# Tautologies in songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899 "2008-12-12T16:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/1 "2008-12-12T16:42:56Z")
Song lyrics, being primarily a device to counterpoint instrumentals, are often nonsensical, frequently sexual, and very rarely profound. Sometimes to avoid having to say something, the songwriter will say nothing at all - a tautology. I was just listening to “All You Need Is Love” by (of course) The Beatles, when the following lines came up: _There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done There’s nothing you can sing that can’t be sung_ (snip) _There’s nothing you can make that can’t be made No one you can save that can’t be saved_ All of which are trivially true, regardless of whether or not love is all one needs. Share some of your favorite musical tautologies! ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/2 "2008-12-12T17:26:54Z")
Nirvana made it megabig with deepness like “All in all, is all we are”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/3 "2008-12-12T17:44:00Z")
_Que Sera, Sera Whatever will be, will be…_ Thanks, Doris. That’s very helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/4 "2008-12-12T17:51:45Z")
In the Vietnam War song _For What It’s Worth_ is the lyric, “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” Who can argue with that? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/5 "2008-12-12T18:13:18Z")
We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here … (sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/6 "2008-12-12T19:56:23Z")
would “Same as it ever was” count as a tautology? Or “So hot you’re cool, so cool you’re hot”?? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/7 "2008-12-12T20:22:58Z")
> [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](#): > > _There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done > There’s nothing you can sing that can’t be sung_ > > (snip) > > _There’s nothing you can make that can’t be made > No one you can save that can’t be saved_ > > All of which are trivially true, regardless of whether or not love is all one needs. > > Share some of your favorite musical tautologies! Some tautologies are essentially meaningless 5=5 affairs, but others serve as reminders or emphases of what should be obvious but what often isn’t. For example: “Your life is your own” is meaningless in that obviously the ‘your’ already gives the life an owner, making the predicate redundant. However, it’s an emphasis of the ownership, perhaps used in situations where someone is trying to control your life or live through you. Thus it’s not a useless statement, as it could sometimes be used to convey real meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/8 "2008-12-12T21:32:08Z")
Dire Straits “Industrial Disease”: Two men say they’re Jesus One of them must be wrong ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/9 "2008-12-12T22:18:55Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > Some tautologies are essentially meaningless 5=5 affairs, but others serve as reminders or emphases of what should be obvious but what often isn’t. For example: > > “Your life is your own” is meaningless in that obviously the ‘your’ already gives the life an owner, making the predicate redundant. However, it’s an emphasis of the ownership, perhaps used in situations where someone is trying to control your life or live through you. Thus it’s not a useless statement, as it could sometimes be used to convey real meaning. I agree, an obvious statement can be emphasized without being a tautology. If you’re saying that my examples fall into that category, I disagree. John Lennon wasn’t saying anything about what I can do except that it can be done. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/10 "2008-12-12T22:22:35Z")
I disagree with some of the examples offered. The literal tautologies in “All You Need Is Love” and “For What It’s Worth” are actually intended to communicate a meaningful message, not just fill in the meter. > [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](#): > > I agree, an obvious statement can be emphasized without being a tautology. If you’re saying that my examples fall into that category, I disagree. John Lennon wasn’t saying anything about what I can do except that it can be done. He was offering you a particular viewpoint about life. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/11 "2008-12-12T22:27:09Z")
“in this everchanging world in which we live in…live and let die…” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/12 "2008-12-12T22:53:15Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Nirvana made it megabig with deepness like “All in all, is all we are”. Really? :smack: I thought it was ‘‘all alone is all we are.’’ As someone who has come to expect well-articulated, meaningful song lyrics from Nirvana, I am outraged! If you need me I’ll be out back planting a house… building a tree… finding my nest of salt… ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/13 "2008-12-12T22:55:37Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > He was offering you a particular viewpoint about life. Personally, I would say specifying some things someone can do is a viewpoint about life, not “you can do what you can do”. But in the interests of returning to the original purpose of the thread, let’s agree to disagree on that one. I will expand the original idea: share your favorite tautological song lyrics, even if you have to disregard any implied or contextual meaning to consider them a tautology. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/14 "2008-12-12T23:04:20Z")
Okay, so to try to answer Spatial Rift’s question, would Rush’s _Roll the Bones_ qualify? \*Why are we here? Because we’re here. Why does it happen? Because it happens.\* ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/15 "2008-12-12T23:04:23Z")
I don’t think this is quite a tautology, but from The Turtles’ “So Happy Together” presents the same statement twice in a row with slightly different word order: “The only one for me is you, and you for me”. So “you” are for “me”, and also “you” are for “me”. Nothing about “me” being for “you”! The singer also says “Me and you, and you and me” several times, but I’d consider that just for emphasis. I have heard that this song was actually meant as kind of a joke, and that’s why the lyrics are so inane. Not sure if that’s true, though. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/16 "2008-12-13T00:20:29Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Really? :smack: I thought it was ‘‘all alone is all we are.’’ > > As someone who has come to expect well-articulated, meaningful song lyrics from Nirvana, I am outraged! If you need me I’ll be out back planting a house… building a tree… finding my nest of salt… I don’t even care, but you could have all three. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/17 "2008-12-13T05:37:05Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Dire Straits “Industrial Disease”: > > Two men say they’re Jesus > One of them must be wrong I dunno, if there were anyone who would have the power to clone himself, it would be Jesus. His enemies would wind up yelling, “Aw, Jesus Christs!” ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/18 "2008-12-13T12:35:50Z")
**Curved Air** , quite possibly from _It Happened Today_ (I get some of their tracks mixed up; it’s been awhile!) _I tell you, time will tell in time._ ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/19 "2008-12-13T14:33:38Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Okay, so to try to answer Spatial Rift’s question, would Rush’s _Roll the Bones_ qualify? > > \*Why are we here? > Because we’re here. > > Why does it happen? > Because it happens.\* No. There are alternative answers. e.g., we are here for a purpose and it happens because God says so. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899/20 "2008-12-13T17:00:31Z")
Re: “All You Need is Love.” In college, I took Intro to Symbolic Logic, and we would have these assignments where we would be given symbolic statements and would have to “translate” them into normal language. Most of them were like “If all my skis are blue, then some of the salmon are certified public accountants.” The professor had a bit of a sense of humor. Most assignments were about ten statements. Then one day, he handed out an assignment that was 50 statements long. Everyone grumbled but dutifully completed it that night. It turned out to be the entire Beatles song, “All You Need is Love.” A lot of students were unfamiliar with the song, so had to slog through the whole thing, never realizing what they were writing. But it was interesting to see that the whole thing could be written out with symbolic logic. Re: the OP. How about REM’s “Stand”? > [@](#): > > Stand in the place where you are (now face north) > Stand in the place where you are (now face west) > Your feet are going to be on the ground (stand in the place where you are) > Your head is there to move you around, so stand. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tautologies-in-songs/476899.md?page=2)