# Worst rock&roll lyrics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918 "2004-04-19T23:21:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/121 "2004-04-22T18:19:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You that said?" What’s wrong with the schools in Kansas? “You who said” would be much better Try singing “You who said…” Sounds sillier than the allegedly gramatically inferior version. Besides, why do so many folks seem to think a song is stupid based on its failure to conform to rules of grammar? I am not suggesting that people are not entitled to dislike certain songs. You do not like it? Fine. You think it is stupid? Fine. But to say that it is stupid \*\*because \*\* the artist failed to adhere to the rules of grammar is wierd. To imply that grammar is the measure of stupidity is just strange. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/122 "2004-04-22T18:27:06Z")
> [@doomraisin](#): > > _But if this ever-changing world in which we live in…_ > > Preposition problems there, Mr. McCartney? I used to cringe at that one, too, until someone told me that he’s actually saying: “But if this ever-changing world in which \*we’re livin’ \* . . .” I don’t have the album or the official lyrics, but it certainly makes more sense that way, so I’m giving Sir Paul the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/123 "2004-04-22T19:24:21Z")
> [@Thingol](#): > > maybe your sheets would be soaking wet, too, if > _Someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull > and cut a six-inch valley through the middle of [your] soul._ Someone cuts a valley in my soul, first thing I’m doing is measuring that mother! > [@Thingol](#): > > _Been turned around till I’m upside down. > Been all at sea until I’ve drowned. > And I’ve felt torture, I’ve felt pain, > Just like that film with Michael Caine._ > > Btw, IMDB lists [117 films w/ Michael Caine](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000323/#actor). 117 Michael Caine flicks? You gotta admit, that’s a _lot_ of pain! All I have to say right now is… _Baby, I’m a want you._ Nuff said. (Where’s my vomit smiley?) ---
**Author:** ![doomraisin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/124 "2004-04-22T20:38:38Z")
> [@Winston Bongo](#): > > I used to cringe at that one, too, until someone told me that he’s actually saying: > > “But if this ever-changing world in which we’re livin’ . . .” Wow! That never, ever crossed my mind. A quick Google reveals that you’re probably right, although a few of those lyric websites appear to have misheard it like I did. Man, I wish someone had told me that a long time ago. Could’ve saved about a quarter-century’s worth of cringing. > [@askeptic](#): > > Try singing “You who said…” Sounds sillier than the allegedly gramatically inferior version. Besides, why do so many folks seem to think a song is stupid based on its failure to conform to rules of grammar? Naw, I don’t think “you who said” is particularly awkward to sing. Sure, lots of songs use very informal grammar. Colloquialisms abound - it adds to the earthy, folksy feel of the song. This is not one of those cases. It’s pretty easy to tell when the lyric writer just didn’t know any better. > [@askeptic](#): > > To imply that grammar is the measure of stupidity is just strange. Not **the** measure. \*\*A \*\*measure. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/125 "2004-04-22T21:06:41Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase_ > 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 This one isn’t so bad. While it’s absolutely horrible modern English, it’s perfectly acceptable middle English. Change the spelling and pronunciation, and you have a line that Chaucer (theoretically) could have written. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/126 "2004-04-22T21:10:00Z")
**doomraisin** , I can’t believe you brought up the Foreigner song without mentioning the worst part of it \* It feels like the first time Like it never did before\* One of my many least favorite songs is Danger Zone Kenny went through the danger zone, out into the danger zone because he’s gonna take a ride into the danger zone. Or so I gather, and gather and gather. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/127 "2004-04-22T21:36:10Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > However, Billy Joel has said in interviews that the song was written while he was playing piano in a piano bar (makes sense, eh?) in California, while hiding to get out of a horrible contract. > > According to Joel, everyone mentioned in the song is a real person. And he said that there really WAS a guy named Davey, how was a career Navy man. [And a real estate agent named Paul who always claimed to be writing the Great American Novel](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4776383&postcount=49). Do try to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![doomraisin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/128 "2004-04-22T21:42:29Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > **doomraisin** , I can’t believe you brought up the Foreigner song without mentioning the worst part of it > \* > It feels like the first time > Like it never did before\* > > One of my many least favorite songs is Danger Zone > > Kenny went through the danger zone, out into the danger zone because he’s gonna take a ride into the danger zone. Or so I gather, and gather and gather. Yes! And please, what does that _mean_? “Like it never did before.” I don’t even have the slightest idea what he could be talking about. He just said “it” feels like the first time. So it **does** feel like it did before - it feels _like the first time._ Man. I didn’t want to quote too much of the song because I think there’s some copyright issue involved when you post lyrics in their entirety. But it really is a classic, classic example of inane lyrics-by-numbers. I wholeheartedly agree on “Danger Zone.” If anyone wants an explanation, in a nutshell, why I hated lots of eighties rock, all I’d have to do is make them listen to that. Dreadful. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/129 "2004-04-22T22:26:09Z")
Well I’ll toss in a few bad lyrical bits - “Tears are runnin’ down your breast, And your friends baby, they treat you like a guest.” -Jefferson Airplane “There is a rose, In a fisted glove. And if you can’t be, With the one you love, Love the one you’re with.” -Stephen Stills “Water dissolvin’, And water overflowin’. There is water, At the bottom of the ocean.” -Talking Heads And someone else mentioned “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon, but unfathomably left out the infamously bad lines - “I had some dreams, They were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee,” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/130 "2004-04-22T22:57:18Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > “There is a rose, > In a fisted glove. > And if you can’t be, > With the one you love, > Love the one you’re with.” > -Stephen Stills You forgot that brilliant line of imagery: “And the eagle flyin’ with the dove” ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/131 "2004-04-22T23:17:54Z")
I did see a Bon Jovi mention up above somewhere, but I can’t believe no one cited another Bon Jovi song (at least I think it was them): _I’m a cowboy. On a steel horse I ride._ Uhhh, OK, guys. Whatever you say. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/132 "2004-04-22T23:21:59Z")
**Mr. Blue Sky** , I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned Mr. Lynn here, the author of lines like: _You’re sailing softly through the sun In a broken Stone age dawn you fly, so high_ ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/133 "2004-04-22T23:25:53Z")
> [@LMM](#): > > I did see a Bon Jovi mention up above somewhere, but I can’t believe no one cited another Bon Jovi song (at least I think it was them): > > _I’m a cowboy. On a steel horse I ride._ See post #109. But for my money, deep-fried chicken the worst line in that tune has got to be: _I’ve seen a million faces And I’ve rocked them all_ Someone get me a ladder! ---
**Author:** ![RindaRinda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@RindaRinda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RindaRinda)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/134 "2004-04-23T00:25:23Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > (snip) the worst line in that tune has got to be: > > _I’ve seen a million faces > And I’ve rocked them all_ > > Someone get me a ladder! I can’t believe I forgot that. I really am surprised that “face-rocking” didn’t catch on like “head-banging.” Oh, how heavy metal has enriched our civilization. How about _Shot through the heart And you’re to blame You give love a bad name_ ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/135 "2004-04-23T00:49:29Z")
_A sound that flows into my mind The echoes of the daylight Of everything that is alive._ (My Blue World) _Hit some gold too hot to settle down._ (Evil Woman) _Breakdown on the shorline. Can’t move, it’s an ebbtide. Morning don’t get here tonight, searching for her silver light._ (Can’t Get It Out of My Head) Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a frost outside, so I have to go make sure my pony’s not kicking down his stall. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/136 "2004-04-23T01:02:42Z")
> [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > _A sound that flows into my mind > The echoes of the daylight > Of everything that is alive._ > (My Blue World) That’s “Turn to Stone”. Although the next line IS “In my blue world”. Jeff had a thing for the color blue. It was the team color of his favourite football team. [useless trivia mode on] _Out of the Blue_ was to have been called _Out of This World_, but their last album was called _A New World Record_ and Jeff didn’t want to confuse anyone. [useless trivia mode off] ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/137 "2004-04-23T02:12:23Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > That’s “Turn to Stone”. Although the next line IS “In my blue world”. Yikes!!! I guess now I have to admit that I was actually listening to it while writing that post. :o Thence the error, I suppose. Misspelt his name above, too. ☹ I make fun of his lyrics, but gotta admit I love the music. Heard them on the radio all the time, of course, and an older brother had the early records. Then got hooked on a friend’s copy of Eldorado. Practically wore out the Out of the Blue lp, which my brother bought, playing it on a crappy phono. Certain tracks from Discovery were party favorites. Abovementioned friend borrowed my copy of Time and never gave it back, damn him. And remember, the music is reversible, like time! ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/138 "2004-04-23T04:14:09Z")
> [@doomraisin](#): > > > [@Winston Bongo](#): > > > > > [@doomraisin](#): > > > > > > But if this ever-changing world in which we live in… > > > > > > Preposition problems there, Mr. McCartney? > > > > I used to cringe at that one, too, until someone told me that he’s actually saying: > > > > “But if this ever-changing world in which we’re livin’ . . .” > > I don’t have the album or the official lyrics, but it certainly makes more sense that way, so I’m giving Sir Paul the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Wow! That never, ever crossed my mind. A quick Google reveals that you’re probably right, although a few of those lyric websites appear to have misheard it like I did. Man, I wish someone had told me that a long time ago. Could’ve saved about a quarter-century’s worth of cringing… I’m quite certain that “in which we live in” is the official line. As much as I want to hear the grammatically correct _in which we’re livin’_, and try to force myself to hear it that way to ease the pain, you can still clearly hear _we_, not _we’re_, and the _live_ and _in_ seem so clearly pronounced as if they’re separate words, and I just think make it stop, _make it stop!!!_ D ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/139 "2004-04-23T04:18:08Z")
Dropping r’s in songs has always been common, and I think it’s easy to confuse livin’ and live in. I don’t give Paul credit for a lot of things, but maybe he did it right here. Someone should slow down the song so it can be better analyzed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-rock-roll-lyrics/240918/140 "2004-04-23T04:33:05Z")
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