Line #133 Main/SeductionLyric


1	A Seduction Lyric is, simply, a song or poem in which the singer or first-person figure is attempting to get a potential sexual partner into bed. The means of persuasion used can vary.
2
3	Probably the most common is to pitch this as a straightforward love song or love poem, with a strong and more or less explicit implication that the next thing for the lovers to do is to express their affection physically. (Cynics might say that almost all love songs ultimately fit this pattern, as sex is a stage towards which most romantic relationships eventually move -- but the seduction lyric makes the objective explicit and immediate.) Other arguments used include pragmatic hedonism ("You want it, I want it, what are we waiting for?"), emotional blackmail ("I need you so badly that I may ''die'' if you don't put out"), and even bleak philosophy ("Life is short, we'll be a long time dead, let's seize what pleasures we can while we still can"). The seducer may tell the target that, whatever they may have heard elsewhere, sex is not a bad thing, so acting on their evident desires is fine. Or the seducer can just try to exert raw animal sex appeal and hope that the other person loses control.
4
5	Needless to say, any given lyric can invoke more than one argument for combined effect, in varying proportions. If the lyric has to be written to get past local MoralGuardians, there may be some strenuous effort involved in GettingCrapPastTheRadar -- the seducer may talk about holding the partner's hand, or kissing them, or dancing with them, leaving the audience to guess that more will follow.
6
7	If the dramatic setting or prevailing culture tends towards conventional, conservative sexual morality, then a would-be seducer is by definition a bad person -- a LoveableRogue at best, and probably an outright villain. (If the seducer is trying to get their target away from an existing partner, this too will automatically make them the villain for many people -- though the lyric may offer some kind of justification, probably saying that the current partner is bad for the target.) Hence, this trope has a considerable potential overlap with the VillainLoveSong, which often has seduction as a goal. Also, given such assumptions, if the seducer is female, this can double as a BadGirlSong ("I'm good at being bad and you'll enjoy it"). However, in a context with more relaxed moral norms, the Seduction Lyric may just be a chance for a charming or attractive character to cut loose and show the audience how cool or hot they are. More thoughtful treatments of the trope may double as implied discussions of moral philosophy; is the pursuit of pleasure a good or a bad thing?
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9	Descriptions of a seduction in the third person don't generally qualify here, though if the description includes a lot of quoted seductive speech, the distinction can get fuzzy.
10
11	Cynical versions may double as an AntiLoveSong, implying either that romantic love is a delusion which gets in the way of simple pleasure, or that conventional SillyLoveSongs are just hypocritical seduction songs in thin disguise. IntercourseWithYou is of course what follows if the seduction succeeds, so a song may transition between tropes, from Seduction to Intercourse, as it goes along.
12
13	----
14	!!Examples:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Comedy]]
19	* "The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)", by Music/FlightOfTheConchords, is a hilariously inept seduction song, designed as a {{parody}} of Music/{{Prince}}. As the title suggests, the singer really hasn't got the hang of flattering a girl.
20	-->''Why don't we leave?''\
21	''Let's go to my house and we can feel each other up on the couch...''
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
25	* "Castle in Spain", in ''Film/BabesInToyland'', is a VillainLoveSong in which the villain seeks to seduce a woman with the offer of material goods -- ''"You'll eat nothing but cake / You'll drink naught but champagne / You'll be in on the take / In our castle in Spain"''. Admittedly the villain is supposedly trying to seduce his target into ''marriage'' rather than sex as such, but this is a 1961 Disney movie, and it's easy to see this as a metaphor, especially given the song's last lines: ''"You have caught me today / In a generous vein. / Come now, what do you say? / To our castle in / ahh... ahh... ahh... ahh... Spain."''
26	* In ''Film/CoolWorld'', Holli Would takes the stage at a nightclub alongside Frank Sinatra Junior, and starts singing "Let's Make Love" to him. Sinatra was not expecting this, and is both unnerved and delighted by this StatuesqueStunner and her blatant seduction. The only reason Holli doesn't get it on with Sinatra then and there is that Holli's alternate form, as a cartoon character, starts manifesting itself. Or, as Holli puts it: "I got all doodly."
27	* In ''Film/{{Grease}},'' after Sandy adopts BeAWhoreToGetYourMan tactics to catch Danny, "You're The One That I Want" marks the point where she seals the deal.
28	* ''Film/NeptunesDaughter'' was the film that first showcased "Baby It's Cold Outside" (see under '''Music''' below), which in fact won the MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestOriginalSong for its appearance here. The song is both played straight between Creator/RicardoMontalban and Esther Williams, and gender-flipped when Betty Garrett is flirting with Red Skelton, coaxing ''him'' to stay.
29	* There's a lot of indirect or direct seduction all over the place in ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', but special mention has to go to "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me", in which the newly deflowered Janet simply declares her enthusiasm for sex to Rocky -- who, in truth, probably wouldn't understand anything more complicated.
30	* ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'' has the song Willow (Creator/BrittEkland) sings to the virginal Sgt. Howie in an attempt to seduce him. An unusual example in that the song's lyrics aren't as explicit as most others.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Literature]]
34	* ''Literature/AdrianMole'', a self-proclaimed poet, tries this twice in ''Wilderness Years'' to get his love interest Pandora into bed with him. Her reply to the first is that she will in future pass any more such filth on to the police; and the second time, she says that if it was not ''meant'' to be funny, he should seek psychiatric advice.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Music]]
38	* "All For You", by Music/ImeldaMay, is sung from the point of view of a woman who is cheerfully trying to seduce a guy. Perhaps he's been a little slow to take the hint because she's now spelling it out.
39	-->''When I toss my hair, throw my head in the air''\
40	''It's all for you\
41	Every hook, every clip every twitch of the zip\
42	It's all for you\
43	I'm spelling it out it's not written in code\
44	I want you so much I think I'm gonna explode...''
45	* "Baby It's Cold Outside" (which first appeared in the movie ''Film/NeptunesDaughter'' -- see under '''Films -- Live-Action''' above) has been covered by multiple artists; it's a male/female duet in which the man is clearly attempting to seduce the woman (with some controversial implications of possible DateRape). Occasionally PlayedForLaughs by gender-flipping, as in the ''Radio/HelloCheeky'' ChristmasSpecial. Some recent treatments have sought to make this more of a flirtatious mutual process.
46	* “Bad Boyfriend”, by Music/{{Garbage}}, is a song about how AllGirlsWantBadBoys, and doubles as a BadGirlSong, as the singer thinks she’s a good match for this bad boy.
47	-->''So ripe so sweet come suck it and see\
48	But watch out daddy I sting like a bee\
49	I know some tricks I swear will give you the bends\
50	Come on baby be my bad boyfriend''
51	* In "Body And Soul" by Music/ToriAmos, the singer is straightforwardly offering herself to someone who is evidently a good Catholic boy, and very possibly a ''priest,'' arguing that sex isn't as sinful as he's been taught.
52	* In "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Outside_(song) Come Outside]]", sung by Mike Sarne and Wendy Richard, the boy attempts to lure the reluctant girl outdoors because "there's a lovely moon out there". In the end she agrees.
53	* “Dead Ringer For Love” by Music/MeatLoaf depicts a mutual seduction in a bar. The woman clearly thinks that the man is a bit clueless, but what the hell...
54	* The Music/{{Halestorm}} song "Do Not Disturb" is about the singer trying to get a stranger ''and his girlfriend'' into having a one night stand with her.
55	* "Don't Cha", by the Music/PussycatDolls (actually a cover of a Tori Alamaze song) is distinctly in the BadGirlSong crossover zone, being a brazen attempt to seduce a guy away from his girlfriend -- though there are hints that the singer accepts that this is a bad idea, and may have to wait for "next lifetime".
56	-->''Don't cha wish your girlfriend was wrong like me?\
57	Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me?\
58	Don't cha, don't cha?''
59	* "Don't Marry Her", by Music/TheBeautifulSouth, is a completely open, NSFW offer of sex to someone who seems intent on taking a different, less appealing option.
60	-->''Think of you with pipe and slippers\
61	Think of her in Bed\
62	Laying there just watching telly\
63	Then think of me instead...''
64	* "Family Man" from 1982, written by Music/MikeOldfield and performed by Maggie Reilly, has a family man being approached by a seductress. While he recites the chorus as a refusal, it's clear that his resolve is crumbling as she continues to work her wiles on him. The song was later covered by Music/DarylHallAndJohnOates.
65	* "Hard to Handle" by Music/OtisRedding is an upfront seduction in which the singer mostly seems to be offering experience and technical competence.
66	* "Honey I'm Good" by Music/AndyGrammer is an ''[[InvertedTrope inversion]]'' of this trope, the lyrics being about the singer turning down another's advances because he is already involved with someone else.
67	-->''Naw, Naw, honey I'm good\
68	I could have another but I probably shouldn't;\
69	Because I've got somebody at home\
70	And if I stay I might not leave alone''
71	* In "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" from Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/AbbeyRoad'', for the first half, John serenades Yoko with
72	-->''I want you,\
73	I want you so bad,\
74	It's driving me mad...''
75	* "Lady Marmalade" (originally performed by Labelle, and famously covered by Music/ChristinaAguilera, Mya, Music/{{Pink}} and Music/LilKim for the ''Film/MoulinRouge'' soundtrack) is widely remembered for its brashly seductive chorus of ''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?'' (''"Do you want to sleep with me (tonight)?"''), though actually most of the song is a third-party description of a sexual encounter.
76	* "Lay, Lady, Lay" by Music/BobDylan is at the romantic end of the "Why wait?" class.
77	-->''Lay, lady, lay\
78	Lay across my big brass bed\
79	Whatever colors you have in your mind\
80	I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine...''
81	* "Let's Get It On", by Music/MarvinGaye, is hardly a subtle example of the trope in action...
82	-->''Let's get it on, ow baby\
83	Let's get it on, let's love baby\
84	Let's get it on, sugar\
85	Let's get it on, woo...''
86	* Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}} gave us "Let's Spend The Night Together", another less-than-subtle instance -- sung by Music/MickJagger, of course...
87	-->''Let's spend the night together\
88	Now I need you more than ever...''
89	* "Only the Good Die Young", by Music/BillyJoel, is a famous example. (''Come out Virginia, Don't make me wait''). Its cynicism about conventional morality (''You Catholic Girls start much too late, But sooner or later it comes down to fate'') made it somewhat controversial when it was first released.
90	* Another example from Music/TheBeatles; they wrote "Please Please Me" in the early '60s when an overly blatant seduction song wouldn't have been allowed on the radio -- but a boyfriend saying ''"Come on (Come on), come on (Come on), Please please me..."'' to his girlfriend is surely importuning ''some kind'' of sexual favours.
91	* "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Pelvis" by [[Music/{{Magazine}} Barry Adamson]], with Music/JarvisCocker on vocals, involves a peculiar approach to seduction.
92	-->''Oooohhh, set the controls for the heart of the pelvis\
93	Haven't you heard my name rhymes with Elvis\
94	And one thing I know is this\
95	That your mouth is telling me to give you\
96	A big kiss''
97	* "Shut Up and Sleep With Me", by Sin With Sebastian, is pretty overt and on the nose.
98	-->''Shut up and sleep with me\
99	Come on, why don't you sleep with me?\
100	Shut up and sleep with me\
101	Come on, aha and sleep with me''
102	* Despite the blunt-sounding title, "Take Me I'm Yours" by Music/{{Squeeze\|Band}} is actually a metaphorical sort of seduction; the singer has found not only his dream girl, but a whole fantasy world, and offers it and her complete surrender.
103	-->''Take me I'm yours\
104	Because dreams are made of this\
105	Forever there'll be\
106	A heaven in your kiss''
107	* "Wild Thing", by the Troggs (later covered by Music/JimiHendrix), makes the "I love you so let's have sex" approach ''hilariously'' blunt.
108	-->''Wild thing, I think I love you\
109	But I wanna know for sure\
110	So come on and hold me tight...''
111	* "Your Body" by Music/ChristinaAguilera is all about a woman seducing a man as an act of sending the message that SexIsGood. The song has been described as sex-positive feminism. Explicit and censored versions of the song exist.
112	-->''Hey boy, I don't need to know where you've been\
113	All I need to know is you in, no need for talkin' [...]\
114	All I wanna do is fuck your body\
115	Tonight's your lucky night, I know you want it''
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Poetry]]
119	* Creator/{{Catullus}} demonstrates this trope in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_5 the "Thousand Kisses" poem,]] making it OlderThanFeudalism.
120	* Creator/JohnDonne clearly enjoyed getting explicitly seductive in his poems. For example, "To His Mistress Going to Bed" is evidently set after seduction has been largely accomplished (''Licence my roving hands, and let them go, Before, behind, between, above, below...''), but "The Flea" is a sneaky seduction poem that suggests that the poet isn't asking for anything more dishonourable than a flea-bite.
121	* "To His Coy Mistress", by Creator/AndrewMarvell, is pretty much the trope codifier for life-is-short philosophical Seduction Lyrics, to the point of getting ''seriously'' bleak -- after all, saying that someone MustNotDieAVirgin is reminding them that they're going to die.
122	-->''Thy beauty shall no more be found;\
123	Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound\
124	My echoing song; then worms shall try\
125	That long-preserved virginity,\
126	And your quaint honour turn to dust,\
127	And into ashes all my lust;\
128	The grave's a fine and private place,\
129	But none, I think, do there embrace.''
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Theatre]]
133	* Unsurprisingly given that it's all about a legendary seducer, ''Theatre/DonGiovanni'' has a whole load of Seduction Lyrics. Aside from the notorious Don himself, the peasant girl Zerlina gets in on this when working to keep her soon-to-be husband happy and distracted.
134	* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' has a major one in "The Point of No Return." This ElevenOclockNumber (part of the ShowWithinAShow ''Don Juan Triumphant)'' is sung by Christine and the Phantom, each respectively portraying the peasant girl Aminta and the famous libertine Don Juan. Don Juan is trying to seduce Aminta, who has come to him in full anticipation of just such a tryst; consequently, the lyrics are sensual, impassioned and restive.
135	-->''What raging fire shall flood the soul?''\
136	''What rich desire unlocks its door?''\
137	''What sweet seduction lies before us? ''
138	* ''Theatre/BeMoreChill'' has two of these, "Upgrade" and the more disturbing "Do You Wanna Hang?"
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Web Videos]]
142	* The song "But Not You" by Naxx Guyfiery and Doge Mayer from the Music/SiIvaGunner "King For Another Day" Tournament is a {{Parody}} with intentionally awful, lecherous lyrics, sung from the point of view of an incompetent, sleazy CasanovaWannabe; ''So come on baby please / Let me give you a squeeze''. "The Ballads of Naxx and Doge", the video in which the song debuted, also opens with Naxx singing a different song in similar style.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Western Animation]]
146	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E20ColonelHomer Colonel Homer]]," Lurleen Lumpkin sings a new song to her manager Homer: "Bunk With Me Tonight." She has to sing the title several times before Homer finally catches on.
147	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SeductionLyric