Improving Classic Rock Standards Part Whatever
There has never been a time when Bob Seger’s “Her Strut” sounded like a fresh little diddy. I do not understand this song, and it along with 33% of the songs on “Classic Rawk” radio causes me to ponder why these things even exist.
Actually, I now wonder if I’ve misunderstood this song through the years. Here’s how I’ve always heard it:
Ew.
They Love to watch her Strut.
Ew.
They Do Respect her Butt.
They Love to Watch her Strut
Ew. Ew.
But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it actually isn’t “butt”, but instead is “but” — as in “they Do Respect her, BUT they love to watch her Strut.” I will just have to continue to wonder about this until Bob Seger himself decides to chime in and clarify himself.
I do hate this song. The biggest problem is that it evokes something on the order of a bunch of ogling Construction Workers. And the woman they are ogling is not terribly hot. I neither love watching her strut nor do I respect her butt. And her pants are just horrible.
At any rate, in the interest of freshening up songs that I hate that were stale the first time I heard them (if there ever was a first time), I have a few suggestions on how to alter the song.
First, change the “Ew”s to “Ut”s. Because, you see… Ut rhymes with “Strut” “Butt” (or But) and “They’d kill to make the CUT”. Also, “ut” evokes the decidingly unpleasant groin-upward movement that the inflection of “ew” seems to be trying for.
Second, a new line to add to the chorus. “She’d kick them in the Nut.” Because, you see, the song is all about how she’s a tough-ass, (“She’s totally committed To major independence But she’s a lady through and through She gives them quite a battle All that they can handle She’ll bruise some She’ll hurt some too“) but despite that (“But oh, they love to watch her strut“.)
“But… But… nobody kicks you in the ‘nut’. They kick you in the ‘NUTS’.” That would be a good detraction, except this shows just how tough she is. She kicks you in the nut, and stops just short of the other nut, and it hurts all the more.
Okay. Here’s how it works:
Ut.
They Love to watch her Strut.
Ut.
They Do Respect her Butt.
Ut.
She’d kick them in the Nut.
They Love to Watch her Strut.
Ut. Ut.
This will answer once and for all whether it is “but” or “butt”, and while Bob Segar may have wanted the ambiguity I think the character study is improved — her reaction to men respecting her butt a little too much is to kick them in the nut.
Rip that off, send it to Bob Seger, and see if he makes these changes at the next state fair he plays at. Somewhere before he gets to the Raise-the-Roof finale of “Hollywood Nights”.