Songs that you dont like the lyrics

[hippiebob01]

I do enjoy the tones Steve Miller got on Jet Airliner and Rockin Me Baby. It's got that crispy guitar sound like Neo said.

[NeoFauve]

Whoo isn't a good song sound. In fact the mere appearance of one can destroy what would otherwise be a decent, or at least adequate song.

"Please allow me to introduce myself..."

[hippiebob01]

I'm wondering about the confederate flag behind them...

[Wilko]

I just heard a song on the way to work that has some pretty lame lyrics:

I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.

(Please tell me I heard it wrong...)

[Kap'n]

I just heard a song on the way to work that has some pretty lame lyrics:

I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.
I've got a devil's haircut in my mind.

(Please tell me I heard it wrong...)

I like that one. The lyrics work well with Beck's cut-and-paste aestheric.

[Gravity Jim]

I just moved "Devil's Haircut" into my iTunes this morning!

[cdw2000]

My Sharona by The Knack. How this got so high in the charts, I'll never know. Talking about begging and whining:

Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one.
When you gonna give me some time, Sharona?
Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run.
Gun it comin' off the line Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up.
Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona...

Come a little closer huh, ah will ya huh.
Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona.
Keeping it a mystery gets to me
Running down the length of my thighs, Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up. Such a dirty mind.
Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona...

When you gonna give it to me, give it to me.
It is just a matter of time Sharona
Is it just destiny, destiny?
Or is it just a game in my mind, Sharona?
Never gonna stop, give it up.
Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona...

[Wilko]

I like that one. The lyrics work well with Beck's cut-and-paste aestheric.

For the record:
I love almost all music. Even if the lyrics are inane, assonant, or just plain silly. In many cases, that's the point.

A couple fair pop tunes about that very thing--Silly Love Songs and Dedoo do do, deDa da da.

I agree, Beck has done a whole lot with an awesome minimalist sense.

"Two turntables and a microphone"

[NeoFauve]

Some great pop tunes may not stand up as readable poetry. But in the context of their radio moment, they're thrilling.

Sometimes lyrics are just something thrown together with that riff that should be and needs to be worth millions.

[Kap'n]

For the record:
I love almost all music. Even if the lyrics are inane, assonant, or just plain silly. In many cases, that's the point.

It's just when a song wants to say something profound, or even intelligent, and doesn't.

Like Thin Lizzy, or Deep Purple.

Other stuff only makes sense if you know the context. Neil Young's album Re*Ac*Tor is like this. The theme of the album is the serentity prayer, which is written in Latin on the cover. And it's filled with several examples of people in situations they can't change. But there's a couple of songs that are extremely simple on them, like T-Bone:

Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Ain't got no T-bone
Ain't got no T-bone
etc.

Which is a reflection of the 'patterning' regimen he was doing at the time to try to help his young autistic son. Something that was pretty much a secret from everybody, including the bandmembers at the time.

[refin]

(1) Me And You And A Dog Named Boo-----Lobo

(2)Seasons In The Sun-----Terry Jacks

(3)Crazy Train

(4) Horse With No Name

[boobtube21]

Whoo isn't a good song sound. In fact the mere appearance of one can destroy what would otherwise be a decent, or at least adequate song.

What about this one? In this case it made the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JATWw...eature=related

For me the worst lyrics are ones that are trying to be profound but just sound awkward. As previously mentioned I like bad lyrics if they're done right. Beck usually nails it.

"She dangles carrots, makes you feel embarrassed."

[Kap'n]

What about this one? In this case it made the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JATWw...eature=related

You're right, it made the song what it is.

I still stick by my original comment.

[hippiebob01]

"She's Electric" by Oasis

She's got a sister
And god only knows how I've missed her
On the palm of her hand is a blister

She's got a brother
We don't get on with one another
But I quite fancy her mother
And I think that she likes me
She's got a cousin
In fact she's got 'bout a dozen
She's got one in the oven
But it's nothing to do with me

[boobtube21]

hippiebob, you missed the worst part:

I'll be you, and you'll be me
there's lots and lots for us to see
there's lots and lots for us to do
If she is electric, can I be electric too?

Gah!

Update on woo-hoos:

My wife thought of another one, and it's a doozy. So, Blur=good woo-hoos, this=bad woo-hoos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMUOg7BebKE

[Wilko]

I'll see that Whoo Hoo and raise you one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIO2qpSsUTA

[Fripperton]

Any song wherein I learn that Rock and Roll is going to soothe my soul.

[boobtube21]

What about getting lost in Rock and Roll and drifting away?

That one (the early 2000's remake) got played about 3 times at our wedding reception. Why? I don't know, I don't remember anyone requesting it.

FWIW, the best song played at our reception was our first dance song, Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over". Which, speaking of lyrics, we didn't know was a breakup song till after the wedding.

[jerryjg]

Hey there Delilah
What's it like in New York City?
I'm a thousand miles away
But girl tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Time Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true

Hey there Delilah
Don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice it's my disguise
I'm by your side

Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me

[Gravity Jim]

What about getting lost in Rock and Roll and drifting away?

Aw, no, dude, that's a great lyric.

"Day after day I'm more confused.
Still I look for the light through the pouring rain."

Yeah, it's flat-footed, simple, but not bad.

[Kap'n]

I was never a lyric guy when I was a kid, but these always struck me as dumb.

Late nights crying by the record machine
Dreamin' 'bout my Chevy and my old blue jeans

So, one of my first 'lyric modifications' was

Late nights crying by the record machine
Dreamin' 'bout my Chevy and my aubergine

What can I say, I had European parents.

I still think it's better.

[Rickenjangle]

Aw, no, dude, that's a great lyric.

"Day after day I'm more confused.
Still I look for the light through the pouring rain."

Yeah, it's flat-footed, simple, but not bad.

Yup, I couldn't agree more. Sometimes simple IS good. And clear and direct IS the best. Sometimes you get lost in the metaphor instead of getting lost in the 'rock 'n' roll' if you catch my meaning.

As far as Horse With No Name, I think that lyric gets short shrift because its kind of stream-of-consciousness flow seems thrown together - but there are all kinds of metaphors in there that bear scrutiny. My favorite (in this song?) : "The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and the perfect disguise above." I just love that.
Plus all the contrasting images like that of the bone-dry riverbed and the ocean.

[Kap'n]

I still think that after three days in the desert, he could have come up with a name for the horse.

[NeoFauve]

There's something plain wrong about setting out across a desert on an unnamed horse.

[Kap'n]

I thought that it was a grated papaya.

Not that it makes any more sense.

[Rickenjangle]

I thought that it was a grated papaya.

Not that it makes any more sense.

A crate of papaya makes sense...I think

Hey, the Horse With No Name was supposed to be heroin, yes? No? Maybe?

Here's a little gem I came across when I was listening through some old mp3's I discovered on some old backup discs...

J Geils Band:

Now some people think the world is what it ain't
To some I'm a sinner, to others a saint
Some folks say the world ain't what it is
All I know is I just got to take a whiz


Yup. You guessed it. Lyrics from Piss On The Wall...funny, when I was 13, I thought this song was the apotheosis of witty songwriting.

[jerryjg]

"Horse with no Name" Re; "alligator lizards in the air"

..but they don't fly.

[boobtube21]

Aw, no, dude, that's a great lyric.

"Day after day I'm more confused.
Still I look for the light through the pouring rain."

Yeah, it's flat-footed, simple, but not bad.

Hey, I wasn't really picking on it! Frip's post just reminded me of it. That's actually the only line I know.

I like "Horse With No Name" too. "Stream of Consciousness" is a good way to describe it, I like that about it too.

[Kap'n]

For sheer, gut-wrenching dreck, you can't beat Playground in my Mind, which I'll spare you all from posting here.

However, I think stuff like that falls into a category of it's own. Sort of like the art of C. M. Coolidge, and Margaret Keane.

[Gravity Jim]

Yep, tunes like "Playground In My Mind" come under the same aesthetic heading as Keane Kids: kitsch. They barely qualify as songs at all... they're to songwriting as doggerel is to poetry.