History Main / PhraseSaladLyrics

* The Polish rockman Kazik Staszewski's song "Mars napada" (Mars Attacks) is ostensibly about an AlienInvasion... but half of the lyrics are random musings or out-of-context inside jokes that have nothing to do with the alien invasion story.

* The portions of Music/{{Beck}}'s catalogue that don't fall into outright WordSaladLyrics tend to rest here. In general his approach to songwriting is one that favors describing thematically related snippets of imagery rather than telling a traditional narrative.

* Many songs from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series that have lyrics qualify. Some more notable examples are listed below.

-->The new [[SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying porcupine]] on the block with the buff chest\\

-->Everyday's a new beginning, yeah! (We don't know who we're gonna meet today!) \\

-->No such thing as fate for those who speed\\

This is extremely common in HipHop. Due to the genre's origins as party entertainment, many rappers and listeners pay more attention to wordplay, musicianship, presence and the creativity of individual lyrics than to the overall meaning of the song, which may carry only a vestigial theme like [[BoastfulRap braggadocio]] or [[TakeThatCritics insulting haters]]. Storytelling skills are admired in the genre too, however.

But found a way to justify\\

We've a lot of starving faithful\\

* "Moonlight Shadow" by Music/MikeOldfield (with vocals by Creator/MaggieReilly) otherwise tells a fairly clear story of a woman whose lover is shot, but it uses a trick of having every second line in every stanza be the same, and only some of those lines fit between the ones telling the story.

* "Do You Like Me" by {{Music/Fugazi}} is said to be the result of Guy Picciotto fusing two unfinished songs together, one being a song about a crush and the other being a ProtestSong about war - hence why the song starts with him describing someone who "should pay rent in my mind", but ends with a chant of "Lockheed, Lockheed Martin Marietta", as in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin the arms corporation]].

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Abbreviations make everything shorter\\

* There is an English version and French version of ''O Canada'', and often the singer will switch between the two if singing at a public event. Problem: the two versions mean very different things, so it's this trope if you speak both languages--and WordPureeLyrics if you don't.

* Music/JohnLennon wrote ''I Am The Walrus'' to deliberately make no sense to baffle music experts and critics trying to find the meanings of Music/TheBeatles' songs.

-->No lo sé pero creo que sí / ''I dunno but I think so)''\\

Sometimes songwriters write lyrics that are completely incomprehensible, stringing together a bunch of words that have just the right rhythm for the song, but in context make no sense whatsoever. This is known as WordSaladLyrics. However, sometimes the same effect is done in a slightly less extreme way. Introducing the Phrase Salad Lyrics, where, unlike the more extreme Word Salad Lyrics, each line or sentence in a song actually completes a thought-- but string several sentences together, and no meaning is clear. It may be symbolic, or it may not be. Sometimes each sentence sounds fitting to the mood of the song; but together the meaning of the sentences is still difficult, if not possible, to comprehend.

* "Moonlight Shadow" by Creator/MikeOldfield (with vocals by Creator/MaggieReilly) otherwise tells a fairly clear story of a woman whose lover is shot, but it uses a trick of having every second line in every stanza be the same, and only some of those lines fit between the ones telling the story.

* "Moonlight Shadow" by Creator/MikeOldfield (with vocals by Creator/MaggieReilly) otherwise tells a fairly clear story of a woman whose lover is shot, but it uses a trick of having every second line in every stanza be the same, and only some of those lines fit together with the ones telling the story.

* The majority of "Moonlight Shadow" by Creator/MikeOldfield (with vocals by Creator/MaggieReilly) otherwise tells a fairly clear story of a woman whose lover is shot, but it uses a trick of having every second line in every stanza be the same, and only some of those lines fit in with the ones actually telling the story. Towards the end, this structure breaks down and we get, among other things, the line "Caught in the middle of a hundred and five," which doesn't seem to make sense in any context.

* "Moonlight Shadow" by Creator/MikeOldfield (with vocals by Creator/MaggieReilly) otherwise tells a fairly clear story of a woman whose lover is shot, but it uses a trick of having every second line in every stanza be the same, and those lines never quite fit in with the others.

-->See my friends
-->Run in circles
-->Watching cars pass on the street

-->Missing daylight
-->Oh the night light
-->Casting shadows of defeat

-->You got me looking out the shades
-->Waiting up for you
-->How much longer should I wait?

-->So...
-->Until you leave
-->My eyes will turn red for a minute
-->And I can't breathe when she goes

-->She kills me nightly
-->On my way home
-->I see the moon begin to fall
-->The world it turns now
-->Leaves me breathless
-->Sing the saddest song of all

-->Life goes on 'cause it never ends
-->Eyes of stone observe the trends
-->They never say forever gaze if only
-->Guilty roads to an endless love
-->There's no control
-->Are you with me now?
-->Your every wish will be done

-->Mighty Mamoondog drifts across the grass
-->Healing lullabies for Easter time on Mars
-->Paint your hats and shoes with flowers and with stars
-->Singing in metropolitan operas.

-->The new [[SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying porcupine]] on the block with the buff chest
-->Out the wilderness with the ruggedness
-->Knock knock, it's Knuckles, the bloat thrower
-->Independent flow-er, magical emerald holder
-->Give you the coldest shoulder
-->My spike goes through boulders
-->That's why I stay a loner

-->Everyday's a new beginning, yeah! (We don't know who we're gonna meet today!)
-->The more I want, the less that I can get (Keep working for a new tomorrow!)
-->But I guess that I'm so happy now, gonna set my heart free!

-->No such thing as fate for those who speed
-->A path out of time instead of just livin' it
-->So many things erased before they begin
-->Hopes un-dream instead of what could have been

-->You can go down and visit the bus stop
-->If you can find the right change or box top
-->And you know you'll have a good time
-->Won't it be fine?

-->I will be glad to give you these fine clothes
-->If you can show me how fast your fortune grows
-->You'll be smart and wear a smile
-->You'll be in style

-->I'll look around and find you a nice bowl
-->If you won't miss a small piece of your soul
-->In a crowd you'll be at ease
-->You'll never sneeze