This thread seems like an appropriate place to post this little video: [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_5i1wSO9qE[/yt]
Whenever I hear "New York Mining Disaster 1941," I feel like singing: Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones? Yes, I've seen your wife, and she's ugly. Is that because it's about transvestite hookers, because of the outdated "colored girls" reference, or because Lou Reed can't sing worth shit?
The Caesars, "It's Not the Fall That Hurts": But it's not the fall that hurts it's when you hit the ground... No shit, Sherlock! Especially these masterpieces: How many special people change? How many lives are living strange? Where were you while we were getting high? Slowly walking down the hall Faster than a cannonball Where were you while we were getting high? ("Champagne Supernova") You gotta roll with it You gotta take your time You gotta say what you say Don't let anybody get in your way 'Cause it's all too much for me to take ("Roll With It") And of course, the absolute classic: I need to be myself I can't be no one else I'm feeling supersonic Give me gin and tonic ("Supersonic") How does your feeling of being offended make them bad lyrics? Those lyrics describe real people (Holly, Jackie, Candy, Little Joe, Sugar Plum Fairy), and I'm pretty sure that both the lyrics and Andy Warhol's The Factory to which those people belonged were always meant to shock and offend. (BTW it's Candy Darling who is the graphically active hooker.)
Another one that makes me cringe whenever I hear it is "Brass in Pocket" by the Pretenders. The verses make absolutely no sense and are impossible to decipher, then the chorus is like a fill in the blank game of body parts: "Gonna use my ARMS. Gonna use my LEGS. Gonna use my FINGERS." and then she wails about how special she is. So special.
Not a great song but I like it when Catherine Tate sings it out of context for no particular reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD4-rR1RFmc Arrested Development had some great fun with this song when Lindsay & George Michael sang a karaoke version of it, only slowly starting to realize what it's actually about. And then Tobias chimes in, "That's my wife & my nephew. We have an open relationship." Worst of all, ABBA leads to Mama Mia! which leads to the horror of Pierce Brosnan singing!
Actually I like that song. But when you put it that way, yeah, the chorus does sound like a game of anatomical Mad Libs.
Still, this song led to some fun parody lyrics back when I was in middle school in the mid-1990s. In the bedroom, the quiet bedroom John Bobbit sleeps tonight In the kitchen, the peaceful kitchen Lorena gets a knife A-wiener-whack, a wiener-whack....