"There's a crazy little shack, beyond the tracks!..."
For my first post highlighting 'bad lyrics', I chose the 1963 monster hit 'Sugar Shack' by rock'n'rollin' pop and instrumental stars Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs.
Firstly I'd like to admit that I LOVE this song. The song itself is fantastic! Dumped straight into the novelty genre, the song fit right in when it was released in mid-1963 America. Songs like 'Who Put The Bomp', 'Purple People Eater', Witch Doctor', 'Rockin' Pnumonea and The Boogie Woogie Flu' and 'My Boyfriend Got A Beatle Haircut' were all hits previous to Sugar Shack. Novelty was in, the kids were having fun, the adults were having a laugh, and prior to JFK's assassination things were pretty dandy!
Obviously being classed a novelty it should void the accusation of having bad lyrics. Novelty songs NEED bad lyrics. A Huge hit in 1966 called 'I Love Onions' and the following year called 'May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose' confirms this.
But for now we'll forget about WHY the lyrics are bad and instead concentrate on that they are, just... bad.
For starters the song is about his 'crush' on a girl who works at the 'Sugar Shack', made of wood, at the end of the 'track'.
It's straight up rhyming at the end of each line, and every line annoys you more and more when analysing it with lyrics in mind.
Written by Keith McCormack and Faye Voss in 1961, it's infectous tune and repititious beat no doubt contributed to the reason it shot straigh to number one in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, not to mention gaining gold record status all over Europe. It has been covered by more than 50 acts, recorded in several languages and to this day remains the biggest selling single of all time in Iran!
Great song, stupid lyrics - make your own mind up!
The Lyrics
There's a crazy little shack beyond the tracks
And ev'rybody calls it the sugar shack
Well, it's just a coffeehouse and it's made out of wood
Expresso coffee tastes mighty good
That's not the reason why I've got to get back
To that sugar shack, whoa baby
To that sugar shack.
There's this cute little girlie, she's a'workin' there
A black leotard and her feet are bare
I'm gonna drink a lotta coffee, spend a little cash
Make that girl love me when I put on some trash
You can understand why I've got to get back
To that sugar shack, whoa baby
To that sugar shack, yeah honey
To that sugar shack, whoa yes
To that sugar shack.
Now that sugar shack queen is a'married to me, yeah yeah
We just sit around and dream of those old memories
Ah, but one of these days I'm gonna lay down tracks
In the direction of that sugar shack
Just me and her yes we're gonna go back
To that sugar shack,
Whoa uh oh
To that sugar shack, yeah honey
To our sugar shack
[Fade]
Yeh, yeh, yeh, our sugar shack
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