# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/121 "2009-12-04T17:07:45Z")
[http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-so-glad-lyrics-cream.html](http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-so-glad-lyrics-cream.html) Hard to beat this beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/122 "2009-12-04T17:13:31Z")
Deep Purple had some good songs, but writing lyrics was not their strong suit. As evidence, I give you “Child In Time”: \*See the blind man shooting at the world Bullets flying, ooh taking toll If you’ve been bad - Oh Lord I bet you have And you’ve not been hit oh by flying lead You’d better close your eyes, aahaouho bow your head Wait for the ricochet Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo… Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo… Aaa-aaa-aaa… Oh, I wanna hear you sing… Aaa-aaa-aaa… Oaoh… AAA-AAA-AAA!! AAA-AAA-AAA!! \* These are quintessentially bad _English_ lyrics. I don’t think Americans are capable of pronouncing “Oaoh”, not to mention “aahaouho”\*. Even Don Ho would have had problems. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/123 "2009-12-04T17:23:57Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Deep Purple had some good songs, but writing lyrics was not their strong suit. As evidence, I give you “Child In Time”: On top of the dodgy lyrics, the music was plagiarized from It’s a Beautiful Day. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/124 "2009-12-04T18:07:53Z")
> [@Anamorphic](#): > > The Steve Miller Band, with this awful rhyme: > > Abra-abra-cadabra. > I wanna reach out and grab ya. > > Abra-abra-cadabra. > Abracadabra. > > I also nominate this song for worst riff in rock/pop music. “na na NA… NA na na”. The irony is that around the time of Abracadabra, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Miller actually had the balls to say Pete Townshend wrote bad lyrics. It burns, it burns. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/125 "2009-12-04T18:58:06Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-so-glad-lyrics-cream.html](http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-so-glad-lyrics-cream.html) Hard to beat this beauty. I hope you realize that Cream didn’t write that song; Skip James did. One of the many unsung heroes of the blues. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/126 "2009-12-04T19:31:57Z")
My Paul McCartney bad lyrics moment isn’t really because the words are bad, but the way they are sung is: “She gives me everything, And tender-LEEEEEE-EEEEEEEE.” I cringe every time. But we gotta go with Starship, with the worst lyrics, sung horribly, in a shit melody, backed up by the most mundane hash of synthesized chord progressions ever: “Knee deep in the hoopla, sinking in your fight Too many runaways eating up the night” and “Who counts the money ,underneath the bar Who rides the wrecking ball into our guitars” I could go on … but it’s too depressing. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/127 "2009-12-04T19:38:57Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > And “fire” and “desire.” Jesus. We don’t smell THAT coming a mile away! :rolleyes: That goes for every David Gilmour written rhyme. I was thinking of adding him to this thread, but I’ll just cite the whole _Momentary Lapse of Reason_ album, a case study in trite rhyming. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/128 "2009-12-04T19:48:34Z")
> [@AqualungBats5th](#): > > [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? Beauty! When I hear that song, I first begin to laugh, then fall silent in confusion. What strange confluence of events could possibly have resulted in that song being written and then shared with us? It truly boggles the mind. Fucking muskrats are bad enough. ---
**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, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/129 "2009-12-04T20:24:00Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > 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. It was, a joke, son. ---
**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 4, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/130 "2009-12-04T21:44:22Z")
> [@AqualungBats5th](#): > > I will second (or third) the nominations for Train. Pretty much any song they write is utter garbage. Oh, yes. ‘‘Drops of Jupiter’’ makes me stabby. > [@](#): > > Since the return from her stay on the moon > She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey Hey, hey hey you suck. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/131 "2009-12-04T21:56:35Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Oh, yes. ‘‘Drops of Jupiter’’ makes me stabby. > > Hey, hey hey you suck. Has anyone else heard the rumor that the word “Jupiter” is slang for “semen?” Joe ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/132 "2009-12-04T22:02:34Z")
I always geta chuckle out of this Train lyric though: _Smokes a pack a day, wait, that’s me, but anyway_ My candidate for worst single line in an otherwise OK song: “If I was a sculpture, but then again, no.” ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/133 "2009-12-04T22:06:17Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > “If I was a sculpture, but then again, no.” I think the line was “If I was a sculptor, but then again, no…”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/134 "2009-12-04T22:39:25Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > Or “rises like a leopress”. (female leopard? Is that even a word?) A female leopard is a leopardess. (You made me google it.) Come to think of it, “leopress” sounds more like a female with leprosy. That’s a whole different song. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/135 "2009-12-04T23:06:12Z")
It’s “Sculptor”, not “sculpture”. The “Sugar Bear” 's sung in _Someone Saved My Life Tonight_ are pretty stupid as well. ---
**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, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/136 "2009-12-04T23:10:01Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > “Who counts the money ,underneath the bar > Who rides the wrecking ball into our guitars” Yet another lyric I’ve been hearing wrong all this time. I’ve been hearing “into our guitars” as “in two watt guitars”. Obviously what I’ve been hearing is pretty bad, but the actual lyrics aren’t much better. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/137 "2009-12-04T23:42:17Z")
_Up The Ladder To The Roof_, the catchy music destracts from the lyrics If the Supremes sang “Up the ladder to the roof, then jump and you’ll see heaven much better.” It would’ve made more sense. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/138 "2009-12-05T00:00:43Z")
Having had to sing these lyrics several hundred times in the 90s as a cover band singer in college bars, the worst lyrics are from Bush’s “Machinehead”: Got a machine head it’s better than the rest green to red machine head Got a machine head it’s better than the rest green to red yeah, yeah, yeah ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/139 "2009-12-05T01:18:14Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > Has anyone else heard the rumor that the word “Jupiter” is slang for “semen?” > > Joe I thought as much when I first heard that song, particularly the “drops of jupiter in her hair” line. Maybe I just have a filthy mind. I wasn’t wrong about “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I’ve got Love in my Tummy,” though! ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759/140 "2009-12-05T01:35:52Z")
Let me just say: although I love Nirvana, did they have even one song where the lyrics made sense? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-lyrics-in-rock-pop-music/519759.md?page=8)