4 Old Songs With Lyrics That Didn’t Age Well

While it’s true that good art is subjective, in the past, some songs have been known to take things a little too far. Here are four songs with lyrics that probably couldn’t escape controversy today.

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“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan

Controversial Lyric: The whole song, if you really look at it. 

At first glance, this classic Christmas tune sounds like it’s just about having a cozy night in with somebody special around the holidays. However, in recent years, the lyrics of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” have taken on a whole different meaning. To some listeners, it’s lyrics like “Maybe just a half a drink more” and “Say, what’s in this drink?” that raise concern. For others, it’s the song’s overall persuasive nature that does it.

Whether that was the intention when Frank Loesser wrote the song back in 1944 or not, the possible implications in the song’s story are hard to ignore when you give it a fresh set of ears.

“Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones

Controversial Lyric: “Scarred old slaver knows he’s doing alright / Hear him whip the women just around midnight / Brown sugar, how come you taste so good? / Brown sugar, just like a young girl should.”

Yeah, this song has controversy written all over it. In an old interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger admitted that he’d probably “censor” himself if he were writing it today. 

“God knows what I’m on about on that song,” he said. “It’s such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go… I never would write that song now.”

“Christine Sixteen” by KISS

Controversial Lyric: “I don’t usually say things / Like this to girls your age / But when I saw you coming / Out of the school that day / That day I knew, I knew / I’ve got to have you, I’ve got to have you.”

Yeah, this one’s a hard listen, especially if you know that Gene Simmons was in his late 20s when he penned “Christine Sixteen”. If the song were about one teenager being in love with another, that would be a different story. But there’s something about an older man calling a girl “young and clean” that’s a little off-putting.

“I’m On Fire” by Bruce Springsteen

Controversial Lyric: “Hey little girl, is your daddy home? / Did he go and leave you all alone? Mhmm / I got a bad desire / Oh, oh, oh, I’m on fire.”

Singing about a love affair is one thing, but referring to the woman you want to get with as “little girl” is another. It’s unclear just how bad that “bad desire” of Springsteen’s really is in this song, but with the details in the first verse, we don’t have to use our imaginations all too much.

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