Smut on the Radio

[MelissaBaby]

All songs are about sex. A close enough estimate, anyhow.

From My Fall and Rise.

One day I complimented him on his music and the next time I saw him, he presented me with a homemade CD. I took it home and listened to it. Marvin Gaye. Al Green. Barry White. When he asked me how I'd liked it, I told him that I loved it, but pointed out that all the songs seemed to be about sex.

"Every great song is about sex, Honeybunch," he grinned.

 

[SimonDoom]

From My Fall and Rise.

You're just a step ahead of the crowd, MB.

 

[StillStunned]

All songs are about sex. A close enough estimate, anyhow.

In the 1980s plenty of them were about nuclear war, too. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, Vamos A La Playa, 99 Luftballon.

And then there's Big In Japan, which isn't about Japan or being famous.

 

[intim8]

and "Two Suns in the Sunset" by Pink Floyd.

 

[Britva415]

Ray Charles had a number of hits on Atlantic Records which were just standard church tunes barely re-titled and thinly re-lyriced to be about love of and for girls instead of the love of and for Jesus. Musically, they even still sound churchy.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If you haven't heard the song, it's basically Robert Plant having an orgasm.

"Lemon Song" is more explicit: "when the juice runs down my leg."

"Kashmir", from Physical Graffiti, is the best fuck song, ever.

And don't forget a bunch of songs from The Doors, and of course, Leonard Cohen: "and her breasts rose like bread; and I took her down to the river, as any man would do."

 

[lustychimera]

And don't forget a bunch of songs from The Doors, and of course, Leonard Cohen: "and her breasts rose like bread; and I took her down to the river, as any man would do."

Leonard Cohen's a self proclaimed poet above all. His lyrics are incredible.

Closing Time's my favorite:

Ah, we're lonely, we're romantic
And the cider's laced with acid
And the Holy Spirit's crying, 'Where's the beef?'
And the moon is swimming naked
And the summer night is fragrant
With a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
Down the snakes and up the ladder
To the tower where the blessed hours chime
And I swear it happened just like this
A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
The Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
But Closing Time

 

[Jeb56]

Taking it back to the Delta blues of the 1930s, check out practically anything recorded by Bo Carter!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Leonard Cohen's a self proclaimed poet above all. His lyrics are incredible.

Closing Time's my favorite:

Anthem, for me:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

 

[jaF0]

No mention of Prince's Darlin Nikki?

Blue Oyster Cult's In Thee?

Seger and 'points all her own, sittin' way up high, way up firm and high?'

 

[Bramblethorn]

I wonder if anybody can catch the carefully hidden sexual themes in this one from 1935:

She recorded two different versions of the song, but only the less suggestive one was released in the 1930s; this one sat in the vaults until the 1990s. But she probably would've been performing something like these lyrics live.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I wonder if anybody can catch the carefully hidden sexual themes in this one from 1935:

She recorded two different versions of the song, but only the less suggestive one was released in the 1930s; this one sat in the vaults until the 1990s. But she probably would've been performing something like these lyrics live.

So that's where the Stones got their line, "Make a dead man come".

 

[Bramblethorn]

In the 1980s plenty of them were about nuclear war, too. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, Vamos A La Playa, 99 Luftballon.

And then there's Big In Japan, which isn't about Japan or being famous.

You're going to have to be more specific. There are something like four different songs named "Big In Japan".

 

[Bramblethorn]

So that's where the Stones got their line, "Make a dead man come".

I've been wondering about that. Unlikely that they'd have heard that particular recording, but they could well have heard other versions of the song.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

 

[StillStunned]

You're going to have to be more specific. There are something like four different songs named "Big In Japan".

 

[Bramblethorn]

Ah, that's a good one. IIRC about two heroin addicts at the Zoo station, "big in Japan" as a metaphor for fantasies of success? I caught some discussion of it a while back from the band but I don't remember the specifics.

 

[StillStunned]

Ah, that's a good one. IIRC about two heroin addicts at the Zoo station, "big in Japan" as a metaphor for fantasies of success? I caught some discussion of it a while back from the band but I don't remember the specifics.

I think it's actually about how difficult it is to get clean and how easy it is to escape into a drug-induced dreamworld. Apparently inspired by the lead singer's own experiences of being a homeless heroin addict.

I never got round to reading "Christiane F." (which deals with the same subject matter), but it was a pretty prominent book back in the 80s.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I think it's actually about how difficult it is to get clean and how easy it is to escape into a drug-induced dreamworld.

Yeah, that sounds right. IIRC they were talking about how bands etc. are described as "big in Japan" (while not being successful where they actually live) as a parallel to the dreamworld. Not so much material success but an imaginary world where things are great and one's not cold and homeless.

 

[StillStunned]

The 80s were such a happy time. Nuclear war and heroin as common themes for pop music.

To get the thread back on its rails, I was disappointed to learn that Michael Jackson's "Beat It" wasn't actually about sex. Oh well.

 

[jaF0]

'Still of the Night'

Make your body heave ....

 

[jehoram]

And then there's Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg singing 'Je t'aime...

Where the lyrics consist mainly of lovers fondling each other to orgasms. It came out in 1969.

 

[intim8]

'Je t'aime...

I've always wanted to write a scene where a guy gets a French girl in the sack. They're going at it, and she yells, "je t'adore!" several tiimes.
Finally he says, "Fine!" in a frustrated voice. He stops, gets up, and slams the bedroom door closed. "There, you happy now?"

 

[THBGato]

I used to have a radio show* and played this song by a band called Tractor that mentioned masturbation (literally, the word masturbation).

I thought we'd be fine, as it was after 9pm. I'd forgotten that there was an early morning repeat. The station manager was well pissed off.

*One of my 'friends' emailed into the show to say that he'd heard of having a face for radio, but that I had a voice for silent films. 16 years later, it's still the best insult I've ever received.

 

[jaF0]

The Pretenders, Brass In Pocket


There seems to be more than one version of lyrics out there:

Gonna use my arms
Gonna use my legs
Gonna use my style
Gonna use my sidestep
Gonna use my fingers


Gonna use my arms
Gonna use my legs
Gonna use my style
Gonna use my senses
Gonna use my fingers


I swear I hear it as:

Gonna use my arms
Gonna use my legs
Gonna use my thighs
Gonna use my sexy
Gonna use my fingers