Songs of bad taste

Subject: Songs of bad taste
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 02:40 PM

Somebody's child by the side of the road
Somebody's child who forgot his highway code
Someone's favorite child who ran clean out of luck
When he ran on to the road and tried to argue with a truck
Yesterday he purred and played in his childhood paradise
Decapitating tweety birds and masticating mice
Now he's just six pounds of raw mincemeat that don't smell very nice
He's nobody's child now.
All you who love your child be sure to keep him in
Don't let him argue with a truck, the truck is bound to win
And upon the busy road, don't let him play or frolic
If you do I'm warning you it could be catastrophic
If he tries to play on the roadway, I'm afraid that will be that
There will be one last despairing meow! And a sort of squelchy splat
And your child will be slightly dead and very, very flat
He's nobody's child, just red and squashed and soggy
He's nobody's child now.
IAHAVE ALTERED THE WORD CHILD FROM MOGGY
I think thE song NOBODYS MOGGY is in very bad taste,having had a pet that was nurtured from being a stray and tamed and later run over,
I do not find it amusing. let us ask a question i HAVE changed one word and let us see if it puts a different perspective on the subject
.below is the original
Somebody's moggy by the side of the road
Somebody's pussy who forgot his highway code
Someone's favorite feline who ran clean out of luck
When he ran on to the road and tried to argue with a truck
Yesterday he purred and played in his pussy paradise
Decapitating tweety birds and masticating mice
Now he's just six pounds of raw mincemeat that don't smell very nice
He's nobody's moggy now.
All you who love your pussy be sure to keep him in
Don't let him argue with a truck, the truck is bound to win
And upon the busy road, don't let him play or frolic
If you do I'm warning you it could be catastrophic
If he tries to play on the roadway, I'm afraid that will be that
There will be one last despairing meow! And a sort of squelchy splat
And your pussy will be slightly dead and very, very flat
He's nobody's moggy, just red and squashed and soggy
He's nobody's moggy now
imo this is the worst song eric bogle ever wrote and is only an extension of the idea that animals do not have souls

Subject: RE:
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 02:52 PM

plus one vote for ..Songs of bad taste...

They get my full support... no matter how shite or unamusing..

..survival of the funniest..

No subject should be out of bounds for healthily transgressive comedy... none whatsoever...

However, sometimes it may not be worth the risk upsetting some dangerously disturbed audiences...

Dubai, Brunei, and middle America.. perhaps...???

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Gurney
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 03:03 PM

I've never found the moggy song in bad taste. I've even been known to sing it.
For bad taste, try 'You're So Ugly' by The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band, if you can find a copy.

And somewhere, I have a LP by Jim Croce (yes, that Jim Croce) which I've played twice because I found it ALL repellant. Another LP by the same artist I regard as one of the best records ever made. Pobody's Nerfect, as the T-shirt says.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 05:55 PM

Well one person's "bad taste" is another's ROFL - much as PFR said.
Seems you could get away with a lot more a few decades ago than you can now.
And as Sandman says, it depends on your experience of certain incidents: I totally cringe every time I hear anyone say: "it would bring tears to a glass eye": why?
A) It is anatomically wrong, as most people who have to have an eye removed still have a lacrimal gland which secretes tears, so people with a glass eye CAN still cry, and
B) My sister lost an eye at the age of only 3 owing to an unfortunate accident, and therefore has a glass eye: so I just don't find it funny - much as Sandman with the loss of his cat.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 06:04 PM

"He's Nobody's Moggie Now" is a comic masterpiece! It's one of the best things Eric Bogle ever wrote. I am shocked that anyone would think it in "bad taste". Shocked, I tell you! In fact, I am gobsmacked!!! (even more shocked than "schocked" implies) However, I have to say that it *does* add somewhat to the general level of amusement that someone does find it in bad taste...and Mr Bogle would probably agree with me on that.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Joe_F
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 06:25 PM

It is surely in bad taste to substitute one syllable for two, with the result that it doesn't scan. Why not "baby"?

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: meself
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 06:30 PM

"Well one person's "bad taste" is another's ROFL"

Sometimes, though, it's a little more subtle: I often get the impression that what some people find so funny is the 'bad taste' itself - "He said [something naughty]! Ha, ha, ha! Mommy would swoon!
If you don't like it, I'll say you're clutching your pearls!"

And then there's frequently the question of whether the 'bad taste' is ironic - and whether those laughing, or those disapproving, perceive the irony. That always came up in discussions of Archie Bunker, "All in the Family".

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 07:08 PM

Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat ran over his cat...

Plus, I heard Harry Ogden singing about poisoning pigeons in the park last week.

Both excellent tasteless ditties :-)

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 08 Apr 19 - 07:48 PM

And Matt McGinn's solution to the burgeoning pigeon population in Glasgow was to "Eat a doo a day"! Better than poisoning?

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Andy7
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 10:43 AM

But, where do we draw the line?

To take it to the extreme - think of any one of the appalling atrocities from human history. I don't need to name one, there have been so many.

Now imagine that I get up on stage and sing a comedy song about that atrocity.

Of course, it's in incredibly bad taste - but come on, lighten up, you're meant to laugh, it's a comedy song!

Would you laugh, though?

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 10:59 AM

In the privacy of your own home you can be your true self and laugh at anything...

WE all need that pressure release from our public persona and social facade...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 12:00 PM

We can't dictate what other people can or cannot find funny. I have a fairly broad sense of humour however there are a couple of 'funny' sick songs that I absolutely abhor.
Humour of humour is a bit like beauty I suppose, it belongs to the beholder.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 12:43 PM

Archie Bunker, "All in the Family"

The problem with that one is that it was a gutless mealy-mouthed rewrite of the British original. You were never in any doubt that Alf Garnett in "Till Death Do Us Part" was an evil shitbag.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 01:55 PM

Think about it, to sing a song about the death of a cat and find it funny, in my opinion it is appealing to the worst in people the lowest common denominator , "it doesnt matter it is only an animal", it s akin to bernard manning and his racist stuff, its unpleasant,its appealing to the nasty side of people, haha how funny a dead cat, how many of you would sing the song if baby or n###er was substituted for cat?

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 03:50 PM

Sandman - You can think that.. but so many of us don't care...

One thing is certain though, laughing at sanctimonious self-righteousness of any sort
is a healthy source of amusement...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 04:01 PM

my wife thought this song I wrote was in bad taste


https://soundcloud.com/denise_whittle/the-day-delaneys-donkey-had

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 04:01 PM

Well said that person.................. [ if that's politically correct enough ].

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 05:43 PM

since when has it been sanctimonious or self righteous to recognise that animals are worth caring for and that laughing at their deaths is not funny but hard hearted and appealing to the worst in people, it is an unpleasant song that isnot even well written. answer the question if you substituted the word child or ni###r or trans gender you would not dare to sing the song, it gas nothing to do with being politically correct. pfr,you dont care about animals that tells me a lot about you.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Andy7
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 06:07 PM

I have to agree with Sandman here. The suffering and death of an animal really does matter, both to the animal itself and to those that love it (whether humans or other animals).

So yes, a comedy song about an animal suffering and dying belittles the value of that animal and of its suffering. The argument that an animal is less important than, say, a child, and so it's okay to laugh at the animal song, is spurious; suffering is still suffering.

As has been said before, though, we all have our different opinions. Some of my good friends find songs about animal suffering amusing. But I don't; and I find it hard to understand why others do.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 06:10 PM

Sandman - Oh I get it.. you're having a laff.. nice one...

Though if you are being serious, you are talking utter bollocks
and making yourself look like a bad joke......

.. Don't bother apologising.. i don't care...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Joe_F
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 06:27 PM

Singing a song about killing cats will not kill cats or even hurt their feelings. The moral question is whether it will make the human singer & audience crueler or less cruel. I suspect that the answer is not simple.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 06:33 PM

Sandman is arguing like a hysterical precocious 12 year old
who just read a school petition about animal rights...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Andy7
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 07:19 PM

While I agree with Sandman's sentiment about 'animal cruelty' songs, his leaping to the conclusion that pfr doesn't care about animals makes no sense at all.

It's not the people that sing and enjoy such songs that I have any problem with - as I've said, some of my good friends are among them - it's writing/singing/enjoying comedy songs about cruelty, of any kind.

In my own repertoire is a poaching song, in which an animal meets a painful end. While I'd never go poaching myself, I'm happy to sing the song, as it tells a story which is based on fact; people did/do go poaching in such a way.

But if that song was meant to have the audience laughing in the aisles at the suffering and death of the animal, then I wouldn't consider singing it.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 07:37 PM

Well, Michael Flanders, in his younger years,
wrote the ultimate bad-taste satire,
titled 'Gluttony.'

It's all about how pate de foie gras is made ...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 08:59 PM

Actually, I love cats. I've always loved them. And I do think animals have souls, yes. And I am quite sensitive to the suffering of animals, and I have no intention of belittling them. Indeed, I hope that all the cats in the world have a wonderful time, live long, and prosper.

And I still find the Eric Bogle song very amusing, specially the super-dramatic finish he does at the end. "HE's NOBODY's MOGGIE.........NOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!"

I think it's hilarious. Sue me. :D

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 09 Apr 19 - 09:29 PM

Sandman - Now I feel compelled to actually read the lyrics of that song,
just so I can learn it to sing to any cats that crosss my path...

That's how cruel an animal hater I can be if I try...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 01:37 AM

Try Bernard Boland`s "Basingstoke", a masterpiece of language.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: BobL
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 03:51 AM

I think I've said this elsewhere but it bears repeating. There are comic songs about industrial accidents, unwanted pregnancies, matrimonial infidelity, alcohol abuse and more, situations which in real life are not in the least bit funny. However, the audience aren't being invited to laugh at real-life sufferings, but at the imagined misfortunes of fictional people invented purely for that purpose. At the heart of all these songs is the world's oldest joke: man slips on banana skin. This is only funny because it's the victim's own fault for not looking where he was going: a blind man so slipping wouldn't be funny, nor would a banana skin deliberately thrown under the victim's feet (although that one has possibilities...)

When singing such songs I'm well aware that anyone who has suffered from the core situation may not find the song funny. But I'm not a people person so that's never stopped me yet.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Will Fly
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 04:05 AM

When we were kids at school, at the height of the famines in Africa, we used to sing a parody of the Heinz beans ad:

'A million Biafrans every day,
Open a can of beans and say,
"One for you, and one for you, and...'"

Tasteless or what? The thoughtless cruelty of kids...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,Nemesis
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 08:15 AM

This a gem from a previous thread (not mine) for your perusal

The main problem is that there are a lot of, presumably rather unfulfilled, people just looking for things to be 'offended' by.
They'll be making an Olympic event out of 'Offence-Seeking' before long. And there'll be plenty of Mudcatters in the line-up for the first heat! :-) :-)
IMHO, and not wishing to 'offend' any rather unfulfilled people, of course! :-)

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,Andy7
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 09:59 AM

"The main problem is that there are a lot of, presumably rather unfulfilled, people just looking for things to be 'offended' by."

Unsubstantiated assumptions in this short statement:

1. A lot of people who are offended by something were actively looking for something to be offended by.
2. Those same people are rather unfulfilled (in some unspecified way, or ways).

Time to retake your philosophy module, methinks! ;-)

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 10:31 AM

Andy7 - yes.. but..

This is the internet in the 21st Century...

It is the ideal enabler for all kinds of folk who thrive on taking offence...

Well balanced and grounded individuals tend not to be so over-sensitive...

A close relative of mine, suffered mental health problems
and found a role in life by becoming a stereotpical obnoxious unforgiving activist
for disabled and LGBT rights.

[think of a satirical Viz character, Millie Tant, an almost photo realistic depiction of my relative..]

It is probably no coincidence she was an early adopter of 'the internet'
way back when it became more easily accesable for home users...
There she found a networked international community of like-minded 'angry' folks...

The causes she adopted are important, essential, and help make life more positive for so many folks
but she was possibly more of a loose cannon liability than one of the bettter effective advocates...

She was a difficult and unlikeable person,
and it harms good causes for the public to associate them with such 'prickly' spokespersons...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 10:46 AM

Dead right.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 11:09 AM

Will Fly: When we were kids at school, at the height of the famines in Africa, we used to sing a parody of the Heinz beans ad:

'A million Biafrans every day,
Open a can of beans and say,
"One for you, and one for you, and...'"

Tasteless or what? The thoughtless cruelty of kids...

Indeed. We sang that too,

And this one:

Hush hush, whisper who dare
Little boy at the foot of the stair
With blood on his hands
And fur on the mat
.....Christopher Robin castrated the cat

And there's Doc Cox, AKA Ivor Biggun:
I'm A Wanker

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 11:31 AM

It's better to be in bad taste than to taste bad!!!

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 11:36 AM

For starters... Ivor Biggun, The Macc Lads, and Viz Comic...

That'll separate reasonable broad minded folks with a healthy sense of humour,
from the sour-minded over-sensitive compulsively censorial offence takers...

Let's just say, it should still be ok to be a progressive lefty liberal
who can enjoy bad taste humour...

.. and I'll add.. a big Eff U to all the intolerant miseries
who strive to clamp down on diverse disreputable transgressive comedy...

I'm still chuckling over "If you think this song is funny, you must be an animal hater...!!!"... grow up...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 12:11 PM

Here's a couple of classics popular in my household.

Jimmy Cross - I Want My Baby Back


Nervous Norvus - Transfusion

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,Modette
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 12:12 PM

Mea culpa, the one above was me.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 05:39 PM

Just remembering that it is Eric Bogle who wrote Nobody's Moggy, but also came up with many serious thought-provking songs such as No Man's Land, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, A Reason for it All, Leaving the Land, One Small Star, Now It's Over.
So he did quite a few songs that some people regard as humorous, others to be in bad taste. I guess Sandman wouldn't like his Chihuahua song either, or even the Aussie Barbecue (a mouthful of flies would definitely not taste good.)
I am a cat lover too, but it is a fact of life that a good few cats do end up that way. But I don't have an issue with the song. Worse still, and it's happened twice to us, is for a cat to go missing and never be seen again.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Joe_F
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 05:54 PM

Rob Naylor: Aliter,

Little boy kneels by the sitting-room fire,
Little face flushed with abnormal desire.
Meow! Meow! Oh, what is that?
Christopher Robin is sodding the cat.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 06:09 PM

"Sandman wouldn't like his Chihuahua song "

Sandman doesn't like... not being able to impose his moralistic dictates on others...

For some reason an entirely good taste song came to mind..
A christian song in fact..
One we were forced to sing in morning assembly in infant school...

one verse goes something like...

"The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
And the rains came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the sand fell flat.. on his cat..."

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 10 Apr 19 - 07:50 PM

My Mum taught me many folk songs like

Mrs Maguire pissed the fire
The fire was too hot
She pissed on the pot
The pot was too round
She pissed on the ground
The ground was too flat
She pissed on the cat
And the cat ran away with the piss on its back

Oh, what fun! Oh! what fun!
Shooting peas up a nanny goats bum

However no animals were injured in the singing of these songs.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Mr Red
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 10:58 AM

I personally think ANY song about Marmite would be in bad taste............










ducks and runs for cover.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST,Andy7
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 11:21 AM

Mr Red, I strongly disagree with, and am most offended by, your comment. Marmite actually tastes delicious, and it's ridiculous to say otherwise.

I might have to report your post to the moderators ...

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Acorn4
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 02:09 PM

Perhaps the Marmite needs a separate thread?

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 03:15 PM

Pa wouldn't like it but Ma might.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 05:50 PM

Rank, dank and frank songs were sung by the likes of Mozart who had a sense of humor. Bad songs are great in their way. The more they stank the better folks sang. Celebrate people who need trigger alerts and safety zones or else they faint. That's part of the fun.

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 06:01 PM

You gotta face facts.
Some of us have bad - really execrable taste.

Theres no excuse for it - we're complete stinkers.
And we write songs.
Totally reprehensible and i don't why we do it.

Someone told me tonight one of my songs was on the John Peel's list of the ten worst records in history.

sorry about that, but there it is,

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 07:13 PM

On the topic of TASTE...

RUGBY SONG

DOES YOUR GIRLFRIEND TASTE LIKE SHIT?

Does your girlfriend taste like shit?
Flip her over ...

Does your girlfriend taste like shit?
Flip her over,
Does your girlfriend taste like shit?
Flip her over.

Its her ass-hole, not her clit
Flip her over

Subject: RE: Songs of bad taste
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 11 Apr 19 - 07:28 PM

yes I suppose when you're a 13 or 14 year old boy - such songs seem to point to the direction of the life force.
I suppose its better than them wanting to be suicide bombers or serial killers.

You'd have to drink a serious amount though to get much pleasure from that stuff.   probably a terminal amount for anyone of advanced years.