Hello,

Heard that blimmin' Avril Lavigne record "Hot" this morning. It drives me up the wall, because the words don't fit the tune properly.

For example, in the chorus, she sings the words "ridiculous" and "fabulous", but the emphasis is on the wrong syllable of each word so it sounds stupid. She sings:

"fabulous" and "ridiculous" rather than "fabulous" or "ridiculous" as they would be pronounced normally. She has to do this because the words and the tune don't fit properly.

There are loads of examples of this in pop. Pink's "Just Like a Pill" is another one - it sounds really clumsy because the wrong words are emphasised.

Anyone got any other examples of this?

Example? I think it's a really good little pop song

So does my OH, funnily enough.

Maybe it's just me...

"Ice cream you're out of your mind." From "out of your mind by Victoria Beckham and the Truesteppers has to be the worst ever. Badly written? It doesn't even make sense.

I think Pink's Just Like A Pill is a pretty good pop song as well.

Plain White T's Hey There Delilah- that "even more in love with me you'd fall" line sounds awkward and just put that way so it fits with the tune.

OP, I think your theory falls at the first hurdle. They are pop songs because they are popular, people will buy them so they are well written pop songs. If you said a song which no one had heard about and flopped sales wise, you might have a point.

I have a great example of poor songwriting...

Natasha Bedingfield's 'These Words' and her incorrect pronunciation of the word 'Hyperbole'

So you're saying that if people buy them, they're well written songs, and if they don't buy them, they're not? That doesn't follow.

One that always bugged me is in Spandau Ballet's 'Gold' where he sings "you're indestructible, always believe in..." and 'indestructible' is just garbled 'cos he has to fit in five notes, one for each syllable, where the melody would naturally only need two or maybe three at that point.

I thought the line was "I scream 'You're out of your mind'" ?? Not ice cream!

Why not? The whole point of pop songs are to generate sales, they are not supposed to be songwriting masterpieces.

I thought it was funny that when Ricky Wilson sang Oh My God with Mark Ronson the other day, he sang "The only thing growing is our hi-story" and it sounded wrong. Although Lily Allen's version doesn't fit the tune, it sounds better.

But it works doesn't it? Pop magic

I don't think any of Lily Allen's own songs fit the tune the way she sings them.

Shoulda Woulda Coulda by Beverley Knight. I've got no truck with grammar that bad. Actually, I'm not sure it even counts as grammar.

I don't think wierd/different pronouciation makes a song badly written, I like it actually makes a song a little different quirky you don't have to be strict with grammar/ syllable. I'd say it would take a more creative writer would to twist a word to fit the song while sticking with what he/she wants to say instead of picking a word just because it fits smoothly.

For example I love how Kanye West rhymes collagen with apolog’in. People still know what he means and I find the pronounciation amusing.

Badly written pop songs to me are like Shayne ward "No promises" unoriginal, cliched but more than that it bugs me because the line " I just wanna die in your arms" seems so over dramatic why not just a simple "I just wanna lay in your arms" seems more fitting imo.

Or Rihanna- Unfaithful "I don't wanna be a murderer.....I might as well take a gun and put it to his head" Jees!!

I know the songs about being unfaithful but DAMN is that nessacary to be so dramatic couldn't they have thought of another analogy.

The Way I Are by Timbaland. The incorrect grammar in the title annoys me.

I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) by Sandi Thom. The most historically inaccurate thing associated with Scotland since Braveheart. But that aside, the lyrics are plain awful. That other song she did that flopped had terrible lyrics as well. Thank god she was a one hit wonder.

The 'absolute quality' of a song is pretty hard to pin down and is ultimately subjective anyway. But your argument implies that all songs are bad until they are bought, at which point they suddenly become good. Which isn't the case. They are exactly as good or bad as they were before they sold a single copy.

And the whole point of pop songs isn't *just* to generate sales either. You know this, you're just trying to wind us up.


Well, I like 'Gold', but that particular bit has always stood out like the proverbial sore thumb for me.

[quote=AveryKG;18966236]
I'm not talking about all songs, i'm talking about pop songs which is what the OP put in the title. The whole point of pop songs are that they aren't lyrically brilliant, that's how they are commercially successful.


Well yes they are because they wouldn't be labelled pop songs if they weren't popular. I'm not trying to wind you up lol, i'm just trying to put my point across.

NOOOOO!!!!!!!! It's the best bit!!

It's one of those parts of a song that people sing along to even if they don't know the rest!

#GOLD, gold..blah blah blah blah blah blah blah-ah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, you're indestructabuu-uul...LA LA LA LA LA#

Have you ever tried singing the first line of verse 2 of The Jam's A Town Called Malice?

"Rows and rows of disused milk floats stand dying in a dairy yard"

Great imagery and alliteration, but you just can't get all the words in properly.

Jennifer Lopez - Ain't it funny remix with Ja Rule , (I know it's meant to be all edgy and R n B but really it's just bad pop)

It sucks from start to finish with her droning vocals and that crappy "Baaaybe is that your guuurl friend I've got my booooy friend maybe we can beeeee friends NANANANANA"

utter tripe.

Also Kelly rowland - Stole ... would it have killed her to say "Stolen"??? Such shite, and Dilemna she did with Nelly "Even when I'm with my boo" it runs the whole song.