# Worst lyrics in rock/pop music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759 "2009-12-02T21:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/101 "2009-12-04T03:31:51Z")
> [@Martha\_Medea](#): > > Thing is, I always heard it as “rises like an empress”. Or “rises like a leopress”. (female leopard? Is that even a word?) > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I think, er no, I mean, er yes, but it’s all wrong > That is I think it’s not too bad “I think I know I mean a “Yes” but it’s all wrong” or “I think I know of thee, ah yes, but it’s all wrong.” When I first saw your post, it rang a bell, and I actually repeated it about 20 times until I got the meter right, and then I knew what it was. But then I had to look it up to see if it was correct. I’m still not sure. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/102 "2009-12-04T03:42:52Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Speaking of rhymes… > > Itchin’ in the kitchen, eh. “Supersonic” is even worse iirc “He knows this girl called Elsa, She’s into Alka-Seltzer, She sniffs it through her brain On a supersonic train” Or something like that… ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/103 "2009-12-04T04:52:41Z")
When we did a thread like this eons ago, someone posted a comment that I’ll never forget, because I crack up everytime I think about it (so I can’t take credit for the funny – sorry, can’t remember who it was): Manfred Mann’s ‘Quinn the Eskimo’: “…jumping queues and making haste just ain’t my cup of meat” Cup of meat?? CUP OF MEAT??!!!?? ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/104 "2009-12-04T05:30:31Z")
> [@drpepper](#): > > When we did a thread like this eons ago, someone posted a comment that I’ll never forget, because I crack up everytime I think about it (so I can’t take credit for the funny – sorry, can’t remember who it was): > > Manfred Mann’s ‘Quinn the Eskimo’: > > “…jumping queues and making haste just ain’t my cup of meat” > > Cup of meat?? > CUP OF MEAT??!!!?? Dylan wrote that…most will agree he gets a pass (well, he gets a few passes :rolleyes:) I offer up this gem… "Anyway you want it That’s the way you need it Anyway you want it She loves to laugh She loves to sing She does everything She loves to move She loves to groove She loves lovin’ things" etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/105 "2009-12-04T05:59:09Z")
Reading all the awful snippets of songs in this thread makes me wonder why people pick on Neil Peart, the man who wrote the lyrics to _The Analog Kid_ and _Different Strings_ and _Middletown Dreams_ and _Workin’ Them Angels_ and _The Way The Wind Blows_ and _Witch Hunt_ and _Time Stand Still_. Come on folks. Turn up the music and smile, get carried away on the songs and stories of vanished times. Relax and have a nice cup of meat. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/106 "2009-12-04T06:38:44Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > She loves lovin’ things" > > etc., etc. I’ll be darned. All this time I thought it was “She loves a lot of things” ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/107 "2009-12-04T07:21:12Z")
Someone’s already nominated Nickelback, but I want to more specifically nominate [Photograph.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHSEX9TLl8). > [@](#): > > Kim’s the first girl I kissed. > I was so nervous that I nearly missed Missed? Missed what? Her lips? Cheap rhyme. Hate it. I LOVE Lady GaGa’s _Bad Romance_, but the [lyrics](http://www.metrolyrics.com/bad-romance-lyrics-lady-gaga.html) are just dumb. > [@](#): > > Walk. Walk. > Passion Baby. > Work it, I’m a free bitch, baby. Whatever the hell that means. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/108 "2009-12-04T07:32:07Z")
> [@torie](#): > > Someone’s already nominated Nickelback, but I want to more specifically nominate [Photograph.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHSEX9TLl8). > > Missed? Missed what? Her lips? Cheap rhyme. Hate it. How about the “what the hell is on Joey’s head?” line? I admit, though, that I do like that song. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/109 "2009-12-04T08:11:06Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Hah. Well, yeah, I see what you mean. “Somewhere in this town” is a pretty lame finish to the build-up in that sentence. But I’ve always liked it. It gives me this sense of excitement, like it doesn’t matter exactly where the jailbreak is, just that there’s commotion and a sense of forbidden action. It’s like knowing your favorite band is playing at a secret gig but you don’t know exactly where it is. But where else is a jailbreak going to be, other than _at the jail_? That’s what makes that line so stupid. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/110 "2009-12-04T09:08:19Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ by the Black Eyed Peas. > [@Headrush042](#): > > When I read this thread title, Alanis Morisette immediately sprang to mind, but after reading through I’ve decided there’s far, far worse! Ha! You guys reminded me of the greatest video ever, which I’m now listening to: [Alanis Morissette - My Humps](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRmYfVCH2UA). The whole thing is great, but 2:20 is the clear highlight. For the purposes of this thread the whole song works, but the best bit is probably: Whatcha gonna do with all that breast All that breast inside that shirt? > [@Headrush042](#): > > I always read that as a swipe against the leaders of America and Britain demonizing the Russians, as opposed to a simplistic appeal to our basic humanity. In fact, the message I took away from that song was that the Russians weren’t the “bad guys” of the cold war, the politicians were (on both sides). I didn’t think it was dumb at all. > [@RikWriter](#): > > If that was his point, then it was even dumber than I thought. How so? It’s basically a repackaging of the idea that the only thing to fear is fear itself. A message we’d do well to heed right now, actually. Switch out the Russians with terrorists and the song is more relevant than ever. Growing sense of hysteria indeed. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/111 "2009-12-04T10:34:05Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > But where else is a jailbreak going to be, other than _at the jail_? That’s what makes that line so stupid. Hm. Yeah. You have a point there. I don’t assume there is any city that have two or more jails? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/112 "2009-12-04T11:56:38Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Hm. Yeah. You have a point there. I don’t assume there is any city that have two or more jails? Aren’t we talking Dublin, here? I imagine every block has a drunktank… ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/113 "2009-12-04T13:09:37Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I’ll be darned. All this time I thought it was “She loves a lot of things” Just copied/pasted from the web. I think it probably is “loves a lot of things”, but there’s no way I’m listening to the song intentionally to check. Not that I can tell which would be worse… ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/114 "2009-12-04T13:19:49Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Aren’t we talking Dublin, here? I imagine every block has a drunktank… First, you imagine wrong. Second, it’s pretty clear from the rest of the song that he isn’t talking about busting out of a drunktank. To the best of my knowledge, there were only two prisons in Dublin at the time that song was written, so if there was going to be a jailbreak it would pretty easy to narrow its location down. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/115 "2009-12-04T13:43:50Z")
I will second (or third) the nominations for Train. Pretty much any song they write is utter garbage. These are all songs I find cringe-worthy: [Kon Kan - I Beg Your Pardon](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858595480/) \*I know now’s the time that I went to find something new You know it’s your crime that I’m out to find someone too \* [Josh Kelley - Everybody Wants You](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858496870/) _Did you lose your place? Did you lose your grace? Just so everyone could see your singing face_ [Stretch Princess - Freakshow](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3458764513820563488/) _when I feel like a reject from a freakshow picking up the white trash from the sidewalk wishing on the deathstars in the night sky turning on my TV watching drive-bys_ But I hate all of those, this last one to me falls into the “so bad it’s good” category. [Rebbie Jackson - Centipede](http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?hid=wdz36mge0Tk%3D) \*Don’t you know in the quiet of the night Is when the snake is in the crawlin’ And the moon starts to glow then disappear When the time is really right Is when the centipede is crawlin’ You’ll be crying in the night so many tears And you’re crawlin’ like a centipede \* …what? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/116 "2009-12-04T14:04:56Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > How so? It’s basically a repackaging of the idea that the only thing to fear is fear itself. A message we’d do well to heed right now, actually. Switch out the Russians with terrorists and the song is more relevant than ever. Growing sense of hysteria indeed. :rolleyes: Yeah, we had nothing at all to fear from the USSR, despite the fact that they grabbed half of Europe after WWII, violently putting down any protest, eg Czeckoslovakia, murdered more people than the Nazis, supported violent revolutions across the world, supplied arms and support to terrorist groups around the world…naw, they were just sweethearts. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/117 "2009-12-04T16:42:50Z")
Yes, Black Eyes Peas - _My Humps_ (thanks Ellis Dee for that link) is resoundingly awful. “My lovely lady lumps” _Shudder_ My other pet peeve, which might be controversial, is anything by Joni Mitchell, especially _The Circle Game._ ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/118 "2009-12-04T16:50:51Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Yeah, we had nothing at all to fear from the USSR, despite the fact that they grabbed half of Europe after WWII, violently putting down any protest, eg Czeckoslovakia, murdered more people than the Nazis, supported violent revolutions across the world, supplied arms and support to terrorist groups around the world…naw, they were just sweethearts. I’m sorry, did you actually lead with the 50s land grab as a reason to fear the Russians in the 80s? Wow, so timely. By your logic, did Americans have anything to fear from Saddam Hussein in the early 2000s? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/119 "2009-12-04T16:52:10Z")
How about this from Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”: _I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me_ Let’s see, where to start? First, “an American” is not a location, so “where” is the wrong preposition. Then there’s “…who died who gave that right…”, which is ungrammatical (although to be fair, at least one site gives the wording as “who died and gave that right”). Finally, which right is that again? I guess it’s the right to I’m free. OK, that’s all proofreading. Still, it’s a rather impressive set of errors in such a small space… it just comes off sounding high school. Sorry, Lee, but that kind of sloppy writing is not among the things that make me proud to be an American. (Then there’s the little matter of “men who died”… yeah, I know it was mostly men, but still, can’t we remember the women too?) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/120 "2009-12-04T17:02:45Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I’m sorry, did you actually lead with the 50s land grab as a reason to fear the Russians in the 80s? Wow, so timely. > > By your logic, did Americans have anything to fear from Saddam Hussein in the early 2000s? Yes, we did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759.md?page=7)