Surprise! Songs in which a character gets surprised

[DarcyFarrow]

Name a song in which either the listener or a character in the song gets surprised, maybe pleasantly, maybe not.

For example, in "Heads We're Dancing" a woman discovers that the charming unnamed man she danced with last night is Hitler.

[EricC28201]

The Streak - Ray Stevens

[postman29]

Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.

[Travis55Chevy]

SYLVIAS MOTHER   DR HOOK

[Travis55Chevy]

honey  bobby goldsboro

[Travis55Chevy]

867-5309     Tommy Tutone         BOY DID HIS GIRLFRIENDS FATHER GET PAID BACK        NOTE THIS SONG T00K OUT EVERY TELEPHONE EXCHANGE IN THE COUNTRY. TO THIS DAY THERE IS ONLY ONE PHONE NUMBER FOR THIS EXCHANGE  NO ONE ELSE WILL ISSUE THIS NUMBER

[DarcyFarrow]

We Have No Secrets (Carly Simon)

the guy who thinks he knows everything about his girl is in for an awakening:

"We know each other's fantasies
And though we know each other better when we explore
Sometimes I wish
Often I wish
That I never knew some of those secrets of yours"

[DarcyFarrow]

Feed Jake (Pirates of the Mississippi)

"You think you're getting the traditional prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I die before I wake,"

but:

" feed Jake, he's been a good dog"

[DarcyFarrow]

All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You (Heart)

The singer picks up a hitchhiker and takes him to a motel.  Years later, they cross paths again and:

"You can imagine his surprise when he saw his own eyes
I said please, please understand
I'm in love with another man
And what he couldn't give me
Was the one little thing that you can"

[DarcyFarrow]

Prisoners (John Denver)

the receiver of the surprise is the listener.  The beginning of the song and the title will have you thinking it's about a convict, but the end of the song reveals why the main character is a prisoner.

[DarcyFarrow]

Readjustment Blues (Bill Danoff)

a soldier returning from Vietnam stumbles upon a standoff between war protestors and National Guard:

The troops all had on uniforms
Just like the one I'd worn
But they were all domestic and my duty tour was foreign
They carried guns just like the ones across the sea
Except this time I was the citizen
And they were pointing their guns at me
Yes, I was just a citizen and
I was walking down the street
And it was just then that the Readjustment Blues
Got through to me

[DarcyFarrow]

Waitin' on a Woman (Brad Paisley & Andy Griffith)

a young man who's impatiently waiting for his lady to arrive receives some surprising counsel from an older man:

"I've read somewhere statistics show
The man's always the first to go
And that makes sense 'cause I know she won't be ready
So when it finally comes my time
And I get to the other side
I'll find myself a bench, if they've got any
I hope she takes her time, 'cause I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman"

[DarcyFarrow]

DOA (Bloodrock)

The main character regains consciousness and gradually figures out what's happening to him:

"I remember
We were flying along and hit something in the air
I remember
We were flying along and hit something in the air

Life is flowing out my body
Pain is flowing out with my blood
The sheets are red and moist where I'm lying
God in Heaven, teach me how to die"

[1968Hoya46]

Bread And Butter: The Newbeats  (His baby feeds him a diet of bread and butter and toast and jam. Imagine this poor guy's surprise when he arrives home early and.....there she was, eating chicken and dumplings with some other guy. He seems more concerned about no more bread, butter, toast and jam).

[DarcyFarrow]

Thank God and Greyhound (Roy Clark)

"Now you come to me with a simple goodbye
You tell me you're leaving but you won't tell me why
We're here at the station and you're getting on
And all I can think of is thank God and Greyhound you're gone"

[DarcyFarrow]

Since You Went Away (Monkees):

she expects he can't manage without her; then comes the revelation:

"'Cause the plants have grown
The dog came home
The bills are all getting paid
Things are much better since you went away"

[JohnD131536]

When I Woke Up This Morning -the Bop Chords

[DarcyFarrow]

The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game (Grace Jones):

"Oh, you were the catch that I was after
But I looked up and I was in your arms and I knew that I was captured"

[DarcyFarrow]

Hammerhead (Offspring):  starts out seeming to be about a soldier in battle:

"I am the one
Camouflage and guns"

but at the end:

"And you can all hide behind your desks now
And you can cry "teacher come help me"
Through you all
My aim is true"

we learn it's a school shooting

[JohnD131536]

At My Front Door - the El Dorados

[1968Hoya46]

Dear One: Larry Finnegan (the letter he was eagerly awaiting at his mailbox turned out to be a Dear John letter, which by definition always surprises the recipient). Sorry Larry.

[DarcyFarrow]

Tie a Yellow Ribbon (Tony Orlando and Dawn):

"Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the ole oak tree
It's been three long years, do you still want me?

. . . .

And I can't believe I see

A hundred yellow ribbons round the ole oak tree"

[1968Hoya46]

Laurie (Strange Things Happen): Dickie Lee (quick synopsis: Dickie meets Laurie at a dance, walks her home, lends her his sweater because she says she’s cold, she enters her house, he walks away but remembers his sweater, goes back to her house, her dad answers the door, Dickie explains about the sweater [are you following this?], dad gets angry, tells Dickie that his daughter died one year ago to the date, Dickie is drawn to a graveyard where he sees his sweater lying on Laurie’s grave. Surprise!!!).

[JohnD131536]

Peek-A-Boo   - the Cadillacs

[1968Hoya46]

It’s My Party: Leslie Gore (See: Lipstick On My Collar).

[JohnD131536]

My Surprise - the Six Teens

[1968Hoya46]

Lipstick On Your Collar: Connie Francis: Connie was surprised, shocked and probably outraged when her boyfriend returned to the record hop with her best friend, wearing red lipstick on his collar, when Connie’s was baby pink. 

[1968Hoya46]

Running Scared: Roy Orbison (My heart was breaking, which one would it be, then you turned around and walked away with me). Roy is happily surprised when she blows off her old pompous boyfriend and walks away with him.

[JohnD131536]

What A Surprise - the Crests

[DarcyFarrow]

In "Long Black Veil" (Johnny Cash and many others), the listener is the one surprised, discovering that the song's narrator is deceased:  

"She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me"