22 songs that aren't about the same old things
Can I interest you in a jaunty show tune about a sexist psychiatrist?
It feels to me like a lot of song lyrics rehash the same few topics. Romance. Breakups. Partying. Angst.
It’s not that those things aren’t worth writing about. But all the other little facets of the human experience are also worth writing about. So why don’t more musicians write about those too?
Here, I’ve compiled a list of songs that are about those often-overlooked facets of life. Credit to Genius for the lyrics. This list is obviously biased towards artists, songs, and genres I already know and like. But still, I hope you find some songs here worth trying.
And don’t miss the end of the post, because I need your help to make this list even better.
The 30th
by Billie Eilish
What it’s about: The aftermath of a car accident.
A lyric that hits:
“And I know you don’t remember calling me
But I told you even then you looked so pretty
In a hospital bed, I remember you said
You were scared
And so was I”
Adams Morgan 1991
by Rebecca Sugar
What it’s about: Childhood memories.
A lyric that hits:
“Blackberries growing on a chain-link fence
Cool breezes blowing through an open door
Sidewalks are cracking in the midday sun
Adams Morgan, 1991”
Burn It Out
by Aimee Mann
What it’s about: Repressing one’s pain.
A lyric that hits:
“Shadows and memories that won’t stay put
Can you redact them with ash and soot?
Can you just burn it out?”
Caroline
by Arlo Parks
What it’s about: Watching a couple fight in public.
A lyric that hits:
“I was waiting for the bus one day
Watched a fight between an artsy couple escalate
Strawberry cheeks flushed with defeated rage
Then he spilled his coffee as he frantically explained”
Daysleeper
by R.E.M.
What it’s about: Someone who works the night shift.
A lyric that hits:
“I see today with a newsprint fray
My night is colored headache gray”
Down I-5
by case/lang/veirs
(Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs)
What it’s about: Driving down the highway.
A lyric that hits:
“Shoulder’s burning in the window
I should roll it up, I know
I pass the signs that promise hell
They don’t know me at all”
Empty Head
by Frankie Cosmos
What it’s about: The back-and-forth between letting your mind rest, and being full of things to say.
A lyric that hits:
“It’s OK not to sing a song
About everything
All the time”
The End
by Halsey
What it’s about: Falling in love while living through health problems.
A lyric that hits:
“If you knew it was the end of the world
Could you love me like a child?
Could you hold me in the dark?
If you knew it was the end of the world
Would you like to stay a while?
Would you leave when it gets hard?”
Georgia Stars
by case/lang/veirs
(Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs)
What it’s about: Georgia.
A lyric that hits:
“We took a trip, my Georgia and me
Up through the wild strawberries
Up past the rivers runnin’ loud
We pitched a tent above the clouds”
Give Me Fifteen
by Aimee Mann
What it’s about: A sexist psychiatrist.
A lyric that hits:
“Women who complain about the time they’re seen
Sing a different tune when they’re on Thorazine”
Just for Now
by Imogen Heap
What it’s about: The stress of the holidays.
A lyric that hits:
“How did you know? It’s what I always wanted
Can never have too many of these
Will you quit kicking me under the table?
I’m trying, will somebody make her shut up about it?
Can we settle down, please?”
the last great american dynasty
by Taylor Swift
What it’s about: A woman who married a rich man, was scorned by his peers, and did her own thing anyway.
A lyric that hits:
“‘There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen
She had a marvelous time ruining everything’”
Margareta
by Frankie Cosmos
What it’s about: A very eccentric lady.
A lyric that hits:
“Margareta rolling down the street
Her old jalopy with its bangs and creaks
With her jacket
Hanging
In the backseat
And lipstick on her teeth”
marjorie
by Taylor Swift
What it’s about: A grandmother. (To be specific, Swift’s grandmother, Marjorie Finlay.)
A lyric that hits:
“The autumn chill that wakes me up
You loved the amber skies so much
Long limbs and frozen swims
You’d always go past where our feet could touch”
Mazda5
by MyKey, featuring Marinelli
What it’s about: A car. (And maybe also a breakup. But mostly a car.)
A lyric that hits:
“I don’t really miss your hand in mine
I just miss my Mazda”
no body, no crime
by Taylor Swift, featuring HAIM
What it’s about: A murder mystery.
A lyric that hits:
“Good thing my daddy made me get a boating license when I was fifteen
And I’ve cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a scene”
Song for Judee
by case/lang/veirs
(Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs)
What it’s about: A singer-songwriter named Judee Sill.
A lyric that hits:
“Livin’ in a ‘55 Cadillac
Five people sleep in shifts
Robbin’ liquor stores and going back
With the cash and rollin’ in it”
Sweet Time
by Rebecca Sugar
What it’s about: Slowing down.
A lyric that hits:
“I don’t need to solve the maze
I’ll stretch like a shadow and fade like the haze
I’ll work all day but I won’t deliver
I’ll grow like a tree in the LA river”
This Swirling
by Frankie Cosmos
What it’s about: Crying.
A lyric that hits:
“I’m back on my crying
Every day I’m dying to
Let some water out my body
And into the world around me”
Try Not to Breathe
by R.E.M.
What it’s about: Being ready for the end of one’s life.
A lyric that hits:
“I will try not to breathe, this decision is mine
I have lived a full life, and these are the eyes
That I want you to remember”
Underdog
by Alicia Keys
What it’s about: Understanding each other, despite our different, sometimes tough circumstances.
A lyric that hits:
“She’s riding in a taxi back to the kitchen
Talking to the driver ‘bout his wife and his children
On the run from a country where they put you in prison
For being a woman and speaking your mind”
Wallflower
by Priscilla Ahn
What it’s about: Introverts finding each other.
A lyric that hits:
“We could be the best of friends
I’m sure of it
But I’m too shy to
Cross this crowded room
Besides”
Help me make this list even better!
If you know of any songs with surprising or original subject matter, let me know in the comments:
Or if you want to be anonymous, email me at maxanythingglows@gmail.com, or reach out to me in real life, and I can share the songs in the comments for you.
I figure we can make the comment section into a list of songs even I don’t know about. I’m excited to try listening to them, and I can’t wait to hear from you.
As always, don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already:
See you next time.