20 Songs That Make No Sense

When humor and music don't harmonize

(NEWSER) - Hate puns? Consider this stinker from Robbie Williams' latest record: "What's so great about the great depression/Is it a blast for you?/Because it's blas-phe-my." Ouch. Puns are uniformly terrible in pop and rock. NME cobbles together some of the worst pun song titles:

• Salt N Pepa: "A Salt With A Deadly Pepa."
• Butthole Surfers: "Hairway To Steven."

(NEWSER) - Was the young Bob Dylan a plagiarist? A piece that Christie’s auction house has been touting as Dylan’s first known poem turns out to be the lyrics to a country song by the late Hank Snow, Reuters reports. A 16-year-old Dylan submitted the pilfered verses, which tell the sad tale of an ill-fated dog, to his Jewish camp’s newsletter. More»

Even 'I Kissed a Girl' not as obvious as it sounds

(NEWSER) - In honor of Jay-Z’s Decoded, which breaks down the meanings behind his songs, the Independent offers up the true stories behind 10 hits:

• Katy Perry, “I Kissed a Girl”: The message behind this one seems fairly obvious, but Perry has insisted it’s actually about heterosexual friendships and was only sexed up to sell more records.
• Van Morrison, “Brown Eyed Girl”: Though many think it’s about heroin use, Van Morrison has said it is about an interracial relationship and was originally titled “Brown Skinned Girl.”

Singer calls rumors over 'California Gurls' bogus

(NEWSER) - Katy Perry is dismissing rumors that she is getting sued for using part of the Beach Boys' "California Girls" in her song "California Gurls". "No one is suing anyone," Perry tweeted , calling the reports "once again" an example of the media's tendency to "fabricate & exaggerate stories to get hits or sell papers." Although she isn't getting sued, Beach Boys published Rondor Music isn't too happy about "California Gurls," Billboard reports . More»

Looking to break into the biz? Use one of these pseudonyms.

(NEWSER) - With Diddy constantly changing his rap name, you might think all the good ones have already been used. But no: There are an awful lot of awesome pseudonyms still left, and Jesse Gissen lists his favorites on XXL :

• Sirius Black: “This bad ass dude from the Harry Potter series is known for practicing black magic, breaking out of prison and being able to turn into a werewolf. Seriously, it doesn’t get any better than this.”