17 Problematic Songs That Never Should've Been Recorded In The First Place

“I hate ‘Blurred Lines’ so much. This gross song about nonconsensual sex is still being played, and it makes my blood boil.”

—bluetinda

“How about ‘Run for Your Life’ by the Fab Four themselves? They’d never write anything problematic, surely??? ‘You better run for your life if you can, little girl / Hide your head in the sand, little girl / Catch you with another man — that’s the end, little girl.’ Yeah, even the Beatles could write some seriously dodgy shit, like a song about a guy threatening to kill a girl if he sees her loving a different man.”

—clothildedauphin

“Ted Nugent isn’t even trying to hide anything — it’s about his attraction to a 13-year-old, her mom giving him permission to have sex, and it ends with him getting arrested and telling the officer to cuff the kid instead so they can ‘share her.’ He’s a well-known piece of shit, but this song is completely appalling and disgusting.”

—ohok20

“It’s definitely not a fun song written for Mrs. Doubtfire (the song was released in 1987, and Mrs. Doubtfire came out in 1993). The song plays into the idea that trans women are just ‘in disguise’ to ‘trick or trap people.'”

—jenyshendo

“Usher’s ‘If I Want To’ from 2001 — he’s into a woman who is not into him, but he won’t accept her rejection. She literally says: ‘No, I don’t want you’ and his reaction is: ‘Yes, I can, and I will if I want to.’ He basically calls her a bitch for rejecting him, then continues to tell her how he’ll take her if he wants to: ‘You cop an attitude like you’re too good for me / And you know good and damn well that if I wanted, I could take you from your man (please believe it).'”

—mvanpurren

“It’s supposed to be told from ‘Slim Shady’s’ perspective, but still…like, you don’t write a song about beating your wife…”

—drink_water_1

“It’s literally him screaming about assaulting and killing his wife.”

—casuallyobsessive223

“I never paid much attention to ‘My Sharona’ until recently, and tbh…it’s kinda creepy.”

—asdzx

“How the fuck do people manage to listen to a song with a line: ‘I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind’ and NOT go: ‘Yup, this song is about pedophilia.'”

—ryanw4b8930d84

“I used to love this song when I was a kid because I thought it was about playing with Barbie dolls, and it had a fun, upbeat tune. But when I got older and listened to the lyrics closely, I couldn’t believe that I was allowed to listen to it as a kid. It’s really about a man using a woman as a sex object, and controlling her like she’s a doll — which is very messed up.”

—ilovemycatskittle

“‘Don’t Stand So Close to Me’ by the Police is literally about a male teacher starting a relationship with his much younger female student.”

—imbatmom2

“‘Seventeen’ by Winger, released in 1988. I remember this song and video was on heavy rotation on MTV and rock radio. Hearing it as a 10-year-old, I was completely clueless about it all — looking up the full lyrics now makes my stomach turn.”

—katvondive

“‘Daughters’ by John Mayer is disturbing, tbh. Him singing: ‘Fathers be good to your daughters’ and ‘girls become lovers and turn into mothers’ just gives off really creepy vibes. He sees women as objects, and how they’re ‘only good for loving men’ and ‘making babies.’ The song plays at my work all the time, and it disgusts me.”

—lexluthors

“The title says it all — this song is disgusting. I first heard it through Spotify on Discover Weekly and it’s got a pretty cool disco beat, but then I listened to the lyrics. I was so shocked, I played a snatch of it to my partner to be sure I was hearing what I thought I had. I’m horrified this is still on Spotify — I tried to find a way to contact them because this is not okay.”

—lizm75

“I heard ‘Blame It (On the Alcohol)’ on the radio the other day, and it was just so cringey. Men encouraging women to drink until they regret what they do — it made me think about all the songs I listened to back in high school that were pretty problematic.”

—bobertleebabybee

“‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ for sure — it normalizes ignoring consent.”

—allisonistired

“It was released as one of her first singles when she was breaking into the music business in the late 2000s. If you listen closely, the song is pretty anti-gay and full of problematic lyrics — it’s incredibly cringeworthy to listen to.”

—kaylayandoli

“‘Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number’ is wrong on so many levels because it was written by R. Kelly for Aaliyah when she was only 14 or 15 years old — it’s like a pedophile’s anthem. The fact that R. Kelly married her when she was underage makes this song (and entire album) more than problematic.”

—annelister

“‘Brown Sugar’ by the Rolling Stones has some really questionable lyrics.”

—clothildedauphin