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.

Well he didn’t even give it wipe down between women so it’s kind of worse 😳

@OneTwoTen I love that song still.

My very cool teen dd was thrilled, but politely astounded, when I added it to our shared playlist, sang along with most of it, then perfectly chimed in with the “what do you expect, the guy’s a gigolo, maaaaaaan” in NC’s accent.

For the record, I am these days the antithesis of cool and indeed of Neneh Cherry 😂

@SinisterBumFacedCat it's an expression for casual sex. Amy being the other woman in this scenario means his time between shags is probably pretty short but she's not being literal as if fluids are transferred between women

Reminds me of the saying 'keep your hand in' for not wanting to stay out of a particular line of work for long.

One I’d forgotten about until it popped up on my shuffle the other day - Sheena Easton’s “Modern Girl”. The line “She eats a tangerine; flicks through a magazine” is bonkers 😝 Who would sit eating a tangerine on the Tube if it didn’t almost rhyme with magazine?!

Loving this thread but haven’t read it all yet so don’t know if this has been mentioned - I can never get over this in Neil Diamond “I Am… I said”

"I am"... I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair

You’re a great songwriter, Neil. The chair? Try harder.

Completely with @Hotmess101 and @HolidayAtNight on ABC's Yippee-ay yippee-ay ey! And @Oganesson118 about the Four Seasons' December 1963 - it was only when I saw Jersey Boys that I realised what that song was about. Spoiled it for me and I can’t sing along any more 😞

For Seven little girls by the Avons, I am choosing to believe Fred is a puppy.

I'm laughing out loud at some of these lyrics but some of the explanations make me realise what a sheltered life I've led! December 1963 featured as a group dance in our 6th form play, I wonder if Mrs Dawson knew?!
For me the top of the cringeometer and No.1 in the Turn Off The Radio Now awards is Bill Withers where holds that looooong note in 'lovely daaaaaaaaaaaaay'. I have a really strong urge to push him hard and make him stop.

Bryan Adams has ruined Summer of 69 for me by announcing it was about the sex position. Apparently his co writer wrote it about a young guy growing up and dreaming of being a musician in the summer of 1969 but Bryan says the clue is in the line “me and my baby in a 69.”

I won't listen to ' summer of 69' the same again now :( ( or sing it)
Some old songs are definitely dodgy

This many pages, and no 'Turning Japanese'?
All of it. Brain bleach.

That's reminded me of Japanese boy ... shite song..bad lyrics early 80s I think.
One hit wonder.

Some crackers here!

For me -

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no

Great thread.

You're Gorgeous, by Baby Bird, isn't a love song. It's about a young girl being groomed and exploited by an older man. They write dark songs (have a listen to the lyrics of The Bad Old Man. "Drowned his step son in a duck pond, let the wife-beater out to make a pop song, put razor blades in the ice cream, shot a paedophile in a wet dream.."

Likewise,as has already been pointed out, Every Breath You Take is literally about a stalker.

As for James's Laid, isn't the lead singer gay?

This thread is a goldmine of cringe!

Agree with PPs about the Yippee-aye-ey bit in The Look of Love…. Toe curling!

I’d forgotten about the ridiculous Eternal Love from PJ & Duncan, but that’s so bad it’s hilarious.

And I never got the BJ reference from B*Witched…

Has anyone mentioned Under Pressure yet? I have a soft spot for it but all the nonsensical ad-libbing from Freddie gets a bit much! People on streets, da ba dee dah dey!

Bowie (love him) and Jagger shouting out at the start of their cover of Dancing in the Street is also pretty cringe. ‘Okay Tokyo, South America, Australia, France, Germany, UK, Africa’. The video of them both dad-dancing is spectacular.

The Scat Man - shudder, came out around the same time as Cotton Eye Joe IIRC.

Re bagpipes: The Church’s sublime Under The Milky Way has this crazy ‘bagpipe’ solo in the middle… it’s not actual bagpipes, but sounds really loud and jarring. I’m not sure bagpipes are ever a good idea!

Speaking of Sheena Easton, what the hell is with that wretched song, "my baby takes the morning train".

Makes me want to rip my ears off with cringe. So he goes to work all day whilst she pisses about at home. And when she says "we make lurrrvvve". Ugh, fucking vile.

Love Nick Cave's new album but have to ff past She rises in advance of her panties ...

Any song by Pink.

Ha ha! On the radio right now - Duran Duran Girls on Film -

"Cause the crowd all love pulling Dolly by the hair"
(Insipid little repeat bit) "By the hair"

Argh!

I know! Don’t understand that one at all.

He was being very prescient, though, about getting punched.

It always reminds me of the thread where he played a nasty 'joke' on a MNer when she was a teenager, so her mum went over to the car he was sitting in the back of, gestured to him to wind the window down and then lamped him one!

Unless she’s being very poetic and means she can see his breath?

Oh loads. But Under My Thumb by the Rolling Stones makes me cringe. All the lyrics are just horrible.

This is gonna take a bit of getting used to, but I know what’s right for you

Umm thanks but no thanks Gary Barlow, that's really sinister!

The whole of Joan Osborne One of US. The lyrics are so crap, its like the bad poetry people used to send in to Take a Break Mag

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
Just tryin' to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody callin' on the phone
'Cept for the Pope, maybe in Rome
And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

I'm not violent but I have to admit the thought of this makes me happy 😆

And can't you see my faded Levis bursting apart (Meatloaf). Ruins it completely.