Of all the things that make a song popular, lyrics might be the least important. “If the beat is right,” Chris Rock once said, explaining the widespread appeal of vulgar rap songs, even among females, “she'll dance all night.” Hip-hop has long been lambasted for its violent, misogynistic and homophobic lyrics, but rappers aren't the only ones who get on the mic and say messed-up stuff. As the following 10 songs illustrate, alt-rock and indie artists are also prone to writing wildly inappropriate lyrics, and sometimes, their poor taste lands them at the top of the charts.
'Date Rape'
Sublime
When you make light of a heavy
topic, you risk trivializing your subject, and that's exactly what
Sublime does with this 1992 ska-punk cautionary tale. Frontman Brad
Nowell's heart was probably in the right place -- the song's villainous
rapist winds up in prison, where he learns what it's like to be violated
-- but the silly lyrics ("he was butt-raped by a large inmate") and
fratty execution undercut the message. A lot of dudes who blasted this
at college parties totally missed the point.
'Rape Me'
Nirvana
Whether Kurt Cobain was decrying
violence against women or blasting his record label for shady business
practices -- both of which are plausible readings -- his inflammatory
title and chorus were bound to distract and offend listeners. Some words
are hand grenades, and "rape" is more explosive than most. To the
extent Cobain was trying to make a point, not just get a rise out of
people, this one blew up in his face.
'The HIV Song'
Ween
If the gang from 'Sesame Street'
were to write a song about AIDS, it wouldn't be half as cheery as this
circusy tune. There's something to be said for laughing at things that
scare or sadden us -- and that's almost certainly what Ween are doing
here -- but it's hard to imagine anyone personally affected by the
disease finding this funny or empowering.
'Closer'
Nine Inch Nails
"You let me violate you / You let
me desecrate you," go the opening lines of the darkest, freakiest sex
jam to ever come within spitting distance of the Top 40. (It peaked at
no. 41.) Thanks to the grotesque yet oddly arousing video, the phrase "I
want to f--- you like an animal" entered the popular vernacular, and a
generation of MTV viewers entered adulthood with some serious sexual
hangups. Trent Reznor might not have brought us "closer to god," but
thanks to that disembodied heart and spinning pig head, we're closer to
our therapists.
'Smack My B---- Up'
The Prodigy
In the late '90s, the Prodigy were
the kings of "big beat," but did they advocate beating women? That was
the charge after the U.K. group released 'Smack My B---- Up,' a 1997
single whose sole line, "Change my pitch up / Smack my bitch up," didn't
exactly sit well with conservative listeners. According to the band,
the lyrics refer to "doing anything intensely," but by the time they'd
released the video -- a highly sexual, ultra-violent clip whose
gender-flip surprise ending hardly fanned the flames -- it was a moot
point.
'Bad Habit'
Offspring
Granted, Southern California
freeways are notorious breeding grounds for road rage, but when
Offspring singer Dexter Holland penned this shoot-'em-up fantasy, he
might have considered his audience: confused, hormonal kids just getting
their driver's licenses. It's a miracle this song didn't start a trend
of teens blasting holes in each other's rides.
'Don't Blow Bubbles'
Bad Brains
Hardcore punk can be painfully
self-righteous and PC, so it's curious that one of the genre's seminal
bands, Bad Brains, has a history of homophobia. On this 1989 tune, they
seemingly refer to AIDS as god's punishment for gays, and while bassist
Daryl Jenifer said in a 2010 Punknews.org interview that he and his
bandmates no longer take the judgmental stance they did back in the day,
when they first discovered Rastafarianism, his words fell short of a
proper apology.
'Girls'
The Beastie Boys
“Girls, to do the dishes / Girls,
to clean up my room / Girls, to do the laundry…” Critics who figured the
Beasties for sexist pigs needed not look further than 'Girls' to prove
their point, and while there's an obvious tongue-in-cheek element to
this vibraphone-fueled ditty, MCA may have had the song in mind year
later, when he used 'Sure Shot' to offer this apology: “I want to say a
little something that's long overdue / The disrespect to women has got
to be through.”
'Girls & Boys'
Good Charlotte
The big knock on '00s emo was that
it was misogynistic — a bunch of overly dramatic dudes hating on the
girls that broke their hearts — and this tune bears that out. “Girls
don't like boys / girls like cars and money,” sing the brothers Madden
on the chorus, dismissing an entire gender as nothing but gold diggers.
Singer Joel Madden, of course, doesn't care about things like cars and
money. Just ask his wife, Nicole Richie.
'Boyz-n-the-Hood'
Dynamite Hack
The whole white-guys-do-rap thing
is usually good for a laugh, but when this Austin band covered Eazy-E's
debut solo single, the tone was all wrong. Whether Eazy, by virtue of
being raised on the streets of Compton, has license rap about doing
drugs and hitting women is a question that warrants debate, but hearing
Dynamite Hack singer Mark Morris sing, “Pulled to the house get her out
of the pad / And the b—- said something to make me mad / She said
somethin' that I couldn't believe / So I grabbed the stupid bitch by her
nappy-ass weave,” one can't help but feel a little queasy.
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