List of self-referential songs

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A self-reference song is a song that refers directly to itself. A song must directly refer to itself, rather than just describe a song that could fit the current song. Songs in alphabetical order.

Contents

0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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0-9

I think that
You should know
That I forced this song.
I was dreamin' when I wrote this
Forgive me if it goes astray
. . .
I was dreamin' when I wrote this
So sue me if I go too fast
(see also "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan, below)
Ronnie was much more my style, she wrote songs just like this.
. . .
Amaranta, here's a kiss, I chose you to end this list.

Hast du etwas zeit für mich
und sing ich ein Lied für dich
von 99 Luftballons
auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont.
Denkst du vielleicht grad' an mich
und sing ich ein Lied für dich
von 99 Luftballons
und daß sowas von sowas kommt"
[translation]
"If you have some time for me
then I'll sing a song for you
of 99 balloons
on their way to the horizon
Perhaps you'll think of me
and I'll sing a song for you
of 99 balloons
and that nothing begets nothing" [literally: "and that something comes of something"]

A

  • "A Cappella Choir In The Sky" by The Bobs
"Come on and gather 'round, ye chillin'
To the gospel I'm a-spillin'…"
"I am not afraid
of repeating the last line.
I am not afraid..."
  • "Absolutely (Story Of A Girl)" by Nine Days
"This is the story of a girl…"
"Third verse, same as the first"
"This song is called 'Alice's Restaurant'; it's about Alice... and the restaurant... But 'Alice's Restaurant' is not the name of the restaurant, it's just the name of the song... That's why I call the song 'Alice's Restaurant'..."
. . .
"...Remember Alice? This is a song about Alice..."
. . .
"And the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if you're in a situation like that, there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into the shrink wherever you are, just walk in, say 'Shrink... You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant.' And walk out..."
"Every time I look into your sparkling eyes
I see it all come true
Now I'm writing you this song
Because I love you so"
"I almost wrote a song about you today
but I tore it all up and I threw it away"
"It's hard to know the meaning of this song..."
"This is not a love song
This is not a love song
I don't sing my mother tongue
No, this is not a love song"
  • "Amphetamines" by Eve6
"This is the last song I'll send your way
I smelled you on my shirt today"
"Why must we sing this stupid song?
It's getting really annoying.
We apologize for its length.
We are filled with shame."
This is another boring b-side
Another load of tat
It has no redeeming features
And we're really proud of that
If the A-side makes a hit we don't care if this is missed
'Cos the sooner we get finished, the sooner we go home
  • "Another Song About The Rain" by Cracker
"Another song about the rain
Coming down it burns through me
Another song about the rain"
"Well I know they've always told you
Selfishness was wrong
Yet it was for me, not you
That I came to write this song"
"This is my forty-fifth depressing tune"
"Feel this composition, it's a brand new dub
First thing I did was went to the pub"
"Uh, heh heh, stop, Clef, can I rock, yo?
Get out the bathroom, let me go again from the top
Feel this composition, I wrote it in the tub
First thing I did was went to the pub
Tequila, worm, lemon, salt and no rocks
'Cause when it hits my chest, it gots to be hot
Huh, stop, Clef can I rock?"
"Maybe I shouldn't be singing this song
Ranting and raving and carrying on"

B

"This is the ballad of Dorothy Parker"
  • "Beautiful Disaster" by 311
I try not to be like this
but I thought it'd make a good song
there's nothing to see, show's over
people just move along
I'm-a stop singing this song, because I'm high
I'm singing this whole thing wrong, because I'm high
And if I don't sell one copy, I'll know why, yeah yeah
Cause I'm high, cause I'm high, cause I'm high
There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard,
no song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart
I'm singing this borrowed tune
I took from the Rolling Stones
Alone in this empty room
Too wasted to write my own
this song goes out to girls
that we haven't met just yet
this song is for stupid girls
who think that every boy is all about them
Oh, none of us knew his checkout time would come so soon
But before his brain stopped waving, he composed this tune:
When the toast is burned,
And all the milk has turned
And cap'n crunch is wavin' farewell.
When the big one finds you
May this song remind you
That they don't serve breakfast, in hell
I wrote a song once about her
Called "The Brides Have Hit Glass"
And if you don't like my melody
I'll sing it in a major key
I'll sing it very happily
Now if everybody is on board
I'll take it back to that minor chord
And if I get killed for this rap
I got a million in cash
That says I will get you back in Hailie's name

C

"Please close your eyes and concentrate
With every thought you think
Upon the recitation we're about to sing
Calling occupants of interplanetary craft"
"I remember that time when you told me, you said,
'Love is touching souls'
Well surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
in these lines from time to time."
I know that there's something wrong with this song,
I just don't know what it could be.
"And right about then I should have asked if she knew,
What the Chelsea charged if we got a room for two.
But I didn't and I know I'm a schmuck, don't you doubt it,
The only thing I did was write this stupid song about it.
If I was Leonard Cohen or some other song-writing master,
I'd know to first get the oral sex and then write the song after."
"I know what's wrong--
Chuck E's in love with the little girl who's singing this song
Chuck E's in love with me"
"Complete control, even over this song!"
"I don't care if it takes too long,
I don't really care about this song."
  • "CSS Descramble (This Function Is Void)" by Joe Wecker

(The lyrics to this song comprise a description of the DeCSS algorithm)

"I hate the DMCA
It makes this song illegal"
"Apprehension creeping like a tube-train up your spine
Will the tightrope reach the end?
Will the final couplet rhyme?"
The final couplet is the only one that does not rhyme:
"And suddenly it strikes you that they're moving into range
And Doctor Strange is always changing size"

D

"This is the night of the expanding man
I take one last drag as I approach the stand
I cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long
This brother is free
I'll be what I want to be"
"Right on time. will you stay
throught the pouring rain?
Right on time...through the night,
your laughter is my light
Right on time, desperation song"
"Every song has a you
a you that the singer sings to
and you're it this time.
Baby, you're it this time."
"Do the Bearcat
Mmmmmm, that's the name of this song"
  • "Doin' The Things That We Want To" by Lou Reed
"I wrote this song 'cause I'd like to shake your hand
Doin' the things that we want to
In a way you guys are the best friends I ever had
Doin' the things that we want to ..."
  • "¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?" by Shakira
¿Dónde están los ladrones, dónde está el asesino?
quiza alla revolcandose en el patio del vecino
¿y qué pasa si son ellos? ¿y qué pasa si soy yo?
¿él que toca esta guitarra, o la que canta esta cancion?
translation:
Where are the thieves, where's the assassin?
maybe snooping in the neighbor's backyard
and what if it's them, and what if it's me?
the one that plays this guitar, or the one that sings this song?
"The words I'm singing now mean nothing more than meow to an animal"
"Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry be happy "
"He piloted this song in a plane like that one"
"I got that dust pneumony, pneumony in my lung,
I got the dust pneumony, pneumony in my lung,
An' I'm a-gonna sing this dust pneumony song.
...
Now there ought to be some yodelin' in this song;
Yeah, there ought to be some yodelin' in this song;
But I can't yodel for the rattlin' in my lung."

E

"What am I singing?
A song of seeds."
"I wrote this in a Boston jail"
"How stupid is it
I can't talk about
I gotta sing about it
and make a record of (my heart)"
"Only buy this if you're lonely
Only listen if you're blue
If you are married and you are happy
This song is not to do with you"


"I wrote these words
For everyone who struggles in their youth"

F

"All my life I've been singing them sad songs
trying to get my message to you.
But this is the only song I can sing
and when I get to singing my message will be to you.
It goes: Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa"
"At this point, the boy who's listening to this song
is probably saying it's easier said than done and it's true"
  • "The Fear" by Pulp (nearly all of the song is self-referential)
"This is our music from a bachelor's den
The sound of loneliness turned up to 10
A horror soundtrack from a stagnant waterbed
And it sounds just like this"
"...Here comes the coda."
"Dark eyes, dark hair, and looks that need a song."
"I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to"
and on my easel I drew
while I was thinking of you
and on the roof of my head
in came this five string serenade
"I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour,
Drinking milk shakes cold and long,
Smiling and waving and looking so fine,
Don’t think you knew you were in this song…"
"We only wanted to finish this record with the minimum amount of effort which we are doing very succesfully..."
"This track is dragging on...do you think it’ll ever end?"
  • "Fohat Digs Holes in Space" by Gong
"Well help me help me sing this song
I wanna stay living for much too long
Now I wanna ride this big brass gong"
"If you wonder how long I'll be faithful,
Well, just listen to how this song ends…"
"I Write This Alone On My Bed"
"In this song I say fuck 93 times"
"This is the song starting off our medley!
Our favorite Fugitive Alien song!
Don't try to kill us with a forklift!
Won't take very long;
Relax and sing along.
. . .
And that's our song! We hope that you enjoyed it.
And if you thought that it was stupid and trite,
Come on and kill us with a forklift!
All we wanna do, with love from us to you,
Is sing... the Fugitive Alien song!"

G

  • "Gabriel's Mother's Highway Ballad #16 Blues" by Arlo Guthrie
"The sun come up while I wrote this song"
"Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through
Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.
Georgia, Georgia, a song of you
Comes as sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines."
"I'm singing this note 'cause it fits in well
With the chords I'm playing
I can't pretend there's any meaning here
Or in the things I'm saying"
"In fact, she's probably listenin' to this station right now..."
  • (liner notes read: "In fact she's probably reading these liner notes right now...")
And they're comin' to the chorus now...
This is the part of the song
That's really 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 at 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
This is usually the place
Where it would be quiet again
But we don't want it to be
Too predictable
Predictable
Predictable
[last line]
And that's all I have to say about that.

H

[Intro - Spoken]
"Yo, I can't sing.
I feel like singing."
[Verse 3 - Rapped]
"Man, if I could sing, I'd keep singing this song to my daughter."
[Outro - Spoken]
"I told you I can't sing.
Oh well, I tried."
"Well, it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift"
  • "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" by King Crimson
And when I have some words
This is the way I'll sing
Through a distortion box
To make them menacing
Yeah, then I'm gonna have to write a chorus
We're gonna need to have a chorus
And this seems to be as good as any other place to sing it till I'm blue in the face
And for a second verse
Of terse economy
I'll brew another pot
Of ambiguity
Then I'm gonna have to write a chorus
We're gonna need to have a chorus
And this seems to be as good as any other place to sing it till I'm blue in the face
Yes, we're gonna need to have a chorus
I'm gonna have to write a chorus
And this seems to be as good as any other place to sing it till I'm blue in the face
Happy with what you have to be happy with
you have to be happy with what you have ...
Then I guess I'll repeat the chorus!
We're gonna repeat the chorus!
I guess I'll repeat the chorus!
We're gonna repeat the chorus!
Then I guess I'll repeat the chorus!
We're gonna repeat the chorus!
I guess I'll repeat the chorus!
We're gonna repeat the chorus!
[Verse 1]
"I was walking along some downtown avenue
I was singing a new song to myself
it went it went something like this one
but I just couldn't get it to end
I was talking about this song to a friend of mine
and she sang me a new song of her own."
[Final Verse]
"I was walking along some downtown avenue
I was sharing the sidewalk with my friend
we were singing this song together (and it sounded so good)
we said we said "let's sing it again!" (and it had no end)..."
  • "Heartsong" by Zwan
"but heart songs
are still on my mind
there's never the time
to write down these lines"
"I love the babes, don't get me wrong.
Hey, that's why I wrote this song!"
"Her arms are wicked and her legs are long
When she moves my brain screams out this song"
  • "Hidden Bonus Track" by The Bobs. The entire song "talks" about itself as a "track", but the specific song self-reference is:
"That was a decent solo.
Too bad it's in this song."
"Some people think the title of this song is irrelevant -- but it's not irrelephant, it's a hippopotamus."
. . .
"The hippopotamus was no ignoramus
And sang her this sweet serenade..."
"Not you the one behind ya girl"
I done spit 2 verses tryin' to find ya girl."
"This sad song stays on my mind…"
"There is something amiss, I am being insincere.
In fact I don't mean any of this, still my confession draws you near.
To confuse the issue I'll refer to familiar heroes of long ago;
No matter how much Peter loved her, what made the Pan refuse to grow..."
"Hey, it's on.
Everybody knows this song."
later in the song:
"If I say fuck, two more times,
That's forty-six fucks in this fucked-up rhyme."

I

"I bet they won't play this song on the radio
I bet you they won't play this new bleep song
It's not that it's buzz or beep beep controversial
Just that the dinging words are awfully strong"
  • "I Don't Care if You Disrespect Me (Just So Long as You Love Me)" by The Frogs
"That was a good drum break"
  • "If You Buy This Record Your Life Will Be Better" by The Tamperer
  • "I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending", by New Radicals
"By the way this girl was sexy and she wouldn't touch you. That may not be true but I said it so you'd feel involved with the song"
(Xander) "She clings, she's needy
She's also really greedy
She never --"
(Anya) "His eyes are beady!"
(Xander) "This is my verse! Hello?!"
"Second verse, same as the first"
"This is the theme to Garry's show,
The theme to Garry's show,
Garry called me up and asked if I would write his theme song.
I'm almost halfway finished,
How do you like it so far?
How do you like the theme to Garry's show?"
"I'm so worried about
Whether people like this song."
"I'm too sexy for this song."
  • "I'm the Man Who Murdered Love", by XTC
"It's the middle of the song..."
A secret all along, unless I've got this wrong
unless she hears this song
unless she hears it
on a tape inside her car
with her new husband and she
turns to him and says "I think that's me"
In the garage
Where I belong
No one hears me sing this song
  • "In The Springtime of His Voodoo" by Tori Amos
"Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
And I'm quite sure I'm in the wrong song"
  • "Independent Love Song" by Scarlet
"You could say this was an independent love song [...]
You might say this another boring love song"
"This ain’t a song for the broken-hearted"
"so the radio plays
'I Think I Need a New Heart'
just for you"

J

"Little ditty, about Jack and Diane."
"This is the song that I'm going to be singing to you which is called 'Jesus is the answer'"
"Judy, you're just trying to find and keep the dream of horses
And the song she wrote was 'Judy and the Dream of Horses'"
...
"If you're ever feeling blue
Then write another song about your dream of horses
Write a song about your dream of horses
Call it 'Judy and the Dream of Horses'"
"Second verse, same as the first.
. . .
Third verse, different from the first."
"This song ... is called Justice Is Might
okay it's about ... sonic life ... that's right
...
this song is called Justice is Might"

K

"This is a public service announcement...
...with guitar!"
"Isn't that what you said?
what you thought this song meant?"
"This is our song of exultant joy"

L

"This is the last gay song that I will ever write
Oh it's the last gay song that I will ever
It's the last gay song that I will ever write
Oh it's a good thing
It's almost over
But when the chorus is in
Oh when the chorus is in
You know, you know, you know, you know I'm gonna fuck it up
And when the chorus is in
Oh when the chorus is in
Ha ha ha ha"
"It's the last song I'll ever write for you
It's the last time that I'll tell you
Just how much I really care
This is the last song I'll ever sing for you
You'll come looking for the light
And it won't be there"
. . .
"So I'll write you one more song
But it's the last time that I'll ever try"
"this is the last song
this is the last song i'll sing for you
this is the last song
this is the last song i can give you"
"I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song.
I'm twenty-two now but I won't be for long.
Time hurries on.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown..."
"Sing a song for the wrong
and the wicked and the strong
and the sick as thick as thieves..."
"Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
If I could name you in this song
Would it make you smile and sing along?
This is the goal: to get into your soul"
We got to let the music play
What the people need
Is a way to make ’em smile
It ain’t so hard to do if you know how
Gotta get a message
Get it on through
"Little miss, little miss, little miss can’t be wrong
what’cha gonna do to get into another one of these
rock ’n’ roll songs?"
"This is for all the lonely people
Thinking that life has passed them by
Don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup
And ride that highway in the sky"
"Our time has come
And we must overcome at last...
As we symbolically stick their fucking foot
up their fucking ass... GUITAR!"
"I don't believe these words I'm singing…"
"Now this here's a story about an escaped convict called long-gone lost John
It's got a nice chorus so...if anybody wanna join in: hear the way it goes..."
. . .
"If anybody asks you who sung the song,
tell 'em Lonnie Donegan been here and gone"
  • "Love Is How Y Make It" by Gong
"That is why we sing this song, and why there is a band called Gong"
"I'm gone, but I just want you to know
(Love song)
This is not a love song that I want to sing"

M

  • "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" by Wire
"Chorus:" (just before first chorus)
"You know I'd like to get to know you
but I ain't got the time, and I'm
I'm findin' it harder and harder
to make this damn thing rhyme"
"Until hell freezes over, Maybe you can wait that long
But I don’t think Ronnie Milsap’s gonna ever record this song"
"Merciful God, this is a prayer…"
"If there's one point we'd like to make
With this festive holiday song,
It's that Christmas comes just once a year,
So for a few days, for crying out loud,
Can we all just get along?!"
"Here comes another song about Mexico
I just can't help myself
. . .
Here comes the same old verse about Mexico
We just can't help ourselves"
  • "Mixed Tape" (by Brand New)
this is the first song for your mixed tape
and its short just like your temper
"Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother, do you think they'll like this song?"
"Have you ever heard the words
I'm singing in these songs?"
"She didn't have to leave me
She didn't have to run
She didn't have to go without a word to anyone
I hope she's doing alright
I got no way to know
Unless she gets to hear this song
Hear it on the radio"

N

"I was 21 years when I wrote this song
I'm 22 now but I won't be for long"
"I've been waiting for so long
To come here now and sing this song
...
This is a song to all my friends"
  • "The Nicest Girl I Know" by Vroom
"Your hair is soft, your skin's snow white
Like a clouded day, like the stars at night
Your eyes are blue like the sky in June
My love is true that's why I wrote this song for you
All I ever wanted was to see your face again"
"So I woke up in the morning,
With an idea for a song,
And I knew that this would come out,
And I knew it wouldn't be long"
  • "No Language in Our Lungs" by XTC
I would have made this instrumental
But the words got in the way
I can't listen to the quiet
So I'll hum this mindless tune
I stole from some dumb country rock star
And I don't even know his name
The nothin' song sticks to your mouth
Like peanut butter on the brain
Nothin' ever stays the same
Who should be sleeping
but's writing this song
Wishing and hoping
he weren't so damned wrong
  • "No. 1 Song in Heaven" by Sparks: Perhaps the least modest of self-referential songs, "No. 1 Song in Heaven," claims to have been written by God:
This is the Number One Song in Heaven
Written, of course, by the mightiest hand.
  • "Number Three" by They Might Be Giants is a song about writer's block, and how the song was written in spite of there only being "two songs in me". It is the third track on their self-titled album
"There's only two songs in me, and I just wrote the third
Don't know where I got the inspiration or how I wrote the words
Spent my whole life just diggin' up my music's shallow grave
For the two songs in me and third one I just made"
  • "Nitro Burning Funny Cars" by Dead Milkmen contains a list of things no one will ever do with or about a nitro burning funny car, including have lunch and go camping. But the capper to the list, and last line of the song, is:
"No one will ever write a song called Nitro Burning Funny Cars"

O

"There's a band playing on the radio
with a rhythm of rhyming guitars.
They're playing
Oh Yeah
on the radio.
And so it came to be our song"
  • "Old Shoes (and Picture Postcards)" by Tom Waits
"Well I'm singing this song, cause it's time it was sung
I've been putting it off for a while"
I'll start this off without any words
...
One more special message to go
And then I'm done then I can go home
This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love
Just one more chance
I know I was wrong
Don't give up so easily
Don't you know it's killing me?
Just one more chance, to sing this song
I'll never let you down, no
Just one more chance
"This is just a little samba, built upon a single note"
When you're listening to this song
You might think that the chords are going wrong
But they're not
He just wrote it like that
When Mr. Oogie Boogie says
There's trouble close at hand
You'd better pay attention now
'Cause I'm the Boogie Man
And if you aren't shakin'
There's something very wrong
'Cause this may be the last time
You hear the boogie song, ohhh
  • "Open Road Song" by Eve 6
"My pile shakes as I hit eighty on the open road
This is an open road song"

P

"Early mornin' sunrise come and pull the song from me
So I can turn away and rest my tired eyes
I can't escape the haunting of a lonely melody
It runs around and `round without a compromise
So where you gonna go, what you gonna do
You know I can't say no, can't say good-bye to you
I can't stop the flow 'till you've decided to"
(The entire song is about itself)
(Wheeler couldn't fall asleep until she wrote this song)
  • "Please Play This Song on the Radio" by NOFX
"We wrote this song, it's not too short, it's not too long
It's got backup vocals in just the right places
It's got a few oohs and ahhs
And it takes a little pause
Just before I sing the anthem
Please play this song on the radio
Almost every line is sung on time
Almost every verse ends in a rhyme
The only problem we had was writing enough words
But that's okay, because the chorus is
Coming up again now
Please play this song on the radio
Please play this song on the radio [...]"
"There are so many fuckin' robots out there
and this is just a punk rock song"

Q

"en esta frase sólo pido tu perdón
por qué no escribo algo mejor"
(Translation: "In this line, I'm asking you to forgive me
For not writing something better")

R

  • "Railroad Bill" by Andy Breckman
"I got the pen in my hand, I can do what I want
I'm a bright new young talent on the rise
So get your ass up that tree or I swear you ain't
Gonna get out of my folksong alive."
"Here I go again
Seems I'm back to rambling words I know of you again
When I think that I've got something new to say
I remember it's the same thing I said yesterday . . . "
"Won't you help me sing, this song of freedom"
"Whatever happens
If we're still speaking
Pick up the phone
Play me this song."
"Reuben James
In my song you live again
And the phrases that I rhyme
Are just the footsteps out of time
From the time when I knew you
Reuben James
[...]
Just to sing one last refrain for Reuben James"
"Better have you naked by the end of this song [...]
Cause I gotta have you naked by the end of this song"
"Gonna write a little letter
Gonna mail it to my local DJ
It’s a jumpin little record
I want my jockey to play
Roll Over Beethoven
Gotta hear it again today"

S

"I'm writing a song all about you
A true song as real as my tears
But you've no need to fear it
For no one will hear it
'Cause sad songs and waltzes
Aren't selling this year."
"Eis aqui este sambinha, feito numa nota só"
"This is just a little samba, built upon a single note"
[Last line]
"and that's the end of the song"
  • "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel
"That's all I heard about Brenda and Eddie
Can't tell you more 'cause I told you already"
"Well we got no class
and we got no principles
and we got no innocence
we can't even think of a word that rhymes"
  • "Señorita With a Necklace of Tears" by Paul Simon
If I could play all the memories
In the neck of my guitar
I’d write a song called
“Señorita With a Necklace of Tears”
  • "Shortest Song In the World" by Ronny Light & Kenny Price
This is the shortest song in the world
  • "Si El Norte Fuera El Sur" ("If the North were the South") by Ricardo Arjona
"Si el norte fuera el sur...
seria la misma porquería,
yo cantaría un rap
y esta canción no existiría"
"If the north were the south
I would play the same crap
I would sing a rap
And this song would not exist"
  • "Silly Love Songs" by Wings
"You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs.
But I look around me and I see it isn't so.
Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs.
And what's wrong with that?
I'd like to know, 'cause here I go again"
I'll try to make this perfectly clear, I'm so transparent I disappear
These words I lyrically defecate upon songs I boldly claim to create
Clint steps in to establish the beat, 4/4 hip-hop and you don't stop
This unique approach to start an EP, intended to shock, create a mystique
A cheap strategy, a marketing scheme, building awareness for the next LP
They've got a good fan base, they've got integrity
They've got a DC sound, Shudder to Think, Fugazi
And Chapel Hill around the early 90s: This is the latest from Saddle Creek
Maybe you've been through this before
But it's my first time so please ignore
The next few lines cause they're directed at you
"What is this song all about?
Can't figure any lyrics out
How do the words to it go?
I wish you'd tell me, I don't know [...]
It's unintelligible
I just can't get it through my skull [...]
And I forgot the next verse
Oh well, I guess it pays to rehearse
The lyric sheet's so hard to find
What are the words? Oh, nevermind"
"This is a song about Susan.
This is a song about the way things are.
This is a song about the scary things you see from the corner of your eye."
  • "Something Changed" by Pulp
"I wrote this song two hours before we met.
I didn't know your name, or what you looked like yet
How could I write this song on that one day?"
"There was no pain.
No fear, no doubt,
'Til they pulled me out
Of heaven.
So that's my refrain."
"When a canary drives a tractor, something's wrong
When your president's an actor, something's wrong
When your jacket's plagued with dandruff, something's wrong
If you think that this song matters, something's wrong."
"I betcha think this song is about you"
"This is just another song about it
This is just another song about."
  • "Song About Nuthin'" by Powerman 5000 (the whole entire song is self-referential!, see lyrics here (http://www.123lyrics.net/p/powerman-5000/song-about-nuthin.html)
Oh, hear this Robert Zimmerman
I wrote a song for you
About a strange young man called Dylan
With a voice like sand and glue
"Here is my song for the asking
Ask me and I will play
So sweetly, I'll make you smile."
  • "Song for the Lonely" by Cher
"This is a song for the lonely, can you hear me tonight?
For the broken hearted, battle scarred
I'll be by your side
And this is a song for the lonely
When your dreams won't come true
Can you hear this prayer
Because someone's there for you"
  • "Song for You" by Fuel
"So I sing this song for you
There's nothing left for me to do"
"I've been so many places in my life and time
I've sung a lot of songs, I've made some bad rhyme
I've acted out my love in stages
With ten thousand people watching
But we're alone now and I'm singin' this song for you"
  • "Song for Whoever" by The Beautiful South, about how his beloved inspired the author to write the song and then make a whole deal of money with it.
"Oh Cathy, Oh Alison, Oh Phillipa, Oh Sue
You made me so much money, I wrote this song for you
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel, too
I wrote this song for you"
"This is the song that doesn't end,
Yes, it goes on and on my friend,
Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever just because"
(append the lyrics to "Song That Doesn't End" by Shari Lewis)
"Hey, hey Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song
'Bout a funny ol' world that's a-comin' along."
"Songs about songwriting suck so I'm writing a song that's a song about songwriting."
"Laura . . . know this song for always
Laura . . . show this song to no one."
  • "Songwriter (Part 1)" by Justin Hayward
"Now this ain't the best number
I ever wrote
But I wrote it for you
And you alone.
Now these aren't the best words
That I ever spoke
But I'll say them to you
And you alone."
"So now I go and grab my things, girl, I must be moving on.
I couldn't stand to face you, so I, I guess that's why I wrote this song."
"You're watching Spy Hard!
It's the theme from Spy Hard!"
"i bet you think this song is about you
don't you?
don't you?
don't you?
don't you?"
"Just a stupid little love song
(3 chords and a microphone)
Just a stupid little love song
(hip hop and rock n' roll)
So sit right down I'll sing this song to you"
"and when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home.[...]
I tried my best to leave
this all on your machine
but the persistent beat
it sounded thin upon the sending.
and that frankly will not fly
you'll hear the shrillest highs
and lowest lows with the windows down
and this is guiding you home."
"What do I have to do to get through all of this?
I'm writing it down
I bet you thought this song was about you"
  • "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2
"How long, how long must we sing this song?"
"To our crazy fans
we wrote this song"
"Sometimes we have a deadline
for writing our songs
Five minutes left to wrap this one
la, la la, la la, la la la"
"We may be doing something wrong
We could be runnin' a little too long
I guess we'd better end this song
I said I believe in swordfish
(He believes in swordfish)"

T

There's not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything
Because in this life that he leads
There's nowhere for George and his library
Or the son with his gun to belong
Except in this song
I was waltzing with my darlin' to the Tennessee Waltz
When an old friend I happened to see
Introduced him to my loved one and while they were waltzing
My friend stole my sweetheart from me.
I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz
Now I know just how much I have lost
Yes I lost my little darlin' the night they were playing
The beautiful Tennessee Waltz.
This is the humming song, you sing it when you're on your own
Hear my song. People won't you listen now? Sing along.
You don't know what you're missing now.
Any little song that you know
Everything that's small has to grow.
And it has to grow!
"Why is the world in love again?
Why are we marching hand in hand?
Why are the ocean levels rising up?
It's brand new record for 1990.
They Might be Giants' brand new album:
Flood"
If the love that I got for you is gone
If the river I've cried ain't that long
Then I'm wrong yeah I'm wrong
This ain't a love song
Hey now, hey now now
Sing This Corrosion to me
Hey now, hey now now now
This is just a modern rock song,
This is just a tender affair,
I count 'three, four' and then we start to slow,
Because a song has got to stop somewhere.
This is my hook
This is my chorus
This is my hit
It's better than yours
This is my song
This is not a love song
This is not a love song
This is not a love song
  • "This Is Not A Song" by The Frank & Walters - almost every line is self-referential, including...
This is not a song about politics
This is not a song about sex
This song is not about old James Dean
'Cos he's mentioned in too many songs already, my friend
This is a song I wrote especially for you...
"This is for all you girls, about thirteen…"
… and many variations on this theme.
"This one's for the ladies,
Who wait for us after the shows
They star in our videos
Cause without 'em this gig would be nothing;"
"This one'll never sell, they'll never understand
I don't even sing it well, I try but I just can't
But I sing it every night and I fight to keep it in
'cause this one's for you, this one's for you"
"This song will need you when you're old,
This song will heat you when you're cold,
Believe you when I don't,
This song will heal you from your soul."
"This song has nothing tricky about it
This song ain't black or white and as far as I know
Don't infringe on anyone's copyright"
  • "This Song Brought To You By A Falling Bomb" by Thursday
"This song has been brought to you by a falling bomb."

(last line of song)

"Oh, this song's got no title, just words and a tune"
  • "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long" by "Weird Al" Yankovic - Even though the title is a falsehood, the lyrics in the song refer to themselves constantly. Parody of "Got My Mind Set On You" as performed by George Harrison
"This song's got nothin' to say
But I'm recording it anyway"
  • "Those Damn Blue Collar Tweakers" by Primus
Now the flame that burns twice as bright
Burns only half as long
My eyes are growing weary
As I finalize this song
Wish somebody'd help me write this song.
"The time is gone, the song is over,
thought I'd something more to say".
Heavily self-referential song that parodies a typical Boy band band ballad, including lines like:
"Repetition of the title of the song"
"This is a song about a superhero named Tony
It's called Tony's Theme"
"This is not the greatest song in the world, no.
This is just a tribute.
Couldn't remember the greatest song in the world, no, no.
This is a tribute, oh, to the greatest song in the world"
Why do I find it hard to write the next line?
"This kind of a story has no snazzy end
It's in the telling you really need an ear to bend
So much for the story of somebody so bad
Living invisible, trying not to make anybody mad"
"Daddy please hear this song that I sing"

U

"Uncle Dave, he misbehaved
He said he didn't like this song
Even though he said he didn't like this song
That don't mean he won't sing along"

V

"What else is new?
What could I do?
But sing this valley winter song I wrote for you"

W

(Willow) "I think this line's mostly filler"
Maybe I'd impress her by being in a band and
Maybe if I act real tough she'd let me hold her hand and
Maybe I'll win her heart by writing this song about her
"the way you say good-night
I dream of all day long
Oh, I could write a song about the way you say good-night... "
I didn't write the words you hear me singing
I didn't sing the line before this one
You were not the one I was addressing
That person took a train to Africa
"This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While all the men and women sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long"
Oh, this is a story 'bout a guy named Al
And he lived in a sewer with his hamster pal...
"I couldn't tell you
I was wrong;
Chickened out, grabbed a pen and a paper,
Sat down, and I wrote this song."
"We're not the kind of hookers that give you what you want...
We're the kind of hookers that give you what you what you need...
And you need rock and roll, I can feel it."
"And you won't find me singin' on this song when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here"
  • "Where It's At" by Beck
"That was a good drum break..."
"That's the moss in the aforementioned verse."
"What would you think if I sang out of tune,
would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
and I'll try not to sing out of key."
"This is no song for the dislocated"
"If anyone should ask you who composed this song
If anyone should ask you who composed this song
If anyone should ask you who composed this song
Say it was I and I sing it all day long"
"I'm gonna sing on this song that I wrote..."

X

Y

"I came along, I wrote a song for you, and all the things you do, And it was called 'Yellow.'"
"I don't know no love songs
and I can't sing the blues anymore,
but I can sing this song,
and you can sing this song when I'm gone."
  • "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" by David Allen Coe
[spoken] "Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song and he told me it was the perfect country and western song. I wrote him back a letter and told him it was NOT the perfect country and western song because he hadn't said anything about Momma, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or gettin' drunk. Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me and after reading it, I realized that my friend had written the perfect country and western song. And I felt obliged to include it on this album. The last verse goes like this here:
Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got outta prison.
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But, before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train."
"You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you"
"My gift is my song and this one's for you. You can tell everybody that this is your song."

Z


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