Is this a joke song?

Listen folks, I hate to break it to you, but Kings of Leon writes some terrible, terrible lyrics.

Soft lips are open
Them nuckles is pale
Feels like you're dying
You're dying

You
Your sex is on fire
And so
Were the words to transpire

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! (note: maybe the last lines are "consoled by the words to transpire". I don't know. One way or another, it's pure crap.)

The first time I heard this song on the radio I kept waiting for the punch line. I was sure it was a ridiculous parody of a love song, like Adam Sandler's "At A Medium Pace." A song which, by the way, at least keeps the tempo.

When I realized this "Sex on Fire" track was a real song and had been recorded by Kings of Leon, I went to check my iPod and found that I do have their third album. So I gave it a listen.

Singer Caleb Followill even told the BBC that he thought this "your sex is on fire" hook was "ridiculous" when the band came up with it. "I was like, 'Come on, man, I gotta be singing about someone's fiery sex for a year and a half.'" That album comes out in September 2008.

After listening to "Because of the Times", released last year, I beg to know, then... What happened in the jam session where someone came up with this little ditty?

either way you caught me whlist-a-lyin
you caught me whilst-a-lyin
you caught me with my pants down

Or...

so cool in her new camaro
black as coal and it go don't it go

(And repeat.
And repeat again? Dear God make it stop!)

They are a family band... I suppose they all think alike then. Who is driving this crazy bus?

I gave "Because of the Times" an honest listen. I was attracted at first because I heard that southern influence. Track 4, "McFearless", had potential until someone mistimed the vocal track. It honestly sounds like he is the drunk karaoke singer unaware that he should be trying to keep up with the music. But when used properly, his voice is a beautiful blend of Adam Durwitz and Dave Matthews. They use some sick guitar riffs and properly placed tambourines. It then becomes so convoluted, detached, and confusing. Is this a soulful southern rocker or Iggy Pop? Am I supposed to chill and enjoy or shake my head and scream? And just what the hell are they singing about anyway? Do fans actually sing along to these lyrics?

Rock to the rhythm
And bop to the beat of the radio

I must know who these fans are.

I am more scared to hear what is on this next album, "Only by the Night", than I am to accidentally catch another 5 seconds of A Shot At Love with Tila Tequila. I would rather go to the Blue Martini in a jewel-toned minidress than hear any more of this band. Rolling Stone wondered, "how much better can Kings of Leon get?" Yes, it is clear: I have entered an alternate universe. At least that review added "They've already gone further than anyone could have guessed." /cough

I will keep repeating: "Rock and Roll really was saved. Rock and Roll was saved. Rock and Roll was saved." At least they don't sound like anyone else, and I can't snarkily quip that I already heard that album when it was called fillintheblank.

I would normally insert a video here, but do you want to know what else? Kings of Leon are douches.

"It's difficult when you make a new record and you wanna play all the new songs live, but with technology these days, there'll be someone out there with a recorder and it kinda spoils it for us. You don't wanna play too many new songs because otherwise they'll be on YouTube or something, so we have to pick and choose. If it was up to us we'd play all the new songs because they're so fun to play."

So no mp3, no video - embedding of videos is disabled on their YouTube page. So, no thanks, I am not all that interested in posting the others floating around the internet. They can just go on being cool and inaccessible. Douches. Write one decent lyric, just one. I challenge you.