Songs with unreliable narrators?
April 14, 2012 5:06 PM Subscribe
Songs with unreliable narrators?
Best answer: The Kinks' "Art Lover."
Bare Naked Ladies' "The Old Apartment."
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:08 PM on April 14, 2012
Bare Naked Ladies' "The Old Apartment."
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:08 PM on April 14, 2012
Brian Eno's entire Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy is sardonic and chirpy. At least, I think it fits the bill.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:13 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:13 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
The Rolling Stones — Time is on my Side
XTC — Making Plans for Nigel
posted by John Cohen at 5:15 PM on April 14, 2012
XTC — Making Plans for Nigel
posted by John Cohen at 5:15 PM on April 14, 2012
"Outlaw Song" 16 Horsepower
That's a folksong, so it's a traditional. You can probably find your favorite band playing it.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:22 PM on April 14, 2012
That's a folksong, so it's a traditional. You can probably find your favorite band playing it.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:22 PM on April 14, 2012
There's a whole genre of these with men/women talking about how they don't miss their old lovers. Are those fair game?
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:25 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:25 PM on April 14, 2012
A lot of the songs from the Buzzcocks' Singles Going Steady come to mind... as does Amy Winehouse's "Rehab."
posted by Currer Belfry at 5:27 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Currer Belfry at 5:27 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
A lot of Talking Heads songs come to mind ... "Nothing but Flowers" has a postapocalyptic David Byrne pining for the now-overgrown parking lots and 7-11s, and in "Don't Worry About the Government" he's just happy to have a nice new condo and think about his favorite laws.
posted by lisa g at 5:38 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by lisa g at 5:38 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by iamkimiam at 5:43 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Elvis Costello, I Want You (that's a Fiona Apple cover of it)
posted by Diablevert at 5:48 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by Diablevert at 5:48 PM on April 14, 2012
Randy Newman's early stuff is all about irony and gotchas and sly meanings. Burn On Cleveland is not a tribute to Cleveland, despite the lyrics, "Cleveland city of light, city of magic." Similarly, I Love L.A. has a semi-hidden zinger, "Look at that bum over there / Man, he's down on his knees." Short People "got no reason to live," but then later, "short people are just the same as you and I."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:54 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:54 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure if Burn On is a unreliable narrator, so much as just a straight diss song. But Randy Newman's Sail Away is a clear cut case; it's a sales pitch to Africans to come to America -- circa 1680.
posted by demiurge at 6:09 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by demiurge at 6:09 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Phantom Planet, "The Stalker"
"My Girlfriend, Who Lives In Canada" from Avenue Q is total Blatant Lies, though it's more obvious in the context of the show.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:09 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
"My Girlfriend, Who Lives In Canada" from Avenue Q is total Blatant Lies, though it's more obvious in the context of the show.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:09 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Everly Brothers' "I'm Not Angry."
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:20 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:20 PM on April 14, 2012
Of course Randy Newman's "Rednecks" is another song where who knows what the perspective is; on the one hand, the narrator is spot-on in highlighting tons of racist hypocrisy in the North, but on the other hand, the narrator is himself pretty racist and also thinks Dick Cavett is Jewish, so.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:23 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:23 PM on April 14, 2012
Best answer: [forehead slap] Randy Newman! [/forehead slap]
His entire catalogue basically, with the possibly exception of You've Got a Friend In Me, but off the top of my head
Let's Drop the Big One Now,
Short People,
Rednecks,
It's the Money That I Love,
I Love LA
Also, Christmas Card from a Hooker In Minneapolis, Better Off Without a Wife, The Piano Has Been Drinking, and a bunch of other Tom Waits songs...
Child Psychology by Black Box Recorder, Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen
It occurs to me if I start going through my itunes looking for songs by sarcastic depressives we could be here all night.
posted by Diablevert at 6:24 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
His entire catalogue basically, with the possibly exception of You've Got a Friend In Me, but off the top of my head
Let's Drop the Big One Now,
Short People,
Rednecks,
It's the Money That I Love,
I Love LA
Also, Christmas Card from a Hooker In Minneapolis, Better Off Without a Wife, The Piano Has Been Drinking, and a bunch of other Tom Waits songs...
Child Psychology by Black Box Recorder, Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen
It occurs to me if I start going through my itunes looking for songs by sarcastic depressives we could be here all night.
posted by Diablevert at 6:24 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
A lot of the Talking Heads' "Fear of Music," where the narrator describes how air, animals, and electric guitar are all out to get you.
posted by Ralston McTodd at 6:27 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Ralston McTodd at 6:27 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
Phil Ochs "Outside a Small Circle of Friends" (more of a piss-take really)
posted by jessamyn at 6:42 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn at 6:42 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Leonard Cohen, "Famous Blue Raincoat" (it's an epistolary song that theoretically has Cohen as both the narrator and the person the letter is addressed to.)
The Magnetic Fields, "I Don't Wanna Get Over You." Also their "Washington DC" is at least ironic, and potentially has the same tone as the abovementioned "I Love L.A."
Maybe The Decemberists "I Was Meant For The Stage" or "Los Angeles, I'm Yours". But we might be getting into "songs that are dubious tributes to American cities" there, and not so much songs with unreliable narrators.
I've always felt this way about Malvena Reynolds' "Little Boxes", but I doubt it was written in that vein.
posted by Sara C. at 6:55 PM on April 14, 2012
The Magnetic Fields, "I Don't Wanna Get Over You." Also their "Washington DC" is at least ironic, and potentially has the same tone as the abovementioned "I Love L.A."
Maybe The Decemberists "I Was Meant For The Stage" or "Los Angeles, I'm Yours". But we might be getting into "songs that are dubious tributes to American cities" there, and not so much songs with unreliable narrators.
I've always felt this way about Malvena Reynolds' "Little Boxes", but I doubt it was written in that vein.
posted by Sara C. at 6:55 PM on April 14, 2012
Ooh, and while we're on the subject of The Decemberists, what about "The Rake's Song"?
posted by Sara C. at 7:01 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Sara C. at 7:01 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Kenny Rogers' Ruby.
posted by klangklangston at 7:19 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by klangklangston at 7:19 PM on April 14, 2012
Might not be what you're looking for, but what about The Lament of Ian the Proud?
posted by sleepingcbw at 7:39 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by sleepingcbw at 7:39 PM on April 14, 2012
Since its saturating the airwaves right now Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know"
posted by bitdamaged at 8:08 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by bitdamaged at 8:08 PM on April 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
Converted by Alabama 3
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 8:38 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 8:38 PM on April 14, 2012
Tom Waits, Tom Waits, Tom Waits, Tom Waits:
Jesus Gonna Be Here Soon
Lucinda
Long Way Home
Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
Seconding the Afghan Whigs, especially Fountain and Fairfax.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 8:45 PM on April 14, 2012
Jesus Gonna Be Here Soon
Lucinda
Long Way Home
Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
Seconding the Afghan Whigs, especially Fountain and Fairfax.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 8:45 PM on April 14, 2012
Ben Folds, Gone:
I thought I'd write, I thought I'd let you know
In the year since you've been gone I finally let you go
And I hope you find some time to drop a note
But if you won't, then you won't
And I will consider you gone
I know that you went straight to someone else
While I worked through all this shit here by myself
And I think that you should spend some time alone
But if you won't, then you won't
And I will, then I will consider you gone
I wake up in the night
All alone and it's all right
The chemicals are wearing off
Since you've gone
The days go on, the lights go off and on
And nothing really matters when you're gone
If you think that you feel nothing at all
If you don't, then you don't
If you won't, then you won't
And I will, then I will
Yeah and I will consider you gone
posted by davejay at 9:22 PM on April 14, 2012
I thought I'd write, I thought I'd let you know
In the year since you've been gone I finally let you go
And I hope you find some time to drop a note
But if you won't, then you won't
And I will consider you gone
I know that you went straight to someone else
While I worked through all this shit here by myself
And I think that you should spend some time alone
But if you won't, then you won't
And I will, then I will consider you gone
I wake up in the night
All alone and it's all right
The chemicals are wearing off
Since you've gone
The days go on, the lights go off and on
And nothing really matters when you're gone
If you think that you feel nothing at all
If you don't, then you don't
If you won't, then you won't
And I will, then I will
Yeah and I will consider you gone
posted by davejay at 9:22 PM on April 14, 2012
Oh, and of course, the Decemberists' A Cautionary Song, a long tale sung to a child about the horrible, tragic things their mother does while the child is sleeping in order to keep food in the house (while may or may not be true.)
posted by davejay at 9:24 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by davejay at 9:24 PM on April 14, 2012
Best answer: And from another direction, "Whatever Lola Wants" from Damn Yankees and "I'm Always True To You In My Fashion" (Cole Porter.) Another quick Tom Waits addition: "Table Top Joe." Oh, and why not: "Elvis is everywhere" (Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper.) "Girlfriend In A Coma" (Morrissey.) You know, this is a great question to try answering. Well done.
posted by davejay at 9:37 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by davejay at 9:37 PM on April 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
One last, because they popped into my head: Bitchin' Camaro and Detachable Penis. Heh.
posted by davejay at 9:38 PM on April 14, 2012
posted by davejay at 9:38 PM on April 14, 2012
Depending on what you mean by "unreliable narrator"… Night Vision Binocular by Passenger?
And from the oh-so-(delightfully-)cynical Beautiful South:
A Little Time
You Keep It All In
Song for Whoever
On preview and continued reflection: Oh, HEY: Tom Waits - Step Right Up
posted by Lexica at 10:30 PM on April 14, 2012
And from the oh-so-(delightfully-)cynical Beautiful South:
A Little Time
You Keep It All In
Song for Whoever
On preview and continued reflection: Oh, HEY: Tom Waits - Step Right Up
posted by Lexica at 10:30 PM on April 14, 2012
I've always thought "At Last" by Etta James could have some different reads to it. There's just this sadness that makes you think maybe she's actually lost something instead of finding it.
posted by amanda at 10:33 PM on April 14, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by amanda at 10:33 PM on April 14, 2012 [4 favorites]
Grateful Dead - Loser and Warf Rat.
posted by octothorpe at 5:16 AM on April 15, 2012
posted by octothorpe at 5:16 AM on April 15, 2012
Creep by Radiohead.
posted by savvysearch at 8:49 AM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by savvysearch at 8:49 AM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
Some by Jonathan Coulton:
This One Is Not About You
Creepy Doll
Todd the T-1000
President's Day (Observed)
Re:Your Brains
...and more, depending on your definition of unreliable narrator.
posted by attercoppe at 2:52 PM on April 15, 2012
This One Is Not About You
Creepy Doll
Todd the T-1000
President's Day (Observed)
Re:Your Brains
...and more, depending on your definition of unreliable narrator.
posted by attercoppe at 2:52 PM on April 15, 2012
Lou Reed - Perfect Day. Is the song about walking in the park and visiting the zoo - or about heroin use, an affair gone wrong and/or depression?
Minor chords, "I thought I was someone else, someone good", "You just keep me hanging on", "You're going to reap just what you sow."
posted by iviken at 3:37 PM on April 15, 2012
Minor chords, "I thought I was someone else, someone good", "You just keep me hanging on", "You're going to reap just what you sow."
posted by iviken at 3:37 PM on April 15, 2012
Best answer: On listening just now, one of the greatest of one-hit wonders: Tommy Tutone, "867-5309 Jenny"
posted by Trurl at 5:41 PM on April 20, 2012
posted by Trurl at 5:41 PM on April 20, 2012
Roxy Music's "In Every Dream Home A Heartache," although I suppose that's more a song with a creepy narrator – who expresses his love for his inflatable doll by hissing insistently that "my breath is inside you..."
One of my favorite Pavement songs fits this, really – "Range Life." That song got more notoriety for the line about the Smashing Pumpkins that Billy Corgan took silly offense at, but the interesting lines to me was the bit where the narrator apparently outs himself as a sort of teenaged burglar:
Run from the pigs, the fuzz, the cops, the heat
Pass me those gloves, this crimin' is never complete
Until you snort it up or shoot it down, you're never gonna feel free
Out on my skateboard, the night is just hummin'
And the gum smacks are the pulse I follow
If my Walkman fades, well I got absolutely no one
No one but myself to blame?
posted by koeselitz at 10:22 PM on April 20, 2012
One of my favorite Pavement songs fits this, really – "Range Life." That song got more notoriety for the line about the Smashing Pumpkins that Billy Corgan took silly offense at, but the interesting lines to me was the bit where the narrator apparently outs himself as a sort of teenaged burglar:
Run from the pigs, the fuzz, the cops, the heat
Pass me those gloves, this crimin' is never complete
Until you snort it up or shoot it down, you're never gonna feel free
Out on my skateboard, the night is just hummin'
And the gum smacks are the pulse I follow
If my Walkman fades, well I got absolutely no one
No one but myself to blame?
posted by koeselitz at 10:22 PM on April 20, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Knicke at 5:08 PM on April 14, 2012