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Popular songs that have creepy or problematic interpretations when you stop and think about it

AuthenticM

AuthenticM

Son Altesse Sérénissime
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
30,755
So I heard the song Treat You Better from Shawn Mendes today. I had heard it before, but never paid attention to the lyrics. This time I did, and man... that shit is giving me mad incel vibes. Just read this verse:

I know I can treat you better
Than he can
And any girl like you deserves a gentleman
Tell me why are we wasting time
On all your wasted cryin'
When you should be with me instead
I know I can treat you better
Better than he can​

It's a shame because it's actually a really good song, and it's an earworm.

What other songs have you realized after the fact that they were kind of creepy?
 
lmcfigs

lmcfigs

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,091
Hotline bling was like that.

Really awesome song. But then it's really just about Drake wanting to control everything about some girl he hasn't seen in a long time and barely knows anymore.
 
TrueSloth

TrueSloth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,083
You're bring this up during the holiday season, so I think Baby it's Cold Outside is an obligatory song to mention
 

Raccoon

Member
May 31, 2019
15,896
Incel thoughts make for great emotionally complex art. They just can't get political influence or weapons
 

Raccoon

Member
May 31, 2019
15,896
Alcotholic said:
You're bring this up during the holiday season, so I think Baby it's Cold Outside is an obligatory song to mention
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So too it's obligatory to mention that the song was socially progressive for the time, with the male singer making excuses for a woman with overbearing parents and fear of a sexually negative, sexist society.
 
Rapscallion

Rapscallion

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,800
If you think of "Ain't no Mountain High Enough" from the standpoint of a stalker:

"
'Cause baby there ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you babe"
 
Slipknot666

Slipknot666

Banned
Dec 1, 2017
1,716
Daddy by KoRn


Little child, looking so pretty
Come out and play, I'll be your daddy
Innocent child, looking so sweet
 
riotous

riotous

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,431
Seattle
The OP's lyrics are only Incel-y if the person also just doesn't understand human relationships; thinking you'd treat someone better is something well adjusted people could think too. Incels just take it too far and think that being nice to someone deserves them a relationship. IMO at least (and no, that's not some situation I've ever really been in lol
 
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,735
United States
Bring It All Back by S Club 7 is an overtly Libertarian love song complete with Randian imagery straight from Atlas Shrugged. It is bizarre. Read those lyrics.

Hold on to what you try to be
Your individuality
When the world is on your shoulders
Just smile and let it go

If people try to put you down
Just walk on by don't turn around
You only have to answer to yourself
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I keep trying to talk about this but my local NPR blocked my phone number.
 
CloudWolf

CloudWolf

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,819
The chorus of Falco's Jeanny is way too catchy for a song about something so disturbing and dark.
 
Whitemex

Whitemex

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,763
Chicago
I want you back - Jackson 5

When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you
Stand out in a crowd
But someone picked you from the bunch
One glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me
To take a second look
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I ignored and treated you like shit girl. But now you're with someone else and I'm jealous. Come back
 
Jeff Albertson

Jeff Albertson

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
2,763
Obviously The Ballad Of Chasey Lain by the Bloodhound Gang is a really sweet love letter of a song on the surface but if you look deep enough into these lyrics i think there's a very slight hint of some sexual creepiness:


Dear Chasey Lain
I wrote to explain
I'm your biggest fan
I just wanted to ask
Could I eat your ass?
Write back as soon as you can

You've had a lotta dick
Had a lotta dick
I've had a lotta time
Had a lotta time
You've had a lotta dick Chasey
But you ain't had mine
 
Gaia Lanzer

Gaia Lanzer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,692
I said it once before if I ever made a horror slasher set in the early 80s, I would've used the original i-Ten's version of "Alone". Sung by women it sounds like a woman lusting over a guy, but sung by a guy it sounds like some creep lurking in a dark room, taping up one of many candid shot photographs of a girl he's been stalking before he decides to call her OG Black Christmas-style.



I always fared well on my own
I never really cared until I met you
Now it chills me to the bone
How do I get you alone
Tell me how do I get you alone
 
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Daphne

Daphne

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,745
Run for Your Life by The Beatles is a perennial shocker:
Well I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or I won't know where I am

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end ah little girl

Well I know that I'm a wicked guy
And I was born with a jealous mind
And I can't spend my whole life
Trying just to make you toe the line

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end ah little girl

Let this be a sermon
I mean everything I've said
Baby, I'm determined
And I'd rather see you dead

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end ah little girl

I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or you won't know where I am

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end ah little girl
Nah nah nah
Nah nah nah
Nah nah nah
Nah nah nah (fade out)
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Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,553
In We Are Young by Fun. I always wondered if these lines:

"My seat's been taken by some sunglasses asking 'bout a scar, and
I know I gave it to you months ago
I know you're trying to forget
But between the drinks and subtle things
The holes in my apologies, you know
I'm trying hard to take it back"

meant he hit her or if it was some kind of accident he was apologizing for.
 
BrassDragon

BrassDragon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,154
The Netherlands
Here, have a nice, upbeat and poppy song about the threat of nuclear annihilation:



Ninety-nine decision street
Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it, boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As ninety-nine red balloons go by
 
DIE BART DIE

DIE BART DIE

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,868
Not sure how popular this Beatles track is in the scheme of things but...yeah.

Run For Your Life

Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or I won't know where I am

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end, little girl
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Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,553
BrassDragon said:
Here, have a nice, upbeat and poppy song about the threat of nuclear annihilation:



Ninety-nine decision street
Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it, boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As ninety-nine red balloons go by
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In that vein

 
Prolepro

Prolepro

Ghostwire: BooShock
Banned
Nov 6, 2017
7,310
EDIT: Got ninjad so Ill change my answer to a funny example of this. Rosie by Jackson Browne.

She was standing at the load-in
When the trucks rolled up
She was sniffin' all around
Like a half-grown female pup

She wasn't hard to talk to
Looked like she had nowhere to go
So I gave her a pass
So she could get in and see the show
Well, I sat her down right next to me
And I got her a beer
While I mixed that sound on the stage
So the band could hear
The more I watched her watch them play
The less I thought of to say
And when they walked off stage
You know, the drummer swept that girl away

But Rosie, you're all right
(You wear my ring)
When you hold me tight
(Rosie, that's my thing)
When you turn out the light
(I got to hand it to me)
Looks like it's me and you again tonight, Rosie

Well I guess I might have known from the start
She'd come for a star
Well I told my imagination not to run too far
Of all the times that I've been burned
By now you think I'd've learned
That it's who you look like,
Not who you are
(You all keep that in mind)

Rosie, you're all right
(You wear my ring)
When you hold me tight
(Rosie, that's my thing)
When you turn out the light
(I got to hand it to me)
It looks like it's me and you again tonight, Rosie
It looks like it's me and you again tonight,
It looks like it's me and you again tonight, Rosie
Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, Rosie
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Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,892
Pumped Up Kicks is about someone fantasising about shooting up a school or similar.
 
Dogo Mojo

Dogo Mojo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,187
All art can fall into creepy territory dependent on the person who is consuming it and how they choose to interpret the material.

baby it's cold outside is an easy example given the time of year, as it can very easily be viewed from atleast two very different angles.
 
RiOrius

RiOrius

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,092
Back when I was playing through Bloodborne, the song Can't Fight the Moonlight popped into my head and ever since I've wanted someone to make a cover that turns it into a creepy horror song.

 
TheMango55

TheMango55

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
5,788
If songs about being attracted to someone in a relationship are creepy then TONS of songs are creepy

Taylor Swift - You Belong with Me

You're on the phone with your girlfriend
She's upset
She's going off about something that you said
'Cause she doesn't get your humor like I do
I'm in my room
It's a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like
And she'll never know your story like I do'​
But she wears short skirts
I wear T-shirts
She's cheer captain
And I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up
And find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time​

But I think that's just a pretty normal song.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,134
Every time I hear "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", I focus on this part:


Well I, I set my sights on you
(And no one else will do)
And I, I've got to have my way now, baby
All I know is that to me
You look like you're havin' fun
​

Although even I tend to forget that the song starts with


Yeah I, I got to know your name
Well and I could trace your private number baby
​
 
grand

grand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,417
I find Billie Eilish's songs kinda unsettling but I'm guessing that's not a popular opinion
 
HardRojo

HardRojo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,348
Peru
I was in his concert here in Peru 2 Saturdays ago (I work at a local bank that sponsors most concerts so we usually we free good seats tickets in my department) and yeah, that song was weird to me, especially because I was trying to learn most songs I could the very day of the concert, as I had no idea who Shawn Mendes was a day before lol.
 
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