Ah, music! Like Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts put it, it’s “a magic beyond all we do here.” Despite that romantic and idealized notion, not all songs are made equal. Far from it! And there’s one popular Twitter account that shows just how important context is when it comes to making song lyrics sound good, and how a lack of it can make the words sound incredibly weird.

The ‘Lyric Cards’ Twitter page collects lyrics from songs that sound completely made up. Surely, they can’t be real? We must have misheard them, right, dear Pandas? Alas! They’re very real and it makes you wonder what in the ever-loving frick the songwriters were thinking when they wrote them. How could anyone have thought that these sound good? Funny, oh definitely, yes. Good? No, just no. At least... without the right context.

You’ll find some of the worst lyric abominations below, presented for you on a silver platter to judge and poke fun at, all at your leisure, dear Readers. And, I’ll just put it out there: most of us could have written better lyrics. Don’t you think? Bored Panda also reached out to the founder of the project, so read on for what they told us about the inspiration behind it, how context is incredibly important, as well as what they plan to do in the future!

More info: Twitter | Instagram

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We were curious to find out a tad about the inspiration behind the 'Lyric Cards' project. The creator told Bored Panda that it all started with their love of music. "I made it because I love music and I’ve always had a knack for remembering lyrics. If you play a song I haven’t heard in 10 years, somehow I can sing along to the whole thing. I had absolutely no idea it would grow as quickly as it did but it’s been a fun ride so far," they shared.

Despite the featured lyrics sounding really gosh darn bad, the founder believes that context is very important. What's more, they believe that these lyrics aren't so much 'bad' as they are humorous. "I think probably 50% or more of the lyrics I post aren’t so bad in context. They just look silly as one line, separated from the rest of the song. I also don’t even really consider them 'bad,' just funny."

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As for the future, well, the creator of 'Lyric Cards' is branching out into the world of music, this time working on a project called 'Defend the Lyric.' They're going to do "short interviews with artists and have them explain what they meant so look out for that!" We'll definitely be keeping an eye out!

Berklee Online suggests that when you’re writing song lyrics, you start off with what you want to say, draw inspiration from other artists, and write the way that you speak. You also ought to avoid lengthy lyrics. When it comes to any type of writing, simplicity and conciseness are always difficult to master. But getting to the essence of things is worth it.

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We all know that music isn’t some sanitized subject: it’s supposed to be about self-expression, honesty, and feelings. All of which can lead to some bluntness in the lyrics. However, there’s quite a vast line between lyrical rawness and lyrical dumbness.

Not to notice this divide is worrying, to say the least. There are some topics that you don’t just casually sing about or broach in a throwaway line. Why would Outkast sing about Anne Frank? Why would The Pharmacyde joke about AIDS? It’s not deep or powerful—it’s edgy and meant to shock the public without adding much depth.

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The ‘Lyric Cards’ Twitter page has only been active since December 2020, but in just a few short months, it’s already amassed nearly 365k followers (we like to think of it as 1k for each day of the year).

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It’s still growing and there’s even a less popular Instagram page open to spread awareness and education about just how bad some music can get. If you're a fan of really bad song lyrics, go on and follow both accounts.

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The page is to-the-point about how dumb these lyrics are and how some people might be initially confused about whether or not they’re made up for the sake of comedy. “Lyrics you’d never believe are real. But they all are,” the founder writes in the bio.

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We’re not knocking these songwriters, however. Nobody’s perfect and nobody can come up with stellar lyrics every single day of the week. There are bound to be some slipups. But some of these… yikes. They’re more than slipups. They’re full-on disasters that would require a superhero to step in if they were ever turned into full-feature films. But what do you think, dear Readers? So bad they're good? Or so bad they're still bad?