the last sentence you weren’t talking about Born in the USA any more even though that’s the thing your post was talking about? Gotcha. > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > How does this thread show people don’t listen to those lyrics? You did not specify what lyrics, and yes, people loudly scream **“BORN IN THE USA!!!”** thinking it is pro-America song. Which it aint. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951/79 "2026-10-20T04:04:20Z")
When we’re discussing Born in the USA the words “those lyrics” are not referring to The Rolling Stones’ Born Sugar, you are correct, good job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-better-before-you-knew-the-lyrics/1033951.md?page=3)