# Songs you liked, till you really listened to them **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294 "2005-04-14T15:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/1 "2005-04-14T15:28:29Z")
Have you ever been enjoying a song, perhaps for weeks or even months, and then really paid attention to the lyrics and found that they got on your nerves? This happened to me recently with Brad Paisley’s “Wrapped Around.” (I like sappy country music, so shut it.) When I first heard this song, I thought, “Ah, how cute.” Lately I’ve been shuffling the songs on my mp3 player and just listening to whatever comes up. This song started to play and since I was in a thoughtful mood, I paid more attention to the lyrics than usual. They bug me. Now, I’ve listened to this song long enough to know all the lyrics. I burst into it spontaneously when I heard of my sister’s engagement. How could I have listened to this song all this time and not realized that I should hate it? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/2 "2005-04-14T15:42:43Z")
Well, I didn’t stop liking this song, but it still does perturb me that Live used the word placenta in a song…repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/3 "2005-04-14T19:53:07Z")
**The Roots** do a cover of a **Cody Chesnutt** song called _The Seed 2.0_ on their album _Phrenology_. It’s a great song, as is the original, but it’s so misogynistic that I get incredibly uncomfortable listening to it. It’s too bad, it’s such a great song and I love **The Roots** but the lyrics really destroy any listening pleasure that was there. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/4 "2005-04-14T20:08:28Z")
Prince’s song “Cinnamon Girl.” I liked it until I heard the words clearly AND saw the video. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/5 "2005-04-14T20:19:56Z")
Kind of an opposite experience. Back when I was with my ex (who wasn’t too bright, but that’s another story), the first Alanis Morrisette album came out. I used to tell him that a certain song of hers made me think of him. Part of the lyrics go: “You’ve already won me over in spite of me Don’t be alarmed if I fall head over feet Don’t be surprised if I love you for all that you are I couldn’t help it It’s all your fault” Now, if you listen or read the words, you’ll see that it’s actually a pretty nice thing to say. My ex didn’t bother to, though, and only listened to the loudest and clearest part of the lyrics, which happen to be “It’s all your fault.” We got into a HUGE FIGHT about it, and I never really knew why until about a year after we split up. In a conversation about something completely unrelated, he told me “BTW, I actually read the lyrics to that song you told me reminded you of me, and, um, sorry I was such an idiot about it. That was kinda nice, but I thought you were telling me everything was all my fault.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/6 "2005-04-14T20:38:39Z")
> [@bclouse](#): > > **The Roots** do a cover of a **Cody Chesnutt** song called _The Seed 2.0_ on their album _Phrenology_. It’s a great song, as is the original, but it’s so misogynistic that I get incredibly uncomfortable listening to it. It’s too bad, it’s such a great song and I love **The Roots** but the lyrics really destroy any listening pleasure that was there. I seriously opened this thread with that same song in mind. It’s got the funk going all over it and just makes you start groovin’ until you listen to the lyrics. But I’ve read some debate over whether to take the song literally as a guy two-timing or as a metaphor for leaving a legacy in music. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/7 "2005-04-14T20:42:07Z")
It’s been mentioned on here a few times before, but I used to like the Beatles song “Getting Better” until I paid more attention to the lyrics. “I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her away from the things that she loves. Man, I was mean, but I’m changing my scene…” It’s hard to take it as straight-up irony like “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” so it just seems too pat and light-hearted and upbeat a song to say, “Yeah, man, that’s cool. Good for you!” And I’m way too much of a Grammar Nazi to like “No Myth” by Michael Penn anymore. “What if I was Romeo in black jeans” just sounds like dragging a rake across a chalkboard attached to the base of my spine. ---
**Author:** ![Hammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@Hammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hammer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/8 "2005-04-14T20:49:16Z")
Prince - Strange relationship. I still like the song but the lyrics are disturbing to me. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/9 "2005-04-14T20:51:21Z")
This is going back a ways . . . Todd Rundgren had this song “We gotta get you a woman” which is very singable in the shower. I just can’t bring myself to sing it after this lyric, “We gotta get you a woman . . they may be stupid but they sure are fun”. I hope that Mr. Rundgren got his ass kicked by the women in his life. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/10 "2005-04-14T22:24:02Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > …after this lyric, “We gotta get you a woman . . they may be stupid but they sure are fun”. I hope that Mr. Rundgren got his ass kicked by the women in his life. The lyric which bothers you does not follow him saying the title line. The narrator is telling his friend that he has to learn about “things about that special world…they may be stupid, but they sure are fun. I’ll give it to you while we’re on the run…” At no time does he say that women are stupid. So basically, you’ve been disliking this song for a reason that isn’t even there. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/11 "2005-04-14T23:11:09Z")
Mrs. Kunilou and I seem to be one generation (and perhaps two) ahead of most of you. We grew up in the 60s and 70s when there were any number of very nice songs with very bad lyrics. Two, from opposite directions… The adorable and easy to listen to group called the Association wrote and recorded a whole string of romantic ballads. When you listen carefully to the lyrics you realize they had the aggregate lyric ability of a 12-year old girl writing poetry about a dreamboat on a TV show. The horn-heavy gravel-voiced Ides of March recorded an extremely listenable song called Vehicle. Even when it was first released, people who found themselves singing along blanched when they realized the were singing lyrics like “I’m the friendly stranger in the black sedan, come and let me take you for a ride.” ---
**Author:** ![Typically\_Sunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Typically\_Sunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typically_Sunday)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/12 "2005-04-14T23:32:05Z")
I used to like Trouble by Coldplay but there’s one line in there that’s “here I am in love in a bubble” and it drives me insane. It’s such a doofy line that I can’t listen to the song all the way through anymore. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/13 "2005-04-14T23:40:37Z")
I can’t listen to “I Dig Rock And Roll Music” by Peter, Paul & Mary anymore. Many years after the fact, it was made known that they did not, in fact, dig rock and roll music, they hated it. The song was a nasty swipe at the current (1967) music scene and the players in it, disguised as praise and acceptance. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/14 "2005-04-14T23:47:50Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > The lyric which bothers you does not follow him saying the title line. The narrator is telling his friend that he has to learn about “things about that special world…they may be stupid, but they sure are fun. I’ll give it to you while we’re on the run…” At no time does he say that women are stupid. > > So basically, you’ve been disliking this song for a reason that isn’t even there. So, it’s the _things_ that are fun and stupid? Who knew! I always heard it as “things about that special _one_” and made the same assumption that **medstar** did. Thanks. I always wanted to like that song. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/15 "2005-04-14T23:53:43Z")
I admit that I’ve always liked the chorus in Sheryl Crow’s [“All I Want To Do”,](http://www.edict.com.hk/vlc/music/allIwanttodo.htm) but was disappointed when I finally heard the entire song and found out most of it was about people-watching at a bar. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/16 "2005-04-15T00:08:18Z")
I used to realy like Tool’s song “Prison Sex”. That is, utill I listened to the lyrics one day, and realized that the song is _actually about_ prison sex. I still listen to it, though, and the music video (which _definitely_ has nothing to do with the lyrics), although I’m not willing to search for the video online. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/17 "2005-04-15T01:03:03Z")
“Rockin’ in the Free World” by Neil Young. I went about 3 years before actually listening to the lyrics. I don’t own any Young albums and thought this was the one rocker I could like. I assume I don’t have to explain my dislike of the song? ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/18 "2005-04-15T01:11:03Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > I assume I don’t have to explain my dislike of the song? For me, you need to, as I really like and agree with these lyrics. I’m guessing our politics are much different. ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/19 "2005-04-15T01:19:40Z")
I thought [Wonderful](http://www.lyrics007.com/Everclear%20Lyrics/Wonderful%20Lyrics.html) by Everclear was such a peppy, happy tune. Then I listened to the lyrics. Wow. How did they make a childs fear about his parents divorce so upbeat??? Now when I hear it I have to change the station. I’m pretty sure those lyrics describe how my son must have felt during my divorce and it makes me cry. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/20 "2005-04-15T02:02:14Z")
> [@Stillwell Angel](#): > > Now when I hear it I have to change the station. I’m pretty sure those lyrics describe how my son must have felt during my divorce and it makes me cry. It’s _exactly_ how I felt when my parents divorced. The “upbeat”-ness I disagree with, unless you’re just talking about the bouncy music. It’s more because they’re often keeping things somewhat lighthearted rather than appeal the the Goths. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294.md?page=2)