Hahaha, totally! "Go ahead, hate your neighbor" also echoed on Henson Cargill's super preachy country smash "Skip-A-Rope." Listening to "One Tin Soldier" now (the Coven version) for the first time - wow.
"Arizona" has several times made me want to start a thread about songs where the singer/protagonist comes off as a serious dick without meaning to. In the first verse he seems to be identifying with this hippie chick muse, standing against the misunderstanding crowd, but then he spends the whole rest of the thing demanding she ditch her passing bohemian affectations and hang around with him. I guess the idea is that he wishes the crowd would pray for her to make these changes that he's going to wheedle out of her? Love how he belts out the title, though.
Maybe the apex of this kind of thing is "Once You Understand" by the appropriately imperative band Think. The evocation of strife, generational struggle and troubled consciences actually takes over the entire track to where there's basically not even a song there.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 15:15 (nine years ago) link
Will definitely check that out, thanks, I can't get enough of that stuff. I have one for you too: Albert Hammond "The Free Electric Band".
The one kind of cool thing about Henson Cargill is that he actually got that song high up on country music radio....theoretically, one could hear "Okie From Muskogee" followed by "Skip-A-Rope"
I believe there's a clip on Sonny & Cher of "One Tin Soldier", poorly animated. Also it was the theme to Billy Jack.
― Vic Perry, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 15:23 (nine years ago) link
Oh yeah, I got into "Free Electric Band" about a year ago, love that one. That's one where I actually do still feel the intensity of the guy's desire to run away and join the free electric band, even as I see the total bubblegummy fakeness and artificiality of the whole story.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 15:39 (nine years ago) link
Never heard (or heard of) this Arizona song.
― Betel-chewing Equipment of East New Guinea (Tom D.), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 15:41 (nine years ago) link
"Arizona" has several times made me want to start a thread about songs where the singer/protagonist comes off as a serious dick without meaning to.
Yeah, "Young Girl" Gary Puckett is another one..
― Mark G, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:48 (nine years ago) link
― Betel-chewing Equipment of East New Guinea (Tom D.), Tuesday, March 24, 2015 11:41 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I basically recommend it! Depends how much "CUT OFF YOUR INDIAN BRAID!" you can stomach I guess, but it's a pretty good turn-of-the-70s number. I think I got it off this wonderful thread: Trippy Country-tinged Pop with AM radio hooks from the late sixties to mid-seventies
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:52 (nine years ago) link
#1 "Rock Me Amadeus" probably has a couple - "Amadeus," of course, but probably also "Freemason."
May be cheating but foreign-language lyrics in general would seem to kill in this category: "Der Kommissar," "99 Luftballons," "Michelle"...
― Ye Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 19:57 (nine years ago) link
some possible candidates from "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald":
capsizedfreightershatchwayseasoned
****
Hey Doctor Casino I thought of another condescension song from 1969, #3, revolting, lame, entertaining: Bobby Sherman "Little Woman"
― Vic Perry, Friday, 27 March 2015 05:20 (nine years ago) link
Dr. C. also re: "a thread about songs where the singer/protagonist comes off as a serious dick without meaning to":
Subset of this: a dude informing a woman that he, the singer/protagonist, is the solution to her romantic problems, and she should therefore be rilly rilly grateful that he exists. Because otherwise she would be a withered cronelike old maid.
This was previously discussed in terms of Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky", but also:
"Let My Love Open the Door" ("you're so lucky I'm around")James Taylor, "I'm Your Handyman"Little Feat, "One Clear Moment"Don Henley, "Last Worthless Evening"
There should be a whole counter-genre of women answering, "No thanks, Tom/James/Don/Pete, I'll actually be fine." Maybe there is! But I am not sure I can think of an example apart from "Without You" from My Fair Lady.
― Ye Mad Puffin, Friday, 27 March 2015 13:12 (nine years ago) link
As much as I like the song, they're alot of that going on in the Everly Brothers' "Gone, Gone, Gone" - "If you change your way, baby/you might get me to stay, baby/better hurry up if you don't want to be alone", as if it weren't possible (or likely) she could find someone else.
― Lee626, Friday, 27 March 2015 14:29 (nine years ago) link
*there's
― Lee626, Friday, 27 March 2015 14:30 (nine years ago) link
I was listening to the "Sound of the sixties" and they were playing "Are You Sure" The Allisons, and at first it's all conciliatory, careful even, "Are you sure you won't be sorry?" until near the end where it's all "It's just your foolish heart" you stupid person, etc...
― Mark G, Friday, 27 March 2015 14:53 (nine years ago) link
Definitely a worthy thread topic. I feel it should rightfully be Dr. Casino's, though.
― Ye Mad Puffin, Friday, 27 March 2015 15:01 (nine years ago) link
but we alrezdy had an Eagles thread
― Lee626, Friday, 27 March 2015 15:07 (nine years ago) link
"Mr. Big Stuff" fits the called-for "no thanks" genre.
― Vic Perry, Friday, 27 March 2015 15:13 (nine years ago) link
y'all should start it! i'm swamped right now and the labor of thread-starting is beyond me.
re: Edmund Fitzgerald: "capsize" is in "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind (#5 on the Hot 100).
― Doctor Casino, Friday, 27 March 2015 18:41 (nine years ago) link
Or...wait. He's saying "cut ties with all the lies," not "capsize under the lies." Wow. Never mind.
― Doctor Casino, Friday, 27 March 2015 18:42 (nine years ago) link
M's "Pop Muzik" (mentioned upthread for a different phrase, later disproved to be specific to it) also has "infiltrate," "Molotov," "gunslinger," and "hotcake." I bet at least a couple of those have shown up in other hits (though as far as I can tell "Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger" never pop-charted), but maybe one or two haven't.
― xhuxk, Monday, 9 November 2015 13:46 (eight years ago) link
Sean Paul's "Infiltrate" certainly wasn't a US hit, but it looms large in his legend and I feel like I've heard it out in the world here and there. The rest are toughies.
― Frump 'n' Dump (Doctor Casino), Monday, 9 November 2015 15:37 (eight years ago) link
It wasn't a huge hit (#28), but Janet Jackson's 'Son of a Gun' had the lyric "Gunslinger shoot em up".
Can't find anything with hotcake or Molotov though.
― MarkoP, Monday, 9 November 2015 16:03 (eight years ago) link
I keep thinking "I Gotta Feeling" and going "er, no."
― Frump 'n' Dump (Doctor Casino), Monday, 9 November 2015 16:07 (eight years ago) link
"Molotov cocktail, the local drink" starts the second verse of Don Henley's "All She Wants to Do is Dance."
― Resting Bushface (Phil D.), Monday, 9 November 2015 16:07 (eight years ago) link
In the not-hits-but-notable department, Carly Simon has a song called "Hot Cakes" and The Fall have a song called "Hot Cake" - the word appears in both!
― Your Ribs are My Ladder, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 12:00 (eight years ago) link
Well, there's always "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" The Flys, but not a hit.
Probably Pet Shop Boys have ..
― Mark G, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 12:40 (eight years ago) link
Molotov:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_She_Wants_to_Do_Is_Dance
They're pickin' up the prisoners and puttin' 'em in a penAnd all she wants to do is dance, danceRebels been rebels since I don't know whenAnd all she wants to do is danceMolotov cocktail- the local drink
― koogs, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 13:46 (eight years ago) link
^ U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #9
The song with the most unique words?
Well, let's propose "I'm in love with the girl on the Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk"
As she sells her records on such labels as EMI, CBS, A&M, RCA, Hansa, Stateside, Creole, Apple, Decca Charisma, Virgin, Zapple, RSO, Island too. Stiff, Jet, Logo Factory, Zoo, who all turned me down And not forgetting there's Bell, Gull, MAM, WEA, RAK, Phonogram, Rediffusion, Swan, Atlantic, Carousel, Transatlantic Chrysalis, Polydor, Warner Brothers, Manticore
EMI, CBS, A&M, RCA, Hansa, Stateside, Creole, Apple, Decca
Charisma, Virgin, Zapple, RSO, Island too. Stiff, Jet, Logo
Factory, Zoo, who all turned me down
And not forgetting there's
Bell, Gull, MAM, WEA, RAK, Phonogram,
Rediffusion, Swan, Atlantic, Carousel, Transatlantic
Chrysalis, Polydor, Warner Brothers, Manticore
― Mark G, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 13:51 (eight years ago) link
So with Molotov well covered, is "Don't Stand so Close to Me" the only one with Nabokov?
And yes I know there are two versions and both charted. Whether they count as two songs is debatable.
― uhaul and oates (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 10 November 2015 13:56 (eight years ago) link
Artist: The Genius/GZAAlbum: Liquid SwordsSong: LabelsTyped by: OHHLA Webmaster DJ Flash
Intro: RZA
Lot of people, you know what I'm sayin, they be gettin misinformedthinkin everything is everything, that you could just get yourselfa little deal, whatever, youknowhatI'msayin you gonna get on yougonna get rich. And all these labels be trying to lure us in likespiders, into the web, knowhatI'msaying. So sometimes people gottacome out and speak up, and let people understand, that you know yougotta read the label you gotta read the label if you don't read thelabel you might get poisoned...
Lyrics: Genius
TOMMY ain't my motherfuckin' BOYWhen he fake moves on a nigga you employWell I'll EMIRGE off ya set, now ya know God damnI show LIVIN LARGE niggaz how to flip a DEF JAMAnd RUFF up the motherfuckin' HOUSECause I smother you COLD CHILLIN' mother fuckers are still WARNER BROTHERSI'm RUTHLESS my clan don't have to act wildThat shit is JIVE, an old SLEEPING BAG/PROFILEThis soft comedian rap shit ain't the rough wittyOn the reel to reel it wasn't from a TUFF CITYNiggas be game, thinking that they lyrical surgeonsThey know their mics are formed at VIRGINAnd if you ain't boned a mic you couldn't hurt a beeThat's like going to Venus driving a MERCURYThe CAPITOL of this rugged slang, is WU-TANGWitty Unpredictable Talent And Natural GameI DEATH ROW an MC with mic cablesThe EPIC is at a RUSH ASSOCIATED LABELSFrom EASTWEST to ATCO, I bring it to a NEXT PLATEAUBut I keep it phat thoughYo, I'm hittin' batters up with the WILD PITCH styleI even show an UPTOWN/MCA styleWho thought he saw me on 4TH & BROADWAYBut I was out on the ISLAND, bombing MC's all dayMy PRIORITY is that I'm FIRST PRIORITYI bone the secret out a bitch in a sororitySo look out for A&M, the abbot and the masterBreakin' down your PENDULUMAs I fiend MC's out with a blow that'll numb thea-ppendix, I'm holdin more more weight than COLUMBIAIndex INTERSCOPE, we RCA. clanThat's comin' with a plan to free aslave of a mental death MC don't panicThrow that A&R nigga off the boat in the ATLANTICNow who's the BAD BOY character, not from ARISTABut firin' weapons released on GEFFENSo duck as I struck with the soul of MOTOWNWhile CENTRAL BROADCASTING SYSTEMS are slowed downYou're Dirty, like that BastardIt's gettin drastic
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 13:59 (eight years ago) link
(xpost to Mark)
Nabokov
http://genius.com/Nick-cave-and-the-bad-seeds-there-she-goes-my-beautiful-world-lyrics
#45 in UK charts
― koogs, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 14:11 (eight years ago) link
Hotcakes is in Charlie Daniels' "Dixie on My Mind" but that's not the same "Dixie on My Mind" that was a Country #1 for Hank Williams Jr.
― Josefa, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 14:37 (eight years ago) link
"Kismet" in Teena Marie's "Square Biz"
― Hey (Extended Mix), Saturday, 6 February 2016 04:01 (eight years ago) link
Kismet also in I'm always touched by your presence dear and misirlou. Elvis also had a song with the same name but I don't think it was a single.
― koogs, Saturday, 6 February 2016 06:21 (eight years ago) link
"Obscenities" in "Automatic" by the Pointer Sisters?
― shandemonium padawan (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 28 February 2016 21:49 (eight years ago) link
And murmured vague obscenities - Janis Ian 'At Seventeen'
― small doug yule carnival club (unregistered), Sunday, 28 February 2016 21:58 (eight years ago) link
'At Seventeen' is definitely the only hit song to contain the word 'debentures'
― small doug yule carnival club (unregistered), Sunday, 28 February 2016 22:00 (eight years ago) link
Who else used the word "thong" in a hit song but Sisqo?
― ulysses, Sunday, 28 February 2016 22:27 (eight years ago) link
"Timber" by Pitbull has thong in it "I have 'em like Miley Cyrus, clothes off twerking in their bras and thongs", I'm sure others too.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Sunday, 28 February 2016 23:46 (eight years ago) link
too bad this wasn't a bigger hit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RPtqzE1Bi8
― you are no man. take the balls. (Neanderthal), Monday, 29 February 2016 00:03 (eight years ago) link
Your user name just reminded me: has "Neanderthal" been used in any other hit besides "Neanderthal Man" by Hotlegs (No. 2 in the UK on 15 August 1970)?
― pitchforkian at best (cryptosicko), Monday, 29 February 2016 00:11 (eight years ago) link
Cool video btw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e0qYP_PTlY
― Thomas of Britain (Tom D.), Monday, 29 February 2016 00:21 (eight years ago) link
Jimmy Castor Bunch's wild "Troglodyte" mentions Neanderthals. Gotta be more. Hmmm.
― shandemonium padawan (Doctor Casino), Monday, 29 February 2016 01:26 (eight years ago) link
Is "I Want You" by Savage Garden the only hit song to use "likened" in the lyrics? A quick search revealed a couple of non-hits but was not conclusive.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Tuesday, 8 March 2016 20:30 (eight years ago) link
White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane is surely the only hit song to feature the word 'dormouse'
― paolo, Tuesday, 2 August 2016 20:51 (eight years ago) link
Just looking up the thread and Jay Z's verse on Mr Carter by Lil Wayne features the word Molotov. Not sure if it counts as a hit song though
[Verse 3 ‒ Jay-Z] Shyea I'm right here, in my chair With my crown and my dear Queen B, as I share Mic time with my heir Young Carter, go farther Go further, go harder Is that not why we came? And if not, then why bother? Show no mercy in Murciélaga's Far from being the bastard that Marcy had fathered Now my name's been mentioned with the Martyrs The Biggie's and the Pac's, and the Marley's and the Marcus' Garvey, got me a Molotov cocktail Flow, even if you box well, can't stop the blows Kaboom! The Roc Boy in the room The Dopebwoyy just came off the spoon Also, I'm so fly I'm on auto- Pilot, where guys just, stare at my wardrobe I see euros, that's right, plural I took so much change from this rap game it's your go Young!
― paolo, Tuesday, 2 August 2016 20:54 (eight years ago) link
And besides,
"Molotov cocktail, the local drinkAnd all she wants to do is dance, danceThey mix 'em up rightIn the kitchen sinkAnd all she wants to do is dance"
― rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 2 August 2016 22:40 (eight years ago) link
(oops, shoulda read the whole threat through first again. disregard.)
― rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 2 August 2016 22:43 (eight years ago) link
has the c-word ('cuckold' or 'cuck') ever appeared in a hit song? asking for a friend...
― hippie lady from california who loves that god (unregistered), Monday, 22 August 2016 03:18 (eight years ago) link
Megadeth Anarchy In The UK The Libertines What A Waster And I think there was a Paul Weller one, but I can't remember which apart from that it was in lieu of the Libertines (i.e. after it)
― Mark G, Monday, 22 August 2016 09:30 (eight years ago) link