20 of rock 'n' roll's most politically incorrect songs

No genre of popular music is safe from politically-incorrect inclusions, with ill-conceived lyrics showing up in every kind of beloved musical category, from hip-hop and Top 40 pop to country and soul.

Yet, there's something about rock 'n' roll that lends itself to trouble. The genre has cultivated a racy reputation from day one, with its stars over the years indulging in its associated bad behavior,  -- making it perhaps inevitable that inappropriate content would show up in their songwriting.

And while plenty of eyebrow-raising rock songs exist that still maintain their decency, many rock 'n' roll classics that were beloved would almost certainly stoke controversy today for content that runs the gamut of tastelessness.

From the one-hit-wonders to the biggest names in rock history -- the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and especially the Rolling Stones -- we explore 20 rock hits with lyrics that, in retrospect, almost certainly should've been edited out. 

"I Saw Her Standing There," The Beatles (1963)

The John Lennon-penned opening stanza of “Well, she was just 17 / You know what I mean” are among the more ill-advised lyrics in the band’s songbook.

"Run for Your Life," The Beatles (1965)

Another questionable Lennon track, it’s hard to overlook the song’s most egregious lyric, "I'd rather see you dead, little girl / Than to be with another man.”

"Sweet Little Sixteen," Chuck Berry (1958)

Rock stars of a certain generation seemed to love singing about 16-year-old girls, and Chuck Berry was no exception here, with the song including the very questionable lyrics, “Sweet little sixteen, she's got the grown up blues / Tight dresses and lipstick, she's sporting high heel shoes.”

More:20 politically incorrect songs that'd be wildly controversial today

"You're Sixteen," Johnny Burnette (1960)

Burnette’s ode to an underage girl was less skeevy than Berry’s -- which doesn’t change the fact that it’s still an ode to an underage girl, with the chorus, “You're sixteen, you're beautiful and you're mine.”

"He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)," The Crystals (1962)

 The Phil Spector-produced classic is famous for its loving depiction of domestic violence.

"Money for Nothing,” Dire Straits (1985)

This Dire Straits classic could’ve (and should’ve) existed without all the gay slurs ‎Mark Knopfler casually drops in the lyrics.

"Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got),” The Four Tops (1972)

This Motown favorite is a straightforward love song until its male narrator starts getting possessive, with the demand, “It's my word, my word she'll obey, now.”

"Black Licorice," Grand Funk Railroad (1974)

This Todd Rundgren-produced ode to a woman dubbed “black licorice” is several woeful minutes of fetish-ization, featuring the line, “She wraps me up in her slender legs / Her hot black skin to mine." 

"Illegal Alien," Genesis (1983)

Its message and story are seemingly well-intentioned, detailing a Mexican immigrant's struggle to cross the border in search of a better life. But the racist video puts the song in a whole different light, with stereotypical imagery of mariachi horns, ponchos, sombreros and oversize mustaches.

"One in a Million,” Guns 'N Roses (1988)

Axl Rose attempts to win our sympathy with his story of a “small-town white boy” feeling lost when he moves to Los Angeles. But using derogatory language for gay and black men certainly doesn’t help his case, nor do his wildly xenophobic lyrics about immigrants. (“They talk so many (expletive) ways / it’s all Greek to me.”)

"Hey Joe", The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1966)

“Hey Joe” is simultaneously one of Hendrix’ iconic tracks that nevertheless sees him threatening violence and death against an allegedly-cheating woman, with the lyrics, “I'm going down to shoot my old lady / You know, I caught her messing around with another man.”

“If You Wanna Be Happy," Jimmy Soul (1963)

Jimmy Soul’s biggest hit is almost hilarious in its bad taste, with its indelible chorus, “If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life / Never make a pretty woman your wife / So from my personal point of view / Get an ugly girl to marry you.”

"Island Girl," Elton John (1975)

The borderline fetish-ization in John’s chart-topping ode to a New York City prostitute who’s “black as coal but she burn like a fire” is cringe-worthy.

"Goin’ Blind," Kiss (1974)

Another rock song dedicated to a sixteen-year-old, “Goin’ Blind” has a particularly creepy backstory, its lyrics co-written by former Kiss member Stephen Coronel, who was convicted in 2014 of possession of child pornography and is currently serving a six-year prison term.

"Christine Sixteen," Kiss (1977)

Released three years after “Goin’ Blind,” “Christine Sixteen” takes the band’s depravity a step further, about a sixteen-year-old who’s “young and clean,” featuring a groaner of a spoken-word interlude: “I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of school that day, that day I knew I've got to have you.”

"In the Summertime,” Mungo Jerry (1970)

This one-hit wonder is mostly a swingy summer favorite, save for the unabashedly problematic line “If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal / If her daddy's poor just do what you feel.”

"Young Girl," Gary Puckett & the Union Gap (1968)

This ‘60s hit endures as an oldies classic, despite the fact that it’s about an adult man who finds out his paramour is underage, with the chorus, “Better run girl / You’re much too young girl.”

"Brown Sugar," The Rolling Stones (1971)

Even Mick Jagger knows these lyrics aged incredibly poorly; in recent years, he’s changed the words when he performs the song live. Beyond the song’s opening stanzas, the racism, misogyny and outright references to raping slaves make this a low point in the Stones’ discography.

"Stray Cat Blues," The Rolling Stones (1968)

About a fifteen-year-old girl that Mick Jagger compares to the titular cat for how she “screams” and “spits,” the lyrics write statutory rape off as “not a capital crime,” as Jagger leers, “I can see that you’re 15 years old, no, I don’t want your ID.”

"Under My Thumb," The Rolling Stones (1966)

Maybe the most misguided track in the Stones’ discography, the song about a woman who’s been molded to “talk when she's spoken to” is a blemish on their legacy.