songs about being in love with "unattractive" women

"someone to watch over me" (willie nelson version) -

and though she may not
be the girl some men
think of
as pretty
to my heart
she carries
the key

"My Funny Valentine".

Thunder Road-- "You ain't a beauty but hey you're alright."

I'm pretty sure My Funny Valentine was originally about an unattractive MAN, but I guess it can be sung either way.

Ugly woman - Roaring lion.

Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
"you ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright."

I'm satisfied with you - Hank Williams
"I'd rather have you just the way that you are
Than change you for somebody new.
Maybe I could do better if I reached for a star,
But I'm satisfied with you."

xposts. oops

maggie may?

I hesitate to name that awful awful song whose title escapes me but concludes that if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife, and get an ugly girl to marry you.

But it depresses me so much I don't want to even think about it.

it's based on ugly woman by Roaring lion. and it's called if you wanna be happy.

Elton John--

When a fat boy falls in love with an ugly girl

whole lotta rosie

"Ugly Beautiful Girl" by Wild Man Fischer

it's based on ugly woman by Roaring lion. and it's called if you wanna be happy.

I just 'figured out' this song on guitar. My dad used to jokingly sing it to us all the time.

Heard this only the other day & fits the bill...King Khan & The Shrines - "Took My Lady To Dinner"

Beautiful South - Perfect 10 ?

springsteen likes this idea. 'i wanna be with you':

I just can't understand it, you're not pretty at all
But I come when you whisper, I run when you call

Shakespeare - "Sonnet 130"

Nelly "Tip Drill"

^^^actually based on Sonnet 130

robyn - "bum like you"

you're car's a dump and you're broke
but that's alright
i never liked them fancy guys
you don't even look good! god, it ain't right
but you're starry-eyed and out of sight

i guess this could be about men too

'Jolene'

"When I Turn Off the Living Room Light" - The Kinks

A Wedding In Cherokee County--Randy Newman

"from a logical point of view / always marry a woman uglier than you!"

^My Mother bought the 7" single of this. I still have it.

Pretty Girl (Ellas McDaniel aka Bo Diddley) - 3:04
Pretty girl,
Damn shame,
You let those homely girls,
Come and take your man.
Pretty baby,
Well, you know you're looking good,
Oh but these homely girls,
They're gonna wreck this neighbourhood.

Pretty girl,
Better watch yourself,
Because these homely girls will leave you on the shelf,
Pretty baby,
Yeah, you know you're looking fine,
Oh but these homely girls,
Got a marrying man changing his mind.

Homely baby,
Pretty baby,
Pretty baby,
Homely baby,
Homely baby,
Pretty baby
Told you just what to do,

Pretty girl,
Better watch your man,
Because these homely girls are raising Cain,
Pretty baby,
Oh you know you're the real McCoy,
Oh but these homely girls,
Got a marrying man jumping for joy.

Pretty baby,
Pretty baby,
Homely baby,
Homely baby,
Pretty baby,
Pretty baby,
I told you just what to do,

Pretty girl,
Better watch yourself,
Because these homely girls will leave you on the shelf,
Pretty baby,
Yeah, you know you're looking fine,
Oh but these homely girls,
Got a marrying man changing his mind,

Pretty girl,
You're looking good,
Oh well these homely girls will wreck this neighbourhood.
Pretty baby,
Ah, you know she's the real McCoy,
Oh well these homely girls,
Got a marrying man jumping for joy,

Pretty baby,
Pretty baby,
Homely baby,
Homely baby,
Pretty baby,
Pretty baby,
I told you just what to do,

Pretty girl,
Better watch your man,
Because these homely girls are raising Cain,
Pretty baby,
Yeah, you know she's the real McCoy.
Oh but these homely girls,
Got a marrying man jumping for joy.

Supertramp - Breakfast in america
take a look at my girlfriend/not much of a girlfriend/ she's the only one I got

Dead Milkmen, "Gorilla Girl"

Maddox Bros. and Rose - "Ugly and Slouchy"

that's the way I like 'em / never be no fear of them wolves hanging 'round.

Tom Lehrer 'She's My Girl'

Bob Dylan - "Ugliest Girl in the World"

don't think he wrote it though.

Moldy Peaches-Anyone Else But You (aka "the Juno song")

"Here is the church and here is the steeple
We sure are cute for two ugly people"

by that logic, SFA - Hello Sunshine

and "We might be ugly, but we have the music."

"First I Look at the Purse" -- the Contours
I don't care if her eyes are red
I don't care if her nose is long
I don't care if she's underfed
I don't care if her clothes are worn
First I look at the purse!

"If You Want to Be Happy" -- Jimmy Soul
If you wanna be happy
For the rest of your life,
Never make a pretty woman your wife,
So from my personal point of view,
Get an ugly girl to marry you.

See also Dr. Hook "When You're In Love With a Beautiful Woman"

Kinda sorta- Joe Tex, "Skinny Legs and All"

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music."

And then you got away, didn't you babe...

I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can't keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that's all, I don't even think of you that often.

"You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly" - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

>>"You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly" - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

Good one! And by association, Kid Creole & the Coconuts' "Annie I'm Not Your Daddy" (because if I was, you wouldn't be so ugly).

Temptations - Beauty is Only Skin Deep

A pretty face you may not possess/
But what I like about it is your tenderness/
A pretty face may be some guys' taste/
But I'll take lovin in its place

Spinal Tap "Big Bottom".

Obviously a big rear does not automatically = ugly, but when you start referring to them as "mudflaps"... you're in questionable territory.

Dr. Hook not to thread

Not sure if you could call it a "love song" but Cheap Trick's He's A Whore seems to fit the bill...

Have you seen her face
She's got a face that would stop a clock
And with that face I surely won't stop
To look her in the eyes
But her money's green
Like tea and so's her teeth
But she's still so close to my reach
If I call, if I call at all

About half the songs in the Macc Lads catalog. Only they're not quite in love.

Explaining Dr. Hook -or- Dear God, Is My Logic Becoming More Circular Than Sarah Palin's?

I mentioned Dr. Hook because the song tells us that being in love with a beautiful woman is hard becuase you have to keep the wolves at bay. So, by association, if you want to, er um, make it easy on yourself, you'd love an ugly one.

>>About half the songs in the Macc Lads catalog. Only they're not quite in love.

I suppose there are several Arab Starp songs about loving ugly women (or, at least, ugly woman-loving), but I don't want to think about it.

She's a real ugly lady - U!
The ugliest in the world - G!
You know I don't mean maybe - L!
So won't somebody tell me - Y!
It should be a crime to be that ugly

Ugly, oh yeah, she's my ugly girl
Ugly, oh yeah, tailor-made for another world
Ugly, oh yeah, seems to wear it well
Ugly, oh yeah, we suit each other well

(PEWI, Let's Get Ugly)

Kinks - "Misty Water"

"though Maria is not lovely, she's the lady of my dreams"

No mention of this:

Or did I miss it?

Woops. 5th post. Anyway this song rules and u r rong

and the ugly girls too/ cuz to me you pretty anyway baby

Stay with me - The Faces

although not exactly about being in love

Beefheart's done a coupla these, notably "When Big Joan Sets Up"

Also...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsdji0HmoRk

deep purple - 'strange kind of woman'

"her name was nancy
her face was nothing fancy"

Jake Thackray, "The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker"

He was a blacksmith by trade; he used to live on his own.
She was a little old maid; she was all gristle and bone,
Just a crone that you might not have fancied yourself;
She was not born to attract. She was lined up for the shelf
If it were not for the fact the blacksmith loved her well,
He loved her like hell. He used to grunt and sigh, fit to die.
But from afar; for he was shy, as blacksmiths often are.

She made a meagre livelihood from her home-made toffee that she'd sell
Up and down the neighbourhood to a butterscotch and caramel clientele.
And optimistically, she used to think that she would get a husband yet.
She was far too modest to wink, to proud to be coquette -
You bet! 'Cos she'd got a squint, she was skinny, she was skint.
It never seemed that she, so palpably bizarre and banal,
Could ever be a femme fatale.

Time has no time to spare and the years went by, as they must.
The spinster shivered with despair and the blacksmith sweated with lust, fit to bust.
Until one day she went into the church, her simple heart to unclose:
"Lord, don't leave me in the lurch. Don't turn up your nose.
God knows I'm not much cop but my legs go up to the top.
Oh tell me why you've passed me by.
And, if you can, dear Lord on high, get me a man!"

She, she was in for a shock, for high in the tower like a bird
The smith was mending the clock, and he had overheard every word.
He nearly fell off his perch with delight! But, stout fellow, he kept his head;
He didn't snigger as a lot of men might but in the tones of Jehovah instead
He said: "You're not bereft. There's a good lad left.
He's nothing flash but still reliable, staunch and true.
Dear daughter will, will a blacksmith do?"

The spinster's eyes opened wide when she heard the Almighty One.
In a trembling voice she replied, "Lord, any man is better than none".
Whereupon the joyous blacksmith went home at the trot,
Dressed up to kill in a tick. Went and asked her if she'd have him or not
And she said yes damn quick, because she knew her state. It's daft to wait
When love is overdue; to miss your cue, delay or demur
In answer to a little cri de coeur.

This is as much of a romance as all of the others that you get -
And not so much a song and a dance as your Romeo & Juliet; nor as wet.
Because their love didn't go to their head. No call to go berserk.
The spinster went up to bed and the blacksmith went to work.
Don't smirk! Such loves are few; they were happy, they were true;
They knew their hearts' desires. As love requires, with some deceits,
He used his fires to boil up her sweets.

Woops. 5th post. Anyway this song rules and u r rong

― Every Day Jimmy Mod Is Hustlin' (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, October 15, 2008 6:45 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark

I love that song so much.

John Lennon "Dear Yoko"

pulp - paula

great song.

'i dont know why i love you' - the house of love

i dont know why i love you
your face is a foreign food
i really dont know if i should
i just dont know why i love you

Woops. 5th post. Anyway this song rules and u r rong

― Every Day Jimmy Mod Is Hustlin' (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, October 15, 2008 6:45 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark

I love that song so much.

i know! was kate talking about some indie version or something?

If you find another version pls let me know!

"Gorilla Girl" by The Dead Milkmen.

Titchy, where is "Paula" from? Came into thread to nominate pulp's "anorexic beauty."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq5md48p_1g

Bobby Jimmy & the Critters - "We Like Ugly Women" produced by Egyptian Lover

not entirely sure if I would have posted that if I'd watched the video they'd put on top of that track first

why they gotta

Jimmy Lewis - It Ain't What's On the Woman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKzmDyIvXnk

greatest song ever in this genre? can't understand Unterberger's blase take on this album ("a pleasant, unremarkable record ") or this song ("a good Stax-styled slice of gospel-soul (with lengthy spoken parts)"). also, greatest youtube comment ever? "My husband just loves this song because he can relate to it in our relationship. "

Flight Of The Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)

no one mentioned this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3FGEVFvTHw
"she may not be the best-looking woman i ever did see"

no Funny Face?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1LMIvPpq7o

About half the catalog of the Macc Lads.

Sweat Betty, Charlotte, Julie the Schoolie, Bitter Fit Crack, Helen of Fowey, More Tea Vicar?, Guess Me Weight, Baggy Ann, Do You LOve Me?, etc.

Only Miss Macclesfield escapes.

In fact, Muttley Macclad was touching in his lust for homely women. Whatever became of Arthur Shit?

Are there any homosexual songs about rough-looking dudes?

It's not really about being in love, but...

Pansy Division - "I Can't Sleep"
Wish I could turn on my light and read my Village Voice
But laying next to this beached whale I haven't got a choice
He looked good at the time
I must have been out of my mind
Now I can't sleep

It's only one line, but...

The Shangri La's - "Give Him a Great Big Kiss"
Dirty fingernails
Oh boy what a prize

I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart Than A Young Man's Fool, Marlena Shaw.

Pablo Picasso?

Vicious, Lou Reed. (Is it Vicious with the weird line about toes?)

I think you're thinking of "Andy's Chest": But the funny thing is what happened to her nose / It grew until it reached all of her toes

Yeah, that's the one!

your face (looks like a vagina) by Jimmy Stoli and the What Whats

Sara Jane (from CSU Fresno's website):

Singer describes his girlfriend/wife in increasingly uncomplimentary ways; she hits him, she's the "terror of New York"; she eats cake, eats a fly, and vomits; she's crosseyed and lame, her breath smells like onions, etc. In short, ""My poor, silly Jane...She's my darling, she's my daisy, She's humpbacked and she's crazy... She's my freckled-faced consumptive Sara Jane"

OK, maybe not really in love, and hard pressed to call him a "woman". But still....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixqbc7X2NQY

guilty lol @ dear yoko

who for the record wasnt ugly

yeah I called you fat/ look at me I'm skinny

de la - baby phat

nirvana - breed

Morrissey - You're The One For Me, Fatty

Lyle Lovett - "Fiona"

So if you're going to the bayou
Man I'll tell you all I know
She's got skin so pale
She's six feet high
And she'll look right through you
With just one eye

(Her sister she's pretty
But she just won't do)

She's the one-eyed Fiona
She's the one-eyed Fiona

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J36cvLXko04

The Monks: Nice Legs, Shame About The Face. was a top 20 hit in the uk and featured ex-strawbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6k5RbP402U