Sure, there’s the classicly bad, like “Look what you’ve done to this rock ‘n’ roll clown”, or pretty much any random line from “Sister Christian”.
And then there’s stuff like…
“When I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself.” (The hell you say!)
or…
“I cannot forget from where it is that I come from.” (The preposition so nice, I said it twice!)
Faves?
And I love this song. It’s just that this line is so stupid. From the Chi-lites Have You Seen Her
Why, oh why did she have to leave and go away?
As if she could leave and stay.
She could leave AND stay AND be half-alive AND half-dead, at least according to quantum mechanics.
Probably.
Could it mean that she left him - dumped him - then left town?
Post-Roger Waters Pink Floyd came up with quite a few howlers, and to me the most egregious has always been:
The rain fell slow
Down on all the roofs of uncertainty
Err … the roofs of uncertainty?
A classic example of a writer who knows what metaphor is while having no idea what it’s for.
“Squeeze my lemon, baby, until the juice runs down my leg.”
OH MAN, the rock-n-roll clown… EXCELLENT EXCELLENT PICK!
Anything with an obvious RHYME to “down on my bended knee(s)”/“please”… ugh. I can’t think of specifics at the moment, but I know there are at least THREE offenders out there… in Rock-n-Roll Hell (as opposed to Rock-n-Roll Heaven, where at least THEY have a Helluva band, if not a decent lyricist).
And so bad it is ALMOST good:
Let me brush your Rock-n-Roll Hair
Let the Good Times Roll
(RIGHT?! That IS what The Cars are singing, isn’t it?)
Jefferson Starship’s “Miracles” gave us this line (which was cut for the radio edit):
“I got a taste of the real world
When I went down on you, girl”
[QUOTE=
And then there’s stuff like…
“When I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself.” (The hell you say!)[/QUOTE]
Whoa. Got to disagree. Imho, that is one of the greatest lines in R&R history.
I think a person who’s done some heavy drinking in his/her life would understand it.
Umm, that line is not by Led Zep, it is by Robert Johnson, the master himself. Shame on you!
Here is my heart
Waiting for you
Here is my soul
I eat at chez nous
from “Love Will Find A Way” by Yes (written by Trevor Rabin)
Do you want to be the pillow where I lay my head,
Do you want to be the feathers lying in my bed?
Do you want to be a colour cover magazine;
create a scene.
Every day a little sadder,
A little madder,
Someone get me a ladder.
from “Still You Turn Me On” by ELP (written by Greg Lake, I think)
I agree about the knees/please thing. That rhyme sets my teeth on edge.
In the same vein: I hate it whenever an artist rhymes “fire” and “desire”. The Backstreet Boys and Bruce Springsteen immediately come to mind, but I know there have been many others. I’m no songwriter, but c’mon, try a little harder.
I actually like America, but this classic from “a Horse With No Name” is about the worst line ever.
'Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
Although this misplaced modifier ruins one of the true greats:
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
Neil Young’s “Ohio” of course.
“Rocket ship burnin’ fuel, so fast,
As up into the sky, we blast”
Black Sabbath [presumably written by a 5yo boy]
“At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender, oh yeah [oh no he didn’t!]
And I have met my fate, in quite a sim’lar way
The history book on the shelf
Is kinda repeating itself …”
Abba.
Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas
You know he knows just exactly what the facts is
He ain’t gonna let those two escape justice
He makes his livin’ off of the people’s taxes
You’ve got to include Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die”:
But if this ever-changing world in which we live in
I love the song, but that line makes me cringe. I force myself to hear in which we’re livin’ to make it through the ordeal.
D
Go for rock bands from non-English speaking countries singing in English. One example is Japanese metal act, Loudness.
To wit:
We are the Loudness guy
Feel in the sky
and:
Sing a song and step on dance
several 70’s rock bands’ songs include the lyrics “she kept her motor clean”, or variations thereof, i.e. “he didn’t keep his motor clean”, or what have you.
I hate that. It’s gross.
…and that '50’s classic of bad taste, by Nervous Norvus…"“Transfusion”"
Transfusion…transfusion…
I’m one solid mass of con-tusions
I’m never, never, never gonna speed a-gain…
Put a gallon in me, Allen…
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they fought with expert timing