Almanac Music: ‘Caught in a trap’ – Songs Referencing Catching.
Mousetrap Cage. [Wikimedia Commons.]
Almanac Music: ‘Caught in a trap’ – Songs Referencing Catching
Hi, Almanackers! This piece in my long-running series about key popular song themes concerns songs that in some way reference catching. Any form of the word ‘catch’ is acceptable in terms of this theme, whether it be in the title or the lyric itself. Add a few words of explanation to your chosen song if you feel it’s necessary.
So, dear readers, please put your relevant ‘catching’ songs in the ‘Comments’ section. Below, as usual, are some examples from me to set the tone.
‘You Can’t Catch Me’, written and performed by Chuck Berry (1956)
‘Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying’, written by Gerry Marsden, Freddie Marsden, Les Chadwick and Les Maguire, performed by Gerry and the Pacemakers (1964)
‘Catch Us If You Can’, written by Dave Clark and Lenny Davidson, performed by The Dave Clark Five (1965)
‘Catch the Wind’, written and performed by Donovan (1965)
‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’, credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney (actually written by Paul), performed by the Beatles (1969)
‘PC 31 said we caught a dirty one’
‘Kentucky Rain’, written by Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard, performed by Elvis Presley (1970)
‘Caught in a trap’ (Note from KD: oops, my error. I’ve realised, belatedly, that this quote comes from Elvis’s ‘Suspicious Minds’ – see what I said in my first response in the comments section below.)
‘Catch Me I’m Falling’, written by David Sterry and Richard Zatorski, performed by Real Life (1983)
‘Catch My Disease’, written by Ben Lee and McGowan Southwood, performed by Ben Lee (2005)
………………………………………
Now, dear readers / listeners – it’s over to you. Your responses to this topic are warmly welcomed. In the ‘Comments’ section, please add your own choice of a song (or songs) referencing catching, along with any other relevant material you wish to include.
[Note: as usual, Wikipedia has been a solid general reference for this piece, particularly in terms of checking dates and other details.]
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Kev after recently seeing EPIC 4 x times in a month i now have Suspicious Minds as a constant ear worm and its driving me nuts! Pls allow me to kick this one off! Cheers
Here’s a start. More from me later.
I’d do it: Australian Crawl
Gotta get to you: Belinda Carlisle
Emotional highway: Belinda Carlisle
Big scary animal: Belinda Carlisle
10538 Overture: Electric Light Orchestra
Across the border: Electric Light Orchestra
Caught in a trap: Electric Light Orchestra
Jealous guy: John Lennon
Things are hotting up: Mondo Rock
Texarkana: R.E.M.
Well, Willo, of course you’re welcome to kick this theme off with ‘Suspicious Minds’ – as Elvis would’ve said in his southern drawl, ‘Thank you very much.’ And, furthermore, you’ve indirectly indicated the error in my introductory list of songs – I meant to put ‘Suspicious Minds’ instead of ‘Kentucky Rain’. My excuse is that the latter song has been my own constant ear worm for some time!
Thanks, Liam, for your initial selection of ‘catching’ songs. I thought ‘Jealous Guy’ was an especially good pickup. (‘I was trying to catch your eye’)
Here’s a few KD
Howzat – Sherbet
“you messed about
I caught you out”
Rat Trap – Boomtown Rats
“it’s a rat trap
and we’ve been caught”
Catch – The Cure
I Just Get Caught Out – Go-Betweens
Lillee Caught Dilley Bowled Milli Vanilli – TISM
Been Caught Stealing – Jane’s Addiction
Caught By The Fuzz – Supergrass
Trapped – Bruce Springsteen
“Well it seems like I’m caught up in your trap again
And it seems like I’ll be wearin’ the same ol’ chains”
Little Girl – The Sports
“I want to be with my little girl tonight
(Catch as catch can)
Little girl
(Catch as catch can)”
What’s My Scene – Hoodoo Gurus
“What’s my scene? (I’m dying to know)I’ll never know.
Well, I concede
I’ve been caught in someone else’s scene (but that’s not me)”
Run For your Life – Beatles (nb – a very grim song)
“You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That’s the end, little girl”
Hey There Little Insect – Modern Lovers
“I say hey there, little praying mantis, I have one complaint
Each time on my arm you land it, uh, makes me faint
Say hey there, hey little insect, please calm down
Then we’ll have fun and fool around
Play catch and stuff”
El Paso – Marty Robins
“Out through the back door of Rosa’s I ran
Out where the horses were tied
I caught a good one, it looked like it could run
Up on its back and away I did ride”
Balwyn Callin’ – Skyhooks
“She sure knows when she’s got a good catch
And she just won’t let go”
Private Eye – Skyhooks
“I can run a block
I can smash a lock
I can outwit the Lone Ranger
Catch a wife
Or take a life
I’ll get you outta danger”
Late Last Night – Split Enz
“Gone, love took offence at the things I said
Good advice would be to go to bed
Rest my head, yeah
Catch 40 winks
While I dream about the things she said”
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again – Dionne Warwick
“What do you get when you kiss a guy?
You get enough germs to catch pneumonia
After you do, he’ll never phone ya
I’ll never fall in love again”
No Dancing – Elvis Costello
“He’s getting down on his knees
He finds that the girl is not so easy to please
Oh, oh, after all, his nights were just a paper striptease
She’s caught it like some disease”
Accident Waiting To Happen – Billy Bragg
“One of these nights you’re gonna get caught
It’ll give you a pregnant pause for thought
You’re a dedicated swallower of Fascism”
The Few – Billy Bragg
“Our neighbours shake their heads
And take their valuables inside
While my countrymen piss in the fountains
To express our national pride
And to prove to the world that England
Is not as rotten as she looks
They repeat the lies that caught their eyes
At school in history books
And the wars they think they’re fighting
Were all over long ago
What do they know of England?
Only England knows”
Love Is The Drug – Roxy Music
“Oh-oh, catch that buzz
Love is the drug I’m thinking of”
Diamond Dogs – David Bowie
“Come out of the garden, baby
You’ll catch your death in the fog
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs”
The Laughing Gnome – David Bowie
“Ha-ha-ha, hee-hee-hee
I’m a laughing gnome, and you can’t catch me”
Said the laughing gnome”
Changes – David Bowie
“Still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild, a million dead-end streets
And every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test”
Do It Again – Steely Dan
“In the morning you go gunnin’ for the man who stole your water.
And you fire ’til he is done in, but they catch you at the border.
And the mourners are all singin’ as they drag you by your feet.
But the hangman isn’t hangin’, so they put you on the street.
Yeah you go back, Jack, do it again.
Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round.
You go back, Jack, do it again.”
Brilliant stuff, Swish! Excellent comprehensiveness, range and relevance to the theme. (And you’re certainly right about ‘Run for Your Life’.)
Heat of the moment: Asia
One step closer: Asia
Dear Angie: Badfinger
Come and get it: Beatles
Lovely Rita: Beatles
Spinning Wheel: Blood, Sweat & Tears
Mr Soul: Buffalo Springfield
It happens each day: The Byrds
Sweet love: Company of Strangers
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes: Crosby Stills & Nash
It’s a hard life: Roger Daltrey
For the love of a woman: Electric Light Orchestra Part II
Carrying Cathy: Ben Folds
Bring On the Lucie (Freda Peeple): John Lennon
Blue sky mine: Midnight Oil
The living years: Mike and the Mechanics
Winter sky: Mondo Rock
A beat for you: Pseudo Echo
Any day above ground: James Reyne
House of cards: James Reyne
Somewhere they can’t find me: Simon and Garfunkel
Oh darling: Supertramp
Lovesick: The Swingers
(Nothing but) flowers: Talking Heads
Stranger within: Ultravox
Passing strangers: Ultravox
I can’t reach you: The Who
Sensation: The Who
Bargain: The Who
Good Friday morning KD.
My scan of Dylan’s writings reveals a definite absence of ‘on theme’ lyrics ~ and most of the non Dylan lyrics that came to me have already been listed ~ my favourite, after “Catch The Wind,’ being ‘You get enough germs to catch pneumonia’.
Anyway, my Dylan contribution has been front & centre of mind over the past month or so…
Man Of Peace
‘Look out your window, baby, there’s a scene you’d like to catch
The band is playing “Dixie”, a man got his hand outstretched
Could be the Fuhrer
Could be the local priest
You know sometimes Satan, you know he comes as a man of peace’
‘Well, the howling wolf will howl tonight, the king snake will crawl
Trees that’ve stood for a thousand years suddenly will fall
Want to get married? Do it now
Tomorrow all activity will cease
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace’
Excellent long list of on-theme material, Liam. Thanks for these. To select just one for comment – for me, ‘Come and Get It’, written by Paul McCartney (definitive version by Badfinger), is one of the catchiest songs of the entire rock/pop era.
Good Friday morning to you, Karl. Thank you for ‘Man of Peace’. I’m a major fan of ‘Catch the Wind’, too, by the way.
Starting with Folk,
Van Diemen’s Land (There are many versions of this song about transportation of poachers, from England, Scotland and Ireland – This one was recorded by the BBC from the singing of Scot, Jimmy McBeath)
Come all ye gallant poachers and countrymen beware
If you go a-poaching, take your gun, your dog, and snare
For the hares in the habitations, they roam at their own command,
So beware of the wolves and tigers, boys, going to Van Diemen’s Land,
’Twas poor Jock Brown from Glasgow, Will Guthrie and Munroe,
They were three daring poachers, the country will did know,
The keepers caught them hunting all with their guns in hand,
They were fourteen years transported unto Van Diemen’s Land.
Tam Lin – Fairport Convention (I first heard this song sung by Fairport and it’s one of the best songs they did, However the very informative website, Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music, says it was first mentioned in a Scots publication in 1549 and the first version of the lyrics were published in 1769. I have listed some of the lyrics before, this time I am only posting the “caught” reference.)
“So Janet tied her kirtle green a bit above her knee
And she’s gone to Carterhaugh as fast as go can she
“O tell to me, Tam Lin,” she said, “why came you here to dwell?”
“The Queen of Fairies caught me when from my horse I fell
And at the end of seven years she pays a tithe to hell
I so fair and full of flesh and fear it be myself”
’The Lincolnshire Poacher – Traditional. (in the 50s and 60s this song was heard more in classroom singing than at folk clubs. In the late 50s schoolkids used to sing “It’s my delight on a Friday Night with a bottle of Richmond Beer)
When I was bound apprentice in famous Lincolnshire
Full well I served my master for more than seven year
’Til I took up a-poaching, as you will quickly hear
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
As me and my companions were setting of a snare
’Twas then we spied the gamekeeper, for him we did not care
Far we can wrestle and fight, my boys, and jump o’er anywhere
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
As me and my companions were setting four or five
And taking of them up again, we caught a hare alive
We caught a hare alive, my boys, and homeward we did steer
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
We put him over our shoulder and then we trudged on home
We took him to a neighbour’s house, and sold him for a crown
We sold him for a crown, my boys, but I dare not tell you where
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
Good luck to every gentleman that lives in Lincolnshire
Good luck to every poacher that wants to steal a hare
Bad luck to every gamekeeper that will not sell his deer
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
Catching up with The Clash:
Rock the Casbah – Now over at the temple/Oh, they really pack ’em in/The in-crowd say it’s cool/To dig this chanting thing/But as the wind changed direction/And the temple band took five/The crowd caught a whiff of that crazy Casbah jive/Sharif don’t like it/Rocking the Casbah, rock the Casbah/Sharif don’t like it/Rocking the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Guns of Brixton – You know it means no mercy/They caught him with a gun/No need for the Black Maria/Goodbye to the Brixton sun/You can crush us, you can bruise us/But you’ll have to answer to/Oh-oh, the guns of Brixton
What’s My Name – I tried to join a ping-pong club/Sign on the door said “All full up”/I got nicked, fightin’ in the road/The judge didn’t even know/[Chorus]/What’s my name?
Atom Tan – Now the corporations stopped (Stopped pushing fast food)/Been a multiple shooting (Downtown at the bank)/Reluctantly the panic (Begins to catch fire)/But it did not affect (The steady sale of junk)/Oh, the state office looked (It looked like Hollywood)/With make-up bleeding (All over the cracks)/Whoa, he blew his lines (Facing the cameras)/He suffered the first all live heart attack/Oh, you’ve caught an even atom tan
Fine folk choices in your opening foray into this ‘catching’ theme – thanks, Dave. These choices offer an interesting and highly effective counterpoint in relation to the material preceding yours.
Some punchy Clash material in your opening salvo – thanks so much, Rick.
You Just Like Me Cos I’m Good In Bed – Skyhooks (lots of catching on Living In The 70s)
“At half past one I’m flat on the floor
Caught like a rat in a trap
Fifteen times a week and you still want more
God you talk such crap”
The Job That Ate My Brain – Ramones
“Out of the bed at 6:15, in a rush and you can’t think
Got to catch the bus and train, I’m in a rush and feeling insane
I can’t take this crazy pace, I’ve become a mental case
Yeah, this is the job that ate my brain”
Smokin’ In The Boys Room – Brownsville Station
“A-checkin’ out the halls
Makin’ sure the coast is clear
Lookin’ in the stalls
No, there ain’t nobody here
Oh, my buddy Fang, and me and Paul
To get caught would surely be the death of us all
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Smokin’ in the boys’ room”
Thanks for your most recent selections, Swish. I think you’re very right to comment as you do about the Living in the 70s album, particularly if what you are referring to is the extent to which women are represented in terms of ‘trapping/catching’ men. (‘Balwyn Calling’ is another good example of this.) And, theme-wise, there’s also the ‘I just caught another disease’ line in the ‘Living in the Seventies’ song itself.