Lyrical Cliches You Can't Stand

"Do me right" or "do you right" as a euphemism for sex. At one point it seemed like every R&B / hip-hop song had to work this in, but the trend has died down.

Remember when every rapper had to "show and prove" or "drop science"?

but the wailers' "can't you see" is one of the greatest singles evah. and, if memory serves, the marshall tucker band's "can't you see" isn't so bad either.

Every year, at least one Eurovision entry contains this rhyme; it's the law. Probably some sort of EC directive. This year, they upped the quota to THREE. (Netherlands/Denmark/Greece.)

My least favoite lyrical cliche is 'poetic license' syntax awkwardness bullshit - when niggaz be talkin' like Yoda and shit

and I can't stand folksingers of the post-Palace age who intentionally throw something profane into an otherwise pretty song for apparently no reason whatsoever.

or, as my grandmother used to say, "if my daddy was a choo-choo train, i'd be an engine." i think she was the original MC.

"woke up this morning". URGH. the next line should really be "decided to write a song".

-boston, "more than a feeling"
-bruce springsteen, "empty sky"
-that band that does that "sopranos" theme song

what else? there must be scores of others.

Alabama 3. From, er, Brixton.

xpost: Alabama 3 was truncated to just "A3" for American consumption.

Any more contenders to songs with them in every line, I'd like to hear it>

(when trying to think of an alternative my friend Jefferson recommended that I ask where we getting retardy at)

So don't write a song then.

not to be picky or anything, but that's one of the best reasons to write a song. to express what you can't otherwise articulate.

And I REALLY hate that "hands in the air/just don't care" rhyme too, not just 'cause it's a cliche, but also because it makes no sense: If I truly "don't care" for the music, why the hell should I demonstrate any enthusiasm for chrissakes? Ridiculous.

paul weller, on the other hand, has you eating "a piece of toast / from the one you love most."

it came from their body/isn't that kinda odd-y

Shit man, there was even a Russian pop song that did it: "San Frantsisko / Gorod v stile disko"

"Love you long time" references have been played out and should be retired by now.

you should never rhyme heaven with "seven" or "eleven" anymore. I hate it literally every time

I love "dancefloor". Then again, "Vogue" and "Pump Up the Jam" are two of my all-time faves

model/bottle couplets have really become the modern moon/june/spoon. really never a time that it doesn't annoy me.

"Self" rhyming with "shelf." Aargh.

Wait, when does THIS happen?

when taking your one off the other

blindness is preferable to having to look at someone's butt

― musically, Wednesday, August 12, 2009 2:51 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark

my god, what a terrible joke

admittedly the guy who made it seems to have not posted since 2005, so i'm not sure why i'm so bothered

•rain falling down
•tears falling down like rain

Never saw it fall up, nope.

"waiting/anticipating" OTM.

cliche in EVERY line has to be Des'Ree's goddawful "Life (Oh Life)".
Any more contenders to songs with them in every line, I'd like to hear it
IIRC, Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" might be a contendah.

Lines/songs beginning with "sitting here" or "standing here" or some other such iteration

i would love to hear a song begin with "squatting here"

...or even "crouching here"

'Down on my knees' or some variation on that. Though, to be fair, I don't have a problem with it. I was listening to music on shuffle the other day and four songs in a row included it. One was

Prince - Dinner With Delores
'Damn, Delores, pick another subject please
Introduce the carpet 2 something other than your knees'

Another was, Steely Dan - Do It Again
'Then you love a little wild one
And she brings you only sorrow
All the time you know she's smilin'
You'll be on your knees tomorrow '

Both of which gave a unique spin to things. I'm sure there's half a billion examples of abuse.

along the same lines as 'shivers/spine' upthread, there's also 'chill/bone', in which 'bone' usually rhymes with 'alone'.

The ubiquitous 'lovelight' was mentioned earlier as well, my favourite example of which must be "You didn't have to turn on the lovelight, whoa, it was on."

Any song about human flight - "I believe I can fly", "I want to Fly away" etc...

Just ends up sounding like Orville.

Not sure that's such a bad thing

xp that would take out the absolutely wonderful "Tonight We Fly" by the Divine Comedy.

the objective/selective/collective rhyme in that Soul II Soul track strikes me as very hackneyed

Popture, those excerpts strick me as good uses of a cliche!

"like a thief in the night"

:-(

"up against the wall"

Full or weird names used for purposes of crappy rhyme

"Jimmy Mack, when are you coming back?"

and ... others that escape me

Sheena in "Funky Cold Medina"?

cliche in EVERY line has to be Des'Ree's goddawful "Life (Oh Life)".
Any more contenders to songs with them in every line, I'd like to hear it

How about Amazed by Lonestar;

Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
Is almost more than I can take
Baby when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can see your dreams

I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

The smell of your skin
The taste of your kiss
The way you whisper in the dark
Your hair all around me
Baby you surround me
You touch every place in my heart
Oh, it feels like the first time, every time
I want to spend the whole night in your eyes

Songs I really like despite containing lyrical cliches I can't stand:

PJ Harvey - Rid of Me (fire/desire)
Fats Waller - Ain't Misbehavin (myself/shelf) (Oddly, it bothers in many other versions of the song)
Get Up Morning - Eddy Current Suppression Ring (songs about getting up in the morning).

Realized today that "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles is composed almost entirely of cliches. Yet somehow the fantastic melody redeems it (and despite the incredibly awful singing, yet!) - I can't summon anything like the contempt it would seem to deserve.

this stupid fucking Cage The Elephant song that's been a hit the last few months has a chorus that's pretty much back to back cliches:

There ain't no rest for the wicked, money don't grow on trees, I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed, there ain't nothing in this world for free.
I know I can't slow down, I can't hold back though you know I wish I could, oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked, until we close our eyes for good.

reggae lyric cliches could have a thread of their own, but the one that always comes up is the school/rule rhyme, e.g. when I was a youth in school, me never take in the golden rule

Use of "till the early morn" really really bugs me.

"till the early morn" is a classic imo, esp if rhymed w/ "break of dawn"

Another one that always pisses me off is describing something/someone as being "sweeter than wine".

there's a "lies / eyes" in the little boots single that is only annoying me because it's the bit that spotify are playing me all the time

the cage the elephant ones aren't lyrical cliches, they're just truisms really - nb. i can't imagine that being a good song, though

"…color tv"

They've definitely had their moments, but I could never hear Gucci and Louis Vuitton in another rap or r&b song and be perfectly happy.