postmodern / ironic songs
June 8, 2010 1:35 PM Subscribe
What are some other songs like Short Skirt, Long Jacket and Drunk Girls?
I love how these songs use unconventional similes and imagery; throw in trite idioms; and just generally seem to poke fun at typical lyrics while still being great songs in themselves.
Examples:
"She is fast and thorough/And sharp as a tack/She's touring the facility/And picking up slack"
"Drunk girls get invitations from nations/They got the patience of millions of saints/they steal, they steal from the cupboards/drunk girls like to file complaints."
Are there other songs like this?
I love how these songs use unconventional similes and imagery; throw in trite idioms; and just generally seem to poke fun at typical lyrics while still being great songs in themselves.
Examples:
"She is fast and thorough/And sharp as a tack/She's touring the facility/And picking up slack"
"Drunk girls get invitations from nations/They got the patience of millions of saints/they steal, they steal from the cupboards/drunk girls like to file complaints."
Are there other songs like this?
I think that Wordplay by Jason Mraz is a good example of this.
posted by Night_owl at 1:49 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by Night_owl at 1:49 PM on June 8, 2010
A lot of the output of Frank Zappa consists of great songs with humorous lyrics, and FZ rarely failed to deliver the unconventional. Don't Eat The Yellow Snow or Stink Foot for example come to mind, but these are just a couple of examples.
I get the feeling you are looking for something different though, so I'll throw in The Roof Is On Fire by the Bloodhound Gang as a back-up answer.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:57 PM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
I get the feeling you are looking for something different though, so I'll throw in The Roof Is On Fire by the Bloodhound Gang as a back-up answer.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:57 PM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not at all mainstream, but "Cynically Yours by Amy Rigby would seem to fit. ("You know I love you, one-hundred percent of the amount I'm capable of loving you.")
posted by pixiecrinkle at 2:00 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by pixiecrinkle at 2:00 PM on June 8, 2010
Well, anything else by LCD Soundsystem. I really like James Murphy's lyrics, especially You Wanted a Hit off that same album, but the older stuff as well.
posted by zazerr at 2:01 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by zazerr at 2:01 PM on June 8, 2010
nthing the entire career of Frank Zappa.
posted by Lifeson at 2:04 PM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Lifeson at 2:04 PM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, and lots and lots of Magnetic Fields would seem to fit. Specifically I'm thinking of "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin" and the like.
posted by pixiecrinkle at 2:07 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by pixiecrinkle at 2:07 PM on June 8, 2010
Even though I don't really like it, Hook by Blues Traveler is probably the most obvious example of a postmodern song that pokes fun at traditional lyrics.
This Is Just A Modern Rock Song by Belle & Sebastian is kind of an ironic self-parody, it starts like a lot of their other songs, but the lyrics switch half-way through into meta commentary about the band and writing songs.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:08 PM on June 8, 2010
This Is Just A Modern Rock Song by Belle & Sebastian is kind of an ironic self-parody, it starts like a lot of their other songs, but the lyrics switch half-way through into meta commentary about the band and writing songs.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:08 PM on June 8, 2010
Best answer: Some of the later Pavement songs do that pretty well. Try Stereo and especially Harness Your Hopes.
posted by eggplantplacebo at 2:40 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by eggplantplacebo at 2:40 PM on June 8, 2010
Best answer: If you're cool with rap, Aesop Rock's "Cook it Up" fills the bill.
posted by vito90 at 2:48 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by vito90 at 2:48 PM on June 8, 2010
Best answer: Not sure if all of these qualify, but they all seem a little 'off' in one way or another.
Eytan Mirsky - (I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen
Bowling For Soup - Girl All the Bad Guys Want
Richard Thompson - I Feel So Good
Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango
Kirsty MacColl - In These Shoes?
Squeeze - Black Coffee in Bed
Ben Folds Five - Kate
posted by cali59 at 2:59 PM on June 8, 2010
Eytan Mirsky - (I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen
Bowling For Soup - Girl All the Bad Guys Want
Richard Thompson - I Feel So Good
Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango
Kirsty MacColl - In These Shoes?
Squeeze - Black Coffee in Bed
Ben Folds Five - Kate
posted by cali59 at 2:59 PM on June 8, 2010
I really hate Drunk Girls, but I rather like Louis XIV's Finding Out True Love Is Blind.;
Also, different sound, but Elvis Costello and Divine Comedy do this a lot too.
posted by mippy at 3:08 PM on June 8, 2010
Also, different sound, but Elvis Costello and Divine Comedy do this a lot too.
posted by mippy at 3:08 PM on June 8, 2010
You may like The Bloodhound Gang - Pretty When I'm Drunk or Discovery Channel
posted by Frank Grimes at 3:13 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by Frank Grimes at 3:13 PM on June 8, 2010
Seed Song by The Mountain Goats.
the rain didn't come for one calendar year
so when the man with the sunflower seeds in his hand came here
we sent him away, we sent him away
the rain didn't come for twelve months more
so when the man with the seed catalogs darkened our door
we sent him away, we sent him away
we sent him away, we sent him away
and i know you're waiting for the ironic ending
and i know you're waiting for the punchline
and i know you're waiting for the rain to come by
well, so am i
so am i
so am i
so am i
posted by MsMolly at 3:36 PM on June 8, 2010
the rain didn't come for one calendar year
so when the man with the sunflower seeds in his hand came here
we sent him away, we sent him away
the rain didn't come for twelve months more
so when the man with the seed catalogs darkened our door
we sent him away, we sent him away
we sent him away, we sent him away
and i know you're waiting for the ironic ending
and i know you're waiting for the punchline
and i know you're waiting for the rain to come by
well, so am i
so am i
so am i
so am i
posted by MsMolly at 3:36 PM on June 8, 2010
Best answer: Seconding Stephin Merrit and Magnetic Fields for clever and surprising lyrics. Examples:
You won't be happy with me
but give me one more chance
You won't be happy anyway
("100,000 Fireflies")
All the things you said you'd never say and you said anyway
that you told me just to tell me later that you told me so
come flooding back to me now
("The Things We Did And Didn't Do")
Reno Dakota there's not an iota of kindness in you
You know you enthrall me and yet you don't call me it's making me blue
Pantone 292
("Reno Dakota")
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 3:54 PM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
You won't be happy with me
but give me one more chance
You won't be happy anyway
("100,000 Fireflies")
All the things you said you'd never say and you said anyway
that you told me just to tell me later that you told me so
come flooding back to me now
("The Things We Did And Didn't Do")
Reno Dakota there's not an iota of kindness in you
You know you enthrall me and yet you don't call me it's making me blue
Pantone 292
("Reno Dakota")
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 3:54 PM on June 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
Jens Lekman's Night Falls Over Kortedala is full of sly, strange lyrics over orchestral pop music.
Example:
But Nina I can be your boyfriend
So you can stay with your girlfriend
Your father is mailing me all the time
He says he just wants to say hi
I send back "out of office, auto-replies"
"A Postcard To Nina"
posted by rabbitsnake at 4:23 PM on June 8, 2010
Example:
But Nina I can be your boyfriend
So you can stay with your girlfriend
Your father is mailing me all the time
He says he just wants to say hi
I send back "out of office, auto-replies"
"A Postcard To Nina"
posted by rabbitsnake at 4:23 PM on June 8, 2010
I really like Uncle Bonsai's lyrics. Here's "Men and Woman" (apologies for the video).
So they were married for a while
But they parted in September
When she saw that he was changing
And he knew she wouldn't die
But she thinks that he'll remember
And he knows that she'll forget him
And they still feel they were wrong to say good-bye
More of their lyrics here.
posted by Evangeline at 5:27 PM on June 8, 2010
So they were married for a while
But they parted in September
When she saw that he was changing
And he knew she wouldn't die
But she thinks that he'll remember
And he knows that she'll forget him
And they still feel they were wrong to say good-bye
More of their lyrics here.
posted by Evangeline at 5:27 PM on June 8, 2010
Formed A Band by Art Brut
Formed a band
We formed a band
Look at us
We formed a band
(x4)
Honey pie, I don't know when it started
Just stop buying your albums from the supermarkets
They only sell things that have charted
And Art Brut?
Well we've only just started
And yes, this is my singing voice
It's not irony
And it's not rock and roll
I'm just talking
To the kids
Formed a band
We formed a band
Look at us
We formed a band
(x4)
I want to be the boy
The man
Who writes the song
That makes Israel and Palestine
Get along
I'm gonna write a song
As universal as Happy Birthday
That's gonna make sure
That everybody knows
That everything's gonna be ok
I'm gonna take that song
And we're gonna play it
Eight weeks in a row on Top of the Pops
posted by matildaben at 5:55 PM on June 8, 2010
Formed a band
We formed a band
Look at us
We formed a band
(x4)
Honey pie, I don't know when it started
Just stop buying your albums from the supermarkets
They only sell things that have charted
And Art Brut?
Well we've only just started
And yes, this is my singing voice
It's not irony
And it's not rock and roll
I'm just talking
To the kids
Formed a band
We formed a band
Look at us
We formed a band
(x4)
I want to be the boy
The man
Who writes the song
That makes Israel and Palestine
Get along
I'm gonna write a song
As universal as Happy Birthday
That's gonna make sure
That everybody knows
That everything's gonna be ok
I'm gonna take that song
And we're gonna play it
Eight weeks in a row on Top of the Pops
posted by matildaben at 5:55 PM on June 8, 2010
A lot of St. Vincent songs fit this description to me, though upon actually reading the lyrics they seem less playful than I remember. That said, try "Jesus Saves, I Spend" and "Your Lips Are Red" and see if those work for you.
posted by chrominance at 6:40 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by chrominance at 6:40 PM on June 8, 2010
(and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise: when she sings "I'm not any-any-any-anything" in "Now, Now," she's really saying "I'm not Annie, Annie, Annie, anything." St. Vincent's real name is Annie Clark.)
posted by chrominance at 6:42 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by chrominance at 6:42 PM on June 8, 2010
Hello Saferide's "I Wonder Who is Like This One" compares people to songs (maybe too sincerely to meet the intent of this question?)
People are like songs, I swear
Some found you as a child, and still they’re always there
A boy I once knew was ”Anarchy in the UK”
Burned out too quickly but in such a beautiful way
And you are the only one I’ve met who’s ”God only knows”
I liked you the first time I met you
And it grows and grows and grows
posted by Gortuk at 6:25 AM on June 9, 2010
People are like songs, I swear
Some found you as a child, and still they’re always there
A boy I once knew was ”Anarchy in the UK”
Burned out too quickly but in such a beautiful way
And you are the only one I’ve met who’s ”God only knows”
I liked you the first time I met you
And it grows and grows and grows
posted by Gortuk at 6:25 AM on June 9, 2010
Yeah, everything Art Brut have written is like that. And speaking of Jens Lenkman, Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig opens with an anecdote about a pet pig and then he says: "This has of course nothing to do with anything." Brilliant!
posted by ninebelow at 7:08 AM on June 9, 2010
posted by ninebelow at 7:08 AM on June 9, 2010
Best answer: Pretty much the entire ouvre of Electric Six reminds me of what you're looking for. Some favorite songs--
"Future is in the Future"-- "if money talks/than I'm a mime/if time is money/than I'm out of time"
"Jimmy Carter"-- which appropriates the Backstreet Boys for a chorus and makes their lyric sound worldweary and wistful. "like Jimmy Carter/like electric underwear/like any idea that never had a chance to go anywhere."
"Danger! High Voltage!"-- which features an unhinged sounding Jack White, and lyrics like "fire in the disco/fire in the taco bell"
posted by haveanicesummer at 9:53 AM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
"Future is in the Future"-- "if money talks/than I'm a mime/if time is money/than I'm out of time"
"Jimmy Carter"-- which appropriates the Backstreet Boys for a chorus and makes their lyric sound worldweary and wistful. "like Jimmy Carter/like electric underwear/like any idea that never had a chance to go anywhere."
"Danger! High Voltage!"-- which features an unhinged sounding Jack White, and lyrics like "fire in the disco/fire in the taco bell"
posted by haveanicesummer at 9:53 AM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
Parentheses by The Blow, now with matching post-moder/ironic video.
"You're not a baby if you feel the world.
All of the babies can feel the world. That's why they cry."
posted by rabbitsnake at 5:55 PM on June 9, 2010
"You're not a baby if you feel the world.
All of the babies can feel the world. That's why they cry."
posted by rabbitsnake at 5:55 PM on June 9, 2010
Response by poster: Wow, thank you everyone for the great responses!
I'll start listening through all these and mark "best answer" for any I really love. If you have other suggestions they're most welcome.
(FYI I'm open to all music genres and interpretations of my question.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 10:22 PM on June 9, 2010
I'll start listening through all these and mark "best answer" for any I really love. If you have other suggestions they're most welcome.
(FYI I'm open to all music genres and interpretations of my question.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 10:22 PM on June 9, 2010
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"Boys Keep Swinging," by David Bowie (he has confirmed this song was meant as a satire).
"Street Boys," by DMX Krew.
And I've always felt this way about "Die Another Day," performed by Madonna, because the lyrics are more or less complete nonsense. But I don't know what the composer's intent was.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:47 PM on June 8, 2010