15 Problematic Songs I Honestly Can't Believe Were Ever "Okayed"

    Please don't tell me these songs are just "fun, creative stories."

    Kayla Yandoli
    by Kayla Yandoli

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which popular songs are actually very problematic. Here's what they had to say.

    Warning: Some submissions include topics of sexual harassment, domestic abuse, gun violence, and anti-Asian hate. Please proceed with caution.

    1. "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People

    Foster the People singing: "All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run, better run, faster than my bullet"
    Columbia / Startime

    "I loved dancing to it, but then I actually listened to the lyrics and realized it's a song about a school shooting told from the school shooter's point of view."

    —bg_terrebonne

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Columbia / Startime / Via youtube.com

    2. "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners

    Dexys Midnight Runners singing: "You in that dress, my thoughts I confess, verge on dirty. Oh, come on, Eileen!"
    Mercury

    "I loved the song when I was young, but then I grew up and listened to the lyrics. It's basically about a guy trying to talk a young woman into sleeping with him by saying creepy things thinly veiled by nice words. Maybe even an older dude trying to trick a newly legal woman."

    —hallamichellem

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Mercury / Via youtube.com

    3. "Timber" by Pitbull and Kesha

    Pitbull rapping: "I'm slicker than an oil spill. She say she won't, but I bet she will"
    Polo Grounds / RCA / Mr. 305

    "When I finally caught the Pitbull lyric: 'She say she won’t, but I bet she will' I couldn’t listen to the song ever again. It just felt so horrible to make light of sexual assault like that."

    —rebeccaw4e0b815bb

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Polo Grounds / RCA / Mr. 305 / Via youtube.com

    4. "Don't Trust Me" by 3OH!3

    3OH!3 singing: "Shush girl, shut your lips -- do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips"
    Photo Finish

    "He calls a girl a 'ho' because she doesn’t want to be with him. As we know in the song, she already has a boyfriend, so she obviously doesn’t want to be with you, ya jerk! Also, the 'Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips' lyric?!?! No! Fuck that! Helen Keller used sign language — I’m sure if this woman wanted to talk like Helen Keller, she’d give you a very specific finger."

    —dracomalfoyandhamilton

    "This is one of the worst songs in recent years."

    —pauloyanagi

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Photo Finish / Via youtube.com

    5. "Love Me" by Lil Wayne, Drake, and Future

    Lil Wayne rapping: "She said: "I never wanna make you mad, I just wanna make you proud.' I said: 'Baby just make me come, then don't make a sound'"
    Young Money / Cash Money / Republic

    "This song has a ton of disgusting, misogynistic lyrics, and the music video literally has women in cages!!!! They disrespect women on a truly horrible level in this song."

    —jeremyu799

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Young Money / Cash Money / Republic / Via youtube.com

    6. "More Than Words" by Extreme

    Extreme singing: ""Now that I've tried to talk to you, and make you understand all you have to do, is close your eyes and just reach out your hands and touch me"
    AM

    "'More Than Words' by Extreme is not a love song. It's about a guy trying to manipulate a woman into having sex with him to show how much she loves him. They basically sing: 'Shut your yapper and put out.'"

    —keelaurow

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    A&M / Via youtube.com

    7. "Christine Sixteen" by Kiss

    Kiss singing: "Christine sixteen, I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of the school that day, I knew I've got to have you"
    CBS

    "'Christine Sixteen' by Kiss is just another pedophile anthem with really disgusting lyrics. It's hard to listen to."

    —christinesi

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Casablanca / Via youtube.com

    8. "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band

    J. Geils Band singing: "To see her in that negligee is really just too much. My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold — my angel is the centerfold"
    EMI America

    "I have so much hatred for 'Centerfold.' Umm...you saw a girl and admired her from afar when you were in school together, so now you’re going to slap her with your whore complex and deny she has the right to show her body however she wants to? No, sir. No slut-shaming up in here."

    —melc40e454224

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    EMI America / Via youtube.com

    9. "One Way or Another" by Blondie

    Debbie Harry singing: "I will drive past your house, and if the lights are all down — I'll see who's around"
    Sony BMG Music Entertainment

    "A fun song to dance to...until you realize that it's actually about a stalker."

    —immabanana

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Chrysalis / Via youtube.com

    10. "The Ballad of Chasey Lain" by the Bloodhound Gang

    Bloodhound Gang singing: "Dear Chasey Lain, I wrote to complain you never wrote me back. How could I ever eat your ass when you treat your biggest fan like that?"
    Geffen

    "I nearly crashed my car the first time the radio played 'The Ballad of Chasey Lain' as I was driving my 8-year-old son to school. A song about a gross fan stalking a female artist and writing demeaning letters to her? No, thank you."

    —polly265

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Geffen / Via youtube.com

    11. "Into the Night" by Benny Mardones

    Benny Mardones singing: ""She's just 16 years old, leave her alone, they say, separated by fools who don't know what love is yet. But I want you to know, if I could fly, I'd pick you up"
    Polydor

    "The whole concept of the song is that people are telling him to stop preying on a young, teenage girl and he’s all, 'but they don’t understand our love!!!!' 🙄."

    —karint41079a87f

    "Yeah, this one should be #1. The song was so popular that he rerecorded it almost a decade later and it hit the Billboard charts AGAIN. Awful."

    —kngreyh

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Polydor / Via youtube.com

    12. "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors

    The Vapors singing: "I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so"
    BBC1

    "'Turning Japanese' by The Vapors reeks of racism, with the song allegedly being about the 'squinting face' one makes while climaxing — the fact that they sing these lyrics with 'oriental riffs' playing in the background is awful. The line: 'No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women' sounds to me like the singer is trying to imitate a Japanese accent, but I could be wrong."

    —buddleia

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    United Artists Records / Via youtube.com

    13. "Under My Thumb" by the Rolling Stones

    Mick Jagger singing: "It's down to me, yes it is -- the way she does just what she's told. Down to me, the change has come, she's under my thumb"
    Eagle Records

    "'Under My Thumb' by the Rolling Stones is about a guy bragging to everyone how he controls his girlfriend by emotionally abusing her: 'Under my thumb/Her eyes are just kept to herself/While I, I can still look at someone else.'"

    —timward

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    Decca / Via youtube.com

    14. "Do Me!" by Bell Biv DeVoe

    Bell Biv DeVoe singing: "Backstage, underage, adolescent. I like to do the wild thing -- action took place, kinda wet, don't forget"
    MCA

    "'Do Me!' by Bell Biv DeVoe is disgusting. The lyrics: 'Backstage, underage, adolescent...action took place' just grosses me out 🤮."

    —ashleymorley

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    MCA / Via youtube.com

    15. And "Crash into Me" by Dave Matthews Band

    Dave Matthews Band singing: "I watch you there through the window, and I stare at you. You wear nothing, but you wear it so well"
    RCA

    "It sounds like a catchy love song, but in Dave's VH1 Storytellers episode, he explained that it's the story of a creepy guy who's stalking a woman who's unaware he's there. Damn."

    —s42bb9c35d

    Listen to the song here:

    View this video on YouTube
    RCA / Via youtube.com

    Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.