# You're a vegetable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061 "2019-04-05T00:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/1 "2019-04-05T00:33:49Z")
Heard MJ’s song _You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’_ on the radio today. I always assumed that I was misunderstanding the lyrics, and finally looked it up. Sure enough: > [@](#): > > You’re a vegetable, you’re a vegetable > Still they hate you, you’re a vegetable > You’re just a buffet, you’re a vegetable > They eat off of you, you’re a vegetable Any clue as to what this is supposed to mean? It sure beets me and that’s no chive. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/2 "2019-04-05T00:38:07Z")
Lettuce think about that for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/3 "2019-04-05T00:40:29Z")
I don’t think MJ ever leeked what those lyrics meant. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/4 "2019-04-05T00:59:20Z")
Call any vegetable. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ISx3kOxo7JU/hqdefault.jpg "Aynsley Dunbar - Call Any Vegetable - The Last Great Mothers of Invention Band pt1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISx3kOxo7JU) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/5 "2019-04-05T01:08:37Z")
Did he write it before or after “Beet It?” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/6 "2019-04-05T01:18:41Z")
If enough people post, the answer might turnip. But if he were trying to keep it secret, the answer would have leeked by now. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/7 "2019-04-05T01:27:34Z")
I’ll think about it tamale. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/8 "2019-04-05T01:34:51Z")
It’s about his early career in a hip hop group. He was a rap scallion. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/9 "2019-04-05T01:35:19Z")
> **[Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson - Songfacts](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/michael-jackson/wanna-be-startin-somethin)** > > Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position > [@](#): > > Jackson wrote this song, which can be interpreted as an angry attack on the tabloid press and others who hounded him. A struggle with fame and being misunderstood were common themes for Jackson, and in this song he lashes out at those who take advantage of him: “They eat off of you, you’re a vegetable.” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/10 "2019-04-05T01:53:05Z")
You know, a lot of people dont bother about their friends in the vegetable kingdom. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Call any vegetable. > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISx3kOxo7JU](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISx3kOxo7JU) With the great Flo & Eddie on lead vocals! I love the version on _Just Another Band From LA_. (by the way, where can I go to get my jeans embroidered in Fullerton?) ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/11 "2019-04-05T01:59:44Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Heard MJ’s song _You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’_ on the radio today. I always assumed that I was misunderstanding the lyrics, and finally looked it up. Sure enough: > > Any clue as to what this is supposed to mean? It sure beets me and that’s no chive. Maybe it represents some sort of ap-peas-ement, which will undoubtedly be squash-ed and s-corn-ed. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/12 "2019-04-05T02:11:00Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You’re a vegetable, you’re a vegetable > Still they hate you, you’re a vegetable > You’re just a buffet, you’re a vegetable > They eat off of you, you’re a vegetable Could he have been writing about his break up with his wife, Lisa Marie Parsley? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/13 "2019-04-05T15:03:32Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Could he have been writing about his break up with his wife, Lisa Marie Parsley? :D:D:D:D:D for the win. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/14 "2019-04-05T16:44:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > It’s about his early career in a hip hop group. > > He was a rap scallion. But his day job was cleaning pots and pans in the palace kitchens, where he was known as the rap scullion. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/15 "2019-04-05T17:06:14Z")
My old roommate was convinced that the lines at the end of the song – “Mama-say mama-sah ma-ma-coo-sah” – were actually “I’ve been saved by the sound of mambo sauce.” I’m betting that mambo sauce would go well on those vegetables. 😃 ---
**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:** [April 5, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/16 "2019-04-05T17:21:10Z")
If only he were still with us, so we could pepper him with questions! ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/17 "2019-04-05T18:19:35Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > If only he were still with us, so we could pepper him with questions! I’m sure he wouldn’t carrot all ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/18 "2019-04-05T19:32:06Z")
Mambo Sauce does sound delicious. In a New Orleans kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/19 "2019-04-05T19:33:09Z")
And all this time I thought he said “You’re a vegetable, your a vegetable-ah. In the '80s, your a vegetable.” I’ve been hearing wrong all my life. There should be a name for this phenomenon. . . ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-vegetable/832061/20 "2019-04-05T19:36:55Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Mambo Sauce does sound delicious. In a New Orleans kind of way. As it turns out, [it’s a real thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbo_sauce) (it’s a style of sweet barbecue sauce, and is also known as “Mumbo Sauce”), and is popular in and around D.C. There’s even [a band which named itself after it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mambo_Sauce_(band)); I really hope that they do a cover version of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.” 😃