In praise of ... bad lyrics

[bijou]

...But there is a place for bad lyrics too, not least because - as recent correspondence to this paper apparently proves - they also lodge in the brain. Who could forget Shakira's assertion that "my breasts are small and humble / so you don't confuse them with mountains"? Her song is an example of a subset of lyrics that, frankly, struggle to come to terms with the English language. It is not to be confused with that genre formally known as gibberish, whose best exponent is Noel Gallagher: "Slowly walking down the hall / Faster than a cannonball." (While we are about it, what exactly is a Champagne Supernova?) Some pop songs just give up, such as America's Horse With No Name: "There were plants / and birds / and rocks / and things." Indeed. There are also songs that sacrifice poetry for rhyme, such as the Supremes' tragic news: "Got a telegram / Momma passed away while making home-made jam." ...

And from the comments section:

One that always irritates me is in that awful song "You To Me Are Everything", which goes: "The day you give your love to me won't be a day too late". Obviously he means "a day too soon" -- when you want something you say "and not a minute too soon", right?

Around 1970 the mellow singer Donovan came up with a song whose title I've forgotten which was an overall indictment of America (well, everybody else was doing it...). It included the immortally dreadful line,

"... And as you sit and drink the wine of murdered negroes..."


How's about this from Loretta Lynn:

When you realise I'm gone

I'm gonna hear you roar

And you'll say

"Hey Loretta,

Love you more than my Irish Setter"

Fourth day, five day marathon,
We're moving like a parallelogram  -  Motorhead

[Lauri]

almost anything from canada

[bijou]

almost anything from canada

Except Rush of course. 

[Lord Undies]

I never could figure out if these tongue-twister lyrics were ridiculous or brilliant -

Once was a time I thought that love could be sold or bought
And everything fell in place for me.
The fashion of passion I rationed with caution
Because of the notion the potion of passion
Had never been passed to me.
But since it was Sunday and sunny I went for a stroll.
But peanuts and pigeons and people put me in a hole.
A blessing refreshing in you did unfold,
Dispelling depressing distressing thoughts from my soul.
Once was a time I thought that love could be sold or bought
And everything fell in place for me.
The fashion of passion I rationed with caution
Because of the notion the potion of passion
Had never been passed to me.
But now that you're by my side,
I find that I feel so satisfied,
Somebody must have lied to me.

The whole song is 58 seconds long

[youtube=425,350]3tXkTTL9MDA[/youtube]

[Chris_]

Anything by Sting.

All cRap.