JCC The worst words in song lyrics

“Young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl”

uhhh

yeah.

 

Yeah, basically any usage of the word "young" in a song about romantic or sexual attraction just feels weird now. Dylan's Forever Young is okay because I don't think of that as a romantic song.

And, as I mentioned once before when discussing George Michael's Father Figure, one of the creepiest songs ever recorded, the word "tiny" should never be used in lyrics when discussing a romantic or sexual partner, ie. "put your tiny hand in mine." That's . . . distressing. To use Dylan as an example again, "she breaks just like a little girl." Like, dude. Problematic as it is, but then you got to put "little" in there? Why? Why's it got to be a "little" girl? Come on.

A lot of songs have, ironically, aged poorly because of this fixation on women being young and/or physically small.

 

I hate it when they use curse words. That is pretty bad.

 

Working too hard can give you a heart attack ack ack ack

Traded in the Chevy for a Cadillac ac ac ac ac

 

"Tie him screaming to a railroad track."
"Roast him gently so the flames won't hurt."

From the opening song of the original Pete's Dragon, a G-rated movie.

 

Gloooo-o-o-ooooo-o-o-oooo-o-o-ooooo-o-o-ooooria

 

Yeah. And as much as I like Bruce Springsteen, I'm done with his "daddy" songs. Daddy as in older boyfriend or husband rather than literal father.

Hey little girl, is your daddy home?
Did he go away and leave you all alone? Mhmm
I got a bad desire
Oh oh oh, I'm on fire

Tell me now, baby, is he good to you?
And can he do to you the things that I do? Oh no
I can take you higher
Oh oh oh, I'm on fire

 

~ If the light is off, then it isn't on

"So Yesterday" by Hilary Duff

Iconic.

 

I don't like it when a songwriter takes a familiar phrase and flips it. It usually feels like they're trying to be clever and I almost always find it intrusive. For example: "tonic & gin" in Piano Man and "broncin' buck" in American Pie. I'm sure I could think of some that I like if I took the time, but nothing is coming to mind.

 

Both were done for rhyming purposes, which makes them particularly grating. It's just bad rhyme.

 

Ironic

 

Bad rhymes are more grating than bad words to me (first example that pops in my head: “Bow down before the one you serve / You’re going to get what you deserve”)

But yeah, in terms of specific words I dislike, the “little girl” stuff is particularly creepy to me.

I also dislike curse words—too juvenile— and religious claptrap.

Fortunately, the majority of the music I listen to these days is instrumental. So I don’t suffer all that much.

 

Roxette's "she's so vulnerable, oh so vulnerable"

....and "Tequila" of course

 

And I'm looking in the mirror all the time, wonderin' what she don't see in me.

I wanna tell her that I love her but the point is probably moot.

 

The exception for me with the word "girl" is if the artists are themselves still teenagers. Then I think it's ok. Also 'My Girl' is still a good song, so.... yeah, conflicted on that one.

 

1)
"Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night"

2)
"All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again"

3)
"We got to install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We got to move these refrigerators
We got to move these color TVs"

My Girl is a really good song. I would also say the same about Rich Girl, Brown Eyed Girl, California Girls, and Girls Just Want to Have Fun to name a few.

 

But I'm in so deep
You know I'm such a fool for you
You got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger?
Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?

The first song to steal from the famous bathroom stall graffiti poem: Here I Sit all Broken-hearted

 

“You’re so vain you probably think this song is about you.”

The person in question may be vain but they would be correct in assuming the song is about them, so I’m not sure what the point is here.

 

I think that's a fantastic lyric actually. How often do you hear a fourth-wall breaking song?

And the person who it is about will never know for sure if the song is about them, so it's wonderfully ambivalent. It could be about anyone.

 

Once upon a time I was falling in love but now I'm only falling apart. Nothing I can do a total eclipse of the heart.
Just kidding; that's fantastic.

 

“But what would you say
If I took those words away”

They’d say “mmfffgmmmm, ggggmmffmmbblllmnn,” that’s what.

 

"Lovely lady lumps"