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.

Also That's What I Go To School For.

Considering that they were very popular with young kids, they were quite 'earthy' with some of their lyrics were Busted.

I'm intrigued - what's the problem with that line? Genuine question.

I watched a Graham Norton years ago with Busted on and the teacher this was written about was in the audience (deliberately) and seemed quite happy with the accolade. Which I found far more creepy than a teen boy having a crush on his teacher and fantasising about her, which is normal.

I remember them performing ‘that’s what I go to school for’ on Saturday morning kids tv 😅

Yes, I don't see an issue with that either.

It never ceases to amaze me how perceptive, well-crafted and genuinely idiomatic their English lyrics were, considering that it was a foreign language to them.

The moment Freddie Mercury sings the words 'radio goo-goo' in the chorus of Radio Ga Ga it makes we want to take a sledgehammer to the radio.

Also in The Beatles' Get Back, I cringe every time McCartney sings 'Get back, Loretta, your mommy's waiting for you'. YOU'RE FROM LIVERPOOL, MATE, STOP PRETENDING TO BE AMERICAN.

"MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing running down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cos it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again"

and from the same song

"I will have the things that I desire
And my passions flow like rivers through the sky"

With Winner Takes It All

the full verse is

"I've played all my cards
And that's what you've done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play"

She played the game of a relationship and lost.

The WHOLE of Radio Ga Ga.

Some of the early Adele stuff sets my teeth on edge:

Hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done
But when I call, you never seem to be home

Along with the entire lyrics of Someone Like You, when I hear either song I'm yelling at the radio that she needs to leave the poor bloke alone before she ends up with a restraining order.

A bit more obscure but Gareth Gates. These lyrics are so awful.

”She was kind of exciting
A little crazy I should have known
She must have altered my senses (wasn’t my fault guv!!)
Cause I offered to walk her home
The situation got out of hand (out of hand?! Presumably you just accidentally fell on top of her and unintentionally shagged her?)
I hope you understand.
It can happen to any one of us…. Yes mate, of course it can

"Girl I'm gonna make you sweat/sweat til you can't sweat no more/and if you cry out/I'm gonna push it, push it some more''.

I always thought it sounded a bit rapey

I always thought he was talking about stones, not waistlines. The whole song is about different measurements. As in:

She's a perfect ten, But she wears a 12 (dress size)

She could be sweet 16 (age)

When he's at my gate, with a big fat eight (you do the maths on that one...)

If he's extra large well I'm in charge, I can work this thing on top (ditto)

And the anorexic chicks that model six, They don't hold no weight with me
Well eight or nine, well that's just fine (stones in weight)

But I'm happy to be told I'm totally wrong.

‘Radio Blah Blah’

😳

edited for typo

Last Christmas I gev you my heart.
Since my mum pointed it out I can't unhear it.

Is this the Gwen Stefani song?

My Adele one is "Make You Feel My Love" - such a great cover of a great song, EXCEPT that it is totally ruined by her weird enunciation in the line "nothing that I woooo-dn't do"

I’ve always been so impressed with ABBA’s lyrics and their clever way with words, particularly Knowing Me, Knowing You. The whole song is so evocative, and I just think there’s something really smart (and poignant) about the line ‘knowing me, knowing you is the best I can do.’

On the other hand, Does Your Mother Know should be fired into the sun.

I think "that model six" means "model a size six", right? So eight or nine in the next line would also be sizes?

Baby it’s cold outside. Creepy all the way through.

Blurred Lines.
I hate these blurred lines
I know you want it
I know you want it
I know you want it
But you're a good girl

etc. Vomit.

Well it's the word "weight" in the same line that drew me to stones not waistlines, so I hear it as someone modeling six stones, "they don't hold no weight with me"...though I confess the use of the double-negative makes me irrationally more annoyed than the totally dubious and outdated lyrics.

She had dumps like a truck?

Whenever I hear the bloke from Travis sing 'Why does it always rain on me..' I always think 'Because you live in Scotland, mate'.

Also the opening lines to Laid by James. 'This bed is on fire with passionate love / The neighbours complain about the noises above' just sounds like the boast of a man who has never even been in the same room as a naked woman, let alone managed to fuck one.

Chain Reaction. Also any song with double negatives - even if I love the song (I'm looking at you now, Bjorn from ABBA, ruining Take A Chance On Me with "and it ain't no lie". Ditto "it don't mean nothing to me" from Walking On Broken Glass).

I HATE Ed Sheehan’s Shape of You. So he’s in love with her shape? Shallow much. Fuck off!