Okay, but when you think about it...

[Brimshack]

So, yesterday BEFORE I was listening to Cracker, I was listenig to Wild World, not the Cat Stevens version, but the Punk Rock version by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. I love that song too, both versions. (Let's just assume I went on to rant and rave about how good it is for a paragraph or three okay.)

but...

The thing is, these really are some of the most condescendingly paternalistic lyrics that I can think of. Seriously, the guy's girlfriend is leaving him, so he complains a bit about himself, then proceeds to lecture her about the nature of the world and how worried he is for her that she'll be on her own without him. If that isn't a bullshit mind-fuck, I don't know what is. I mean, can you imagine this conversation at the actual end of a relationship? What a freaking bastard! Really, what kind of asshole says that to his girldfriend as she leaves him? And can you imagine the terms of the relationsip up to that point? Was he her lover or her daddy? At the ripe young age of what, he early twenties? What made him such an expert in the ways of the world anyway, that he had to lead her through life as a parent to a child? (Maybe, it's cause he has the testicles, huh? Fer a hippie icon, that's some freakin red neck logic, I tell ya!)

I can't help wondering what kind of significant other this guy was if those lyrics are any reflection of his attitude towards women (and yes, I do realize that they may not be, but just the same, my imagination can't help starting down that road...).

What a bastard!

Okay, there it is. I can't help thinking that every time I enjoy this song. And yes, I do enjoy this song.

Exhibit A:

ARTIST: Cat Stevens
TITLE: Wild World
Lyrics and Chords


Now that I've lost everything to you
You say you wanna start something new
And it's breakin' my heart you're leavin'
Baby, I'm grievin'

/ Am D7 G / Cmaj7 F / Dm E / E /

But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there

/ " / " / Dm E G7 /

{Refrain}
Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl

/ C G F - / G F C - / C G F - / G F C DE /

You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do
And it's breakin' my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don't be a bad girl

But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware
Beware

{Refrain}

La-la-la la la...
Baby, I love you
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware
Beware

{Refrain twice}


And there we go folks. Any other songs, movies, or television shows that you love, really love, but fiund morally repulsive. No, I don't mean obviously guilty pleasures like watching Britany Speers first video. Finding the Jail-Bait appeal there will be like shooting fish in a barrel, ...with a 10 gauge shot gun. ...Pre-aimed at the carcas of the already dead fish. No, something that takes abit of thinking about. Something you have thought about.

Come on people, take something really good and just RUIN IT with yer thinkin'-too-much.

[Watser?]

I like reggae a lot but some of the lyrics are pretty much not PC.

Especially this one, Diseases by Michigan and Smiley (1982)

Every day girls dress up in their trousers
I say what happened to your skirts and blouses
Why can't I-man see you in your dresses
Cause these things unto Jah-Jah not pleases (or something)
And every day them worship vanities
And your greatest lust is jewelries
Mind Jah lick you with diseases (repeat)
The most dangerous diseases

I think you get the picture, it goes on in this vain over a beat that is just irresistible. It really shouldn't be allowed...

[vremya]

The best part of Wild World is the chorus - ooh baby, baby it's a wild world DO DO DO DO DO DO DO DO.

Does it for me every time.

[Brimshack]

I like reggae a lot but some of the lyrics are pretty much not PC.

Especially this one, Diseases by Michigan and Smiley (1982)

Every day girls dress up in their trousers
I say what happened to your skirts and blouses
Why can't I-man see you in your dresses
Cause these things unto Jah-Jah not pleases (or something)
And every day them worship vanities
And your greatest lust is jewelries
Mind Jah lick you with diseases (repeat)
The most dangerous diseases

I think you get the picture, it goes on in this vain over a beat that is just irresistible. It really shouldn't be allowed...

Ha!

I especially love the combination of a leering request to see women in their dresses with a lecture about vanity and loose morals.

It's funny too, because I think a lot of times that kind of contradiction comes across as an indication of depth, but when you hear the artist talking, you can't help realizing they just don't get it themselves. Sort of like Kenau Reeves flat tone of speech and blank expression. Easy to imagine it conceals something interesting and thoughtful, but sometimes you gotta wonder if the internal track isn't simply dead air.

[Brimshack]

The best part of Wild World is the chorus - ooh baby, baby it's a wild world DO DO DO DO DO DO DO DO.

Does it for me every time.

Oh yeah! And the Me First version turned up to 11 makes that work every time.

[livius drusus]

Pretty much any song from Niggaz4life by NWA, especially "I'd Rather Fuck You" which has this awesome 70's R&B vibe, but lyrically it's... um... not exactly girl power, if you know what I'm saying.

I'd rather fuck with you,
cause the other bitches wanna wine and dine (fuck all that).
I better hurry up and bust a nut,
cause it's check-out time.
She said she wanted me to eat the pussy,
well I think I'll pass (I don't think so).
So get your ass up you funky bitch,
and wash your ass (sing this motherfucking shit).

[Adora]

I've already overanalysed everything in my collection. It's just what I do, and part of the way I grow to love things.

[Shelli]

liv... gah! :nojustno:

[Brimshack]

Pretty much any song from Niggaz4life by NWA, especially "I'd Rather Fuck You" which has this awesome 70's R&B vibe, but lyrically it's... um... not exactly girl power, if you know what I'm saying.

I'd rather fuck with you,
cause the other bitches wanna wine and dine (fuck all that).
I better hurry up and bust a nut,
cause it's check-out time.
She said she wanted me to eat the pussy,
well I think I'll pass (I don't think so).
So get your ass up you funky bitch,
and wash your ass (sing this motherfucking shit).

:eek:

[Ymir's blood]

The Cat Stevens song is a passive aggressive way of trying to get the girlfriend to stay. He doesn't have anything really to offer her except a reason to fear leaving.

I don't really have any personal choices to offer. If something bothers me, I can't listen to it. The closest thing would be good music where the artist is a jerk, like Andrew Eldritch, c. Floodland.

[livius drusus]

liv... gah! :nojustno:
I know, I know!

:eek:
And that's just one verse. The others aren't raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens either. :blush:

[biochemgirl]

Not that I think this is good to begin with but since liv has me thinking of rap...

50 cent and this from "21 questions"

We're only humans girl we make mistakes, to make it up I do whatever it take
I love you like a fat kid loves cake
You know my style I say anything to make you smile


It's very tame as rap goes and it's supposed to be sweet but c'mon the most romantic comparison you can come up with is "like a fat kid loves cake"? ...Oh baby take me now!

[Shelli]

:giggle:

[Brimshack]

Not that I think this is good to begin with but since liv has me thinking of rap...

50 cent and this from "21 questions"

We're only humans girl we make mistakes, to make it up I do whatever it take
I love you like a fat kid loves cake
You know my style I say anything to make you smile


It's very tame as rap goes and it's supposed to be sweet but c'mon the most romantic comparison you can come up with is "like a fat kid loves cake"? ...Oh baby take me now!

See I love stuff like that, but I always wonder; is he in on his own joke?

[Blake]

I had the same feeling after listening to "Sweet Home Alabama" too much. I mean, I don't know what exactly those political lyrics are supposed to mean, but they can't be good. But alas, the tune ... the tune. Dammit.

[Clutch Munny]

Pretty much any song from Niggaz4life by NWA, especially "I'd Rather Fuck You" which has this awesome 70's R&B vibe, but lyrically it's... um... not exactly girl power, if you know what I'm saying.

Eeeeyesss... but it's not the worst on niggaz4life either. "One Less Bitch", for instance.

Really, yuck.

[livius drusus]

Oh it's definitely not the worse one on that album. It's just the one that I :heart: the most musically while making me :shudder: lyrically.

[Sock Puppet]

I had the same feeling after listening to "Sweet Home Alabama" too much. I mean, I don't know what exactly those political lyrics are supposed to mean, but they can't be good. But alas, the tune ... the tune. Dammit.Well, I hate everything about that song, so it's not quite on-topic for me to rant about it, but here it is in a nutshell:

Neil Young wrote a song called "Southern Man," railing against the South's history of slavery, lynchings and all-around racism, particularly in Alabama. That's the point of SWA's verse that ends "Well, I hope ol' Neil will remember/A southern man don't need you around," or whatever. Not a damned word of remorse over what Young had gotten right, just happy-go-lucky shit about the blue skies and whatnot. How dare he bring up all that stuff about atrocities when it's so ... pretty here. :whatthefuck:

Neil Young's voice is worse than fingernails on a blackboard for me, but I liked that song, particularly the dark, minor key.

[Brimshack]

I like Sweet Home Alabama, though it is a pretty poor defense. The line "Southern man don't need him arounf anyhow: is the worst one, precisely because it was only when the rest of the country DID get involved that things did get straightened out (as much as they did anyway).

FWIW: I don't think either band took the exchange too seriously. Apparently they're all mutual fans of each other's music. Young has actually been known to play Sweet Home Alabama in his own concerts.

[Artemis Entreri]

I love how rappers have managed to make any two words rhyme

No mo **** in yo *****, Just **** in yo throat (trote)
You ain't gonna get no child support (supote)

[Blake]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I know about the Neil Young "Southern Man" backstory, and the fact that Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd actually liked each other, and there wasn't any kind of ill feeling or even rivalry. Nonetheless, for the reasons Sock & Brim mention above, I do think it was a pathetic and totally inadequate response to Mr. Young's entirely justified critique.

But the part that really gets me is this:

In Birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth

Especially with later calling the governor "true." I mean, like I said, I don't know exactly what they mean, but it's not a stretch to interpret it as the worst kind of political know-nothingism, status-quo racism reinforcing there is.

Coupled with a song that is absolutely irresistible! Assholes.

[The Lone Ranger]

I love Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, but there are several unsettling elements to it if you stop to think about it.

For instance, even though Tolkien makes a big deal in his writings about the importance of "Free Will" and how the whole reason the Valar and Iluvatar don't directly interfere in the affairs of Middle Earth is because they want the peoples of Middle Earth to be free to make their own choices -- is this really the case? [That and the fact that if the Valar directly interfered with the affairs of Middle Earth, they might do as much harm as good -- but Iluvatar isn't so constrained.]

Each race has a fairly narrowly-defined set of racial characteristics, and only the Humans and perhaps the Hobbits seem to have any real ability to choose. (Of all the races, only Humans served on both sides of the War of the Ring.)

Elves are Good by nature, as Tolkien repeatedly emphasizes. Orcs are Evil by nature, as is also repeatedly emphasized. So where does the concept of "Freedom of Choice" come in?


And though I like the character of Aragorn, realistically, what right does he have to the throne of Gondor? His family has been out of power for centuries. During that time, the Stewards have been ruling Gondor and doing a perfectly good job of it (in fact, the argument could easily be made that, on the whole, the Stewards were better rulers than the Kings had been). So, after several hundred years, you'd think the Stewards would have figured there were no surviving heirs to the Throne of Gondor and declared themselves the rulers.

Under the circumstances, it seems not only understandable, but perhaps utterly proper. If the "True Heirs" couldn't be bothered to assume their kingly duties for several centuries, then why shouldn't the Stewards simply declare themselves the rightful rulers of Gondor?


That brings up something else that makes absolutely zero sense in the books: why does Aragorn insist on carrying around the shards of Narsil? He's an experienced warrior; why would he carry around a useless weapon that only weighs him down? And given that it's a priceless and irreplaceable family heirloom, it would make a lot more sense to keep it safe in Imladris and meanwhile carry a functional sword. In that sense, the movie makes a lot more sense than the book.



There's a nasty bit of "Divine Right of Kings" that runs through The Lord of the Rings when you think about it too much. In Tolkien's world, some people really are smarter/wiser than the rest of us and therefore more fit to rule -- not because of their accomplishments in life, but because of their lineage. (And the rest of the rabble really are better off having such a benign despot telling them what to do than they are making their own decisions.) As much as I love The Lord of the Rings, that message always leaves me feeling a bit cold.

Cheers,

Michael

[Ymir's blood]

Elves are Good by nature, as Tolkien repeatedly emphasizes. Orcs are Evil by nature, as is also repeatedly emphasized. So where does the concept of "Freedom of Choice" come in?The elves aren't bound to be good. The Noldor certainly ended up making the choice to be evil yet opposed to Morgoth. The wood elves in The Hobbit acted quite xenophobic, yet Legolas in LOTR was willing to help out others.

The orcs on the other hand were corrupted by Morgoth. Since he was of the same rank as the Valar, it stands to reason that their freedom to choose was as compromised as the 'good peoples' would be if the Valar were to intervene.

The dwarves seemed to be capable of choosing between good and evil. Gimli overcame a strong cultural bias against elves. Thorin allowed his pride and greed to control him, though he did repent on his death bed.

[Ensign Steve]

These are lyrics from System of a Down "Lost in Hollywood".

I'll wait here.
You're crazy.
Those vicious streets are filled with strays.
You should've never gone to Hollywood.

They find you,
Two-time you
Say you're the best they've ever seen.
You should've never trusted Hollywood.

I wrote you,
And told you
You were the biggest fish out here.
You should've never gone to Hollywood.

They take you,
And make you
They look at you in disgusting ways.
You should've never trusted Hollywood.

I can't tell if he automatically assumes she's going to fail in Hollywood from the get go, or if she already did fail and he's telling her "I told you so." Either way, fuck you! She took a chance. It's not your place to keep her all tied down in some podunk town when she had dreams of something better. Also, it really brings home a lot of the crap I put up with when I left home for the first time, mostly from people who were too chickenshit to do anything exciting or interesting.

It really is a beautiful and pretty song, though.