Most ironic lyrics you've ever heard?

Dave Boothroyd · Post by **Dave Boothroyd** » 1 Dec 2003 5:01 am

Intentional irony is a good song writing technique, if you are good enough to pull it off. Most of the previous examples are dramatic irony, where a line like Elton's becomes ironic because of the difference between the artist's world and that of the protagonist of the song.
A brilliant example of deliberate irony is the 10cc song "I'm not in love" with the cherry on the top being the whispered mumsy voice repeating "Big boys don't cry"
While you are passing you might explain that irony means saying the opposite of the truth, so "You can't rollerskate..." is not irony, it's true. Neither is anything in Miss Morisette's "Ironic" ironic.
Pedantic Cheers
Dave

Chris Bauer · Post by **Chris Bauer** » 1 Dec 2003 7:30 am

If we're dipping into intentional irony, then I'd include pretty much everything written by Warren Zevon. (Perhaps topping out with "Life Will Kill You" which - given his diagnosis of terminal cancer relatively soon thereafter - might have even 'out-ironiced' Warren!)[This message was edited by Chris Bauer on 01 December 2003 at 07:31 AM.]

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 1 Dec 2003 7:43 am

broke my heart at Walgreens

Singer: Ruby Wright, Kitty Wells' daughter.

"Billy Broke My Heart At Walgreens, and I Cried all the way to Sears" Features Pete Drake on the "talking" steel guitar for the intro and turnaround.

the song is assembled from intentionally poorly constructed sentences, ("While having lunch Billy walked in and told me goodbye") which adds to the humour. I don't know how as it's ironic though.

Wayne Carver · Post by **Wayne Carver** » 1 Dec 2003 8:48 am

Tex Williams' chart hit "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (that cigarette). He later died of lung cancer.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 1 Dec 2003 9:54 am

Okay, so some of the above are true irony, because they are things that are the opposite of truth or of what might be expected (Ironically, the firetruck burned up). But others above are things that turned out to be unintentionally true. What do you call this latter form of humor?

Brian Davis · Post by **Brian Davis** » 1 Dec 2003 2:20 pm

Hey Eric,
I always thought that one went...

"Gotta get down to it, soldiers are gunning us down. Shoulda been GONE long ago.." CSNY

Maybe it's a Freudian thing

Ben Lawson · Post by **Ben Lawson** » 1 Dec 2003 2:45 pm

I heard a song recently that said something about being from the shallow end of the gene pool. I want to know how they found out?

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 1 Dec 2003 4:13 pm

Okay, so some of the above are true irony, because they are things that are the opposite of truth or of what might be expected (Ironically, the firetruck burned up). But others above are things that turned out to be unintentionally true. What do you call this latter form of humor?

David, I call it Coincidence. Kind of like the simili/metaphor confusion, huh?
Here's some irony that was really true about 15 years ago: I worked with a girl who often joked about whose nose the newborn baby would have. She and her husband both had what she considered to be "large" noses. The baby was born WITHOUT a nose. very tragic, but TRUELY ironic.

[This message was edited by Donna Dodd on 01 December 2003 at 04:15 PM.]

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 2 Dec 2003 12:25 am

Where did Robinson Crusoe go (with Friday on a Saturday Night) - (by Texas Jim Lewis.

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Walter,
That's weird! I have that recording,by Tx. Jim,on an old 16" "V" disc. Never had a chance to play it yet. I guess,now,I'll have to listen to it.

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<pre> ~ ~
©¿© It don't mean a thang,
mm if it ain't got that twang.
www.ntsga.com</pre>

Auset Sarno · Post by **Auset Sarno** » 2 Dec 2003 6:06 am

"We built this city on Rock & Roll" Jefferson Starship.

Undoubtedly one of the worst, non-Rock songs ever written....so sad.

Auset

Steve Allison · Post by **Steve Allison** » 2 Dec 2003 8:42 am

" Get the Hammer Momma, There's a Fly on Baby's Head"

Hossier Hot Shots

Eric Myers · Post by **Eric Myers** » 5 Dec 2003 6:25 am

The thug life espoused by rap artists in their lyrics, who then get murdered, or charged with murder.... and end up as role models for the next generation of rap artists, who get murdered, or charged with murder........who......[This message was edited by Eric Myers on 05 December 2003 at 06:26 AM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 5 Dec 2003 4:49 pm

"Just because I asked a friend about her
Just because I spoke her name somewhere
Just because I called her number by mistake today
She thinks I still care"

etc.

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 5 Dec 2003 5:29 pm

A really killer of a song - one of my all-time favorites (probably shouldn't have said that

No More One More Time Joel Sonnier[This message was edited by Donna Dodd on 05 December 2003 at 05:30 PM.]

Chris Lasher · Post by **Chris Lasher** » 6 Dec 2003 12:44 pm

I don't know that these are the most ironic lyrics I've ever heard, but they're certainly amusing.

"Me Neither" (written by Brad Paisley, Chris DuBois, and Frank Rogers)

Darlin' I've been standin' here just watchin' you all night
An' I think I've even caught you watchin' me a couple times
If I don't ask I'll never know
This may sound dumb, but here we go
Do you believe in love at first sight?...

Me neither
I'm glad that we agree
Thank goodness
That's a big relief
This place is awful crowded
And this music is so loud
Would you like to go
And grab a bite to eat?...

Me neither

I was only checkin'; that's the reason that I asked
It's nice to finally meet a girl who doesn't move too fast
Relationships need time to grow
And you and I should take this slow
Darlin', tell me, would you like to dance?...

Me neither
I's just bein' polite
Thank goodness
My feet are much too tired
I'm sure you're tired, too
I can see an empty booth
Would you like to maybe sit and talk a while?...

Me neither
We'd never get along
I'm thinkin'
There's no chemistry at all
This has been a waste of time
And I'm runnin' outta lines
Don't you think it's time for me to end this song?...

Me neither

[This message was edited by Chris Lasher on 06 December 2003 at 12:47 PM.]

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 6 Dec 2003 1:19 pm

"Sympathy for the Devil", as performed by The Rolling Stones while a member of the audience was being murdered.

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 6 Dec 2003 2:24 pm

Bobby Lee - Very interesting. I've never heard that story. How? When? What? Why?

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 6 Dec 2003 2:41 pm

Two more that come to mind were (I think) Lorreta Lynn's ' There ain't gonna be no 'another time'.

Waylon's " This time will be the last time".

And I suppose Ray Price's. "I won't mention it again" which he does about ten times after he says it the first time....

I like that BP song too. I think he's gonna stick in there a while..

EJL

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 6 Dec 2003 8:42 pm

Donna,

The "incident" happened at the free concert given by the Rolling Stones (along with Jefferson Airplane and maybe one or two more) at Altamont Speedway near San Francisco, California sometime in 1969.

There has not really been any definitive explanation of exactly what happened, and why, and I'm not sure if anyone was ever prosecuted or not. If you're interested in finding out more, there's plenty of info on it around -- you just have to do a bit of digging.

A movie of the concert was made and there are plenty of pictures that were taken during the concert. Some parts of the movie are actually quite disturbing -- more on that below.

Anyway, the Rolling Stones (according to one account) supposedly hired a bunch of Hells Angels to act as bodyguards, or "security" during the concert. The Angels (now that's ironic, isn't it?) ended up being pretty violent (surprise!) and ended up bashing a few heads in with pool cues, etc. I think one of them actually punched one of the members of Jefferson Airplane in the face and knocked him unconscious. (** however, I believe I've seen footage of Mick Jagger denying -- of course -- that they had anything to do with the Hell's Angels being there at all **).

The movie is interesting simply from the standpoint of being so ominously forboding (if that's a term) -- almost to the point of being scary -- especially when you realize everything in it is absolutely real and really happened. In the movie, you see people getting beat up, and you see Mick Jagger at one point stop the music and ask "somebody" (could it perhaps be an Angel or two?) to calm down and stop beating people up.

Finally, to get around to it -- there was a black man(I forgot his name) in the audience who was killed during the concert. I believe that the Hells Angels were suspected of murdering the man, but I don't know if anyone was ever prosecuted.

Some accounts say that the man had a gun and was acting violent. Other accounts say that the man had a white girlfriend and the Angels took affront to this fact and murdered him.

I think you can still rent or buy the movie -- if you're interested in this subject or in the Rolling Stones in general, you might want to watch it. I believe the title of the movie is "Gimme Shelter." [This message was edited by Tom Olson on 06 December 2003 at 09:05 PM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 6 Dec 2003 9:09 pm

Starring "Sir" Mick and the Bad Boys...

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 6 Dec 2003 9:19 pm

Oh, I almost forgot -- I think the song title "They Don't Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore" by Kinky Freidman is a bit ironic (to say the least

)

Janice Brooks · Post by **Janice Brooks** » 6 Dec 2003 9:27 pm

Someone over in No Depresson advised that Dec 6 was the aniversery for Altamont

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Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 6 Dec 2003 9:46 pm

Another thing -- I did a bit of research myself and found that the murdered man's name is "Meredith Hunter." Apparently, a Hell's Angel was arrested and prosecuted for the murder but was acquited.

Trivia -- some people think these lines:

"And as I watched him on the stage,
My hands were clenched in fists of rage;
No angel born in hell,
Could break that Satan's spell."

out of Don McClean's song "AMERICAN PIE" refer to the Altamont concert since the Stones were supposedly performing the song "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL" at the time the murder took place, and Jagger sometimes portrayed himself as Satan during that period by calling himself "The Prince of Darkness" or something like that.

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 7 Dec 2003 6:06 am

Tom and Janice - Thanks for the scoop. Very compelling story, isn't it? When I headed up Community Relations for Sprint (Southeast area), we sponsored their Bridges to Babylon Tour.
Ironically,my subsequent proposal for sponsorship of a faith-based project was denied because of possible consumer concerns. Since I operated out of Atlanta, and my superiors were out of Kansas City, I learned quickly to avoid using the FAITH word in proposals. I did score a few for the community by calling them "Community outreach programs" or "Youth for conflict resolution." The back door sometimes gets you in better than the front!

I am very interested in seeing the video - thanks again![This message was edited by Donna Dodd on 07 December 2003 at 06:14 AM.]

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 7 Dec 2003 6:13 am

Here are two more:
Not sure they fall completely into the IRONY box, but interesting none-the-less.

Conway: "Put your hand on the man that made you a woman - THEN tell me you don't love me no more" (or something like that)

"Lying (double meaning??????) here beside you with Linda on my mind."

That one ALWAYS made me furious!
I never have trusted women named Linda (except Bill Ferguson's Wife, of course!)

[This message was edited by Donna Dodd on 07 December 2003 at 06:15 AM.]