95 replies to this topic

[al-x]

Hello:

I always liked "Vincent" by Don Mclean and
"Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles for the lyrics.
It was all poetic and made sense and added
to the songs.

As for bad lyrics, I like Stairway but the
"bustle in the hedgerow" and "springclean for
the mayqueen" part always left me puzzled.
"MacArthur Park" also didn't make much sense
about a cake in the rain (wtf?)


Any other examples?



Al...

[Arjan Dirkse]

I love Lou Reed, but Satellite of Love has got to have the stupidest lyrics since the first person decided to put words to music.

[Dave Wallace]

As much as I like Blondie (well, the early stuff, anyway), this was gibberish:



Here are the lyrics:


Toe to toe
Dancing very close
Barely breathing
Almost comatose
Wall to wall
People hypnotised
And they're stepping lightly
Hang each night in Rapture

Back to back
Sacrailiac
Spineless movement
And a wild attack

Face to face
Sadly solitude
And it's finger popping
Twenty-four hour shopping in Rapture

Fab Five Freddie told me everybody's fly
DJ's spinning I said my, my
Flash is fast, Flash is cool
Francois sais pas, Flashe no deux
And you don't stop, sure shot
Go out to the parking lot
And you get in your car and you drive real far
And you drive all night and then you see a light
And it comes right down and lands on the ground
And out comes a man from Mars
And you try to run but he's got a gun
And he shoots you dead and he eats your head
And then you're in the man from Mars
You go out at night, eatin' cars
You eat Cadillacs, Lincolns too
Mercuries and Subarus
And you don't stop, you keep on eatin' cars
Then, when there's no more cars
You go out at night and eat up bars where the people meet
Face to face, dance cheek to cheek
One to one, man to man
Dance toe to toe
Don't move too slow, 'cause the man from Mars
Is through with cars, he's eatin' bars
Yeah, wall to wall, door to door, hall to hall
He's gonna eat 'em all
Rapture, be pure
Take a tour, through the sewer
Don't strain your brain, paint a train
You'll be singin' in the rain
I said don't stop, do punk rock

Well now you see what you wanna be
Just have your party on TV
'Cause the man from Mars won't eat up bars when the TV's on
And now he's gone back up to space
Where he won't have a hassle with the human race
And you hip-hop, and you don't stop
Just blast off, sure shot
'Cause the man from Mars stopped eatin' cars and eatin' bars
And now he only eats guitars, get up!

[Adam Balson]

Depends what you mean by bad lyrics, Al. I mean, Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up' makes logical sense; he's going to smack his bitch up. But they aren't great lyrics.
But Tom Wait's 'Going Out West' has lines like 'Little brown sausages lying in the sand. I ain't no extra baby, I'm a leading man' and it's an awesome song.

Johnny Cash has great lyrics and usually a narrative to his songs like 'I Hung My Head', 'When The Man Comes Around' and 'God's Gonna Cut You Down'.

Eric Clapton's lyrics in 'Wonderful Tonight' and 'Tears In Heaven' are simple but very moving especially with one being about his son.
And I actually quite like Ed Sheeran's new song about a baby being born. I'm usually not into his stuff but after having it in my ear constantly due to the radio at my work and paying attention to the lyrics it turns out it's a really sweet song.

And of course there's Bohemian Rhapsody. It makes no sense yet somehow has a story running through it and is god-damn amazing.

[brucegray666]

Adam, I was getting ready to slap the shit out of you when I saw you mentioning Tom Waits in a thread about bad lyrics but, reading your post properly, I can see you're being positive, so you shall remain un-slapped.

[Arjan Dirkse]

<p>As for Tom Waits I think &quot;Big in Japan&quot; has some of the greatest lyrics:



<strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Big In Japan</strong>

&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: left">



<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I got the style but not the grace

I got the clothes but not the face

I got the bread but not the butter

I got the winda but not the shutter


But I&#39;m big in Japan I&#39;m big in Japan But heh I&#39;m big in Japan


I got the house but not the deed

I got the horn but not the reed

I got the cards but not the luck

I got the wheel but not the truck


But heh I&#39;m big in Japan I&#39;m big in Japan I&#39;m big in Japan


I got the moon I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation

On its knees I got the rooster I got the crow

I got the ebb I got the flow


I got the powder but not the gun

I got the dog but not the bun

I got the clouds but not the sky

I got the stripes but not the tie


But heh I&#39;m big in Japan I&#39;m big in Japan I&#39;m big in Japan


Heh ho they love the way I do it

Heh ho there&#39;s really nothing to it


I got the moon I got the cheese

I got the whole damn nation on their knees

I got the rooster I got the crow

I got the ebb I got the flow


I got the sizzle but not the steak

I got the boat but not the lake

I got the sheets but not the bed

I got the jam but not the bread


But heh I&#39;m big in Japan I&#39;m big in Japan I&#39;m big in Japan

I&#39;m big in Japan, I&#39;m big in Japan</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: left"><iframe width=&quot;420&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; src=&quot;<a class="bbc_url" href="http://www.youtube.c...ed/2SUDZ30_PXg" rel="nofollow external" title="External link">http://www.youtube.c...30_PXg&#34;</a> frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


edit:


emmmmmmm what in the heck happened to my post?

Edited by Arjan Dirkse, 04 July 2012 - 09:53 PM.

[Dave Wallace]

I feel like I'm going to have to bring up Captain Beefheart at some point.

[Mike]

Good vs bad when it comes to lyrics doesn't allow for GOODBAD lyrics, a distinctive category across which Jim Steinman stands like a triumphant colossus.

[Arjan Dirkse]

OK Let's try this again then:

As for Tom Waits, this is one of my favorite songs of his, lyrics-wise:

Big In Japan

I got the style but not the grace
I got the clothes but not the face
I got the bread but not the butter
I got the winda but not the shutter

But I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan But heh I'm big in Japan

I got the house but not the deed
I got the horn but not the reed
I got the cards but not the luck
I got the wheel but not the truck

But heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan

I got the moon I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation
On its knees I got the rooster I got the crow
I got the ebb I got the flow

I got the powder but not the gun
I got the dog but not the bun
I got the clouds but not the sky
I got the stripes but not the tie

But heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan

Heh ho they love the way I do it
Heh ho there's really nothing to it

I got the moon I got the cheese
I got the whole damn nation on their knees
I got the rooster I got the crow
I got the ebb I got the flow

I got the sizzle but not the steak
I got the boat but not the lake
I got the sheets but not the bed
I got the jam but not the bread

But heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan
I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan

[Will Carper]

Some impressive lyrics:

Notorious B.I.G. - "Kick in the Door" (first verse)

Your reign on the top was short like leprechauns
As I crush so-called willies, thugs, and rapper-dons
Get in that ass, quick fast, like ramadan
Its that rap phenomenon Don Dada, fuck Poppa
You got ta, call me, Francis M.H. White
in tank-light totes, tote iron
Was told in shootouts, stay low, and keep firin'
Keep extra clips for extra shit
Who's next to flip, on that cat with that grip on rap
The mo shady, "Tell em!", Frankie baby
Ain't no tellin where I may be
May see me in D.C. at Howard Homecomin'
with my man Capone, dumbin', fuckin' somethin'
You should know my steelo
Went from ten G's for blow to thirty G's a show
to orgies with hoes I never seen befo'
so, Jesus, get off the Notorious
penis, before I squeeze and bust
If the beef between us, we can settle it
With the chrome and metal shit
I make it hot, like a kettle get
You're delicate, you better get, who sent ya?
You still pedal shit, I got more rides than Great Adventure
Biggie, "How are you gonna do it?"

Beck - "Devils Haircut"

Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading
And everywhere I look
There's a dead end waiting
Temperature's dropping at the rotten oasis
Stealing kisses from the leperous faces

Heads are hanging from the garbage man trees
Mouthwash jukebox gasoline
Crystals are pointing
At a poor man's pockets
Smiling eyes ripping out of his sockets

Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind

Love machines on the sympathy crutches
Discount orgies on the dropout buses
Hitching a ride with the bleeding noses
Coming to town with the brief case blues

Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind

Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading
Ghetto-blasting disintegrating
Rock 'n' roll, know what I'm saying
And everywhere I look
There's a devil waiting

Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind

Devil's haircut! In my mind!
Devil's haircut! In my mind!
Devil's haircut! In my mind!

Edited by Will Carper, 04 July 2012 - 10:14 PM.

[Dave Wallace]

Obie Trice's "Adrenaline Rush" (from the 8 Mile soundtrack) contains the cracker: "I cook up the hot shit like Ainsley Harriott".

[Will Carper]

One more:

Mos Def - "Mathematics" (second verse)

Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story
Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory
Four MC's murdered in the last four years
I ain't tryin to be the fifth one, the millenium is here
Yo it's 6 Million Ways to Die, from the seven deadly thrills
Eight-year olds gettin found with 9 mill's
It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal
He on the hill puffin krill to keep they belly filled
Light in the ass with heavy steel, sights on the pretty shit in life
Young soldiers tryin to earn they next stripe
When the average minimum wage is $5.15
You best believe you gotta find a new ground to get cream
The white unemployment rate, is nearly more than triple for black
so frontliners got they gun in your back
Bubblin crack, jewel theft and robbery to combat poverty
and end up in the global jail economy
Stiffer stipulations attached to each sentence
Budget cutbacks but increased police presence
And even if you get out of prison still livin
join the other five million under state supervision
This is business, no faces just lines and statistics
from your phone, your zip code, to S-S-I digits
The system break man child and women into figures
Two columns for who is, and who ain't n***az
Numbers is hardly real and they never have feelings
but you push too hard, even numbers got limits
Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's the secret:
the million other straws underneath it - it's all mathematics

[Adam Balson]

Adam, I was getting ready to slap the shit out of you when I saw you mentioning Tom Waits in a thread about bad lyrics but, reading your post properly, I can see you're being positive, so you shall remain un-slapped.

How could I not love Tom Waits? I mean, he knows karate, voodoo too and even looks good without a shirt on.

[Robert B]

Did somebody say up there sy the lyrics to "Satellite of Love" were stupid? Oh no. It's a beautiful song about helplessly watching someone you love travel further and further out of your orbit. That song will break your heart.

[Ogul]

Anything by Taylor Swift.

[Arjan Dirkse]

Did somebody say up there sy the lyrics to "Satellite of Love" were stupid? Oh no. It's a beautiful song about helplessly watching someone you love travel further and further out of your orbit. That song will break your heart.

MMm, well now that you say that I guess that makes sense, so thanks for that. Muscially I think it's a beautiful song, like I said I love Lou Reed, but the lyrics went completely by me.

[HowardAshton]

"Slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball" ... what?

[David Meadows]

This writer, he was going on about the lyrics to "Champagne Supernova", and he actually said to me: ‘You know, the one thing that’s stopping it being a classic is the ridiculous lyrics.’ And I went: ‘What do you mean by that?’ And he said: ‘Well, Slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball — what’s that mean?’ And I went: ‘I don’t fucking know. But are you telling me, when you’ve got 60,000 people singing it, they don’t know what it means? It means something different to every one of them.’

Or alternatively:

But some of the words are about nothing. One is about Bracket The Butler who used to be on Camberwick Green, or Chipley or Trumpton or something. He used to take about 20 minutes to go down the hall. And then I couldn't think of anything that rhymed with 'hall' apart from 'cannonball'. so I wrote 'Slowly walking down the hall/ Faster than a cannonball' and people were like, 'Wow, f , man'.

[Miqque Loveland]

I feel like I'm going to have to bring up Captain Beefheart at some point.

My friend and co-worker Jeff played on two Beefheart albums. Saw a show in Hollywood. Very atonal.

---

I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan and consider him the Poet Laureate of the 20th Century.

I need not say more.

[HowardAshton]

I think it means Noel takes too many drugs to be comprehensible. But I think I do get his drift, vivid memories singing along to that song with untold thousands of other strangers, staring up at Oasis on stage are what come to mind whenever I hear that song.