Songs Too Earnest to Take Seriously

[Mister Triscuits]

I actually like Lightning Strikes also. I just have never been able to tell if Lou is being "earnest", or if he is parodying it.

Hey, you want earnest?

[JJ88]

I actually like Lightning Strikes also. I just have never been able to tell if Lou is being "earnest", or if he is parodying it.

I just saw it as one in a sort of Four Seasons vein.

Tie A Yellow Ribbon

Death inspires me like a dog inspires a rabbit.

Yep, more junk. Again Tony Orlando had some good ones from the 'Brill Building' stable early on- 'Bless You' I particularly like.

I suppose I might as well throw in 'You Light Up My Life'. I gather it's 'spiritual' in nature but whatever, it's such a dreary dirge that doesn't suggest any kind of enlightenment.

Windmills Of My Mind
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

I like both of these, although I prefer Dusty Springfield's cover of the former. I can see why the original would be nominated- that 'Macarthur Park' thing again.

'Raindrops...' though is fairly whimsical in nature and not 'earnest' in my view.

[Steve F.]

The line about "then one day the angels came and took her"; someone interpreted that as Honey running away with Hell's Angels.

Damn, I wish I had thought of that!

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

Hey, you want earnest?

That, is fuckin' great. Klaus was a unique dude.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

I don't see anything 'earnest' about Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (if by earnest we mean over-emoting and a lack of sincerity?). That is a great song in my book with no insincere overreach in the delivery.

And re: Lou Christie's Lightning Strikes...there is most certainly an emotive overreach in his vocal in the verses, and a definite and obvious Four Seasons thing in the chorus, which is another reason to make me think the whole song was some sort of piss-take.

And a question. The group was originally called the Four Seasons, then became Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Since Frankie was a Season, shouldn't they have been Frankie Valli and The Three Seasons?

[JJ88]

And a question. The group was originally called the Four Seasons, then became Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Since Frankie was a Season, shouldn't they have been Frankie Valli and The Three Seasons?

That is a mysterious one. The only thing I could think of is that the compilations started including his solo hits ('You're Ready Now', 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' etc.) with the band ones. But no, it started in the early 70s (their Motown-linked period), at the very least:

https://www.45cat.com/artist/frankie...e-four-seasons

[Splicer]

"Wildfire" by Michael Murphey

[GuitarGeek]

That "Proud To Be An American" song by Lee Greenwood comes to mind.

Also, Have You Forgotten by Darryl Worley. I have to listen to both of those stupid songs at work, on all the "patriotic" holidays. There's a few others too that are like that, these songs that sort of play like "patriotic" songs, but they're really there to sell records (and in some cases, justify warfare, as in the case of the Worley song).

"Once You Understand" by Think.

A song so awful, it's listed in The 100 Worst Rock N Roll Records Of All Time. I've never actually heard it. I'm not sure I want to hear it.

[Splicer]

Any lyrics by Morrissey.

"I was looking for a job and then I found a job." Brilliant!

[SteveSly]

Also, Have You Forgotten by Darryl Worley. I have to listen to both of those stupid songs at work, on all the "patriotic" holidays. There's a few others too that are like that, these songs that sort of play like "patriotic" songs, but they're really there to sell records (and in some cases, justify warfare, as in the case of the Worley song).
t.

Quite a few patriotic country songs come to mind. Another one I thought of is Toby Keith's "Courtesy Of The Red White & Blue".

[GuitarGeek]

I suppose I might as well throw in 'You Light Up My Life'. I gather it's 'spiritual' in nature but whatever, it's such a dreary dirge that doesn't suggest any kind of enlightenment.

The funny thing about that is, it wasn't written as a "spiritual". It was written as a conventional love song. That's actually how I heard the lyrics when I first heard the song. It wasn't until much later, with the advent of Christian metal bands like Stryper, that I realized you could hear the song either way.

When I was in the first grade, someone had this brilliant idea that my first grade class should get up in front of the school and everyone and not just sing You Light My Life, but do it in sign language. Even at the time, I thought, I wondered why we couldn't do something with it a bit more guts to it, ya know, liike Rock N Roll All Night or Something's Happening.

[Mister Triscuits]

And a question. The group was originally called the Four Seasons, then became Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Since Frankie was a Season, shouldn't they have been Frankie Valli and The Three Seasons?

When Eric Burdon went from the Animals to Eric Burdon and the Animals, it didn't mean that he himself was no longer an Animal. He even sang a song called "I'm an Animal."

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

That, is fuckin' great. Klaus was a unique dude.

Damn skippy he was. Great performances right down the line. Have you seen The Nomi Song? One of the best music bios I've ever seen.

I don't see anything 'earnest' about Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (if by earnest we mean over-emoting and a lack of sincerity?)

What I meant originally was something that had sold its birthright for a pot of message, if I may put it that way -- something that insists you believe what the singer is putting down. I guess a good percentage of Bob Dylan would qualify...

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

When Eric Burdon went from the Animals to Eric Burdon and the Animals, it didn't mean that he himself was no longer an Animal. He even sang a song called "I'm an Animal."

Yes, but the Animals were not categorized numerically. If they were The Four Animals, then became Eric Burdon and The Four Animals, would it not look strange if there were only three of them?

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

I haven't seen The Nomi Song but l will if l can find it streaming somewhere. Was a fan of his in the late 70s, there certainly wasn't anyone like Klaus around back then.

[GuitarGeek]

Quite a few patriotic country songs come to mind. Another one I thought of is Toby Keith's "Courtesy Of The Red White & Blue".

Yeah, it's like all the kids who grew up watching John Wayne and Lee Marvin movies got to be adults, and found out war movies were no longer fashionable (and neither were westerns), so they decided to write country and western songs instead.

If you ask me, Chuck Berry's Back In The USA is the only "patriotic" song worth listening to.

[progmatist]

A song so cheerful, people missed its earnest message: 99 Luftballoons by Nina. It first hit the US in the original German. As far as anybody knew, it was a catchy pop tune. It wasn't until the English version people said, "Wait a minute...."

[Vic2012]

I just thought of one (or a few by this group)....REO Speedwagon...... I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore. Eeesh. I hate it but I'm not sick of it.

[arturs]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Bye Bye Miss American Pie song (dunno if that's actually the title...). I can't count the number of times I've seen drunken folk at bars or parties singing along with that at full volume as though they're in some kind of state of pure rapture. This would probably be in my top 5 of songs I never need to hear again before I die.

[Vic2012]

I can't count the number of times I've seen drunken folk at bars or parties singing along with that at full volume

Lol, I've seen the same, but they're singing.......Sweeeeet Caroline, bomb bomb bomb, good times never........

[arturs]

Lol, I've seen the same, but they're singing.......Sweeeeet Caroline, bomb bomb bomb, good times never........

But at least with Sweet Caroline it seems like the drunks think its funny, or fun. With American Pie (I looked up the song title) it is pure earnestness leading to rapture or epiphany. Or something...

[GuitarGeek]

A song so cheerful, people missed its earnest message: 99 Luftballoons by Nina (sic). It first hit the US in the original German. As far as anybody knew, it was a catchy pop tune. It wasn't until the English version people said, "Wait a minute...."

Ernest message? Yeah, sure. I'm not sure that the band were trying to make any kind of "serious statement" about nuclear war. I mean, there's a Star Trek allusion in the lyrics. Carlo Karges, Nena's guitarist, who wrote the song. He had actually attended a Rolling Stones concert in West Berlin, which began with thousands of balloons being released into the air. Carlo said that as they drifted out across the horizon, they didn't look like balloons, it looked like a spaceship. He imagined the balloons, drifting over the Berlin Wall, and being mistaken for some kind of weapon or some such.

The interesting thing is, if you read the English translation of the German lyrics, they're actually very different to the lyrics in the actual English version of the song. If I remember correctly, in the German version deals with the balloons being mistaken for a UFO. Fighter planes are sent up, but finding nothing but balloons they still give a display of firepower (perhaps to show how "John Wayne" they are, or whatever), which in turns to defense ministers and politicians going panic stations, and that in turn leads to "99 years of war".

In the English language version of the song, the narrator reveals herself to be the person who releases the balloons into the sky, which are then registered by a faulty Distant Early Warning system as enemy contact.

I remember it being said one time that the German version actually charted higher Stateside than the English language version, supposedly because there was a great deal of "mystery" among US listeners about what the song might be about. And of course, it engendered their first US album, which was a compilation of songs from their first two German albums, with half the songs with English lyrics. I think the English versions of the songs are not bad, but as with Loudness, I prefer Gabrielle Kerner singing in her native language.

[GuitarGeek]

Lol, I've seen the same, but they're singing.......Sweeeeet Caroline, bomb bomb bomb, good times never........

I'm not a huge Neil Diamond fan, but the list of people who've done his songs is...I mean, The Monkees, Deep Purple, Waylon Jennings, even UB40 have done his songs.

[Nijinsky Hind]

HONEY mentioned already... A clear winner.

[Progbear]

I was researching Hot 100 hits of the 70s that didn't crack the Top 40 a while back. This is how I discovered "Flame" by Steve Sperry, which has to be the worst song to hit the Hot 100 of the 1970s. It must be heard to be believed!

A song so awful, it's listed in The 100 Worst Rock N Roll Records Of All Time. I've never actually heard it. I'm not sure I want to hear it.

If you've read that snarky review of "Once You Understand," you've kind of already heard it. It barely counts as a "song," as it's basically a dreary "generation gap" radio drama with a Godspell-knockoff choir chanting "Things get a little easier once you understand" ad nauseam underneath.