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.

Natasha Bedingfield These Words where she pronounces hyperbole as hyper-bowl. Unfortunately if she pronounced it correctly it wouldn't scan. Pretty naff lyrics all round really 😬

I feel it coming by The weekend. Have to turn it off if it comes in the radio

What’s wrong with Faithless insomnia?! Love that song.

The intro is sublime. Very different from my chosen genre of music.

The song about the 'old lady who swallowed a fly' makes me cringe.

I don't know why.

@MumsTheWordYouKnow just that line, nothing wrong with the rest of the song but tearing tights off with teeth? Makes me cringe

Not a lyric bit, but the part in Live and Let Die when it goes all reggae style for a few bars. Literally makes me heave. It's bad in the original version by Wings but sounds even more cringey in the cover by Guns N Roses. If it comes on the radio I have to switch it off.

She swallowed a fly... couldn't resist.

Ooh I didn’t hear these two lines!!

Someone mentioned TS Shake it off and her self-lauded sick beat but the rap right after that is so cringe (the lyrics and the "rap") I feel bad for Tay:

My ex-man brought his new girlfriend
She's like "Oh, my God!" but I'm just gonna shake.
And to the fella over there with the hella good hair
Won't you come on over, baby? We can shake, shake, shake

Club Tropicana by Wham says “all that’s missing is the sea”, then later on “watch the waves break on the bay”. Make your mind up, is the sea there or not? Still annoys me to this day. 😀

That line in 'Never let me down again' by Depeche Mode - 'Promises me I'm as safe as houses,as long as I remember who's wearing the trousers' always makes me cringe. I LOVE DM and I love that song,but still ......

I’ve got another one… Pet Shop Boys, Left To My Own Devices, the line ‘Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat’. Absolutely excruciating, it sums up everything that is wrong with PSB, and the way NT ‘sings’ Debussy is the icing on the cake.

Under my Umber-ella

It's umbrella
Drives me mad.

'I want to hold the hand within you' - Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
Absolutely love this song but the opening line makes me cringe!

Love this thread!

I love Céline Dion, but when she sings ‘ Do I gotta get water from the moon?’ In the song Water from the moon ( 1992!) it is just so wrong! 😮

Has to be Tammy Wynette

You’ll have bad times and
he’ll have good times doing things that you don’t understand
but if you love him you’ll forgive him
even though he’s hard to understand
and if you love him
oh be proud of him
cause after all he’s just a man

😂

Couldnt agree more!

I love Chers voice and her version of this is great apart from her apparent inability to pronounce Memphis! And the emphasis on it makes it sound like she is doing it deliberately. If I was him, I would be very pissed off with her mangling a great song.

Nobody mentioned Fit but You Know It by the Streets yet? Blimey.

All if it really but especially:

I got this Stella I bummed from that last cafe
This night's not even begun
Yes, yes, oh yay

Makes me laugh internally every time!

@TheHangingGardensOfBasildon Do you mean "Lola" by The Kinks? That song used to really confuse me as a child, to the point I didn't even know how to formulate a question about it, so I never asked my mother what it meant ( it'd be on the radio in the mornings) and would forget about it when the next song came on because my young mind was so baffled...until it was played again! And again!
It was only a few years ago that I realised Lola was a trans!

Michael Jackson Billie Jean, when he said “showed a photo of a baby crying, his eyes looked like mine” babies mostly close their eyes when they cry so how could he tell?

It’s a great tune, but looking back it’s a Dad on the run from the CSA. I’d love to hear a version from Billie Jeans POV.

I was a kid (little boy older than 2, maybe 5-6) when Yellow Submarine was a hit and yes! I too cringed at the forced jollity of adults making kids sing along on the assumption that we all loved it: I didn't!
Though as teen/adult I quite liked the jokey versions: we all live in a yellow submarine/tub of margarine/washing machine.......