A brief history of terrible lyrics (with Sam Sanders)

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why do bad lyrics happen to good people? From "suckin' on a chili dog" to "making love to his tonic and gin," even the biggest hits from our favorite artists can feature lyrical turns that make us feel quizzical, offended, or even downright nauseated. With the help of Sam Sanders, brilliant host of The Sam Sanders Show, we plumb the depths of the worst pop lyrics of all time—culled from hundreds of submissions form Switched on Pop listeners—to try categorize, historicize, and, perhaps, celebrate the art of the lyrical faux pas. Follow Sam on Instagram and check out The Sam Sanders Show for more hot takes on entertainment and culture. We recommend you start here. Songs Discussed Benson Boone - Mystical Magical Velvet Sundown - Rebel Shout Live - Lightning Crashes Captain and Tennille - Muskrat Love John Mellencamp - Jack and Diane Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry, London Bridge Katy Perry - Firework Billy Joel - Piano Man Richard Harris - MacArthur Park Imagine Dragons - Sharks Des'ree - Life, You Gotta Be One Direction - Don't Forget Where You Belong, Little Things Taylor Swift - Willow, Anti Hero, I Hate it Here, ME! Train - Hey Soul Sister, Meet Virginia, Drops of Jupiter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:03.2	Stage on the potential answer principal LPL financial LLC member FINRA, SIPC. Welcome to Switched on Pop. I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.
1:04.4	I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
1:14.9	And today we are joined by a very special guest, the co-host of Vibe Check, and the singular host of the eponymous Sam Sanders show on KCRW. He is the holder of a bachelor's and I want to say clarinet performance. Is that right?
1:23.1	Saxophone.
1:23.7	Saxophone. Yeah.
1:25.1	Another woodwind. And a longtime friend of the show. Everybody, it's Sam Sanders.
1:30.9	So good to be here. Friend of the show and fan of the show. I mean it. It's mutual. I like what y'all do.
1:36.6	Sam, Charlie, we are gathered here for a very special episode of Switched on Pop. Recently, the pop discourse has been a buzz with a certain topic,
1:47.9	which is the prevalence of really bad lyrics in contemporary hit songs.
1:56.4	Yeah.
1:57.2	Recently, we discussed Benson Boone's Mystical Magical, which contains the much disparaged couplet,
	...

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