# Songs you used to like before you started listening to the lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787 "2008-04-17T21:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/61 "2008-04-19T19:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=Lilacs] Otis Redding wrote and performed [R-E-S-P-E-C-T] long before Aretha. So…I suppose either way it’s kinda skeevy. Still, I think originally it was a sugardaddy thing. [/QUOTE] I hear this song as a married man singing to his wife. He comes home from a hard day’s work, his paycheck in hand, and his wife is giving him a hard time. This song is his response, and a plea for her to give him his due. He’s paying the bills, but he doesn’t mind that. All he wants in return is a little respect. ---
**Author:** ![JHE1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JHE1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHE1967)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/62 "2008-04-19T20:55:46Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] I liked Sting’s “Every Breath You Take” until I listened to the lyrics more carefully. This is not a love song. This is a song about obsessive stalking. [/QUOTE] So that made you not like the song? What is wrong with a song about stalking? I take it you would have no issue with watching a film that contained depictions of stalking right? ---
**Author:** ![JHE1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JHE1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHE1967)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/63 "2008-04-19T20:58:49Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] Also, Bodies by the Sex Pistols-- I listened to it again after, oh, 10th grade and having developed a political consciousness at some point and thought, “uh. . .” [/QUOTE] You realize that Bodies is widely interpreted an anti-abortion song right? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/64 "2008-04-19T21:06:15Z")
[QUOTE=Chris Moise] So that made you not like the song? What is wrong with a song about stalking? I take it you would have no issue with watching a film that contained depictions of stalking right? [/QUOTE] My view of this is colored by the fact that I’ve been stalked. Songs or films about stalking don’t appeal to me. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/65 "2008-04-20T03:51:17Z")
[QUOTE=Chris Moise] You realize that Bodies is widely interpreted an anti-abortion song right? [/QUOTE] Yes, I do, and that’s my problem with it (I must have been unclear). ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/66 "2008-04-20T03:56:07Z")
I second (third?) “Freebird”. First, there’s the wonderful guitar rift, then the twangy/whiny, “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me–ee–ee–ee?” My response has always been, “huh, who are you?” Guys don’t like that. Love, Phil (I’m female) ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/67 "2008-04-20T04:29:25Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] I’ve argued this before, but I don’t see how you can get the “real” meaning _just from the lyrics alone_. Without the title, I think the “popular” interpretation is perfectly reasonable. I don’t like the fact that, to get the “real” meaning, you need a title that doesn’t even appear in the song itself and that most sources (the radio) make no effort to mention. If there’s misinterpretation, I think it’s the radio’s (and, to a lesser extent, Green Day’s) fault, not the listeners’. [/QUOTE] You think so? I always saw the lyrics pretty clearly as a breakup song, and while the title makes it a **bitter** breakup song with sarcasm, it’s still a breakup song, and not one that lends itself to proms and graduations. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/68 "2008-04-20T06:17:49Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] You think so? I always saw the lyrics pretty clearly as a breakup song, and while the title makes it a **bitter** breakup song with sarcasm, it’s still a breakup song, and not one that lends itself to proms and graduations. [/QUOTE] But without the main title, it can easily be seen as a _regretful_ breakup song. As in, “I don’t want to end this, but I feel I have to”, kind of way, which DOES lend itself perfectly to graduations and proms. Everyone knows that their high school lives are over, and while they may not want it to end, they know it has to for them to get on with their lives and go do something with themselves. So, in summary, the song can be described thusly: Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) "It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life. :rolleyes: " Time of Your Life: "It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life. ☹ " ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/69 "2008-04-23T18:26:21Z")
I grew up listening to R&B and I really liked “Secret Lovers” until I got old enough to understand the implications of what they were saying. Now it sickens me to hear it. I have such a hard time understanding why someone would sit down and write that song without a trace of irony. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/70 "2008-04-23T21:10:09Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] But dudes _think_ it’s patriotic. :eek: All they know is the chorus. [/QUOTE] Well, that was all Ronald Reagan knew anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/71 "2008-05-30T22:55:06Z")
Have to zombify this thread, but don’t blame me, it’s all Joni Mitchell’s fault. I was listening to her song “Help Me” and I … I … listened to the lyrics. Specifically I listened to the part where she sings about “Didn’t it feel good?” over and over and over again. “Didn’t it feel good when we’re lyng her talking/or lying her not talking/dance with lady with the hole in her stocking/didn’t it feel good-ood-ood?” And also a lot of other “didn’t it feel goods?” It’s beautifully sung, but when you think about it, the lady sounds kinda desperate, pathetic and needy. I can see some insensitive guy flipping channels on the remote and and saying, “Sure, Joni, it felt great. Now would you please get off my leg?” ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/72 "2008-05-30T23:33:02Z")
I’m amazed that no one has brought up Blue Oyster Cult’s _Don’t Fear the Reaper_, a song advocating a double-suicide. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/73 "2008-05-30T23:55:23Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] Right there in the chorus, dude: What would you do if my heart was torn in two More than words to show you feel That your love for me is real What would you say if I took those words away Then you couldnt make things new Just by saying I love you Not only is he threatening to break up with her if she doesn’t put out, he’s obliquely threatening that he already has another girl lined up who will. [/QUOTE] I don’t know how I missed this reply. I don’t assume sex is the big deal. Some say it should happen by the third date. If the people in this scenario have been together awhile, I guess they’re already having sex. But sex doesn’t prove that you’re in love, either. Lines 4,5,6 (IMO) mean it’s easy to say you love someone. It’s another thing to show it. And no, that doesn’t automatically mean sex. I think you’re interpreting line 4 “What would you say if I took those words away” to mean the singer is going to stop saying he loves her. But lines 5,6 mean "If _you_ stop saying that, and start showing that, you can make the relationship fresh and new just by saying it…right now, it doesn’t mean much however. re: “Good Riddance” (Time of Your Life) “Dead skin on trial.” The singer is saying, “Well it was a waste of time and a bunch of bullshit, but there’s no going back and changing it now.” But he concedes that we don’t know that in advance, so, he hopes you got something worthwhile out if it. Like so many songs, people seize on the hook and put a spin on it that isn’t really there. In a similar vein, I think it was Cadillac that used Aerosmith’s “Dream On” for one of their commercials. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/74 "2008-05-31T03:25:22Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63] I don’t know how I missed this reply. [/QUOTE] I don’t know why you bothered to dredge up this dead thread. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/75 "2008-05-31T03:29:29Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] I don’t know why you bothered to dredge up this dead thread. [/QUOTE] I’m the one who reanimated this thread and I explained why in my post. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/76 "2008-05-31T03:32:05Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Have to zombify this thread, but don’t blame me, it’s all Joni Mitchell’s fault. I was listening to her song “Help Me” and I … I … listened to the lyrics. Specifically I listened to the part where she sings about “Didn’t it feel good?” over and over and over again. “Didn’t it feel good when we’re lyng her talking/or lying her not talking/dance with lady with the hole in her stocking/didn’t it feel good-ood-ood?” And also a lot of other “didn’t it feel goods?” It’s beautifully sung, but when you think about it, the lady sounds kinda desperate, pathetic and needy. I can see some insensitive guy flipping channels on the remote and and saying, “Sure, Joni, it felt great. Now would you please get off my leg?” [/QUOTE] That’s my favorite part of the song. It’s a very good bridge for the song and Wilton Felder’s bass line sounds good on it. Also she’s saying, “Didn’t it feel good, we were sittin’ there talking/or lying there not talking, didn’t it feel good?” Double meaning as in, sitting or lying, physically, but also sitting and talking or “lying” (as opposed to telling the truth) instead of not talking honestly. The “lying” part could also be implied as a sexual metaphor because the whole song seems to be about lovers cheating on each other but getting some kind of mutual excitement out of it, like the characters in “Crash” (the one with James Spader, not the piece of shit from 2005.) I’ve always wanted to fuck Joni Mitchell and now is no exception. She radiates sexuality and energy. I wonder if Jaco Pastorius slept with her when they were recording Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Hejira together. He had to have, right? How could he not have? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/77 "2008-05-31T07:50:26Z")
I can only think of two songs where the lyrics actually make me dislike the song: Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn Wheatus - Lemonade Some other songs with bad lyrics, but that I still like: Most square lyrics ever award: Beach Boys - Be True to Your School Song that to the highest degree doesn’t understand what its own title is about award: Alanis Morissette - Ironic Beatles - Run For Your Life Joan Osbornee - One of Us ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/78 "2008-05-31T08:18:52Z")
[QUOTE=mr. jp] Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn [/QUOTE] Didn’t this band record a song called “The Lap Dance is Always Better When the Stripper is Crying”? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/79 "2008-05-31T08:29:48Z")
Egads, I don’t even want to know the lyrics after seeing the title. For me it has always been “Run For Your Life” from _Rubber Soul_ by The Beatles: _You better run for your life if you can, little girl Hide your head in the sand, little girl Catch you with another man – That’s the end of Little Girl."_ I used to love it back when my oldest sister would play her record on the hi-fi. Then some time in the late seventies I learned why radio stations didn’t play it. **shudder** ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787/80 "2008-05-31T08:52:41Z")
[QUOTE=Lucky 13] Didn’t this band record a song called “The Lap Dance is Always Better When the Stripper is Crying”? :smack: [/QUOTE] Along with _I Wish I was Queer So I Could Get Chicks_ and _Three Point One Four_ which **is** about pie. Hairpie. Their schtick is being chauvinist pigs. And wanna-be white thugs. Wiki says _TLDIABWTSIC_ is a parody of Red Sovine songs. It’s kind of funny as every verse makes the singer out to be even more of a bastard than before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-before-you-started-listening-to-the-lyrics/445787.md?page=5)