# Songs you used to like until you really listened to the lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470 "2011-06-06T02:52:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [June 6, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/21 "2011-06-06T19:27:40Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > The one I really grew to dislike after really listening to the words is the Stones’ [Under My Thumb](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/under+my+thumb_20117884.html). Yeah, I worry about that girl…but then I wonder if Mick’s got her quite as tight as he thinks he does. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/22 "2011-06-06T19:28:15Z")
John Lennon’s _Imagine_. At first, it sounded like a bit of idealistic optimism. Then I realized it’s just a Communist Manifesto masquerading as pop music! ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/23 "2011-06-06T19:43:13Z")
[quote=“Morgyn, post:20, topic:584470”] I’m not getting that from the lyrics at all, and I went and [looked them up](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elton+john/dont+let+the+sun+go+down+on+me_20046440.html).QUOTE] Don’t forget that it was written by a straight man (Bernie Taupin) and was sung by a gay man (Elton John) who at the time hadn’t come out yet… so I think you missed the boat on that one. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/24 "2011-06-06T19:43:43Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > The one I really grew to dislike after really listening to the words is the Stones’ [Under My Thumb](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/under+my+thumb_20117884.html). Yah, the Stones really enjoy their misogyny - fine singers, but I suspect they go there for the shock value. “Time Is On My Side” is pretty bad, too. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/25 "2011-06-06T19:44:35Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I’m not getting that from the lyrics at all, and I went and [looked them up](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elton+john/dont+let+the+sun+go+down+on+me_20046440.html). I remember, when I was a young adult (the remake/duet was released in 1991, and I would have been all of 18), there was an immature joke making the circles that the song was actually called “Don’t Let Your Son Go Down On Me.” While I’m not saying that this is true in **Krokodil** ’s case, it could certainly cause some misinterpretation of the meaning of the song. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/26 "2011-06-06T20:00:54Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Don’t forget that it was written by a straight man (Bernie Taupin) and was sung by a gay man (Elton John) who at the time hadn’t come out yet… so I think you missed the boat on that one. :dubious: No, the music was written by Taupin, the lyrics were written by Elton, as with all of their songs. It’s pretty clear, to me, that it’s about a man who’s fallen in love with another man who was unsure, then began to return the affections, then got scared. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/27 "2011-06-06T20:14:58Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > No, the music was written by Taupin, the lyrics were written by Elton, as with all of their songs. > > It’s pretty clear, to me, that it’s about a man who’s fallen in love with another man who was unsure, then began to return the affections, then got scared. I don’t see it either. It’s really ambiguous, and “in love, unsure, got scared” fits a bunch of my hetero relationships. I don’t think the song is specifically gay or straight, it’s just about a complicated love story, which is universal. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/28 "2011-06-06T20:26:41Z")
Bernie writes the words. See for example [ul] [li][http://www.berniejtaupin.com/discography.bt](http://www.berniejtaupin.com/discography.bt)[/li][li][http://www.eltonjohn.com/about/bio.jsp](http://www.eltonjohn.com/about/bio.jsp)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/29 "2011-06-06T20:36:58Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > No, the music was written by Taupin, the lyrics were written by Elton, as with all of their songs. I think you’ve got that backward . . . ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/30 "2011-06-06T22:06:53Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Not only that, he’s a bedwetter. No, the sheets are soaking wet from sweat. Too many to list, but off the top of my head: [Spirit in the Sky](http://www.metrolyrics.com/spirit-in-the-sky-lyrics-norman-greenbaum.html) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/31 "2011-06-06T23:01:20Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Yah, the Stones really enjoy their misogyny - fine singers, but I suspect they go there for the shock value. “Time Is On My Side” is pretty bad, too. “Time Is on My Side” is misogynist? Especially given that the Stones’ version is a cover of the Irma Thomas recording? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/32 "2011-06-06T23:10:49Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I used to enjoy listening to the song “Temperature” by Sean Paul until I took a closer listen to the lyrics. The last couple lines of the chorus are “Oh lord, and gal I got the right tactics to turn you on, and girl I wanna be the Papa, you can be the Mom, oh oh!” I enjoy suggestive lyrics as much as anyone, but the talk about actually conceiving a baby just nauseates me. Funny, that same line is why I _like_ this song, despite it not being my usual style of music. The first time I heard it then I expected Sean Paul to refer to the woman as a baby or little girl, as is fairly common in popular music. **SykoSkotty** mentioned Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”, a good example of this, and I think Sean Paul even says something about “baby girls” early in this same song. But “I wanna be the Papa, you can be the Mom” suggests that both parties are adults and equals, which struck me as a refreshing change. I don’t think there’s any deep or subtle meaning to this particular choice of phrasing, though. Like **Electric Warrior** , I think the intended meaning of the line is basically “Let’s ‘play house’…by which I mean ‘have sex’.” It seems unlikely that a man would be talking about actually wanting to impregnate a woman in this context. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/33 "2011-06-06T23:30:12Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I think you’ve got that backward . . . You’re right. Taupin = lyrics, Elton = music. I typed faster than my brain worked. Another song I can’t get behind: Brown Sugar by the Stones. I mean, wow. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/34 "2011-06-07T00:11:22Z")
I kind of still like it, because it is catchy, but until I really listened I didn’t realize that Unkle Kracker’s _Follow Me_ was about adultery. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/35 "2011-06-07T11:29:05Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Yeah, if the girl’s father is rich, she’s worthy of being taken out and shown respect. If her daddy’s poor, you can do whatever you want with her, she doesn’t deserve to be taken to dinner or anything, she’s just a cheap fuck. Maybe I’m just an innocent, but I think it’s interesting that everyone apparently thinks that “do what you feel” means “fuck like jaded monkeys.” To me, it meant that since you didn’t have any money, you’d have to do something that didn’t, you know, cost money. Didn’t any of you guys ever go on a date when you were broke? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/36 "2011-06-07T12:04:32Z")
Yes, I went on plenty of dates that didn’t involve spending a lot of money. Or any money. The man I almost married was chronically broke. He was an orphan, and working his way through college. We went to a lot of free events that the college offered, lectures and movies and whatever. The man I DID marry was also basically broke when we were dating, so we did things like visit the Water Gardens in the evening (back then the Gardens were well-maintained), which cost nothing but were a lot of fun. The thing is, though, that when the song was written and sung, it was almost always the boy or man who paid for the date. If the girl’s father was rich, then the guy would spend money on her. If her father wasn’t rich, then he didn’t need to spend money. He’d court the rich girl and have fun with the poor girl, in other words. Back when I was dating, it was pretty well known that a guy could drive over to the poor part of town and be able to pick a girl who’d probably fuck with no strings attached. Oh, not all the girls in the bad neighborhoods would do it, but a lot of them would, especially if there was alcohol or drugs involved. The song says it’s OK to treat women differently based on whether or not they come from a rich or poor family. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/37 "2011-06-07T12:15:05Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Yeah, if the girl’s father is rich, she’s worthy of being taken out and shown respect. If her daddy’s poor, you can do whatever you want with her, she doesn’t deserve to be taken to dinner or anything, she’s just a cheap fuck. Wow, that is quite a stretch. I think you’ve over-thought that one a bit there, Lynn. 🙂 What is interesting to me is that I actually like almost all the songs mentioned in this thread, and the lyrics do not change that. mmm ---
**Author:** ![mattwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mattwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattwan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/38 "2011-06-07T12:17:33Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > Maybe I’m just an innocent, but I think it’s interesting that everyone apparently thinks that “do what you feel” means “fuck like jaded monkeys.” To me, it meant that since you didn’t have any money, you’d have to do something that didn’t, you know, cost money. Didn’t any of you guys ever go on a date when you were broke? I think a lot of the implications lie in “take her out for a meal”, which suggests the singer will be picking up the tab himself–generally if you are taking someone else out, you are going to be paying, yeah? So the singer could afford to buy the poor girl a meal if he wanted to, but he doesn’t feel the need to do that. And if he could buy her a meal but instead just wants to do what he feels…well. Looking at the rest of the lyrics, though, I think the more innocent interpretation might be preferred. Since they’re pretty much unintelligible, though, it’s not surprising that many people (including myself) assumed he’d fuck his date like a jaded monkey if he didn’t need to impress her daddy. Edit: Ninja’ed by Lynn. Should’ve previewed, but I’m new to posting. Be gentle? But I don’t think she’s stretching or overreading at all; what she describes is a pretty well-known cultural convention, I’d thought, and is exactly what I’d always assumed whenever I heard the song. It can hardly be a stretch if it’s the first thing that comes to mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/39 "2011-06-07T12:41:46Z")
> [@](#): > > But I don’t think she’s stretching or overreading at all; what she describes is a pretty well-known cultural convention, I’d thought, and is exactly what I’d always assumed whenever I heard the song. It can hardly be a stretch if it’s the first thing that comes to mind. It MIGHT be a generational thing. This song came out in 1970, and that’s when I heard it. And just about all the kids in my age group assumed that a girl with a poor father would be an easy, cheap screw, and that’s how they interpreted the song. The guy always chose what sort of date it would be, unless the girl requested something special, and girls were cautioned to be considerate of their dates’ wallets. So, a guy could choose to take his date to a fancy restaurant (and going out to eat was a much bigger thing then) or he could choose to just go riding around (and gas was much cheaper then, and cruising was pretty common among teens). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470/40 "2011-06-07T12:47:38Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Too many to list, but off the top of my head: > > [Spirit in the Sky](http://www.metrolyrics.com/spirit-in-the-sky-lyrics-norman-greenbaum.html) I love _Spirit in the Sky_! I sing along, loudly, every time I hear it: “I never been a sinner, I never sinned… I got a friend in Jesuuuus!!” Even though, you know, I have and I don’t. 😃 It’s still a kick-ass song. Speaking of _In the Summertime_, which I also love, how about telling everybody to “Have a drink, have a drive”? Nice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-used-to-like-until-you-really-listened-to-the-lyrics/584470.md?page=3)