To think it's not fluffy 90s pop, but creepy asf?

[stellenbosch]

So, 'You're Gorgeous" (Babybird) was on the radio today in the car. Naturally, I turned it up.
Was singing along, (dc in back) and it struck me that it's actually a very creepy song and not a happy 90s pop tune.. got me thinking, what other songs that were acceptable back in the day probably wouldn't make the cut today?

The 80s song, 'I touch myself', comes to mind... lol

AIBU Or what other old songs do you think are, in retrospect, creepy asf? 🤔🤣

Ah I see. I assumed she was one of his closest confidantes but I always thought there was never any sexual relationship between him and her.

@FrangipaniBlue I thought he hid it from the public but I thought he was very open about it with her. Wasn't her name Mary or something?

Brian May seems so lovely always admired him.

Sorry for thread derail

Grammy78 in the US they refer to Uni as "school", and most courses last 4 years, so that would make Delilah about 20. Which makes it marginally less creepy!

Oh FrangipaniBlue, thanks for the info.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA was played at Reagan campaign rallies in 1984. Evidently nobody at Republican HQ bothered to listen to anything apart from the chorus.

@VioletCharlotte to be fair, up until I looked the lyrics up I thought the song was by an English group.

Not creepy as such, but chuckling at memories from primary school singing 'House of Fun' by Madness in the playground:

Box of balloons with the fetherlite touch anyone?

There's an old madness track called something like 'Mamma's boy' which has a line like:

'Once went out with a London girl
Dirty weekend in a hotel
Called it off when she got shirty
She was 12 and he was thirty'

Which really reminds me how back in the 80s, the 'dirty old man' was considered more of a joke than a child abuser.

KLAXON - INAPPROPRIATE POST WARNING

Turning Japanese is about wanking. It's meant to be rude. Really rude. Also, the title is a racist reference to the face made by a man er, wanking.

Also, in the spirit of making things worse, that Inner Circle track says 'looking in your big brown eye'. Singular. At least once. Yeah, have a think.

I must protest at Hey There Delilah being included in this.

Delilah is a real person (they kept her name) who is a successful athlete and she met the singer of the then unknown band at a party. She was at 'school' yes ie university. Also winning medals. He tried to chat her up but she wasn't impressed so he told her he'd write a song about her and that it would win a Grammy. She was unconvinced. But then he did just that and they went to the Grammy's with their respective partners for the award.

Not necessarily creepy in the same way, but lots of sex in 90s/00s pop. I used to sing along quite happily and don't think I ever realised how bad some lyrics were.

'I'm a slave for you' by Britney Spears
'Genie in a Bottle's by Christina Aguilera
A few Spice Girls ones.

“ Clare” by Gilbert O’ Sullivan - apparently he used to babysit a little girl & wrote it about her. I liked it until I realised the implications......

@Echobelly

@FlirtyRomanticToast no it's not sadly, it used to be on a nurofen/calpol one of those medicinices for babies many many years ago though.

Centrefold: this is about his sadness that she's selling her body (using photos). I don't see what's bad about that?

Thank Heavens for Little Girls: the next line is "For little girls get bigger every day". So he's celebrating that they will turn into women, in fact to me it's pretty clear that he's not interested until they are bigger.

Don't get me wrong, there are loads of songs to make you think yuk. I just don't think either of these are bad.

I won’t link to the song, but the lyrics of Gary Glitter’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me” is, unsurprisingly, incredibly creepy.

More worryingly, the song was covered by the cast of Glee without that many lyric changes. Love to know whose bright idea that was

@HaroldsSocalledBlueTits, your post has convinced me that the song has no place on this thread and I will ask for my original post to be removed.

Pop songs have always been about sex though. Unless you think that Grace Jones was in fact singing about her literal love for long black limousines. Or that KC and the sunshine band recorded a song about quitting smoking. Or that Anita Ward was talking about her career as a butler.

I agree with a pp that singing about sex isn't necessarily creepy

Grammy (apt user name given our discussion!) - don't worry! I just wanted to set the record straight is all.

@ maygirl27 Mr Brightside wasn't written about paedophilia Brandon Flowers said in an interview it was written about an unfaithful ex girlfriend of his and its pretty clear in the lyrics its about cheating
A
The songs that make me cringe are Freak Me by Another Level and Right Said Fred I'm too sexy ugh 100% cringe factor! I don't understand how people can play Every Breath you Take at a wedding its such a creepy song.

paisleyblue

Tie your Mother down was written by Brian May.
And in my eyes, no one should ever diss a Queen song

I remember Another Level came to my high school and sang Freak Me.

Wrong on so many levels ('scuse the pun)

@romany4 I adore Queen but those are some dodgy lyrics.

The lyrics to A Little Less Conversation by Elvis have always freaked me out. I appreciate the song was written and recorded when things were very different but I was bemused at how popular it was when they released it comparatively recently.

In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women, you got women on your mind
Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor just do what you feel
Speed along the lane
Do a ton or a ton and twenty-five
When the sun goes down
You can make it, make it good in a lay-by

Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime