It’s an archaic, comically silly swearword, an exclamation of pain or exasperation that was only used for a brief period in the 19th century, but where does this kind of thing relate song lyrics?
“Great woundikins!” is what someone might have shouted when stubbing a toe during Victorian times, but it is also a source of amusement as in its rather precious form. Song lyrics featuring this word are hard to find, but swearing alternatives are far more common. While swearwords in lyrics have become increasingly common in the last for decades, most commonly in hip hop, followed by heavy metal, and gradually decreasing via R&B, indie, electronica, pop, becoming least common in folk and especially country music (perhaps due a form of American puritanism) hundreds of mild swearing alternatives are lurking in many song lyrics, from heck to darn, shucks to snap, phooey to poo, and many more, all very apologetic versions of words relating various to sex, bodily functions and parts, or religion.
Here then are a few examples. In terms of painful exclamation, here’s Ella Fitzgerald doing the 1940 song Got A Pebble In My Shoe by swing band leaders Chick Webb: Ouch indeed!
Got a pebble in my shoe, ouch
Got a pebble in my shoe, ouch
Got a pebble in my shoe, ouch
I gotta keep dancing all the time
How'd it ever get in my little toesy?
Never thought a pebble could be as nosy
Gotta shake it out of my little hosey
Gotta keep dancing all the time
Moving forward to the late 70s/early 80s, the great Belfast punk band Stiff Little Fingers parody radio censorship in You Can’t Say Crap On The Radio, with clever wordlplay employing soft swearing, with reference to London’s Capital Radio at the end:
Oh flip oh gosh oh golly gee
We really shocked the local rock disc jock
Oh crumbs oh boy oh sugar me
The poor bloke nearly went right off his block
We only told him what we did and didn't like
And then we used that word and he jumped on the mic
You can't say that on the radio
You can't say that on the radio
Yes, we all do it but you can't refer to it
You can't say that on the radio, radio, radio
Oh flip oh gosh oh golly gee
But now we know how we touched on his sore spot
Oh crumbs oh boy oh sugar me
It's plain to see what got him bothered and hot
We thought that it was just something that you said
But then we realised that it was all he played
'Cause he can play crap on the radio (on the radio)
You can play crap on the radio (play crap on the radio)
Be careful what you say
And you can play shite all day
'Cause you can play crap on the radio, radio, radio
Crapital radio
Crapital radio
Crap on the radio
Crap on the radio
Some bands however simply censor themselves, Family Force 5, the Christian crunk rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, use a soft swearing on the song Drama Queen from Business Up Front/Party in the Back (2006). Oh snap!
You go and talk behind my back
Don't you know that's whack
It's a personal attack
Oh snap!
Some friend you are to me
Ur Miss Personality
Are you blind to see?
Ur such a Drama Queen
“Fiddlesticks!” is one of many cleaner alternatives to the F-word. Kate Bush clever plays with this in her track Violin (from Never For Ever 1980), which plays with the literal definition but also adds no shortage of innuendo. Here she is seen performing on TV a little before the album came out, around Christmas 1979.
Get the bow going!
Let it scream to me:
Violin! Violin! Violin!
Paganini up on the chimney,
Lord of the dance,
With Nero and old Nicky.
Whack that devil
Into my fiddlesticks
Give me the Banshees for B.V.s,
Give me the Banshees for B.V.s.
Jigging along with the fiddle, oh, Johnny.
Jigging along with the fiddle-dee-dee.
Jigging along with the fiddle, oh, Johnny.
Jigging along with the fiddle-dee-diddle-dee-dee!
So then, any silly swearing alternatives come to mind in anything you’ve seen or heard? Feel free to share any examples in songs, instrumentals, on albums, film, art or other contexts in comments below.
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