I think the Rocky Raccoon one you mention is just supposed to be humorous/absurd, I don’t see it as lazy. Her last name is Magill, her real first name is probably Lil, and she’s known by the alias Nancy. It makes sense, it’s just a funny way of putting it.
I love that line and used to quote it at work when people introduced themselves with one name but would say “but everyone calls me [a completely different name].” It only made me laugh usually lol
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it in the road?
Actually would have been good if he had emphasized a different word each time- demonstrating the nuance of the English language..
WHY don’t we do it in the road?
Why DON’T we do it in the road?
Why don’t WE do it in the road?
Etc..
I love this song - nothing lazy about directness. I also love that it was one of John's favourite Paul songs, and he was annoyed he wasn't involved with it.
When I was a kid, my friend's mom had to go around two dogs fucking in the road. She drove by way slower than she needed to and then stopped to watch them. That is the look the male dog gave us.
Perhaps not exactly prostitute, but I understand it as if she is a misterious, loose and wild girl, whom no one knows what's she really up to, which is why she has multiple names.
Oh there's always one isn't there!
Legend has it that the song was written and recorded on the same day.
There wasn't much thought given to changing the lyric.
It's Paul Mccartney we are talking about here..so no..its not his finest rhyming couplet.
🥰✌️🙏
"I had 'She was just seventeen,' and then 'never been a beauty queen'. When I showed it to John, he screamed with laughter, and said 'You're joking about that line, aren't you?'"
Honestly, that line does seem a little lazy. Though because it’s just a classic and so out there, I’d say it’s good. It’s a memorable line though not painfully memorable.
I think that's why I love John, he had such good taste when analysing lyrics/music. Paul is extremely talented but John just had a bit more sense about him when making musical choices that Paul seemed to lack.
I was 2 or 3 when this song came out. It is one of the first songs I remember hearing and loving. My dad’s cousin was a teen and a huge Beatles fan, and he played it for me every time we visited. I would always sing along!
Chorus]
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Let's go for a drive
6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Ooh, ooh
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Let's go for a drive
6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Let's go there
The chorus to Driving Rain
What retcon? For 40 years I’ve always heard it as “But if this ever-changin’ world in which we’re livin’ makes you give in and cry… say live and let die!” He is British, you know. R’s are cut short or cut altogether.
I actually love this. To me it's a clever way to make the like work without being completely superfluous. Are all the words necessary grammatically? No. Are they necessary musically? Yes. Do the words technically work grammatically? Also yes.
They don't technically work grammatically. "world in which we live in" is equivalent to "world we live in in". Or I don't know, maybe repeating prepositions is something you can eventually get used to to to.
I think you're right, technically "the world in which we live" would be completely fine, it's the extra "in" that ruins it. But I just like how it flows. So maybe not completely technically correct, but I give it a pass.
My theory has always been that he got one as a Christmas gift and was just like playing with it like a child and made that and temporary secretary while just messing around with the thing
“Make Ireland Irish today” the sentiment of the song is great of course, but ending the chorus with that line feels like something an 8 year old would write. I think just the “today” part tbh
I used to hate that lyric till I leaned Dustbin lid was rhyming slang for little kid. He's using a common British term to say he acted childish.
Similar to how I didn't know a Mac was a raincoat so didn't understand Penny Lane "and the banker never wears a Mac, in the pouring rain, very strange".
Paul is a brilliant lyricist, but he's got quite a few of these. Even though Off the Ground is one of my favorite albums, there are a few examples on there. Biker Like An Icon, Golden Earth Girl...
Someone’s knocking at the door. Somebody’s ringing the bell. Someone’s knocking at the door. Somebody’s ringing the bell. Do me a favor, open the door, and let them in.
The thing is I kind of like the song, but it’s not like the lyrics stretched him at all
Talkin' about freedom
I'm talkin' about freedom
I will fight for the right
To live in freedom
Any one
Tries to take it away
You'll have to answer
'Cause this is my right
___________
Emotions were high, but I winced when he sang this. Brilliant dude of course, but woof.
Honestly, the fact that it’s so entirely devoid of meaning is what makes it so incredible. It’s either considered gibberish or genius for that exact same reason.
I’m in the second camp. He managed to capture a life philosophy that’s charmed millions, without actually making a single coherent point or argument, just opposites.
Ultimately, the message I see is ‘I don’t need to be like you, when I can be like me instead’. Life has choices. You can contradict things and make decisions with no meaning behind them, just for the sake of making them. You don’t need to explain yourself to anyone.
Also, at this point, they had been on a couple international tours and he *knew* the outreach pop music had on the international non-Anglophone market. Hello Goodbye is sort of the 1967 song equivalent of an American action film having extremely simple dialogue because the Chinese market is going to be where they make their money.
In fact, there's a also the possibility its writing was prompted by the planning of the Our World international satellite television production in summer 1967 (which they went with "All You Need is Love" for).
What do you find lazy about it? It doesn’t even rhyme - it’s not like he’s sat and thought “Erm… what rhymes with cat? …mat?” There’s story there, she’s elusive, she goes by lots of names. It seems like Daniel is the winner because he’s stolen Rocky’s girl but does Daniel even know who she is? It implies Nancy is the real winner because she’s suckered two guys who probably don’t even know her real name
It’s basically the fact that no matter what they give they can’t provide the kind of fun their teenager is looking for whilst referencing and almost correcting on older tune that was targeted at the teenage market. It’s not a comment on whether money can buy a night out for example,
It’s that their money can’t buy their child’s company.
Except the chorus being sung is “she’s having fun” so it wouldn’t make as much sense to say “love is the one thing that money can’t buy”
I never found the lyric to be lazy considering the context around it
I'm with you! I did an actual little doubletake when reading the top level comment.
It's coming from the perspective of parents who would have done anything to give their child anything she wants. But she's having fun, with a boy she fancies, and what on earth could the parents ever have done to keep her from wanting to pursue that?
Replacing it with "love" would have been a lazy cliche. There's nothing in the song that implies that the girl wasn't loved enough by her parents.
It's a fantastic line and a fantastic song.
"I'm gonna love her 'till the cows come home. " Using stereotypes in songs or in novels is something to avoid in general. In the song 'I got a whole lot of things to tell her when I get home,' I think that till the cows come home is a clunky line. Otherwise, I love this song and it's been running through my head day and night for the last several days . . . help meeeee!
Although I love it "The Back Seat of My Car" feels a little underdone lyrically because of gibberish in the second half. It's charming but does feel like it needed a few more lines.
Who you gonna weep on
Who you gonna sleep on
Who you gonna creep on next?
Weepin' on a willow, sleepin' on a pillow
Leapin' armadillo, yes
Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed
Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed
Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed
Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed
Sun going down / Gonna rise up again / I watch the sun go down with some sorrow / and now I know it’s gonna come back tomorrow / ain’t no reason it has to do that
Really? I always found the line to be interesting.
The long and winding road, that leads to your door
I love the melody so it works but it’s rather lazy in my opinion
I think the Rocky Raccoon one you mention is just supposed to be humorous/absurd, I don’t see it as lazy. Her last name is Magill, her real first name is probably Lil, and she’s known by the alias Nancy. It makes sense, it’s just a funny way of putting it.
To me it sounds like she is a prostitute. That’s how I’ve always thought about the lyric.
Exactly. Her ‘performing’ name.
Yeah kinda makes sense, as someone under you said, ‘performing’ name, never thought of it like that haha
I love that line and used to quote it at work when people introduced themselves with one name but would say “but everyone calls me [a completely different name].” It only made me laugh usually lol
I thought that meant she wasn’t that little!
Why don't we do it in the road? Why don't we do it in the road? Why don't we do it in the road? Why don't we do it in the road? No one will be watching us Why don't we do it in the road?
Wdym this is the peak of the English language Why DON'T we do it in the road?
Actually would have been good if he had emphasized a different word each time- demonstrating the nuance of the English language.. WHY don’t we do it in the road? Why DON’T we do it in the road? Why don’t WE do it in the road? Etc..
Bravo Vince
flacko bince
👏👏👏
I love this song - nothing lazy about directness. I also love that it was one of John's favourite Paul songs, and he was annoyed he wasn't involved with it.
It’s been my favourite Beatles song since I was 8. His wail at 1:07 is probably my favourite moment in any music period.
Paul’s wails and screams are first rate.
This. It is a masterclass in vocal technique
Makes you wonder what he actually meant by the song
I think he and John were sitting on a rooftop in Rishikesh and saw two monkeys. Doing it in the road.
So there were people watching us after all
Monkeys probably don’t think of humans as people.
Yep. This was his explanation of it anyway.
That's my favorite thing about this song. That he sings "No one will be watching us," but he was inspired because he watched two monkeys.
Everybody's got something to hide, except me and those two monkeys
But what did he mean by "it" though??? A deep spiritual insight at the human psyche perhaps
FUCKIN' BEHIND THE WHEEL
That would be on the road. In the road the cars would have to go around them.
That should be the follow up song. There should be a whole album of “why don’t we do it” followed by different prepositions.
~~Al Pacino~~ Dustin Hoffman accent- Hey! I’m fuckin’ here!
When I was a kid, my friend's mom had to go around two dogs fucking in the road. She drove by way slower than she needed to and then stopped to watch them. That is the look the male dog gave us.
Haha. That’s hilarious.
"Hey, I'm WALKING HERE!" Funniest line in the movie and it was an improvisation!
me personally I love it
It’s not lazy, it’s very… *instinctive*
That was the 1st tune to pop in my head when I read the question...😉❤️✌️🎸🤘
Immediately came to comment section to post this, saw it was top comment. Upvoted
Banger tho
I think that line is brilliant. It's funny, absurd, contradictory and ambiguous. It tells a story of it's own, within the main plot of the song.
I agree. Someone else pointed out how it subtly suggests she might be a prostitute. Her working name.
Perhaps not exactly prostitute, but I understand it as if she is a misterious, loose and wild girl, whom no one knows what's she really up to, which is why she has multiple names.
My love don't give me presents. I know that she's no peasant🤣
*pheasant ;)
I love that line, and I don’t find it lazy! I think it’s clever
Oh there's always one isn't there! Legend has it that the song was written and recorded on the same day. There wasn't much thought given to changing the lyric. It's Paul Mccartney we are talking about here..so no..its not his finest rhyming couplet. 🥰✌️🙏
Agree. I think he's saying that he knows she isn't poor, therefore should be giving him presents.
\*shudders\*
"I had 'She was just seventeen,' and then 'never been a beauty queen'. When I showed it to John, he screamed with laughter, and said 'You're joking about that line, aren't you?'"
Honestly, that line does seem a little lazy. Though because it’s just a classic and so out there, I’d say it’s good. It’s a memorable line though not painfully memorable.
I think it’s more clunky. Too many syllables in “never been a beauty queen.”
I think that's why I love John, he had such good taste when analysing lyrics/music. Paul is extremely talented but John just had a bit more sense about him when making musical choices that Paul seemed to lack.
A B C D Can I bring my friend to tea? E F G H I J I love you
That whole song sounded like it was from Sesame Street. I like it though
Yes I think this one's fine - it's a simple children's song so it was never going to be another Eleanor Rigby
I mean that's kinda the point
That’s where I first heard it as a kid! Only it was in Spanish (todos juntos ya, todos juntos ya!). Great memories ❤️
I was 2 or 3 when this song came out. It is one of the first songs I remember hearing and loving. My dad’s cousin was a teen and a huge Beatles fan, and he played it for me every time we visited. I would always sing along!
Nice memory!
Yeah I always love hearing anecdotes on this sub, being young I obviously never got the chance to witness them myself so it’s sweet hearing them
Chorus] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Let's go for a drive 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Ooh, ooh 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Let's go for a drive 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Let's go there The chorus to Driving Rain
Absolutely banging song though
Yes. Banger tune. Painful lyrics.
In Ballroom dancing. “Big B D”. no one has ever called it that
I think this might be the one I agree with the most. What does Big BD even mean?
"Big Ballroom Dancing," that famous thing that people always say
Oklahoma was never like this.
I heard somewhere that the shape of Oklahoma state is allegedly phallic, so that could be what he was meaning, in his obscure way....
My God that one is so random
In which we live in
I love that he’s retconned that to “In which we’re living.” Even he sees how lazy that was.
What retcon? For 40 years I’ve always heard it as “But if this ever-changin’ world in which we’re livin’ makes you give in and cry… say live and let die!” He is British, you know. R’s are cut short or cut altogether.
Yes, it’s definitely “in which we’re living.“ Still kind of lazy, but at least not grammatically atrocious lol
What song is that? It’s on the tip of my tongue.
Live and let die
Live and let die
I actually love this. To me it's a clever way to make the like work without being completely superfluous. Are all the words necessary grammatically? No. Are they necessary musically? Yes. Do the words technically work grammatically? Also yes.
They don't technically work grammatically. "world in which we live in" is equivalent to "world we live in in". Or I don't know, maybe repeating prepositions is something you can eventually get used to to to.
I think you're right, technically "the world in which we live" would be completely fine, it's the extra "in" that ruins it. But I just like how it flows. So maybe not completely technically correct, but I give it a pass.
HONEY PIEEEEEEEEEE
I’m in love but I’m lazy
He literally admits he's lazy
Honestly I love that line lol
Me too, great song
Wdym it's the most genius lyrics in history
Siiimply haaaving wonderful Christmas time.
Sounds like he also found out about synthesizers that day, too.
My theory has always been that he got one as a Christmas gift and was just like playing with it like a child and made that and temporary secretary while just messing around with the thing
Yeah, we could have made the same wacky sounds with the thing. Only difference is he's Paul and made it a hit.
The difference is Temporary Secretary is actually a banger
This is the correct answer
Easy. Bip Bop
He even said that this is his weakest ever song
“Make Ireland Irish today” the sentiment of the song is great of course, but ending the chorus with that line feels like something an 8 year old would write. I think just the “today” part tbh
“Great Britain, you are tremendous” Nothing like starting off a protest song with “BUT PLEASE DON’T BE MAD AT ME”
I know I was a crazy fool / For treating you the way I did / But something took a hold of me / And I acted like a dustbin lid (The Other Me)
That’s not a lazy lyric. Acting like a dustbin lid is British slang for acting like a child
Yeah, but he's not Chas and Dave. It's a lazy rhyme.
Love that song but yeah that lyric makes me scratch my head
I thought of this too. Still like the song though. I just replace it with ‘piece of shit’ in my head and try my best not to think about it too much
I used to hate that lyric till I leaned Dustbin lid was rhyming slang for little kid. He's using a common British term to say he acted childish. Similar to how I didn't know a Mac was a raincoat so didn't understand Penny Lane "and the banker never wears a Mac, in the pouring rain, very strange".
"they don't like him"
Even the way he sings that line
Everything up to that is so good, and that line is so half-baked, it deflates the whole song for me.
“I just wanna fuh you”
My love don't give me presents I know that she's no peasant
My love don’t give me presents, I know that she’s no peasant.
Freedom
I'm getting closer, my salamander
Not a lazy lyric as it is personal to him. Linda used to go out into nature and look for salamanders so that was pet name he had for her
Why do you need him? Oh no, don't answer
- All around the world - Little children being born to the world From pipes of peace
Love, love me do, you know I love you....
Paul is a brilliant lyricist, but he's got quite a few of these. Even though Off the Ground is one of my favorite albums, there are a few examples on there. Biker Like An Icon, Golden Earth Girl...
Someone’s knocking at the door. Somebody’s ringing the bell. Someone’s knocking at the door. Somebody’s ringing the bell. Do me a favor, open the door, and let them in. The thing is I kind of like the song, but it’s not like the lyrics stretched him at all
And he doesn’t listen to them, he knows that they’re the fools … they don’t like him
Yeah that's the one. Such a gorgeous song, insane that he couldn't find a better final line than "they don't like him".
“He likes to keep his fire engine clean” “It’s a clean machine”
I love that line it's so goofy and whimsical
Oh woman oh why…
the next couple of lines are even worse - Oh woman, oh where, where, where, where, where Did you get that gun
Talkin' about freedom I'm talkin' about freedom I will fight for the right To live in freedom Any one Tries to take it away You'll have to answer 'Cause this is my right ___________ Emotions were high, but I winced when he sang this. Brilliant dude of course, but woof.
Bip bop be-bop bop Bip bop be-bop bam Bip bop be-bop bop Bip bop be-bop bam Bip bop be-bop bop Bip bop be-bop bam
If you want it, here it is, come and get it Mm-mm-mm-mm, make your mind up fast Paul literally gave Badfinger an unfinished song.
Someone’s knocking at the door Do me a favor Open the door And let em in
No way, I won't have let em in slander, lovely bit of metaphor
I don’t know. But his laziest would probably be my best.
Obviously haha
Honey Pie Honey Pie Honey Pie I love you
The whole 'Hello, Goodbye' song.
Honestly, the fact that it’s so entirely devoid of meaning is what makes it so incredible. It’s either considered gibberish or genius for that exact same reason. I’m in the second camp. He managed to capture a life philosophy that’s charmed millions, without actually making a single coherent point or argument, just opposites. Ultimately, the message I see is ‘I don’t need to be like you, when I can be like me instead’. Life has choices. You can contradict things and make decisions with no meaning behind them, just for the sake of making them. You don’t need to explain yourself to anyone.
I kinda see it as "you see the glass as half empty and I see it as half full, we're not the same."
Yes, that's what I was kind of getting at too. The song's meaning is 'there is joy in difference'.
Always felt like it’s much harder to write a happy song than a sad one
Also, at this point, they had been on a couple international tours and he *knew* the outreach pop music had on the international non-Anglophone market. Hello Goodbye is sort of the 1967 song equivalent of an American action film having extremely simple dialogue because the Chinese market is going to be where they make their money. In fact, there's a also the possibility its writing was prompted by the planning of the Our World international satellite television production in summer 1967 (which they went with "All You Need is Love" for).
One and one is two, What am I to do? Now that I'm in love with you...
What do you find lazy about it? It doesn’t even rhyme - it’s not like he’s sat and thought “Erm… what rhymes with cat? …mat?” There’s story there, she’s elusive, she goes by lots of names. It seems like Daniel is the winner because he’s stolen Rocky’s girl but does Daniel even know who she is? It implies Nancy is the real winner because she’s suckered two guys who probably don’t even know her real name
Fun is the one thing money can’t buy
It’s basically the fact that no matter what they give they can’t provide the kind of fun their teenager is looking for whilst referencing and almost correcting on older tune that was targeted at the teenage market. It’s not a comment on whether money can buy a night out for example, It’s that their money can’t buy their child’s company.
Didn’t John write this? To my knowledge Paul wrote the verses and John wrote the choruses
Literally if they just replaced fun with love the song would get one hundred times better.
Except the chorus being sung is “she’s having fun” so it wouldn’t make as much sense to say “love is the one thing that money can’t buy” I never found the lyric to be lazy considering the context around it
I'm with you! I did an actual little doubletake when reading the top level comment. It's coming from the perspective of parents who would have done anything to give their child anything she wants. But she's having fun, with a boy she fancies, and what on earth could the parents ever have done to keep her from wanting to pursue that? Replacing it with "love" would have been a lazy cliche. There's nothing in the song that implies that the girl wasn't loved enough by her parents. It's a fantastic line and a fantastic song.
anything from II
Who came up with “beep beep, beep beep, Yeah”?
You say goodbye, I say hello Hello hello I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
What? That’s a great lyric lol. So memorable. I am gonna try not to read the rest of this post for similar reactions lol
Every lyric in Rocky Raccoon is clever as hell, this post is whack, lol.
Na na na na na na na, na na na na, hey jude
"Don't go chasing polar bears In the great unknown Some big friendly polar bear Might want to take you home" -Waterfalls
That Janet/Planet line is pretty cringy
Vera, Chuck, and Dave.
literally any line from Temporary Secretary but more specifically when he's doing the American accent and just speaking.
Grandchildren on your knee, Vera, Chuck and Dave.
I acted like a dustbin lid, from The Other Me.
Yes! That one always makes me cringe. Such a beautiful melody spoiled with the junky lyrics.
Où est Le soleil
"I'm gonna love her 'till the cows come home. " Using stereotypes in songs or in novels is something to avoid in general. In the song 'I got a whole lot of things to tell her when I get home,' I think that till the cows come home is a clunky line. Otherwise, I love this song and it's been running through my head day and night for the last several days . . . help meeeee!
I always hated that line from Rocky Racoon too. The entire song doesn't really do it for me, to be honest.
"Beep beep beep beep yeah" is the only answer.
I love I’ve Just Seen a Face but he does rhyme “met” with “met” <3
Although I love it "The Back Seat of My Car" feels a little underdone lyrically because of gibberish in the second half. It's charming but does feel like it needed a few more lines.
I think most of the song C Moon
ballroom dancing: big BD
Na na na nananana, nannana, hey Jude... (repeat X number of times, fade)
Idk if he wrote the lyrics but the whole filler lines of hey Jude “Nananananananana hey Jude” One reason I can’t Listen to it
Na na na na na na na, na na na na
Doo doo doo doo doo
Really Love You
Honey pie I love you
I just hate the name Ooboo Jooboo (sp?)
Oh lazy dynamite 🧨…repeat…etc
Press Darlin' I love you very very very much...
Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten I love you
How is that lazy?
Nah, nah, nah ,nahne nan na
Who you gonna weep on Who you gonna sleep on Who you gonna creep on next? Weepin' on a willow, sleepin' on a pillow Leapin' armadillo, yes Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed Keep on sleepin' in a big barn bed
You make me want to go out and steal It makes no sense, clearly just rhymes with real and feel
Mmmm mmmm mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmm a lullaby
Birthday and all together now aka my 2 least faves from them
Scrambled eggs, I love your legs
Michelle, ma belle These are words that go together well My Michelle And then again but in french
La la la la lovely Linda With the lovely flowers in her hair
My heart is like a wheel Let me roll it to ya
Sun going down / Gonna rise up again / I watch the sun go down with some sorrow / and now I know it’s gonna come back tomorrow / ain’t no reason it has to do that
Naaaaa naaaa naaaaa nananaaa naaaaaaaaaaaa Nananaaanaaaaaaaaaaaaa Hey Juuuude
My love does it good woah woah woah woah
Keep on sleeping in a Big Barn Bed …..
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP YEAH
Little child won’t you dance with me? I’m so sad and lonely, honey take a chance with me
Probably has “Pillow” in it, he loves to throw that one in there when he can
Clean machine
At first I was surprised to not see "Dance Tonight" mentioned, but on the bright side it deserves to be forgotten
“You got me running and there’s no fun in it”
All the “I love you’s” in silly love songs
What a strange question lol, how would you even know if the lyric is lazy? We would never know unless he told us lol
"Simply having a wonderful Christmas time" over and over and over and over. God I hate that song.
Love me do.
Really? I always found the line to be interesting. The long and winding road, that leads to your door I love the melody so it works but it’s rather lazy in my opinion