When Bad Lyrics Happen to Good Songs

By cdm on Nov 30, 2009

A dime for your thoughts...

I was listening to "A Dime a Dozen," by Carla Thomas, the other day.

I love almost everything about this song. It’s pretty perfect, except for those lyrics, which are, as near as I can tell: “You’re so sweet, sweeter than apples, and just like an apple, nobody can sample.” There’s some other stuff in there that I can’t quite make out but it doesn’t sound promising.

I don’t need brilliant lyrics with every song. I’m fine with words that merely sound cool even if they don’t make much sense to me. I also don’t mind if they are just the simple lyrics of a more innocent era. My favorite song of all time is "Good Lovin’," by The Rascals, so I am by no means a lyrics snob. But "A Dime a Dozen" did make me start to wonder how bad the lyrics would have to be to make an otherwise cool song unlistenable.

So, what song do you think has the biggest gap between cool music and crappy lyrics?

Conversely, what song do you think has the biggest gap between crappy music and cool lyrics? (I’m guessing there has to be a Dylan song to fit this bill.)

Tags: lyrics
Comment from: shawnkilroy [Member] Email
Soldier by Iggy Pop has the greatest disparity between musical/lyrical content. The songs have a cool Idiot/New Values/Lust For Life kind of sound.

But the lyrics suck. Especially the ad-libs at the ends of the songs.

example: at the end of "play it safe"
as the chorus repeats:

i wanna be a criminal
play it safe

iggy shouts:
movin and a groovin like the son of sam
splish splash i was jim jones

awful.
11/30/09 @ 14:57
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
A song by a band I like in its prime with good lyrics yet music that makes it difficult for me to enjoy is XTC's "No Language in Our Lungs." If I can make it to the break I can begin to enjoy the music, but man, it's sooooo drawn out and over the top. Life's too short, especially if language is in short supply. I sense there's a song I really don't like musically but with great lyrics out there, maybe yet another XTC song, because I almost always like their lyrics. I haven't listened to all the songs I dislike on Oranges & Lemons and Nonsuch, however, in so long that I wouldn't know whether the lyrics of those songs have any merit.
11/30/09 @ 15:30
Comment from: dr john [Member] Email
Neil Young, "Revolution Blues" and "Vampire Blues." The lyrics far surpass the music.
11/30/09 @ 16:54
Comment from: hissing fauna [Member] Email
for a dispairity between quality of lyircs and music, i'd say Roger Waters (his entire solo career?) and sometimes Bruce Springsteen (songs in the vein of Born in the USA). and prolly the occasional nick cave song.

And as for a great song with truely terrible lyrics, most of the best Stevie Wonder or Micheal Jackson songs have pretty awful lyrics. same with the beach boys.
11/30/09 @ 20:01
Comment from: northvancoveman [Member] Email
I don't know if it's the greatest disparity, but to keep the conversation going I have two that jump to mind. The first is one I have mentioned before, Rod Stewart's line in "Maggie May" "I laughed at all of your jokes/My love you didn't need to coax". The other is "Tears of a Clown" "Just like Pagliacci did/I keep my sadness hid". The second one is probably worse b/c you know Smokey thought he had a killer there, Rod just needed a rhyme.



11/30/09 @ 22:30
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Stevie Wonder's a good call for having produced some great music with terrible lyrics. What's that long song from the late '70s called, "Do I Do"? I'm not usually a fan of long, frisky dance jams, but Wonder's performance is excellent on that song. Meanwhile the lyrics, if you find yourself paying any attention to them, are kind of creepy in their prebubescent sexuality. That said, it's not anything more than a frisky dance song, so what should I expect?
11/30/09 @ 22:41
Comment from: BigSteve [Member] Email
George Harrison's Something has really embarrassing lyrics. It sounds nice, but if you listen to what he's singing it's painfully bad.

Pretty much anything by Leonard Cohen would be an example of the other kind of gap. The music may not exactly be crappy, but he's such a good poet and the music is often just a vehicle for the lyrics.
12/01/09 @ 00:23
Comment from: mockcarr [Member] Email
I can't stand the words for It's Only Love by Lennon, as I expect more from him. I get shy when I see you walk by, my oh my. Ugh. He should be past all that by Rubber Soul. Bring on the hallucinogens.

I think the opposite in the Maggie May/Tears of a Clown thing. Smokey has a theme and a metaphor, which he sticks to well. Personally, I don't mind a bit of a stretch to try to say something a different way. Plus, he saved us from another Stevie Wonder lyrical horror. Rod probably thought coax and jokes was killer when it's feckin awkward.
12/01/09 @ 09:51
Comment from: mockcarr [Member] Email
I like the Knack, but their juvenile lyrics are a pain to have to sing along with. It's definitely one of those things where every parody version of a song of theirs would be better.

I've never been able to make much sense out of Cars lyrics, or have to forget I have made sense of them on those first two albums, but I like most of the songs.
12/01/09 @ 09:57

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