Bits in songs that make you cringe

[HolidayAtNight]

Inspired by the thread the other day about "More Than Words" by Extreme. Like many posters, I hadn't heard the song in years, so went to listen to it. It was all going well until the bit when he sings "Hold me close don't EVAH LET ME GO" and I had to turn it off immediately.

What bits of songs do you find jarring and/or embarrassing? I have so many, but will try to choose a few. Lines where they've had to awkwardly shift the words around or use old-fashioned vocab/syntax to make them fit are definitely among the worst offenders.

In "Upside Down" by Diana Ross: "Respectfully I say to thee..." Whyyyy

In "A Spaceman Came Travelling" - the bit where he sings about a baby's cry and then the guitar imitates a newborn crying. This might be the worst one.

In "Come On Eileen" - "You in that dress, my thoughts, I confess, verge on dirty" Just no. The awkward old-fashioned phrasing, and the way his voice goes when he sings "dirty". Unbearable.

The whole song is grating, but “Happy Christmas John” “Happy Christmas Yoko”

we won’t even mention “the yellow and red ones” earlier in the song -!

@girljulian we won’t even mention “the yellow and red ones” earlier in the song -!

You just have! 😃

The whole place is pickled
The people are pickles for sure
And nobody knows if they've done more here
Than they ever would do in a jar

(Rotterdam, Beautiful South again. And the annoying thing is that the chorus and tune is really pretty good). I mean, how rude!

Ha! Maybe it was Taytos his first draft

Maybe he lives in a house overlooking the park?

From start to finish..it's utter shit.

Hey Ya by Outkast. The excruciating ‘Heeeeeyyyyy yaaaaaaa’ and then the ‘shake it like a Polaroid picture’ instruction. Embarrassing!

More embarrassing is the line "don't wanna meet your mamma, just wanna make you cum-a. What an attractive proposition.

'the taste of your lips is my idea of luxury' - a rare lyrical fail by Swift in 'King of My Heart.'

She played a fiddle in an Irish band, but she fell in love with an Englishman”.

Everything is wrong with that line. One, it doesn’t scan. Two, he makes it sound like this is some great taboo or shocker - it’s hardly as though Nick Griffin fell in love with Naomi Campbell.

@NiceCutRoundDomeDormice ALL OF THIS.

McFly
”When I fell in love with Uranus”

Seriously 😦

Amazing visual image there 😂 I shall envisage the same when I hear it again, doubtless in about four weeks’ time 🙃

A few examples of "what are you waiting for?":

George Ezra - Blame it on me
Jay Z - Encore
Ellie Goulding - Love me like you do

So again it's an extremely common song lyric, but I don't understand why it is common. I'm not waiting for anything. Why would the song writers think I am waiting?

The bit in the middle of Buffalo Stance by Neneh Cherry where she talks in a really London accent and says "what's 'e like anywayyy?!"

It's a great song apart from that part.

Rod Stewart Tonight's the night, the whole song is abysmal, but the line "Don't be afraid my virgin child" makes my toes curl in embarrassment.
Then we have Britt Ekland being all breathy and French at the end. She definitely was not a virgin nor a child!!!!

'Re the Charlene song, I remember Terry Wogan in the 80's ruminating on his radio show which Kings had undressed her!!!

That Rod Stewart song was completely unpicked on one of those TV listing shows were celebrities we've not heard of for a while are invited to give their opinions on said topic. In this case I think it was about the 70s and how things they got away with then wouldn't work now. Anyway, I had no appreciation of just how creepy the song is until it was pointed out by the likes of Rustie Lee & Su Pollard.

Ohhh I always thought it was ‘I waited up for you’, maybe that’s a different bit? The growl is repulsive. Kind of sounds like Rurgh. We listened to a lot of Mick and co in the car growing up and I was perennially confused by his weird noises, whilst also wondering who that rando was in the background crooning ‘YES I WOULD. YES I WOULD.’ No one asked you, mate.

Got distracted but mainly came on here to complain bitterly about Christina Aguilera’s whole vocal section in Moves Like Jagger, reaching the pinnacle of yukkiness by power-yelping ‘TAKE ME BY THE TOWOWOWNGUE’ over the repeated chorus. Bleurgh!

all of ellie goudling ongs

but

love me like you do
lala love me like you do

i just cant

Goes well with

"a lot of kisses on the bottom, I'll be glad I've got 'em"

Frank Sinatra

Can't believe no one's mentioned O-Town Liquid Dreams, where they sing about wet dreams!!

Unwritten by Natasha beddingfield. The chorus was OK, but the verses...

I am unwritten
Can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

And

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines, yeah, yeah
We've been conditioned not to make mistakes
But I can't live that way oh, oh

People who describe themselves as "undefined" and a bit edgey always come across as a bit try hard to be "different" or "not like the rest." In Natashas case she was very ordinary and never stood out as working "outside the lines".

I don't want to see a ghost
It's a sight that I fear most
Rather have a piece of toast
Watch the evening news

Also - and I would preface this by saying I LOVE George Michael RIP - but the way he changes his accent from London to cheesy American in Wake Me Up. It makes me cringe, viscerally.