yeah, but he goes pretty hard
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 26 June 2023 08:41 (one year ago) link
Indeed, this put me in mind of Led Zep's "Ramble On", which fits the thread's premise rather well. The protagonist is making his excuses (after a "pleasant stay") and announces that he's actually on a mission to free his true love, who has been kidnapped by [checks notes] Gollum and Sauron.
On my way, I've been this way ten years to the dayI gotta ramble on, I gotta find the queen of all my dreams
So, this happened ten years ago, but he's no closer to rescuing her and has somehow found plenty of time to sit around boozing with his latest host (""Our health" we drank a thousand times"). What an asshole.
― Vast Halo, Monday, 26 June 2023 08:52 (one year ago) link
maybe he's an elf, they live for centuries so they see time differently
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 26 June 2023 09:31 (one year ago) link
always thought it was something about "feet dragged a thousand times," which i guess doesn't help his case either.
― got it in the blood, the kid's a pelican (Doctor Casino), Monday, 26 June 2023 14:00 (one year ago) link
Leslie Gore, “Judy's Turn to Cry”She doesn’t sound too concerned about the poor “other guy” who got a knuckle sandwich!!(plus, this song suxx)(also, releasing an “answer song” to your own single feels thirsty AF)
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Monday, 26 June 2023 15:14 (one year ago) link
I mean it's kind of a song cycle, if only she'd have written more songs re: Judy
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Monday, 26 June 2023 15:16 (one year ago) link
(well, released, not written)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtFqzTcWTBE
― slugbuggy, life has new meaning to me (breastcrawl), Monday, 26 June 2023 15:37 (one year ago) link
I can't believe I never cited Leslie Gore itt! Both of the Judy songs are perfect examples. The protagonist comes off as somewhat of a sociopath, but also that was just kind of a thing in a lot of songs from the girl group era.
― Fish Sticks in the Fanny Pack (Old Lunch), Monday, 26 June 2023 15:55 (one year ago) link
was listening to let's hear it for the boy and tbh the boy does not come off as a v nice person, he don't talk sweet, he ain't got much to say, he's no romeo, he's watching every dime... if it was a friend of mine I'd be like well maybe there's even better boys out there
singer seems ok though
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 09:05 (one year ago) link
! Relatedly, a friend of mine recently pointed out that in Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract," almost every attribute used to describe the dude is negative.
He's messy, he's broke, he steals the covers, he smokes, etc.
"Let's Hear it for the Boy" and "Opposites Attract" are interesting bookends, to be sure.
In 1958 Tom Lehrer had a prescient song, "She's My Girl," meant to be a kind of response to these two songs.
In the spoken intro here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJiVwfoRkU
Lehrer notes that there was (even then) a trope of women singing about guys who they loved even though they were repulsive and unsanitary.
He thought "She's My Girl" would be a useful corrective from the other perspective.
Granted, Billy Joel was only 10 years old at the time and therefore had not yet written "She's Always a Woman."
― pomplamoose and circumstance (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 10:46 (one year ago) link
(xpost) Very true, I always thought that her boyfriend actually doesn't sound like much of a catch. On a similar note, there's a song that was an inexplicably huge hit across Europe in 1996:
My love has got no money, he's got his strong beliefsMy love has got no power, he's got his strong beliefsFreed from desire, mind and senses purified
I always think, (a) he must be great fun at parties, and (b) he'd fit in really well on ILE.
― Vast Halo, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 11:23 (one year ago) link
'Freed From Desire' has had a big resurgence in the last five years largely though being played at football matches - feels like the 'new' 'Seven Nation Army' in this respect.
― nashwan, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 11:37 (one year ago) link
How did that come about? You do still hear it on the radio, but I can't see any particular connection with football.
― Vast Halo, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 11:45 (one year ago) link
My wife, who's French, had a big "MIND BLOWN" moment hearing that on the radio recently and understanding the lyrics for the first time. Growing up, this and every other English song was of course sung along to with "nanananana" only.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 11:48 (one year ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freed_from_Desire#Usage_in_football
― slugbuggy, life has new meaning to me (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 12:08 (one year ago) link
re. 'Freed From Desire' being a football chant, the words can be easily changed to something football related, and then everyone can join in on the na na na bits. really started to take off when the Northern Ireland fans sang "Will Greg's on fire, your defence is terrified" during the Euro 2016 finals, other fans started copying it. I think the N Ireland fans were being a bit ironic as Will Greg didn't play much?
― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 12:15 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNf2l9SuHHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOgJniA-2PE
― slugbuggy, life has new meaning to me (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 12:22 (one year ago) link
The male in "Let's Hear It For the Boy" seems to be a shy guy who struggles to express himself but whose feelings are strong. If anything, the singer's attitude is a little patronizing.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 14:42 (one year ago) link
Sounds like he’s good at fucking
― Alito Bit of Soap (President Keyes), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 14:43 (one year ago) link
Yeah, I think that's part of the implication (not sure why we're being asked to cheer that, though; seems like a private matter).
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 14:47 (one year ago) link
let's hear it for the dong
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 14:48 (one year ago) link
songs where the protagonist has a serious dick
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 14:51 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJncHEZ3URs
― pomplamoose and circumstance (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:01 (one year ago) link
“Banks of Sweet Primroses” qualifies, at least in the versions I know, but is also totally baffling. Narrator hits on a beautiful lady who appears to be weeping, promises that he’ll fix everything if she will grant him “one small relief.” Then she reveals that the narrator, who apparently didn’t recognize her, is in fact the cause of her weeping, and plans to go off to some lonesome valley. Final verse:
So come all young men who go a-sailingPray pay attention to what I sayFor there's many a dark and a cloudy morningTurns out to be a sunshiny day
― JoeStork, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 04:10 (eleven months ago) link
I always thought "No Scrubs" was mean
― frogbs, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 04:28 (eleven months ago) link
dylan's don't think twice is a piece of self-justifying, smug, passive-aggressive, deep cuntography.
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 04:34 (eleven months ago) link
if dylan meant to be a dick with don't think twice, it's only because he knows no other mode of being.
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 04:35 (eleven months ago) link
to wit:
I once loved a woman, a child, I'm toldI gave her my heart but she wanted my soul
Goodbye's too good a word, babeSo I'll just say, "Fare thee well"I ain't a-saying you treated me unkindYou could've done better but I don't mindYou just kinda wasted my precious time
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 04:37 (eleven months ago) link
"Don't Think Twice It's Alright" is one where I really have a hard time sympathizing with the speaker -- he sounds like such a mean and bitter person beneath all the maudlin self-pity.― five six and (man alive), Thursday, August 27, 2015 9:10 AM (seven years ago)I think Dylan totally means to be a dick though― Ma$e-en-scène (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, August 27, 2015 9:17 AM (seven years ago)
― five six and (man alive), Thursday, August 27, 2015 9:10 AM (seven years ago)
I think Dylan totally means to be a dick though
― Ma$e-en-scène (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, August 27, 2015 9:17 AM (seven years ago)
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 05:14 (eleven months ago) link
(It may be true that Dylan "knows no other way of being," but that fact doesn't necessarily shoehorn a "purposefully dickish" song into qualifying for this thread...?)
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 05:16 (eleven months ago) link
my contention here is that dylan cannot be purposely dickish because he has no idea what being not-a-dick would mean.
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 05:33 (eleven months ago) link
I always thought "No Scrubs" was mean― frogbs, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 12:28 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― frogbs, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 12:28 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Agreed. Total classist bullshit. As a poor guy in 1999, it really stung.
― peace, man, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 12:03 (eleven months ago) link
When I first read about the Vardy's on fire chants as shared above, I briefly thought they were to the tune of Eno's "Baby's on Fire" and this then stuck in my brane for weeks, and still comes back when I see his gurning fizzog, or indeed his wife.
― Piedie Gimbel, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 15:14 (eleven months ago) link
"Semi-Charmed Life"
― Indexed, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 15:54 (eleven months ago) link
Jamie Vardy of LeicesterLooked at the samples that we sentAnd furrowed his brow
― Vast Halo, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 16:05 (eleven months ago) link
― peace, man, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 7:03 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
this can't be real
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 19:58 (eleven months ago) link
I took the song at knocking aggressive guys down a peg, overconfident dudes who want to do nothing but big-up themselves and talk about how badass they are, aggressively catcall/harass women *while they're driving*, and are completely full of shit.
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 20:27 (eleven months ago) link
I remember a friend of mine being really offended by this song back in 1999.
― Alito Bit of Soap (President Keyes), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 20:28 (eleven months ago) link
like yeah she knocks dudes who live at home or don't have a car but she also calls out dudes who have shorties and don't love them, people who scream at women out the sides of cars, people who talk about all the things they 'want' (or things they're gonna do) but never actually do it or have any intent to do it.
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 20:29 (eleven months ago) link
yeah, exactly. if you've ever met a scrub, you know. she's not saying "fuck poor dudes"
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 20:37 (eleven months ago) link
she's talking about self-awareness more than anything
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 20:38 (eleven months ago) link
If you don't have a car and you're walkingOh yes son, I'm talking to you
― Alito Bit of Soap (President Keyes), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 20:58 (eleven months ago) link
like yeah she knocks dudes who live at home or don't have a car
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 20:59 (eleven months ago) link
she is very specifically knocking poor people there
― Alito Bit of Soap (President Keyes), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 21:00 (eleven months ago) link
sure if you want to ignore the context that fits into and frame the song as a JP Morgan-nose thumbing, sure. and that it's directed at cocky men who pursue her and harass her aggressively and talk a big game about how big they're going to make it, but don't actually do anything but sit at home and play video games instead of looking for a job or blowing all their money on needless shit instead of saving it to get things like...a car.
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 21:11 (eleven months ago) link
If you live at home with your mommaOh yes son, (I'm) I'm talking to you (baby)
― Alito Bit of Soap (President Keyes), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 21:14 (eleven months ago) link
babies can't live alone dummy
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 21:16 (eleven months ago) link
itt - ppl who know what scrubs are and ppl who don't
― sad Mings of dynasty (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 June 2023 21:25 (eleven months ago) link
lol Evan