Tier List of Bad Lyrics From Hit Songs
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- This is the final installment of our March Badness Tier Lists. Today we're looking at some of the worst lyrics from hit songs and deciding how bad they really are.
#tierlist #badlyrics #hitsongs #lyrics
~~~
Patreon: / tasteslikemusic
Merch: tasteslikemusi...
Website: tasteslikemusi...
Instagram: / tastes_like_music
Facebook: / tasteslikeyoutube
Twitter: / tasteslikemus1c
When you breathe I want to be the air for you ~ Bon Jovi
That’s pretty bad
Also, "I'll be water when you get thirsty baby / When you get drunk I'll be the wine" and "Sorry to have missed your birthday baby / I wish I'd seen you blow those candles out." That's DEEP, Jonny boy! Sheesh.
The first song that came to my mind was "In The Summertime" by Mungo Jerry which was a #1 hit around the world and reached #3 in the US. They start with "Have a drink, have a drive" but really ramp it up with:
"If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel".
Yeah, it’s so baffling that Jason loves that song but hates Don’t Stop, even tho the lyrics are much lamer. That makes absolutely not sense to me! 😅
That Lil Yachty lyric was HILARIOUS! I have never seen Jason laugh like that before.
Another gem is from “I can’t drive 55”. “Gonna write me up for 125, post my face wanted dead or alive”. Um, Sammy, you just got a speeding ticket, you’re not Billy the Kid.
David Wilcox's 'Layin Pipe' is not particularly bad, it's just an example of the problem you get into with extended metaphors: "My daddy worked construction, My brother too, He got me in the union, I'm payin' my dues; Oh but the woman I love, Has expensive taste, She's never satisfied, The latest things, A diamond ring, A car with an ultra-glide; I work so hard, Payin' for all that stuff; Eight shifts a week; It's never enough; I'm layin' pipe all night long, Layin' pipe, I'm workin' so hard, I'm layin' pipe, All night long, Layin' pipe, To satisfy that woman ... I put the pipe in, I pull it out again, My back is so sore, I can't work much more, I can't get my traction, The ground's too wet, I take a ten minute break, Ah smoke a cigarette, I don't mind the night shift, The cool breeze when the sun goes down, Winter time the ground is hard, Take twice as long to drill down ...
"I am"... I said. To no one there. And no one heard at all. Not even the chair -Neil Diamond
That almost sounded like a good lyric until he threw in the part with the chair
"Not even the air." works a little bit better because he's talking about not feeling at home in either big city, and in the later verse, he mentions an emptiness deep inside.
Therefore, the word "air" actually works well with both verses which precede it. After the first verse, the word air would imply that not even the air of either city carries his voice
After the second verse, the word air would accentuate the emptiness and loneliness that he just sang about.
Bad lyrics have always been Neil's specialty and this one is no exception. Another one that comes to mind is "Stones would play inside her head / And where she slept / They made her bed." (WTF??)
One that's always annoyed me is Joss Stone's song Super Duper Love:
"You promised me faithfully, that you would be my only man."
How can he promise to be her only man? He can only promise that she will be his only woman.
As a truly bad line that was clearly intended as Really Good Lyrics my favorite is Alice Cooper's "Your lips are venomous poison". Venomous poison? That's the worst kind!
Can't believe y'all are so tolerant of "Are we human/ Or are we dancer?" UGH
It has the ring of existential poetry.
The Rod Stewart 70's lyrics book is a gift that keeps on giving. In Italian Girls he states: "She was tall, thin and tarty and she drove a Maserati"...
That’s literally perfection. - Joe
Jason reading those Chris Brown lyrics was a highlight of my week.
6:32-The way Jason says these lyrics 😂😂
Nobody mentioned Yes yet: "Here is my heart, waiting for you, here is my soul, I eat at chez nous."
Not exactly a hit song but there's a rap song on a Q magazine compilation by a gentleman called Big Dog in a song called Raise The Alarm which has to be the GOAT for me.
"Raise the Alarm, I've come to do harm, I've just got out of the nut farm
And I've got a bomb (pronounced barm lol) strapped to me arm, you better say the 23rd psalm"
Chapaux sir! lol
The U2 one is a reference to Steve Lillywhite. He produced their first, second, third, and 14th (counting a live album and 2 greatest hits) albums.
You guys missed "magnets, how do they work?"
Where the hell is Billy Joel?
“Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
He’s talkin’ with Davey who’s still in the Navy
And probably will be for Life.”
Or Allanis Morrisette for a song with a whole laundry list of stuff that’s not ironic and then asking “isn’t it ironic?” NO
What’s wrong with piano man?
Right all that stuff is merely coincidence, not irony
@@TastesLikeMusic old guy here. Saw him in 1973. Always cringed at the lame forced rhyme. I’ve listened to that song since I was 15 and still can’t understand what a “real estate novelist” is.
The line "Don't ask me I already know" from ABC's "Valentine's Day" has always annoyed me. Cheers.
There needs to be a special tier for Train’s Hey Soul Sister
"You want a piece of my heart / You've got to start from the start" didn't make it, eh?
you wanna be in the show?
Steve Miller: "Abra, Abracadabra/I wanna reach out and grab ya." Hold on a minute there Steve. And of course, Jimmy Webb/Richard Harris: "Someone left a 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." I don't understand, was the recipe inside the cake? Did you bake the piece of paper with the recipe on it inside the cake? Shouldn't you keep the recipe somewhere else?
When I first encountered "MacArthur Park" as a little boy, I thought it was ridiculous, and when a child finds a song risible, you know it's really bad.
@@barrymoore4470 Ditto! When I first heard "And I'll never have that recipe again" my 10 year old mind was like "Did I DEFINITELY hear that right??"
You guys gotta do an rhcp ranking. I know Jasons not a fan but i’d love to hear you guys do it
I know songs aren't limited to one meaning, but every time I hear "You're gonna go far kid" by Offspring, I always hear it as a person caught in a situation where they are forced to do things to survive. I think "Dance Puppet Dance" would've better fit the tone of the song and still matched the flow of the chorus/prechorus as the F bombs they used instead. Great list, good idea for March Badness!
I always liked Ian Gillan's wit, yeah sometimes he really missed terribly but I'd take his lyrics over mk3's efforts. "Lay Down, Stay Down"?
Pretty much every line in Every Breath You Take
When thinking of bad lyrics I always think of Galileo by the Indigo Girls. It's hardly the worst offender and it's a song I actually like. But the bizarre logic of the entire song irks me. And how is Galileo the king of night vision? Also, he wasn't beheaded! Finally, there's this line:
I'm not making a joke
You know me I take everything so seriously
If we wait for the time 'til all souls get it right
Then at least I know there'll be no nuclear annihilation in my life time
I'm still not right
Some heavyweight bad lyrics from Paul Anka:
You're havin' my baby
What a lovely way of sayin' how much you love me
Havin' my baby
What a lovely way of sayin' what you're thinkin' of me
I can see it, your face is glowin'
I can see it in your eyes, I'm happy you know it
The fact that he ever had a career, let alone for so long (he had two number ones, one in the 50s and that one in the 70s) is unbelievably baffling and awful.
Sandi Thom's I Wish I Was Punk Rocker With Flowers in My Hair was a no1 single here in the UK and has some of the worst and cringiest lyrics ever written.
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
America - Horse with no Name
Rocks and THINGS?
That song just sucks in general. - Joe
Also Ventura Highway: "Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain" and "Alligator lizards in the air." Sounds like a friggin' plague!
I Need You also comes to mind: "We used to laugh / We used to cry / We used to bow our heads then wonder why." (Uh, why are you bowing your heads, guys?).
Definitely agree with the John (Cougar) Mellencamp and Elton John selections, despite my fondness overall for "Rocket Man". I don't find the Rod Stewart song as offensive as so many obviously do today, seeing the line more as a relic of its time, and not unduly diminishing the song's overall quality.
That Rod Stewart song is horrible. The fact it was the #1 biggest song of 1977 is an indictment against humanity.
@@curly_wyn The song under discussion here, "Every Picture Tells a Story", was released in 1971. You're probably thinking of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which did chart at number 1 in both the U.S. and the U.K., though it was released in 1978. I actually don't recall anything offensive in the latter song, though it too is very much a product of its time.
Maybe the more offensive thing about Rocket Man was that it seems stolen from Bowie's 'Space Oddity'.
@@oppothumbs1 I think it's fair to perceive the later song as derivative of the earlier, in terms of theme, though Taupin and Elton's astronaut actually lands on another world, rather than merely "floating in a tin can", and is more subject to loneliness than an outright breakdown, as Bowie's Major Tom evinces. Whatever the case, I'd rather revisit "Rocket Man" than "Space Oddity", for sheer musical enjoyment.
@@barrymoore4470 I agree with your preference for John over Bowie on those songs, though when Bowie revisits his own song with 'Ashes to Ashes', and in a terrific video, we find Bowie "strung out in heaven's high but hitting an all-time low". Loneliness and abandonment lead to drug addiction and Bowie, in a surreal spacesuit, is condemned to take advice from his mom on how to "get things done".
Great list. Bob Seger's "Down On Main Street" deserves mention.
That's actually one of my favorite Seger songs. I think the persona of the lyrics may seem a bit odd, musing on his past as a lurker of downtown dives as his glory days, but I don't find anything clunky about the lyrics themselves, and the music and Seger's delivery are beautifully poignant.
@@barrymoore4470 I confess to bias, as I don't like any of his songs, it's just too stalkerish for me.
@@floydshambles I agree about it being stalkerish. The song's persona does come across as a bit odd, even creepy, from today's perspective. I don't think audiences at the time would have been as sensitive to the questionable implications of some guy following around a woman from her work in the wee hours of the morning. But there's still a pathos in the character and his situation, especially bearing in mind that this is a memory for him, and seems to have been a highlight of his life.
Blinded by the light...
Written ✍️ By The Boss & he ain't no DB ..
Low hanging fruit somewhat. Any fool can say what they don't like and ridicule the ridiculous but what about a tier list of all time great lyrics?
Here's one; _*DoYaThinkI'mSex*y_ The title alone is enough to handle. I have a similar peeve too about songs that sound better upon memory, but the lyrics get in the way of the music.
Or the line “Now hold on a minute before we go much further. Give me a dime so I can phone my mother.”
Vastly improved by the Revolting Cocks cover 'I'm sorry but I'm out of KY Jelly".
What's your guys opinion on Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS Spilled ?
Haven’t heard yet
@@TastesLikeMusic there's a couple songs very different from the main album release. 6 new songs.
p diddy list please
Ding Ding Dong Dong!
Rap shouldn’t count. The lyrics are bad by default 😂😂😂😂 😲 😲 😲 😲
"The blacksmith and the artist/
Reflect it in their art" from the otherwise dependable Neil Peart is pretty lazy songwriting.
“Closer To The Heart” is a favorite Rush song of mine. I interpret it as people of all walks of life and occupations have something to say/something to give. 🤷🏻♀️
The artist/art thing not the most imaginative but it’s not bad. - Jos
@@TastesLikeMusic So I guess he could’ve replaced “artist” with painter, author, sculptor, etc. but I think saying both “artist” and “art” reinforces/drives home the point that someone called an “artist” who creates “art” (whatever it may be) is on equal footing with a blacksmith whose creations are also seen as “art” and both are important to society’s function. Just like the ploughman and the philosopher who are creative & necessary in their own unique ways. It helps celebrate the unsung. Just my two cents.
Neil's done far worse than that: "Ah ha ha to yes / Ah ha ha to yes / Why the sun / Why the sun"---Between Sun and Moon (love Rush and he was a great songwriter, but to say he was slacking off with this one would be an understatement).
The rapping in Roll The Bones is pretty awful
The lyrics to Stacie's Mom are lame.
Agreed, cringe inducing song
Covid got him
I think they’re kinda endearing tho, and I love Fountains of Wayne and that chorus is great, so it doesn’t bother me that much.
@@curly_wyn i don't need to love the lyrics to think a song is great but i know when lyrics are a bit meh. I like Skater Boy but i agree those lyrics certainly stink.
Incidentally, the official worst lyric ever written is: "I'm as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change." It is the worst for several reasons, four of which I will now enumerate, since you ask:
1) It begins with a hopeless cliche. This is a minor fault really, in rock and roll, but it's the first one so it gets listed first;
2) Who changes birds? That is not a thing in any universe. Ridiculous and, frankly, idiotic;
3) It has an obvious solution. Why not "...and this bird you cannot cage"? It completes the idea perfectly while staying inside the metaphor, and it actually "sings" the same;
4) It is the featured lyrical moment - the actual tag line - in one of the world's most enduring and popular songs - one that is considered "great" by a significant cross section of the population.
There are plenty of dumb lyrics out there, but in my opinion this one is a perfect storm of carelessness, ignorance, and lack of effort. Thank you if you read this far.
it's a metaphor. and not even a deep one. lol
A bird does not change its feathers because the weather is bad. - West African proverb
@@independenceltd.No, the setup is "I'm as free as a bird." That's a reference to being uncaged, not unchanged. But say it's referring to your cliche. Then it's a bird (not) changing its own feathers. Saying "you cannot change" doesn't make sense. You don't change the bird. If you want it to work in that context it should be "And this bird will never change." Still so simple to fix.
@@sizzlechest69 he's not a bird, he's like a bird. he doesn't look like a bird, he flies like a bird, i.e. traveling from one place to another.
it's not that deep. lol
@@independenceltd.You are correct. It's not deep at all. But I don't see how that has anything to do with whether the line is terrible. Traveling from one place to another means he's free. Free as a bird, dare I say. And he can't be caged, i.e. kept from traveling freely. I'm sure he also can't be changed. But being changed doesn't have anything to do with being free as a bird. It don't work, mate!
That’s a reach. - Joe
The funniest video you guys have put out. Grade A entertainment.
I've always hated The Killers chanting over and over again, "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier". The first time I heard it in 2005, I was shaking my head saying this is horrifying.
My girlfriend used to work in a shop where she had to wear a name badge on her uniform. Her and colleagues used to sing along when the song was playing on the instore pa system but would change the lyrics to "I've got badge but I'm not a badger"
I don't like the lyric but I gave the song a pass when I heard it was about soldiers with PTSD.
A British comedian had his take 'I've got ham but I'm not a hamster'.
With the Shakira song, it is definitely a case of “something lost in translation”. I lived in Mexico for 2 years on a church mission and I learned Spanish while there. That whole line not only comes across differently in Spanish because of the nuances and limitations of the language, there are cultural things that make it appear very distinct from how someone listening in English would hear and understand it. For example, “colinas” means mountains or hills and that is a very common euphemism for breasts in Latin America. A better example of this is that song “Hero”, by Enrique Iglesias. In the Spanish version, he literally says, in Spanish, “If I could be your hero, If I could be your GOD, I would save you a thousand times, you can be my salvation”. I asked the people there why that was not ridiculous and even blasphemous, and they were nonplussed by it. The answer I got is that the line is romantic and sweet. So its got something to do with their culture, because you see he changed it when they recorded the English version.
Eddie Brickell's 'What I Am' was kinda bad: "Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box / Religion is the smile on a dog / I'm not aware of too many things / I know what I know, if you know what I mean / d-doo yeah / Choke me in the shallow water / Before I get too deep / What I am is what I am / Are you what you are or what? / What I am is what I am / Are you what you are or?" I actually dated a girl that liked to this song
The lyrics are bad enough, but her annoying singing voice doesn't help either! No wonder that was their only hit.
Des'ree's "Life" often shows up on these lists, and for very good reason: "I don't want to see a ghost / It's a sight that I fear most / I'd rather have a piece of toast"
I think it fits in the 'endearingly naff' tier, like the one they put in F tier in the video. (The test of time one)
I'm Hot Blooded check it and see
I've got a fever of a hundred and three
Come on baby do you do more than dance
Foreigner needs representation in this category
When I saw Nickelback on the list, I was thinking it’d be the entirety of Rockstar. That song also has some legendarily bad lyrics, my favorite of which being “Sign a couple autographs so I can eat my meals for free” followed by the ad lib “I’ll have a quesadilla”.
Did you know those ad libs in that song are Billy Gibbons?
The absolute worst lyric that I have ever heard in a song comes from "Drowning" by A Boogie wit da Hoodie ft. Kodak Black where Kodak sings "I'm the shit/I'm fartin'/Don't know how to potty." Was he high when he came up with those lyrics?
I have an issue with bad grammar in lyrics. Especially really egregious ones. “Til the stars fall from the sky for you and I”. There are a ton like that that use “I” instead of “me” in order to rhyme. Or “If I lay here, would you lie with me”. He’s got to know just one of those is correct (lie), right?
“tonight there’s gonna be a Jailbreak … somewhere in this town”
Where do you think it’s gonna happen?
I think P!nk’s worst lyric is “So What? I’m still a rock star. I got my rock moves”.
Sometimes The Chili Peppers 🌶 mail in the lyrics. Sorry Wisconsin 🧀.
C'mon, really?? Who else can write such deep stuff as "I've got a devil in my dick / I got some demons in my semen" and "I said 'What's up?'/ Now suck my dick." Anthony's a friggin' legend!
The past is another country, they do things differently over there.
That's not a lyric BTW it's just in reference to the Rod Stewart line.
Well Train definitely belongs in s-tier so I support that choice. Not just that song but they consistently have just the absolute worst lyrics as well as being one of the worst bands ever (although I do agree Drops of Jupiter lyrically is not as bad as they would get).
A lot of these I was already aware of but it was still entertaining to see them analyzed and ranked. However I don't remember that Janet Jackson song or lyric, that was really really bad (but hilarious). Will miss March Badness as always but I guess it can't be March forever.
In fairness to Madonna she was trying to be campy with that rap. Having said that it was poorly executed and some other bad lyrics “I’d like to express my extreme point of view / I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Jew” make this a cringey song on an mostly OK album. Enjoyed your discomfort at the Janet Jackson lyric - trouble is I can relate to that line 😮 Praising or dissing Bernie Taupin lyrics makes me laugh because back in the day we had no idea what Elton John was singing about half the time.
But then she’s got “And I know I can feel bad when I get in a bad mood” in Love Profusion…
What about bad lyrics in songs you otherwise love? One from My Girls by Animal Colletive always irks me: "I don't need to seem like I care about material things, like a social status".
Err, a social status is very much an immaterial thing! He could've picked anything to work as an example of a 'material thing' and yet he chose something that completely falls outside that category
I think social status is generally made up of material things you own. Nice car, nice clothes, stuff like that. But I absolutely see your point lol
Even though I don't like the song. Hey Soul Sister has the "Ain't that Mr Mister on the radio" line.
I'm a huge Mr Mister fan, so any excuse to hear them mentioned is great!
I love Queen, but Don't Stop Me Now comes to mind, just for the lyric "I'm burning through the sky / 200 degrees / That's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit." Freddie's done FAR better than that one! Talk about cheesy.
Although Difford &Tilbrook are great songwriters the lyrics to Pulling Mussels from a Shell have always bugged me. “And I feel like William Tell, Maid Marion on her tiptoe feet” What has William Tell got to do with Robin Hood? 🤓
I know one. 'Should I cool it or should I go now' From the song should I stay or should I go.
Saying the words ' cool it '. Sounds pretty lame. If you ask me. Sounded like they're trying to sound cool but just sound lame. No pun intended.
What about a tier list for most misheard/misunderstood lyrics?
Hit me with your pet shark! Fire away!
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 There’s a bathroom on the right
It's not really a lyric cause spoken and a lot of people love thjs intro but i always hated "We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life/electric word life, it means forever and that's a mighty long time"
Like... no? Life has a definite beginning and end .it doesnt mean forever at all. That's the defining thing about life, the fact that it doesn't last. And if you're talking about life in general, well it's still not forever, at some point the sun will go out and all the life on earth will die.
“You know I work all day, to get you money to buy you things” has always struck me as one of the most awkward lines in an otherwise iconic song. It’s what came to mind before watching the video, so I definitely wouldn’t put it on the same scale of atrocity as any of these really, but I’ve always found it comically bad and out of place. Though if I’m being honest, Beatles lyrics were never really my thing until the Dylan influence started to bleed through.
'Tell your boyfriend
If he says he's got beef
That I'm a vegetarian
And I ain't fuckin' scared of him'
-3OH!3, 'DONTTRUSTME'
Van Hagar's "Best of Both Worlds" is chockfull of awful lyrics:
"It's not work that makes it work on/
Now let the magic do the work for you, yes, honey"
"Well, there's a picture in a gallery
Fallen angel looked a lot like you
We forget where we come from sometimes/I had a dream it was really you"
"Whoa, you don't have to die and go to heaven/Or hang around to be born again/Just tune in to what this place has got to offer/Cause we may never be here again"
Just about ALL of Van Hagar's lyrics are crap. Sammy the douche is an awful songwriter.
as i get over the ian gillan bashing, im glad to see a lyric from jack and diane , which is a song i have hated all my life, and in my village we had a taste freeze , with a putt putt course behind it and the place was a big teen age hangout🐯
Me too! Tasty Freeze next to the Putt-Putt in Pennsylvania where I'm from. I don't like jack & diane either, but the Tasty Freeze reference is nostalgic.
one of my all time least favorite songs. "long after the thrill of living is gone". speak for yourself mr. cougar.
Hey bengal! I am still trying to get over the Ian Gillan bashing. I totally agree with the Jack and Diane lyrics. 🎶💜💜
@@MMoses87 agreed on the song , im in the southern tier of NY about 8 miles from PA border
@@floydshambles cool itsa just so annoying, lol too cutsie and clever
I'm embarrassed that I know this but "shooby doo wop and Scooby snacks" is from a different LFO song. I did not know the Lil Yachty one and was laughing to an uncontrollable degree at that. If hit country song counts, I have to nominate Alan Jackson's #1 hit Where I Come From:
Well, I answered him and he asked me
"Aren't you from out in Tulsa "
"No, but you might've seen me there
I just dropped a load of salsa"
This tall lady stopped and asked
If I had plans for dinner
Said, "No thanks, ma'am, back home
We like the girls that sing soprano"
Wow. The Scooby Doo line being from Girl on TV is really messing with my mind. I would’ve bet my life on that being in Summer Girls. Is this a Mandela Effect?
The Van Halen lyric wasn't bad enough to stop me playing it 10 times in a row when I bought it as a single in 1986.
Interesting to see Jason pretend to not know Avril Lavigne lyrics.
Great video! The Elton John Rocket Man one was funny! I liked the Shakira whenever wherever one too. I enjoyed watching!
Thanks Michael.
@@TastesLikeMusic You're very welcome!!!
I expect some sophistication and knowledge from this channel and I'm sorry to say that you really let me down. No discussion of bad lyrics can ever be considered comprehensive if it doesn't include two words: Steve Miller. From inventing the word 'pompatus' to rhyming 'suspicious' with 'suspicious' to almost all of "Take the Money and Run", he is a master of bad lyrics. Even when he covers someone else's song in "Jet Airliner" he finds one with "Touching down in New England town" because that's a totally cromulent place. As a resident of Maine I can report that all towns for hundreds of miles are simply called that.
And, while you rightfully pointed out Bernie Taupin's bad writing in "Rocket Man" - probably the greatest gulf between lyrical quality and the overall greatness of a song - that barely scratches the surface of Bernie's many crimes against humanity. There's a master class in doggerel just looking at "Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters":
"Subway's no way for a good man to go down
Rich man can't ride and the hobo he can drown"
What the actual fuck, Bernie? Do you think rich people banned from the subway? Do you think that hobos (are there actually hobos anymore?) are flung into the East River? Of course, Berne saves one of his standard flaws, weird syntax, for the chorus: "For unless they see the sky, but they can't and that is why, they know not if it's dark outside or light." Whatever you say, Yoda.
I won't go into the racist stereotypes of "Island Girl" or the weird pedo/bestiality combo in "Amorena" ("Rolling through the hay like a puppy child") and will end with my favorite of Bernie's. In the Elton John/Kiki Dee duet "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" Bernie gives us the classic, 'Nobody told us, cuz nobody showed us'. Lot of thought went into those.
Bernie’s all about feeling. He’s not concerned with syntax or grammar or coherence. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Exactly. He's not concerned with the things that make for good lyrics. Bernie Taupin is the luckiest man who ever put pen to paper because Elton John, an astounding songwriter and performer, thought he was a good lyricist. I guess sometimes you only have to convince one person that you know what you're doing.
American poet Marianne Moore (1887-1972) is thought to be the first to rhyme with the same word twice, an innovation which was taken up by her disciple Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979). It was definitely considered bad form in lyric composition before those two ladies persisted in employing it in their acclaimed works.
Little River Band, Lady: "And I love you best, you're not like the rest" ... OK, all right so far, but then: "You're there when I need you, you're there when I need, I'm gonna need you."
The Lil Yachty one was fucking hilarious; I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jason laugh that much in my life, great video! 😂😂
People often ask is it the lyrics or music that are most important? Great Pop music depends on strong even cerebral lyrics, feel some of the best lyrics came from the Singer Song writers
“Ive Never Been To Me” Charlene
Worst Your Song lyric - 'i sat on the roof and kicked off the moss, well a few of the verses they got me quite cross'.
I think "If I were a sculptor / But then again no" is worse.
The heat is hot…Horse With No Name, Lonely Boy…Andrew Gold, tells a story of a very confused boy who doesn’t understand or grasp the concept of loneliness…and finally Undercover Angel…Alan O’Day….never had a dream that made sweet love to me…I said, Wha? Whoo whoo goo wee, I said, Alright!
America is a gold mine of bad lyrics. In addition to your citation I would add "There were plants and birds and rocks and things" - things? wow, that really paints a picture - and, of course, the extremely rare triple negative of "Coz there ain't no one for to give you no pain". Another favorite: "Cause never was the reason for the evening, or the tropic of Sir Galahad". Maybe reason was the cause but not vice versa. Oh well, as long as the days surround your daylight there I guess the alligator lizards will keep flying.
At least once a year when I managed an independent record store in Santa Monica , CA ( Moby Disc ) someone would ask me which Neil Young album had Horse 🐎 With No Name on it ..
A first cousin of mine loved "Undercover Angel" when it was newly on the airwaves, so I have some nostalgic association for it, despite its dubious lyrical accomplishment.
Reading through these posts made me think of "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle, with its gobbledygook chorus of "itchy kitchy...mocha chocolata ya ya...", all of which adds to the undeniable fun of this singular song.
@@WDRhine "Ain't it foggy inside
All the planes have been grounded
Ain't the fire inside
Let's all go stand around it
Funny, I've been there, and you've been here
And we ain't had no time to drink that beer
'Cause I understand you've been running from the man
Who goes by the name of the Sandman
He rides the sky like the eagle in the eye
Of a hurricane that's abandoned"
Almost, guys. Almost.
"Heat is hot" is fire
Personal pet peeve lyric of mine from Train's Meet Virginia: "She smokes a pack a day, wait that's me but anyway." I hate that lyric!
Yeah, that sucks
Eh, that whole song sucks. Overrated band.
@@davidl570I wouldn’t consider them overrated. They seem pretty universally disliked to varying degrees.
Beam Me Up ! 🚀 👨🚀 ( It's Going To Be A Long Long Time ⌛️)
ELP Still..You Turn Me On: "Every day a little sadder, a little madder, someone get me a ladder."
That is a legendarily bad lyric and i love ELP
@@rightchordleadership I'd never thought about it before, but this lyric seems to be a reference to suicidal ideation. I love the song in any case.
@@barrymoore4470 It's a wonderful song regardless of that goofy lyric.
ELP's Tiger in a Spotlight (still like the song though): "To screw your shadow in the sky / But did you stop to wonder why?"
David Bowie - Lazarus - "I was looking for your ass.."
Yeah as great as the song is, I never understood that line.
This was funny. Thanks for making me laugh. Bernie Taupin was the first lyricist I was interested in; so I'll put forward one of his worst during his greatest success: Jamaica Jerk-Off, from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. EVERY verse is either pretentious "native' talk, borderline racist or simply unsexy dirty talk. Utterly terrible.
I think the U2 lyric was supposed to reference something being greater than the sum of its parts. Or whatever. This may have been a case of them saying, "Hey, let's do this really clever thing." And then everyone who heard it just said, "Yeah, no."
Michael Jackson’s song “Bad” is bad.
It's .. Bad
Your butt is mine.
This should be good. Back to the Egg again. Not a hit but rhyming windscreen wiper with look out for snipers??? Awesome. And what is a butter pie? Wearing a pink balloon about his foot toot toot...
Oh, c’mon!
Ded Leper's "pour some sugar on me" has got to be S-tier. As in Shit-tier
True. 10/10 sound with 1/10 lyrics. The question is which line to single out because the whole song is ridiculous from start to finish.
@@someguy7424 one lump or two? 🤣
@@someguy7424 Eh, 1/10 sound too. Easily Phil's most annoying guitar riff EVER!
Jason , to be fair, you can’t attack Rod Stewart for a racist lyric if your not willing to take on Mott the Hoople for the same
What rod stewart song is it? And what mott the hoople song?
Don't tell me the lyric... just the names. Please. It would... please me.
@@xvx5872 The Rod Stewart song is "Every Picture Tells a Story", released in 1971 as the first track of the eponymous LP.
@@xvx5872the Rod Stewart song Jason listed was Every Picture Tells a Story. Jason, a big Mott fan ( as am I) have a pretty racist line in All the Way From Memphis. You can look it up
@@barrymoore4470Cool, sounds enjoyable.
@@xvx5872 And the album as a whole is excellent, definitely a classic.
This whole video could have been about the Bloodhound Gang
They didn’t have enough hits. - Joe
Everything by kiss.
Hoobsstank the reason
It's not a hit song, but the song 'For You' by Springsteen, who was promoted as the 'new Dylan', is cringeworthy and every lyric in the song is cringeworthy. Here's a sample:
"Because I've broken all your windows and I've rammed through all your doors. And who am I to ask you to lick my sores? And you should know that's true."
I concede that the lyrics are dodgy in places, but in instances are truly evocative, as in "they're waiting for you at Bellevue/With their oxygen masks...". I do think Manfred Mann's Earth Band improved this song in their cover version, which both massively edits and selectively tweaks the lyrics, turning "lick my sores" to "fight my wars", for example. I also prefer the cover musically, with its powerful and taut driving rhythm, suggesting a surge of anger that resolves on fading notes of sad resignation.
@@barrymoore4470 Sure, the lyrics are very clever and evocative, but at the same time, over the top and overwrought for me. I do agree that Mann's music and lyric changes are for the best. "The Wild, the Innocent .." seems like a big forward for Springsteen.
@@oppothumbs1 Well that over the top and overwrought IS what makes it a great song. The "sores" line isn't great, but there are so many other fantastic lyrics like "barroom eyes shine vacancy", "Cheshire smile", "it's not your lungs this time, it's your heart that holds your fate" And For a song about a suicide, the line "So you left to find a better reason than the one we were living for" hits HARD. In fact I prefer the live slow piano version even more, which is even MORE over the top and even more overwrought, such as the version from Hammersmith Odeon 1975 (available here on UA-cam).
@@Ras137 There are so many more critically acclaimed songs by Springsteen to defend and glad you like it but I am not feeling it at all. I don't really like the melody either and Springsteen lyrics and productions are often overwrought, grandiose, bombastic, and cheesy. His anthems are often a bit anathematic, i.e., a bit loathsome. OK that's a step too far. He's a great showman in concert, and wrote some great songs, but that's it 'For Me' for me that's it for Me. 20 songs I love and the rest I leave 'For You'.
What happened to Kram, why’d he leave?
He got run over by a crappy purple Scion.
How often have you had to answer this question? 😂
@@danielbaars Kramzer has a lot of fans. I think we all miss him.