Friday 5: Lyrical Gangsta

1. What’s a stupid lyric from a song you like? I mean, put it this way–I liked a lot of the songs on Taylor Swift’s Reputation but thought the lyrics were atrocious. Like, I liked “Look What You Made Me Do” up until the “the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now” line because I thought it was so bad it ruined the rest of the song for me. I also hate Katy Perry’s line “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag/Drifting through the wind.” And I thought Lady Gaga had a lot of bad lines on Born This Way.
2. What’s a pretty good lyric from a song you dislike? I like the lyrics to “Hotel California,” but man, I do not like that song.
3. What’s a good non-Weird-Al-Yankovic lyric about food and drink? Okay, I wouldn’t call this a good lyric, but man, do I appreciate the fact that they did it. It’s from “Every Man Needs a Chew” by The Dead South, who bill themselves as Mumford & Sons’ evil twins: “Well I sat down on the pooper / Thinkin’ through and through / Sippin’ on some whiskey, yeah with / A real fat chew.”
4. What’s a good song lyric to describe your week? It was a long week and I’m on Saturday rotation, and when I first was doing it, I had a tradition of checking in online with the line “Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend,” only with this clip, of course.
5. What’s a good song lyric about inclement weather? I just saw Frankie Valli live (for the third time!) Thursday night, so “Tell It to the Rain” is on my mind, with a catchy chorus of “Tell it to the rain and the stars that shine above / That it’s me you’re thinking of / And I’m your love.” I also love Keane’s “Snowed Under,” which isn’t literally about snow, but it’s a good chorus, especially for a sort of subtle fuck-you song: “I don’t know why I waste my time / Getting hung up about the things you say / When I open my eyes and it’s a lovely day / You know sometimes I feel like I’m / Getting snowed under with the things you say / When I open my eyes and it’s a lovely day.”

As always, from Friday 5.