# “Throwaway” Lines in Songs That Make You Say WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 5, 2020, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823 "2020-11-05T10:13:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/61 "2020-11-06T19:07:41Z")
‘Ventura Highway’ “…The nights are stronger than moonshine” How can a night be…strong? Q: “How was your night dear?” A: “Strong” Okaayyyyyy… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/62 "2020-11-06T20:20:00Z")
“Welcome home, hon. How was your walk?” “Very nice. No alligator lizards in the air.” “What’s it like out?” “The night is strong.” “Really? As strong as a hearty merlot?” “Naaah, stronger.” “Kentucky Bourbon?” “Keep going…” "Are you saying… the night’s stronger than _moonshine?”_ “'Fraid so.” “Well, then, close the door! And don’t let the dog out.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/63 "2020-11-06T21:03:42Z")
> [@digs](#): > > “Well, then, close the door! And don’t let the dog out.” “… and don’t forget to give your horse a name.” ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/64 "2020-11-06T21:11:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No, you’re not the only one. It’s called “poetic license.” Many people don’t have the imagination to accept anything but the most literal of interpretations for anything. Yeah, I don’t know why I can’t stay away from these threads with post after post of: “I hate metaphor” “There’s no place for fun in music” “‘Texas’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘facts is’” Can you image how dead music would be if these people got their way? ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/65 "2020-11-06T21:16:35Z")
copied from Wikipedia: Dewey Bunnell, the song’s vocalist and writer, has said that the lyric “alligator lizards in the air” in the song is a reference to the shapes of clouds in the sky he saw in 1963 while his family was driving down the coast from [Vandenberg Air Force Base](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandenberg_Air_Force_Base) near [Lompoc, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lompoc,_California), where they had a flat tire. While his father changed the tire, his brother and he stood by the side of the road and watched the clouds and saw a road sign for “Ventura” ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/66 "2020-11-06T21:17:51Z")
Say what you want, but if you’re supporting a song that rhymes “bowl” with “cereal”\*\*, I won’t even know where to start with you. This is a very real song of great realness and is so dreadful that I shan’t link it because I am _not that cruel_. But if you feel masochistic, you’re free to look up “Friday” on your own. \*\* The rhyme was “bo’” and “cere-o” for the record. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/67 "2020-11-07T03:07:49Z")
> [@digs](#): > > “Well, then, close the door! And don’t let the dog out.” Those two muskrats were screwing on the front lawn again. America must win this thread. “Tin Man,” anyone? But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man That he didn’t, didn’t already have And cause never was the reason for the evening Or the tropic of Sir Galahad So please believe in me When I say I’m spinning 'round, 'round, 'round, 'round Smoke glass stain’d bright colors Image going down, down, down, down Soapsud green like bubbles ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/68 "2020-11-07T18:50:54Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > America must win this thread. “Tin Man,” anyone? > > But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man > That he didn’t, didn’t already have > And cause never was the reason for the evening > Or the tropic of Sir Galahad > So please believe in me > When I say I’m spinning 'round, 'round, 'round, 'round > Smoke glass stain’d bright colors > Image going down, down, down, down > Soapsud green like bubbles Yeah, that is … remarkable. And yet their consistently nonsense lyrics have never impeded my enjoyment of their radio singles. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/69 "2020-11-07T19:21:16Z")
_I’d like your blue eyed horseshoe_ _I’d like your emerald horny toad_ _I’d like to do it to your daughter on a dirt road_ Actually, these make perfect sense to me. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/70 "2020-11-09T04:59:50Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Rick Springfield. “Jessie’s Girl:” > > “You know, I feel so dirty when they start talking cute > I wanna tell her that I love her > But the point is probably moot.” > > Really. Really ? > > You didn’t have a white board to just spitball for a while ? Were you so pressed for time that you left it at that, or did you somehow convince yourselves that you _totally_ nailed it ? > > Blecch. Did you ever see the [“Making of”](https://youtu.be/gqTtjxF0FEA) video? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/71 "2020-11-09T16:57:51Z")
From “Banana Boat:” [_A beautiful bunch of ripe bananas!_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-TApnxnCTY) Who puts RIPE bananas on a banana boat? Are they sure it wasn’t a fruit fly boat? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/72 "2020-11-09T17:16:20Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Did you ever see the [“Making of”](https://youtu.be/gqTtjxF0FEA) video? LMAO !! Thanks for that 😃 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/73 "2020-11-09T17:21:36Z")
When I was a kid growing up within walking distance of the Ventura Highway, when that song was a current radio hit, it was a well known ‘fact’ that Alligator lizards would jump out of trees and land on your head, just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/74 "2020-11-09T18:15:32Z")
Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/75 "2020-12-11T07:56:47Z")
Almost all the lyrics of _“Barracuda.”_ “Sell me, sell you” the porpoise said Dive down deep to save my head, You, I think you got the blues too All that night and all the next Swam without looking back Made for the western pools, silly, silly fools. ---
**Author:** ![BigDfromLA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@BigDfromLA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDfromLA)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/76 "2020-12-11T08:35:29Z")
China Girl by David Bowie has a couple… I stumble into town just like a sacred cow Visions of swastikas in my head ??? My little China Girl you shouldn’t mess with me I’ll ruin everything you are That is kind of harsh and doesn’t fit the rest of the song. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/77 "2020-12-11T08:43:27Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Well you’re built like a car > You’ve got a hubcap > Diamond star halo > You’re built like a car > Oh yeah The thing I always found exceptionally weird about T-Rex is that they have a LOT of songs about cars, even though Marc Bolan apparently did not drive a car (easy to do if you live in London) and yet he wound up dying in a car accident in which he was the passenger. I can think of a number of other Bolan songs involving cars. _Jeepster_, which is a sort of primitive touring-car made by the Willys/Jeep company; _Buick McClane_; he claims to drive a Rolls-Royce (because it’s “good for my voice”) in _Children of the Revolution_; and then the aforementioned _Bang a Gong_ where he makes a rather odd comparison of a woman’s body with a car. (Rather remarkably, with his phrase “diamond star” he even managed to inadvertently name-drop a Chysler-Mitsubishi joint venture that wouldn’t come into being until eight years after his death. I know they’re just two flowery words, but what are the odds?!) ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/78 "2020-12-11T08:52:44Z")
> [@BigDfromLA](#): > > China Girl by David Bowie has a couple… > I stumble into town just like a sacred cow > Visions of swastikas in my head > ??? > > My little China Girl you shouldn’t mess with me > I’ll ruin everything you are > > That is kind of harsh and doesn’t fit the rest of the song. It’s David Bowie. He strung together surreal stream-of-consciousness stories that nevertheless coalesced into a coherent message when considered as a whole. “China Girl” is heroin. He has a love-hate relationship with it. It helps him escape; he’s a mess without it; it makes him feel “tragic like Marlon Brando”; the line about stumbling into town could either point to a spiritual experience (the “sacred cow” line could suggest that the “swastikas” are the Hindu or Buddhist variety) or feeling like he’s living in a dystopian Nazi scenario (Bowie had admitted a fascination with the drama and pageantry of the Nazis, though he was certainly no racist.) And finally, he’s pissed at the China Girl heroin for fucking up his life, and wishes he could exact some kind of revenge (I’ll ruin everything you are) but ultimately as the song returns to the same refrain that opens it, it seems he just can’t break free. It’s Bowie we’re talking about here. Everything he sung about had meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/79 "2020-12-11T13:27:39Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Everything he sung about had meaning. Except **The Bewlay Brothers**? > Bowie himself is said to have told producer Ken Scott that it was a track for the American market, because “the Americans always like to read things into things”, even though the lyrics “make absolutely no sense” [Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bewlay_Brothers) 😉 j ETA wink - just funning with ya! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823/80 "2020-12-11T14:27:46Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Yeah, I don’t know why I can’t stay away from these threads with post after post of: > “I hate metaphor” > “There’s no place for fun in music” > “‘Texas’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘facts is’” Yes, but have you considered the fact that “pompatus” isn’t even a real word? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwaway-lines-in-songs-that-make-you-say-wtf/924823.md?page=5)