# 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:** 2
**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, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/21 "2005-04-15T02:07:05Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > The “upbeat”-ness I disagree with, unless you’re just talking about the bouncy music. Thats what I meant by “upbeat”, the bouncy music. Thats all I really heard the first few times. When I stopped to really listen to the words I was shocked at the subject matter. And very depressed. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/22 "2005-04-15T02:48:20Z")
> [@Stillwell Angel](#): > > 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. Actually, finally listening to the lyrics made the song that much better for me. Maybe it struck a nerve for me. The song I can’t stand after listening to the lyrics is “Tonight’s the Night” by Rod Stewart. Not a big Rod fan anyway but those lyrics are seriously creepy in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/23 "2005-04-15T02:51:30Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > For me, you need to, as I really like and agree with these lyrics. I’m guessing our politics are much different. The lyrics sound pretty damned stupid in retrospect actually. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/24 "2005-04-15T02:57:45Z")
_We Can Work It Out_ by the Beatles…It seems to me the narrator in the song doesn’t want to work it out. He wants the girl he’s singing about to just change her whole view point to his. ---
**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, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/25 "2005-04-15T03:21:13Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > The lyrics sound pretty damned stupid in retrospect actually. They seem in retrospect to me quite inspired. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/26 "2005-04-15T03:44:18Z")
Sarah MacLaughlin’s _Take Your Breath Away_ always sounded like an intense love song, until I found out that much of the lyrics, including the chorus, were taken from letters written to her by a stalker. Creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/27 "2005-04-15T03:46:35Z")
> [@paperbackwriter](#): > > Sarah MacLaughlin’s _Take Your Breath Away_ always sounded like an intense love song, until I found out that much of the lyrics, including the chorus, were taken from letters written to her by a stalker. Creepy. The song is called Posession, which is sort of a big honkin’ clue about its content. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/28 "2005-04-15T03:53:53Z")
Can I include the entire soundtrack to **Cabaret**? The songs, minus context, are very nice. Charming fading into sad over the course of the show. Then I found out what is going on in the story surrounding those songs, why the change in tone as the show goes on, and specifically that the end involves shipment to a Nazi Death Camp for the emcee, courtesy of his flagrant sexuality. Such a downer that it’s destroyed even the early happy songs in the show. I still LIKE the soundtrack, but I can’t bring myself to listen to it too often. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/29 "2005-04-15T04:02:58Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > and specifically that the end involves shipment to a Nazi Death Camp for the emcee, courtesy of his flagrant sexuality. That’s just how the recent revival staged it. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/30 "2005-04-15T04:15:40Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > 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. According to [lyrics.com](http://lyrics.com), it is “special \*one]/i]”. I like the interpretation that was brought up here, but I always thought of it the objectionable way. I think it’s a little ambiguous, but oh, well, I still sing it occasionally. It’s just a dumb song, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/31 "2005-04-15T04:45:04Z")
Well, I don’t HATE it now… but I liked Squeeze’s “Vicky Verky” a lot more before I figured out it was about a 14 year old girl having an abortion. ---
**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, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/32 "2005-04-15T04:57:44Z")
While I don’t hate the lyrics or message themselves and still like to listen to the music, I just can’t view Judas Priest’s music the same as I used to. I still love listening to it, but it’s never been the same since the revelation. (As another artist said, “It was the worst-kept secret in the industry”) Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/33 "2005-04-15T05:05:55Z")
Sure. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/34 "2005-04-15T05:08:19Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > While I don’t hate the lyrics or message themselves and still like to listen to the music, I just can’t view Judas Priest’s music the same as I used to. I still love listening to it, but it’s never been the same since the revelation. (As another artist said, “It was the worst-kept secret in the industry”) > > Does that count? What, that Rob Halford was gay? What does that change for you? I’m surprised nobody’s brought up “Under My Thumb” by the Rolling Stones. Totally misogynistic. And Prince writes the worst lyrics of any major artist I can think of (even Bono’s written a _few_ decent lyrics). ---
**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, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/35 "2005-04-15T05:26:19Z")
**Woodstock** , like I said, I still love the music. But some songs, like _Hell Bent For Leather_, conjure up images of what the video should have looked like. A little, um, confusing. But on the upside, Rob showed many a metalhead that gays aren’t all Richard Simmons/Liberace types. The guy can friggin rock! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/36 "2005-04-15T05:27:33Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I’m surprised nobody’s brought up “Under My Thumb” by the Rolling Stones. Totally misogynistic. I would, but I never liked the song to start with. In part because the misogyny is so bad that I picked it up on first listen. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/37 "2005-04-15T09:09:51Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > **Woodstock** , like I said, I still love the music. But some songs, like _Hell Bent For Leather_, conjure up images of what the video should have looked like. A little, um, confusing. But on the upside, Rob showed many a metalhead that gays aren’t all Richard Simmons/Liberace types. The guy can friggin rock! Um, yeah. Thank God for Rob Halford. For showing the world that gay men can be _either_ like Liberace, or like a shrieking, black-leather-wearing bald man humping a motorcycle. Celebrate the diversity of humanity’s rainbow. Dude, do yourself a favor and check out [Feelin’ Kinda Patton](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002BO0WG/ref=pd_pym_rvi_1/102-5751714-9324938) by Patton Oswalt, in particular the track “80’s Metal.” (Sample line: “Those videos were gayer than eight guys blowin’ nine guys.”) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/38 "2005-04-15T11:40:47Z")
**Cortez the Killer** , by Neil Young: normally I’m a big Neil Young fan, and this one has all the crunching riffs and australopithecine guitar work, but once I actually listened to the fourth-form lyrics, about how the simple and noble Aztecs lived in arcadian pastoral harmony together, I couldn’t hear it with a straight face anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/39 "2005-04-15T12:05:34Z")
I’ve mentioned how upset I am with Paula Cole for messing up a perfectly wonderful song I Don’t Want To Wait with the line _say a little prayer for I_. When I was young I had a Rainbow Brite and Hello Kitty loving aunt (she’s only 3 years older than I am) who one day told me she thought The Police’s King of Pain was a pretty song. Yea pretty birds with broken backs and choking skeletons. . . ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294/40 "2005-04-15T12:08:19Z")
There are a lot of catchy Beatles’ tunes with lyrics that bug me: from the aforementioned “We Can Work It Out” to “Run For Your Life” and a couple others I can’t think of right now. The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” is a good one, too. I like “Wonderful”, and liked it more after I really listened to the lyrics, but I kinda like sad songs anyway. A slightly weird one: “Over The Sea To Skye,” an old folk tune. Pretty, pretty lullaby-ish melody to Bonnie Prince Charlie, and then you get to this part: \*Many’s the lad fought on that day, while the claymore could wield; When the night came, silently lay, dead on Culloden’s field. Burned are our homes, exile and death scattered the loyal men yet ere the sword cool in the sheath Charlie will rise again.\* …and realize that the Scots were just about massacred in the particular battle fought that day, and that the battle was completely futile - Charlie never did rise again. Just makes me sad to think about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-liked-till-you-really-listened-to-them/299294.md?page=3)