Great moments in pop music meta-textuality

okay then, bob wills: "i bet you think that's TWO fiddles playin" *fiddles continue to wail, bass thumps, guitar jumps, then bob says apologetically:* "... well ... it is!"

i think we have done this, but i can't find it on the search.

he sings the chords
and omg how post-modern
and
"this part of the song is called the second verse
sounds just like the first but with different words"
and
"you've heard it all before it's the same old shit so I won't bore you with all the details"

"And this is the part of the song /
that's real quiet /
we play very soft /
it sounds like a ballad

And this is the part where we play real hard /
It's much louder than the beginning

And we go back to the quiet part again /
If the whole song was this way /
It would be boring

So we go back to playing loud
It's like the first time
But slightly louder
And this is usually the part
where it would be quiet again
but we don't want it to be
too predictable
predictable
predictable"

Much much funnier of course when actually sung.

"What are we doing now?"

"Oh, this is the part of the video where people talk before the song starts...."

"this is the second half of 'roxy girls' / where social comment has all but dissolved"

that is a great song, by the way, and i've probably heard it 100 times now, but i've never heard anything else by them.

Fugazi, on the song Furniture: "This is a song with no words".

I'll think of more later...

I mean really though, this is like the oldest gimmick in songwriting. "Meta-textual" my ass.

sparks - when i'm with you

I wrote this song two hours before we met"

Not just meta, it's paradoxical too!

see also: herman's hermits, "i'm henry the eighth i am":

"second verse, same as the first"

"This is a song called the Circus Of Death
It tells the true story of a circus we met
The first two verses concern the actual arrival at Heathrow Airport of Commissioner Steve McGarrett
The third emotionally describes a map showing the range of the circus
The fourth and fifth were extracted from an article in the Guardian of March the 19th, 1962
The last is a short wave radio message from the last man on Earth..."

This is the song that never ends
it just goes on and on my friends ...

Eminem, "Just Lose It"

So here it goes, the fourth, the fifth,
the minor fall and the major lift

sorry, what, the construction of the song (ie addition and subtraction of tracks)... makes the construction of the song explicit?

how so?

Yes Sir, I Can Boogie Baccara "already told you in the first verse, and in the chorus"

You're So Vain Carly Simon "you probably think this song is about you"

Strangelove Depeche Mode "pain - I won't say it again"

She's So Fine Easybeats "that's all"

Your Song Elton John "this song's for you" [etc.]

Holy Grail Hunters and Collectors "it's a short song but one hell of a story"

Sex Machine James Brown Can I take it to the bridge?

When I Think Of You Janet Jackson "bass"; "break"

Screaming Jets Johnny Warman "again"; "G" [etc.]

Rock Your Body Justin Timberlake "gonna get you nekkid by the end of this song"

Walking The Dog Laurie Anderson I feel so bad, I feel so sad, but not as bad as the time I wrote this song

This Is Not A Love Song PIL "this is not a love song"

Chuck E's In Love Rickie Lee Jones "Chuck E's in love with the little girl who's singin' this song"

True Spandau Ballet "why do I find it hard to write the next line"

No.1 Song In Heaven Sparks This is the number one song in heaven

When I'm With You Sparks "it's the break in the song when I should say something special"

Pumping On Your Stereo Supergrass Can you hear us pumpin on your stereo?

I Believe Tears For Fears "I believe that if you're bristling while you hear this song"

Barbara Ann The Beach Boys that's stupid [in response to inappropriate performances by other members of the band]

Modern Song The Numbers "this is a modern song"

Knowing no-one will understand these songs,
I try to sing them clearer,
Even though no-one has ever asked
"What does Mount Eerie mean?"
I tried to repeatedly explain
In these complicated songs.

I've mentioned before how, as a youngster, I always thought that the Doobie Brothers were singing not "Without love/Where would you be now?" but "Well now look/We're the Doobies now!"

*if someone can remind me of the lyrics I'd be most obliged!

As is Billy Bragg's "A New England":

"I was 21 years when I wrote this song
I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long"