Lyrics to Rock Songs

[westen44]

I'm not even going to comment on any of the rest of this article.  There may be a few valid comments among those that are invalid.  However, beginning an article by thinking that John Lennon wrote :"I Saw Her Standing There" is probably not the best way to begin.  Why would it be "Ill-advised" for Paul McCartney, a 19 year old at the time, to write a song about a 17 year old girl.  Someone the same age as his girlfriend at that time?  And if you think that's bad, this critic is really unimpressed with Chuck Berry and the Stones, etc.  I bet she also hates "Baby It's Cold Outside."  We need to have another old-fashioned record and book burning.  Let's move closer to "Fahrenheit 451."  Destroy the good along with the bad in the process.  Yes, throughout time a lot of very questionable song lyrics have been written.  But legislating morality and dictating to people what songs they should or should not listen to hardly seems very 1st Amendment-like to me.  I'm not necessarily digging the new Puritanism. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/01/01/20-rock-n-rolls-most-politically-incorrect-songs/2447902002/

[4stringer77]

There's way worse stuff out there but then those aren't pop hits. I'm guessing the author of the article would find this in extremely poor taste.

Dory was at least fourteen in that song. ZZtop sang about a 13 year old in Francine.

[Pilgrim]

Ooooo-Kay then, should we now discuss the deep philosophical meanings of "Tube Steak Boogie"?

I got a girl she lives cross town
She's the one that really gets down when she boogie
She do the tube snake boogie
Well now, boogie, little baby
Boogie-woogie all night long

I got a gal, she lives on the block
She kinda funky with her pink and black socks, she likes to boogie
She do the tube snake boogie
Well now, boogie-woogie baby
Boogie-woogie all night long

I got a girl, she lives on the hill
She won't do it but her sister will when she boogie
She do the tube snake boogie
Well now, boogie, little baby
Boogie-woogie all night long

Blow your top, blow your top, blow your top!

[Granny Gremlin]

There's way worse stuff out there but then those aren't pop hits. I'm guessing the author of the article would find this in extremely poor taste.

Dory was at least fourteen in that song. ZZtop sang about a 13 year old in Francine.

OK, but Dory at least is a troll job - comedic parody meant to make the point that that sort of thing is wrong.  Too often, possibly because the trope is now well overused and thoroughly jumped the shark, people fail to recognize that the anti-hero in a show (or movie, book etc) is not intended as a role model of cool, but rather the opposite. 

@Pilgrim Nothing wrong with Tube Snake Boogie - sing about sex all you want - the issue is stat rape (and the general sexualisation of underage people) and there's nothing in that song to imply the protagonist (she's a hero alright) is underage - if anything it makes me think the opposite, but I could be wrong (or ZZ Top smart enough to not go there).  I mean it's crass and I'm not really into that song, but fair enough.  Even in the case of other songs (as mentioned Beatles, Stones etc) that are more explicit I do not believe in censoring them or any sort of purge, and I do not think most people, or even most generally left-leaning folks, would think that either.  What is fair, is calling such things out - free speech is free speech; you can say whatever you want as long as you don't bitch about the consequences of other people thinking you're an ass because of it. Freedom of speech does not mean you can say anything without consequences.  I would hope that now a days a major record company would catch that sort of thing and question it's release.  And if not I expect the people to vote with their wallets.

[westen44]

There's way worse stuff out there but then those aren't pop hits. I'm guessing the author of the article would find this in extremely poor taste.

Dory was at least fourteen in that song. ZZtop sang about a 13 year old in Francine.

It appears that I am missing something.  There are just blank spaces were you have evidently posted videos.  In fact, I have no idea what Dory is even referring to. 

[Pilgrim]

Consider the rather inexcusable crudity and language of rap music, I question whether any music publisher cares a whit about content.  They're clearly in the biz just to make money. People can read all the implications they want to into music lyrics, and I've read some tremendously far fetched assumptions.

The whole "Baby It's Cold Outside" argument is frickin' ludicrous IMO. That stage is set with two adults, and if there is any persuasion involved, it's both legitimate and part of the male/female dance that has been going on since we graduated from tadpoles. Total, complete, non-issue IMO. I haven't heard anything that promotes stat rape, (and I don't count that odd lampoon above as an example) but I'm confident that there are many people who can figure out a way to claim that it's present in many songs.

People have been arguing over lyrics since long before the Fugs sang that immortal tune "I Feel Like Homemade Shit." I think that to a great degree, it's people simply finding an excuse to be offended. If you want an excuse, you can certainly find it.

[4stringer77]

It appears that I am missing something.  There are just blank spaces were you have evidently posted videos.  In fact, I have no idea what Dory is even referring to.

You're probably better off. It was a joke song taken from an adult swim cartoon called Metalocalypse.  I remember when the biggest problem with rap was 2live crew. That stuff was crass but not as problematic as the glorification of degraded social norms that assault impressionable minds on a constant basis. It's a shame really. There just aren't as many positive role models for kids nowadays.

[westen44]

You're probably better off. It was a joke song taken from an adult swim cartoon called Metalocalypse.  I remember when the biggest problem with rap was 2live crew. That stuff was crass but not as problematic as the glorification of degraded social norms that assault impressionable minds on a constant basis. It's a shame really. There just aren't as many positive role models for kids nowadays.

As for Francine which I know was posted, but I can't see. ZZ Top, didn't actually write the song.  Of course, I'm not sure how much that matters. 

[Dave W]

The author is a bluenose prude, that's what it boils down to. Lyrics about sex in rock songs? Why, I am shocked! Women under 21 having sex? Bring me the smelling salts!

[clankenstein]

Frank says no to bluenose prudes.https://goo.gl/images/keZLHq

[Dave W]

I remember Zappa ridiculing the puritanical Tipper Gore. That was great.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Innuendo you say???



USA Today is every bit as tired as Rolling Stone and even more desperate trying to bait outrage among aging music fans. That entire article is just stupid.

[doombass]

I remember Zappa ridiculing the puritanical Tipper Gore. That was great.

Yes and Dee Snyder implying she was into S&M is a rememberable moment also.

[Pilgrim]

Ah, reminds me of the old joke about using "innuendo" in a sentence:

"Love goes out the door when money comes innuendo."

 

[uwe]

My personal winner for allround dumb, non-funny, inane sexist lyric is ...



"You're walking up with your eyes on me
It's looking good but I just don't know
I need a girl who can give me (sung as "keep her" on the studio version or the BBC wouldn't have played it) head
All Night Long

You didn't come just to see the show
I guess you know what you want to see
The way you smile lets me know I can't go wrong

I want to touch you
I want to feel you
I want to make you mine

I want to love you (all night long)
I want to be with you (all night long)
I want to love you (all night long)
I want to be with you (all night long)

I saw you standing down by the stage
Your black stockings and your see-thru dress
Your mouth is open but I don't want to hear ya
Say good night

You're so young
But you're over age
I don't care cause I like your style
Don't know about your brain
But you look alright

I want to touch you
I want …"


Bonnet (the singer) can't be blamed, Glover (the bassist) wrote it and is at least ashamed of it today (he wrote it in 1979). Nothing wrong with songs about wishing to f... someone, but this was/is utterly charmless.


Do it with style: