what about me?: songs wallowing in self pity.

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

a prime example here would be the moving pictures' 1982 pub-rock hit 'what about me?'. the refrain

What about me? It isn't fair, I've had enough, now I want my share Can't you see, I wanna live, you just take more than you give More than you give

is not sung, it is whinged.

then there's charlene, also hitting it big in 1982 with 'i've never been to me'. and those lyrics are just so magnificently appalling that i'm going to put them here too.

Hey lady, you lady, cursing at your life You're a discontented mother and a regimented wife I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do But, I wish someone had talked to me Like I wanna talk to you.....

Oh, I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free I've been to paradise but I've never been to me

Please lady, please lady, don't just walk away 'Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today I can see so much of me still living in your eyes Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived million lies....

Oh, I've been to Niece and the Isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht I've moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things that a woman ain't supposed to see I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me

[spoken] Hey, you know what paradise is? It's a lie, a fantasy we create about people and places as we'd like them to be But you know what truth is? It's that little baby you're holding, it's that man you fought with this morning The same one you're going to make love with tonight That's truth, that's love......

Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children that might have made me complete But I took the sweet life, I never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet I've spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free Hey lady...... I've been to paradise, (I've been to paradise) But I've never been to me

(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run) I've been to paradise, never been to me (I've been to Neice and the isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht) I've been to paradise, never been to me (I've been to cryin' for unborn children that might have made me complete) I've been to paradise, never been to me (I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run) I've been to paradise, never been to me

and now a new addition to the pantheon: five for fighting's 'superman'. whining in a 1982 stylee.

when kermit sang 'it's not easy being green' did he understand the hell he was unleashing on the world?

or are there actually some decent songs out there that can redeem the 'me me me' mini-genre?

― minna, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Oh, I've been to Niece and the Isle of Greece..."

Sure it's "Nice"? 8-)

― Rob M, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

too lazy to correct lyrics stolen from web :)

― minna, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, to name but ONE piece of Morrissey penmanship.

― Damian, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Barbara Lynn - You'll Lose a Good Thing

― michael, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Dylan? (The king of "I" and "Me" songs anyway)

― Jeff W, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Linkin Park have this song that goes 'shut up when I'm talking to you' - ABOUT WHAT? When I heard that in Cash Converters it actually reminded me of the Smiths, who incidentally I was into as a teenager. But I think Morrissey meant to be funny, they're so misunderstood, poor them!

― maryann, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Every nu-metal band worth their salt has a breakdown in the song which involves much yelling of "Shut up!". The Red House Painters are good at this 'me me me' thing of which you write, in small doses.

― Damian, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

arab strap

― petite verte, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyone remember the absolutely painful Strangelove?

― dave q, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

minna - you have made an old queen smile on a monday - thankyou , dear lady...

― Queen G, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Search = Mark Eitzel

― Poops Mcgee, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I would also have to say the Cure had its share of these tunes you speak of.

― Poops Mcgee, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd be interested in hearing which Cure songs you think fall under this umbrella.

― Dan Perry, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i've misunderstood the question. no cure.

― Poops Mcgee, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No, there are Cure songs that fit (see: "Siamese Twins", "Watching Me Fall"). I just wanted to know which ones you were thinking of.

― Dan Perry, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i just couldn't think of lyrics off the top of my head and too lazy to google it. so i took the easy way out.

― Poops Mcgee, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyone remember the absolutely painful Strangelove?

Yeah...and they were great. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don't they know it's the end of the world
'cause you don't love me anymore?

but, as if to knock me down,
Reality came around,
And without so much as a mere touch,
Cut me into little pieces.
Leaving me to doubt, Talk about God and His mercy,
Who, if He really does exist,
Why did He desert me?
And in my hour of need,
I truely am, indeed,
Alone again, naturally.

I could never see tomorrow
But I was never told about the sorrow
And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?

All arguably decent cosmic wallowing songs and all pre-Kermit.

― Curt, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Search::"Heartbreaker" (RA Not Free)

― david h, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Where can I turn when my fair-weathered friends cop out? What's it all about? Each time things start to happen again, I think I've got something good going for myself, But what goes wrong? Sometimes I feel very sad. I ain't found the right thing I can put my heart & soul into. I guess I just wasn't made for these times.

And so on. Whine whine whine. Six of the 13 songs on Pet Sounds start with the word "I". (Two of the others are instrumentals!!!) It's a "me me me" record by definition.

Still the best record ever tho'.

Great to see the lyric to Gilb's "Alone Again, Naturally" written down. The third verse is possibly even more pathetic (as in 'full of pathos') than then one quoted.

― harveyw, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

When did I stop feeling sure, feeling safe/And start wondering why, wondering why/Is this a dream, am I here, where are you/What's in back of the sky, why do we cry/Gotta get off, gonna get/Out of this merry-go-round/Gotta get off, gonna get/Need to get on where I'm bound/When did I get, where did I/Why am I lost as a lamb/When will I know, where will I/How will I learn who I am

---from "Valley of the Dolls" by Andre & Dory Previn

Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein' a king/And then became one/Well except for the names and a few other changes/If you talk about me, the story's the same one/But I got an emptiness deep inside/And I've tried, but it won't let me go/And I'm not a man who likes to swear/But I never cared for the sound of being alone

I am, I said/To no one there/And no one heard at all Not even the chair/I am, I cried/I am, said I/And I am lost, and I can't even say why/Leavin' me lonely still

---from "I Am, I Said" by Neil Diamond

― Arthur, Monday, 8 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.