The "awful lyrics that should never be used again" thread

[dikledoux]

"...like the stars above" is my all time reverse-favorite just cuz it's a personal inside joke thing. There's this one that I heard on a Lenny Kravitz song yesterday:

"...you're so fine... you blow my mind". And doesn't he even use the dreaded "...wanna fly... in the sky" on some other song? Where the fuck else is he gonna fly?

There's gotta be enough of them to start a encyclopedia of the lines that'll send you to rock n roll hell.

Whatcha got?

dik

[Droolbucket]

Any lyric that rhymes "heart" with "right from the start".

I even hate all my own songs that use that particular phrase.:lol:

Droolbucket

[PRobb]

No more rhyming "change" with "rearrange". Or "waiting" with "anticipating".

[clicktrack]

Baccardi and Party.

Let that rhyme rest in peace. Please?

[gabby garcia]

and please never sing about your "need for speed" or 'love from above". ever

[CurtZHP]

"...a love like no other....."

As if you're going to tell your woman they she reminds you of your last girlfriend. :Roll eyes:



Any song with the phrase "Ooooh baby!"

[Johnny]

Substituting "love" for "fuck."

[Droolbucket]

Substituting "love" for "fuck."

Sitting here chuckling to myself as I mentally rewrite the entire Beatles catalog substituting "fuck" for "love".:lol:

Droolbucket

All you need is fuck.

[volthause]

SHE FUCKS YOU YEAH, YEAH, YEAH
SHE FUCKS YOU YEAH, YEAH, YEAH

AND WITH A FUCK LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD BE GLAD.

thanks.

thanks a whole fucking lot.

[CurtZHP]

Then there's the use of "rock" as a substitute.....

If she were to rock me all night long, I'd probably fall asleep.

Then again, if she were to "rock" me all night long, I'd probably still fall asleep afterwards. I'd just be really sore in the morning.

:lol:

[jerryskid]

rhyming "alone" and "telephone".....of course what else are you gonna rhyme with it.......


fuck, fuck me do
You know I fuck you
I'll always be true
So please fuck me do
Wo ho fuck me do

Someone to fuck
Somebody new
Someone to fuck
Someone like you

that just isn't right.........

[jerryskid]

rhyming "orange" with.........















with......















nevermind......

[Comte de St Germain]

rhyming "orange" with.........

...

Tongue.

"all alone at night, I spend alone." --Janet Jackson, black Cat.

You'd think the producer wouldv'e caught it.


Oh, and can we sing about another night than Saturday?

[Grapestomper]

Anything with the dreaded "talkin'/walkin'" rhyme.

I think that one was tired by the early 50's.

M

[graveleye]

all cliches asides, what annoys me is the sickening use of non words...

Good Morning Sunshine...


"doobie doo doowop shoobie doo doo dah da la la la la..."

That song makes me physically ill.

[ajcamlet]

"Don't know where i'm going, but i sure know where i've been...."
:Thumbdown:

[Azraphael]

Well, I can't help but contribute some of my all time hated lyrical turns here, which include (but aren't limited to):

Rhyming "rain" with "pain"

Rhyming "pain" with "again"

Rhyming "life" with "wife"

The word "baby" in any sense other than referring to an infant

Any song about "rock n' roll" (i.e. Rockin' Is My Business by The Four Horsemen, Rock N' Roll All Night by Kiss, etc.)

Any song about writing a song

The "no one understands me" sentiment (i.e. most of that emo crap)

A major portion of Soul Asylum's lyrics (i.e. "Standing in the sun with a popsicle / Anything is possible")

Any song about "partying" (i.e. Party Hard by Andrew W.K., I Am A Wild Party by Kim Mitchell, etc.)

Pretty much the entire Bon Jovi catalogue

Cheers,

Dave

[Aardvark]

all cliches asides, what annoys me is the sickening use of non words...

Good Morning Sunshine...


"doobie doo doowop shoobie doo doo dah da la la la la..."

That song makes me physically ill.

I feel the same about "Good Morning Starshine".

Hehehehehe

:Wink:

Gliddy glub gloopy
Nibby nabby noopy
La la la lo lo
Sabba sibby sabba
Nooby abba nabba
Le le lo lo
Tooby ooby walla
Nooby abba naba
Early morning singing song



If Canada were to ever think about re-instating capital punishment something like the above could be persuasive evidence in favour of.



Cheers,
Aardvark




P.S. The best rhyme for Orange is Brador binge. Door hinge is a very distant third.

:Razz:

[Johnny]

Step into my world for a moment...

Far too many "worship songs" I play in Churches are actually songs threatening to worship. "I will worship You," "We will worship You," "We will give You all our worship," stuff like that. God's probably thinking, "Okay. When? The service is almost over."

[CurtZHP]

Step into my world for a moment...

Far too many "worship songs" I play in Churches are actually songs threatening to worship. "I will worship You," "We will worship You," "We will give You all our worship," stuff like that. God's probably thinking, "Okay. When? The service is almost over."



:lol: :lol:

AMEN! PREACH IT, BROTHER!!

P&W music is my all time favorite sacred cow to GORE!




Another thing.....
Lyrics written by wealthy rock stars talking about the trials and tribulations of working for a living.

[blackieC]

:lol: :lol:

AMEN! PREACH IT, BROTHER!!

P&W music is my all time favorite sacred cow to GORE!




Another thing.....
Lyrics written by wealthy rock stars talking about the trials and tribulations of working for a living.

I have often wondered if you told a P&W songwriter that he had to write a song without the words "walk with you" in it, just how long it would take for his head to explode.


And the only thing worse than a rich rock star writing a song about the trials and tribulations of being a working man is a rich rock star writing about the trials and tribulations of being a rich rock star.

[Johnny]

And the only thing worse than a rich rock star writing a song about the trials and tribulations of being a working man is a rich rock star writing about the trials and tribulations of being a rich rock star.

Excepting Joe Walsh, of course.

[jerryskid]

And the only thing worse than a rich rock star writing a song about the trials and tribulations of being a working man is a rich rock star writing about the trials and tribulations of being a rich rock star.

I always hated those "It's so hard being on the road" songs...I always thought...."hey..that's what you do...if you don't like it, get another job!!!"

[binaural turbine]

Excepting Joe Walsh, of course.

absolutely the first thing that came to mind. That song is one of my favorites.

My Maserati does 185
I lost my license, now I don't drive

[Aardvark]

absolutely the first thing that came to mind. That song is one of my favorites.

My Maserati does 185
I lost my license, now I don't drive

I live in hotels,
Tear out the walls
I have accountants
Pay for it all

Frikken Genius.

Guy plays good too.



Cheers,
Aardvark

[Grapestomper]

I live in hotels,
Tear out the walls
I have accountants
Pay for it all

Frikken Genius.

Guy plays good too.



Cheers,
Aardvark



So I got me an office, Gold Records on the wall,
Just leave a message, maybe I'll call

Lucky I'm sane after all I been through,
Everybody says I'm cool, (he's cool.)
I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.
Life's been good to me so far.



Yep, gotta love it.







M

[jerryskid]

"I used to live in Co-lumbus"- what Joe says everytime he plays Vets Memorial...

[PRobb]

Any song with the phrase "Ooooh baby!"
With a special exemption for Smokey Robinson.


And let me join the chorus of people who are sick of listening to million dollar rock stars sing "Oh poor sensitive me" songs about how it sucks to be a musician. If you hate it so much, go wait fucking tables.

[blackieC]

I live in hotels,
Tear out the walls
I have accountants
Pay for it all

Frikken Genius.

Guy plays good too.



Cheers,
Aardvark

Joe Walsh gets a pass because he had a freakin' sense of humor about it. To my impared way of thinking, he was taking a piss on all of those other 70's "oh me, it's so hard to be a rock star" pricks.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes that they had had to carry such a mighty burden.

"Oh no, please love, don't snort another line of blow off me prick before you inhale me love lumber. It's just, you know such a cliche."

Try being a club musician in the post AIDS, late 80's world.

FUUUUUUUCCK YOOOOOUUU.



not that I'm bitter or anything....

[Starfucker]

I.... I hate songs that start with 2 I's, or with "I" the first beat and the rest of the lyrics a few beats later, like that song by ugly kid joe.

I... ... ...hate everything about your sister. or how did that song go?

If you wanna start another song with an "I", better get it over with quickly and cover it up with whatever you have to say.



oh, and

P.S. I fuck you

[Goes211]

Very good. I agree with everything.

Yet I stand accused of every single fucking item listed. :lol:
Oh well. Honing your craft, casting the first stone, he who does nothing risks nothing, etc...

But, as the song goes :

"You'd think that people would have had enough of silly fuck songs
I look around me and I see it isn't so

What's wrong with that
I'd like to know
So here I go again :

I fuck you
I fuck you..."

(c)2006 McCartney/Goes211

[Unfcknblvbl]

...like that song by ugly kid joe.

I... ... ...hate everything about your sister. or how did that song go?



I hate everything about you.

[Johnny]

"I" is just begging for echo, too:

"I
(I)
(I)
don't wanna know your name..."

[magicchord]

Very good. I agree with everything.

Yet I stand accused of every single fucking item listed. :lol:
Oh well. Honing your craft, casting the first stone, he who does nothing risks nothing, etc...

But, as the song goes :

"You'd think that people would have had enough of silly fuck songs
I look around me and I see it isn't so

What's wrong with that
I'd like to know
So here I go again :

I fuck you
I fuck you..."

(c)2006 McCartney/Goes211

You'd think that people would have had enough of silly Paul songs
I look at Billboard and I see it isn't so
(Oh, no)
So what's wrong with that
I like the dough
So here I go
AGAIN!

That's the way I heard it.

[Goes211]

"I" is just begging for echo, too:

"I
(I)
(I)
don't wanna know your name..."

don't tell me I remember the lyrics to 'Fox on the run'.
Please.
:grin:

[Johnny]

Here's the test:

I write "F-foxy." Who comes to mind? Sweet or Jimi?





Wait...that sounds creepy. NTTAWWT.

[jerryskid]

You'd think that people would have had enough of silly Paul songs
I look at Billboard and I see it isn't so
(Oh, no)
So what's wrong with that
I like the dough
So here I go
AGAIN!

That's the way I heard it.



Someones knockin' on the door
Somebody's ringin the bell......


Just answer the fucking door !!!!

[jerryskid]

And....Let's throw in a bunch of prepositions and call it "poetic licence":


And in this ever changing world in which we live in.



:grin:

[Fulcrum]

And in this ever changing world in which we live in.



Now, see, I always thought it was "And in this ever-changing world in which we're living".

Macca does have a bit of an accent y'know. Mind you it is a bit of a clumsy construction, and one I think none of us (including Macca) would ever use in conversation...

... but hell, it had to scan, dinnit?

[Johnny]

"I will not forget, from where it is that I come from."

[st robert]

Now, see, I always thought it was "And in this ever-changing world in which we're living".

...in.

[McAllister]

strange/change
brain/insane
action/satisfaction

any line that I can guess what the next one will be
(I give a pass to the artists who used them before they were cliches)

lazy writing is all it is
life's too short to spend much time on it

M

[magicchord]

NEVER rhyme "miss you" with "kiss you".

[magicchord]

Oh, and it's:

But if this ever-changing world in which we're livin'
Makes you give it a cry
Say Live and Let Die

All in a day's work for the bicycle repairman.

[gabby garcia]

I thought it was "makes you give in and cry"

:Confused:

[J.G.]

I just GOTTA write a tune that rhymes 'turd' with 'absurd'.
Ony THEN, I can rest, fer sured...

; J

[magicchord]

I thought it was "makes you give in and cry"

:Confused:

Whoa! All the lyric sites say give in and cry too.
I've had wax in my ears for 30 years at least.

Don't rhyme years with ears!

Maybe we need a misheard lyrics thread.

[Barish]

You'd think that people would have had enough of silly Paul songs
I look at Billboard and I see it isn't so
(Oh, no)
So what's wrong with that
I like the dough
So here I go
AGAIN!

That's the way I heard it.


AHAHHAHHAHHAHAHHHRRGHHHHHAAAEUOAH....


Ahahhah.



That's too much.



Ah...



B.

[seagate]

And with a single thread you ppl have ruined every single line I've ever written.

Thanks, thanks a lot...

[jerryskid]

Just checked the lyric sheet on "All The Best" by Paul MacCartney and they say:

But in this ever changing world in which we live in
Makes you give in and cry

Thanks for playing our game......what do we have for them Johnny Olsen????

[Fulcrum]

Well, first from Speidel, the latest in ladies' wrist bands... and Rice-A-Roni, The San Francisco Treat...

[magicchord]

Well, first from Speidel, the latest in ladies' wrist bands... and Rice-A-Roni, The San Francisco Treat...

And a selection from the Spiegel Catalog, Chicago 60609...

[Carlo]

My bad is the word cigarette, which, unfortunately resides in half my songs:Roll eyes:

[jerryskid]

cigarette/brunette...


good rhyme
:D

[Aardvark]

cigarette/brunette...


good rhyme
:D



Which reminds me.


You know what Bob Seeger calls the three brunettes who sing back-up for his band?























The Seegerettes.




Hehehehehe




Cheers,
Aardvark

[Fulcrum]

Seegerettes, I scream, figurines of the Virgin Mary...

[PRobb]

My bad is the word cigarette, which, unfortunately resides in half my songs:Roll eyes:
With an exemption for Rufus Wainwright and his wonderful "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk". And possibly Beck for "Nicotine and Gravy".

Hey- we might have a new thread topic: "Disgusting Combinations".

[st robert]

Which reminds me.


You know what Bob Seeger calls the three brunettes who sing back-up for his band?























The Seegerettes.




Hehehehehe




Cheers,
Aardvark

YES!!!!

[nobby]

The word "baby" in any sense other than referring to an infant



Good thing you aren't a fan of Blues, R&B, Soul or Rock. Or at least not the good stuff.

Yeah, baby!

Avoid Hendrix, B.B King, Tina Turner, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

[nobby]

Another thing.....
Lyrics written by wealthy rock stars talking about the trials and tribulations of working for a living.

Roger that. Particularly one's who never had to.

Elton John's "Saturday night is alright for fighting..."

I mean, for fuck sake, Prince could probably kick his ass. Hell, Sinead O'Conner probably could.

[nobby]

Quote:
Originally Posted by binaural turbine
absolutely the first thing that came to mind. That song is one of my favorites.

My Maserati does 185
I lost my license, now I don't drive


I live in hotels,
Tear out the walls
I have accountants
Pay for it all

Frikken Genius.

Guy plays good too.



Cheers,
Aardvark

A great tongue-in-cheek lampooning of the "genre" from someone who's been around a long time and has paid his dues.

Another swipe at it (thanks, Meathead)

Spinal Tap's Hell Hole


The windows dirty the mattress stinks
This ain't no place to be a man
Ain't got no future, ain't got no past
And I don't think I ever can

The floor is filthy the walls are thin
The wind is howling in my face
The rats are peeling, I'm losing ground
Can't seem to join the human race.

Chorus:
Yeah, I'm living in a hell hole
Don't want to stay in this hell hole
Don't want to die in this hell hole
Girl, get me out of this hell hole.

I rode the jetstream, I hit the top
I'm eating steak and lobster tails
The sauna's drafty, the pools too hot
The kitchen stinks of boiling snails.

The taxman's coming, the butler quit
This ain't no way to be a man
I'm going back to where I started
I'm flashing back into my pan.

Chorus:
It's better in a hell hole
You know where you stand in a hell hole
Folks lend a hand in a hell hole
Girl get me back to my hell hole.

[nobby]

NEVER rhyme "miss you" with "kiss you".

Girl, you know I really miss you
You know I never meant to piss you... off

[nobby]

I thought it was "makes you give in and cry"

:Confused:

It's "live in a sty" :Roll eyes:

[robot gigante]

References to Ayn Rand or any other quasi-philosophers.

Especially when accompanied by a octoban solo. :Uh oh:

[MrYankoff]

"away" is my pet peeve word. especially in stupid phrases like "make it go away," "run away," "get away," etc

trent reznor is the WORST with this word

[Fulcrum]

Has anyone ever counted the number of times Phil Collins has used "all of my life" or "make you see" in a lyric of his?

"Make you see" is a pet peeve of mine. Make me see? Make me do anything?

[E. Shaun]

References to Ayn Rand or any other quasi-philosophers.

Especially when accompanied by a octoban solo. :Uh oh:

Not a Rush fan I take it? :lol:

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind...

[jimmyjazz]

A major portion of Soul Asylum's lyrics

And they cut off your wings and replaced them with strings
Now there's strings attached to everything
It's twisted and tangled and troubled with anger
But somehow you still swing


That doesn't suck. Neither does my favorite Soul Asylum line of all

You're in the movies now and I'm in your cartoon

[jerryskid]

And they cut off your wings and replaced them with strings
Now there's strings attached to everything
It's twisted and tangled and troubled with anger
But somehow you still swing


That doesn't suck. Neither does my favorite Soul Asylum line of all

You're in the movies now and I'm in your cartoon


I always liked:

If it's the thought that counts
you can always count on me
I think about it all the time.

From "Close"

[blackieC]

You're in the movies now and I'm in your cartoon


Man, I LOVE "Cartoon".

The whole Hang Time album is brilliant, but I also think that Dave started running out of ideas by the time he got to "Runnaway Train".

[graveleye]

you know, I like this song, so dont throw tomatoes at me yet, but Led Zeppelin gets the award for the most use of the word "many" in a single song...

Hey lady--you got the love I need
Maybe more than enough.
Oh Darling... walk a while with me
You've got so much...

Many have I loved - Many times been bitten
Many times I've gazed along the open road.

Many times I've lied - Many times I've listened
Many times I've wondered how much there is to know.

Many dreams come true and some have silver linings
I live for my dream and a pocketful of gold.

Mellow is the man who knows what he's been missing
Many many men can't see the open road.

Many is a word that only leaves you guessing
Guessing 'bout a thing you really ought to know, ooh!
You really ought to know...

[jimmyjazz]

Man, I LOVE "Cartoon".

The whole Hang Time album is brilliant, but I also think that Dave started running out of ideas by the time he got to "Runnaway Train".

To further your point, "Cartoon" wasn't even written by Dave Pirner. Dan Murphy penned that one.

Man, that band was positively HUGE sounding live. That period from just before Hang Time up until the hits started coming was epic. They changed my life -- literally. I happened on them at CBGB on the Hang Time tour, and they just completely sent me off on a musical tangent from which I've never returned. Because of Soul Asylum, I got into other beautiful hooky guitar bands like the Replacements, which led me to Son Volt and the alt-country movement, which led me to singer-songwriter types. I'd probably still be listening to funk if it weren't for Soul Asylum

[Johnny]

Have we mentioned country songs built around a cliche or poular catch phrase?

[jerryskid]

Have we mentioned country songs built around a cliche or poular catch phrase?


Don't get me started.....

[blackieC]

To further your point, "Cartoon" wasn't even written by Dave Pirner. Dan Murphy penned that one.




Well there you go.

Ditto on the Replacements and the man who's never written a bad lyric, Elvis Costello.

[Droolbucket]

Have we mentioned country songs built around a cliche or poular catch phrase?


You take my breath away....
I don't know what to say...
'Cause you take my breath away!

Rex Smith should've imploded from the vacuum....

Droolbucket

[Azraphael]

Good thing you aren't a fan of Blues, R&B, Soul or Rock. Or at least not the good stuff.

Yeah, baby!

Avoid Hendrix, B.B King, Tina Turner, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

Doesn't change the fact that using the word "baby" is a basic lyrical cop out in my opinion. Sure, I like blues, rock, and some soul & R&B, but there's far more to listen to in music than just the lyrics.

Hell, there's all kinds of bands I listen to (particularly rock bands) whose lyrics are lacking, in my opinion. Eve 6 and the aforementioned Soul Asylum (though, to be fair, I should have specified Grave Dancer's Union and onwards in that example) come to mind.

Essentially, though I used "baby" as the primary example, the same sentiment applies to any lyric that is used not for content, but for the sole purpose of extending a line by x number of syllables.

Blabbering use of "baby", "yeah", "uh-huh", "c'mon", and "hey" are all examples of this. That said, I still think "baby" is the worst offender, because unlinke many of the other examples above, lyricists often tend to use it as though it has some deep, signficant meaning that they alone could come up with.

It's a cop out. A massively overused one at that.

Cheers,

Dave

[jerryskid]

As much as I love Bruce Springsteen, the constant repitition of the line "Hiding on the Backstreets" on "Born to Run" gets pretty annoying...the same way "I got the music in me" does....

[Smileyblue]

IRONIC ?, BAD LUCK ?, OR COINCIDENCE ?

Alanis Morrisette

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic...don't you think
A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think...

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

This song has always annoyed the hell out of me...I really don't think that the majority of these things are Ironic.

Do you?

[PRobb]

Well there you go.

Ditto on the Replacements and the man who's never written a bad lyric, Elvis Costello.
Maybe we need another thread for for great lyrics. I was going to post an example for EC but my brain fried trying to pick one. That man can craft a lyric.

[gabby garcia]

and this thread in of itself is becoming an illuminative 101 in what NOT to do.

:grin:

[Johnny]

Blabbering use of "baby", "yeah", "uh-huh", "c'mon", and "hey" are all examples of this.
We're talking to you, Mr. Ian Astbury.

[blackieC]

I heard Tom Petty's Refugee on the radio in the car on the way home and there are "babys" all over it but that in no way detracts from the song.

I am a huge fan of great lyrics but sometimes we have to remember that rock ain't literature....













......baby.

[CurtZHP]

I heard Tom Petty's Refugee on the radio in the car on the way home and there are "babys" all over it but that in no way detracts from the song.

I am a huge fan of great lyrics but sometimes we have to remember that rock ain't literature....













......baby.



Then, of course, there's "Roll With It" by Steve Winwood.

More "babies" than a post-war maternity ward.