Creepy (in a bad way) Songs

[SinisterPryde]

So I was at my parent's place the other day when a song came on their radio. The song was "I'm On Fire" by Bruce Springsteen. Now, I have heard this song many times growing up and was surprised to see I remembered a good deal of the lyrics as it played. As I was humming along I suddenly realized that, while he may have been trying to be romantic or seductive, or whatever, the lyrics are actually really creepy.

Hey little girl is your daddy home
Did he go away and leave you all alone
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire

Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things that I do
I can take you higher
I'm on fire

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby
edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
through the middle of my soul

At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
and a freight train running through the
middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
I'm on fire

[Gentlemen Death]

You have a dirty mind, my friend....But I can see what you are talking about....

[Jakester]

There's that "young girl, get out of my mind...my love for you is way out of line..." song.

Here's a creepy one that turned out perhaps creepier than intended. The only accompaniment to the tune is an acoustic guitar

"A Collection"
I've got a photograph
I took a picture of you
I took your picture in front of my favourite view You play the part so well
You look so sure and free
No one could ever tell that you belong to me
And 'cause you lie so well
I've got to pin you down
Under lock and key
So you will always be in my collection
If you can't speak you can't lie
If you can't run, you can't hide
I know a place you can't die
So no one lives inside
My collection
I want to capture you
I want to immortalise
The way you play with your hair
The way you flash your eyes
I taste the air you breathe
I taste the food you eat
I keep your nails and hair
And some of the clothes you wear
If you can't speak you can't lie
If you can't run, you can't hide
And if you're dead you can't die
So no one lives inside
No one lives inside my collection
I've got some photographs
I'd like to show them to you
Though you don't know the girls
You'll recognise the view..



The song was written about a dude who the songwriter knew who would take lots of girls to this one place as if he was sharing it for the first time and take their pictures. He had a collection of them, and the "if you're dead you can't die" refers to immortalizing them in the picture, which is creepy enough. But to me that line and some of the others, and the overall musical tone seem to strongly imply that the song is sung from a serial killer's perspective.

[kah]

My mind is blank right now. Whenever I'm at the laundromat they play 50s music, and sometimes I'll catch something that I find offensive (that's a hard thing to do). There seem to be a lot of songs suggesting women were mere possessions. :mad:

[spammityspam]

Frank Sinatra's "Wives Should Be Lovers Too" always makes my skin crawl. Not that I don't think wives should be lovers, but something about it... here, let me dig up the lyrics.

Hey, little girl, comb your hair, fix your make-up
Soon he will open the door
Don't think because there's a ring on your finger
You needn't try anymore

For wives should always be lovers too
Run to his arms the moment that he comes home to you
I'm warning you

Day after day, there are girls at the office
And the men will always be men,
Don't stand him up, with your hair still in curlers
You may not see him again

Wives should always be lovers too
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you
He's almost here

Hey, little girl, better wear something pretty
Something you wear to go to the city
Dim all the lights, pour the wine, start the music
Time to get ready for love
Time to get ready for love
Yes it's time to get ready for love
It's time to get ready, kick your shoes off, baby....

I guess that's not so much creepy as it is... aneurysm-inducing.

[Trazalca]

The biggest problem I have with the song is right here:

"Day after day, there are girls at the office
And the men will always be men,
Don't stand him up, with your hair still in curlers
You may not see him again"

It suggests that men are basically dogs, always willing to get a piece
outside of a relationship if they find a girl willing to put out.
Therefore, if a woman wants to keep a man, she'd better
put out herself, or she'll lose him.
This suggests that the marriage is nothing more than a physical
partnership, not getting any deeper than that.

However, I will add, at the time this song did come out so many decades ago,
there was a considerable number of wives that did believe that once married,
the idea of "putting out" was no longer necessary.
Romance was used as a tool to lure a man into a marriage by a large percentage of women.
I could be wrong, but I do think during the 40's & 50's,
women were more about the security and status that a marriage would give her,
and far less about romance. Unless I'm mistaken, this song was written in response
to what quite a few women/wives were doing back then.
Still, the response the song gave is not fully justified.

Today, the song does sound male dominating and creepy.
But under the context of how things were back in the day,
it was understandable, and few questioned it.

[spammityspam]

I know, I know, I just usually love Frank Sinatra so much. Why can't his songs have magically become acceptable in 2007? Why?

I'm so glad I was born after women's liberation.

...random note: the kid sitting across from me is sticking pushpins into the soles of his tennis shoes. And now he's working them in by stepping on them.

I am officially a little freaked.