Lyrics with double entendres, metaphors, imagery & puns that tickle your fancy

Ruth Brown—“If I Cant Sell It, I’ll Sit On It.”

 

Floating lyrics, not traveling lyrics

 

This is pretty tame but Bob Dylan's I Don't Believe You has a great line

Though we kissed through the wild blazing nighttime


I think wild blazing nighttime is a great way of telling us what happened without telling us

 

It's not?

 

"Main drag" is American slang for "Main Street"- the heart of town, the place where things are happening, or supposed to be happening. Maybe that helps.

 

Jackson Brown —Rosie

You wear my ring
You hold me tight
That’s my thing
When you turn out the light
I’ve got to hand it to me

 

Cindy Lauper — She Bop
I’ve been thinking about a new sensation
I’m picking up a good vibration
She Bop

 

Bob Dylan's "Bringing It All Back Home" album also doubles as word candy for me

 

Evil (best known version is Howlin’ Wolf’s)

You’re a long way from home
And you can’t sleep at all
You know another mule is
Kicking in your stall

 

Van Morrison —Benediction (Thank God for Self Love)
Who ever said the old Irish gnome was humorless?

 

Most of John Cooper Clarke. But how about:

Like a death at a birthday party, you spoil all the fun

...and so it continues

 

While people like to gush about Robert Johnson, some of his lyrics were pretty bad.

Beatrice, she got a phonograph, and it won't say a lonesome word
Beatrice, she got a phonograph, but it won't say a lonesome word
What evil have I done, what evil has the poor girl heard

Beatrice, I love my phonograph, but you have broke my windin' chain
Beatrice, I love my phonograph, ooh, honey, you have broke my windin' chain
And you've taken my lovin', and give it to your other man

Now, we played it on the sofa, now, we played it 'side the wall
My needles have got rusty, baby, they will not play at all
We played it on the sofa, and we played it 'side the wall
But my needles have got rusty, and it will not play at all

Beatrice, I go crazy, baby, I will lose my mind
And I go cra'eeh, honey, I will lose my mind
Why'n't1 you bring your clothes back home, and try me one more time

She got a phonograph, and it won't say a lonesome word
She got a phonograph, ooh, won't say a lonesome word
What evil have I done, or what evil have the poor girl heard

 

I find it hilarious that they cleaned up Joe Turner's song by taking it out of the bedroom, but left that verse there. And, just in case there was any doubt, the next line is:

"I can look at you and tell you ain't no child no more."

 

I'm not a pheasant feather plucker
or a feather plucker's son
but I can pluck a pheasant feather
till the feather plucker comes

Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, Garbage Man

 

Virtually any Kiss song!

If there were ever a band gifted at tongue in cheek double entendres...

Assuming one has a lascivious sense of humor of course.

 

Katie Melua's Halfway up the Hindu Kush may not be solely (or at all) about some Indian mountain range. Lovely gentle song.

Tim

 

Anyone remember Zodiac Mindwarp?

I'm Christ in shades, I'm a napalm god
Your lipstick flickers 'round my lightning rod

 

The song Larger Than Life has Gene singing about how big his ‘love’ is. “My love is too much to hold”, he assures us. Gene, old son, we have a saying in the North of England: “it’s not the size of the wand, it’s the magic in it”.

 

I always thought this was surprisingly risque for 1950, from "Luck Be a Lady" (from Guys & Dolls)

A lady never leaves her escort
It isn't fair, it isn't nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guy's dice

 

original version of Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton:

You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Been snoopin' 'round my door
You can wag your tail
But I ain't gonna feed you no more

Aretha's version of Respect:

Ooh, your kisses, sweeter than honey
And guess what? So is my money
All I want you to do for me, is give it to me when you get home

 

I don't understand Japanese culture well enough to know how much if any of this song is double entendre and how much is just a sincere song about growing up. Western style panties (as opposed to traditional Japanese undergarments) apparently have a different meaning in Japan than in western society.

 

Pretty openly honest but classy tune about the seedy side of life...ladies of the night. I thought this was pretty strong (for radio play) when it was released on Tony Bennet's LP in 1962, but even more so when I realized it was a Cole Porter tune from 1930.



Love For Sale

When the only sound in the empty street
Is the heavy tread of the heavy feet
That belong to a lonesome cop, she opens shop

When the moon so long has been gazing down
On the wayward ways of this wayward town
That her smile becomes a smirk, she goes to work

Love for sale
Appetizing young love for sale
Love that's fresh and still unspoiled
Love that's only slightly soiled, love for sale

Who will buy?
Who would like to sample her supply?
Who's prepared to pay the price
For a trip to paradise? Love for sale...

 

For a start, the name of the band "Whitesnake" is a double entendre, let alone the lyrics that Coverdale writes. About every third song is loaded with them.

Love an' Affection
"...Nobody had to tell you
How to make a man's heart bleed,
Your mama always knew
You was born to succeed
I can see the honey juice
Dripping off your lips,
Girl, you got the Midas Touch
It's in your fingertips
But it's alright,
Do anything you wanna do

'Cos after midnight, I'll be alright
Riding on Cupid's train,...."


You give me loving, like I've never had before,
I'm back in the saddle again

 

To me, Paul Westerberg has always been best at this, in the Replacements (e.g. "can you stand me on my feet?" in "Color Me Impressed") and solo.

The double entendres often don't draw attention to themselves and are highly motivated by the overall meaning of the song, not just random bits of cleverness.

Like in the solo song "Got You Down," two in a row:
"He's got you down, baby,
He knows you like the back of his hand"

 

Thread resurrection (for something that's probably been mentioned before):

Big Bottom by Spinal Tap is full of sexual metaphors, but there's a cheeky double-entendre that I'm embarrassed to admit I only just realised,
and in-case anyone else missed it too, I'm referring to, "How could I leave this behind?". I mean, it's referring to the same thing as the rest of the lyrics, but it still has two meanings to it.

The title could also be interpreted as a double-entendre, referring to both the heavy bass featured on the song and the subject of the lyrics.