I saw this story on a newspaper website. it's about people who butcher song lyrics when singing them. Do you do it?
-------
Sunday, November 13, 2005
'I miss you like ... gravy?'
Nobody butchers song lyrics like our readers
By Ray Fashona
Poughkeepsie Journal
When we put forth the premise that everyone jumbles up song lyrics, we didn't realize how right we were.
We asked readers to tell us about lyrics they had misheard, and we received about three dozen responses. Many of them made us laugh out loud. It just proves that not only is music universal, but so is our capacity to mess up a song.
Without further preamble, let's see what our readers had to say about fractured lyrics.
? For a long time, I thought "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" was "Michael Roamed the Polish Shore." Hallelujah!
John Rosett, Highland
? My college roommate used to sing the Elton John song "Rocket Man." She thought the line, "Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone" was "Rocket man, burning a fuse up and my hair is too long." I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure of the actual lyrics myself until I looked up the song online several years ago.
Maria Saraceno-Ward, Hopewell Junction
? Jean Knight sang a song titled "Mr. Big Stuff" during the 1970s. I thought she was singing "Mr. Pit Stop."
Susan Schryver, Poughkeepsie
? When I was a little girl, my brother used to play "Mother's Little Helper" by the Rolling Stones. I used to sing the first line as "What a dragon is getting old," and couldn't figure out what that had to do with being mother's helper. Of course, the correct words were, "What a drag it is getting old."
Carol Simonetty, Poughkeepsie
? The song "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" by England Dan and John Ford Coley goes: "I'm not talkin' 'bout movin' in/And I don't want to change your life." The first line sounded to both me and my wife: "I'm not talkin' 'bout my linen." This never made sense, and the mystery was solved when I checked the lyrics on an Internet site.
Jim Boskus, Poughkeepsie
? In Billy Joel's "Big Shot," the song words were: "You had to be a big shot, didn't you." I thought it was: "You had to be a big shot, pidgeon."
Marilyn Diesing, Wappingers Falls
? After reading your article on fractured lyrics, we had a great time recalling some of our blunders. One of our favorites is a line from Janis Ian's "At Seventeen" when she sings, "high school girls with ravaged faces." My husband thought she said "cabbage faces."
Judy McElroy Wappingers Falls
? "I feel so good if I just say the word/Sussudio, oh Sussudio." From "Sussudio" by Phil Collins. I thought he was saying "Sucia," which is the Spanish word for dirty. I wondered why he was singing a song about dirt.
Linda Cebrian, Rhinebeck
? In 1989, Natalie Cole had a hit single titled "I Miss You Like Crazy." My 7-year-old nephew, Michael Walters, loved to sing this song, but instead of singing "I miss you like crazy," he would sing "I miss you like gravy." To this day, we laugh hysterically every time we think about it.
Frank Gallio, Beacon
? I always thought the Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe" was "Little Blue Scoop" until I belted it out one time and everyone laughed. Another Beach Boys' tune, "Barbara Ann," I thought was "Bob Moran." I really didn't like the Beach Boys; I could never understand them!
Cathy Drier, New Port Richey, Fla.
? Back in the '60s, there was a group called Gerry & the Pacemakers. They had a popular song called, "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey." The lyrics were, "So ferry, 'cross the Mersey to the land, the land I love, and here I'll stay." My mother (God bless her) would sing it: "So very customary to cross the land that I love." We would all tease her and she would tease back, "Tease me now, but you'll miss me when I'm gone." Mom passed away in 1992. She was right ? we miss her every day.
Pat Lustig, Wappingers Falls
? I lost a buck to a grammar school buddy in 1961 for thinking Del Shannon, in his big hit "Runaway," said "to the ball and then I feel the pain" when it was "tears are fallin' and I feel the pain." I'm going to out an ex father-in-law, who probably still thinks the Four Tops' hit "Bernadette" is "Burn the Dead."
Bob Mihalik, Wappingers Falls
? This one is from the extremely popular Jimmy Buffett song, "Margaritaville." When the singer "Blew out my flip-flop/Stepped on a pop-top," I always sang it as "Stepped on a Pop-Tart." I was singing the song with the botched line and my wife burst into hysterics.
Lance Smith, Clinton Corners
? My twin sister, Francesca, spent the majority of her preteens, teens and early 20s believing that the chorus to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" was "Hold me close, oh Tony Danza," rather than the less humorous, yet unfortunately correct, "Hold me close, oh tiny dancer." Despite her pitiful yet relentless arguments, after the release of the movie "Almost Famous," we were finally able to convince her that her lyrics, although unforgettably amusing, did not emerge from Elton John's heart, but from her imaginative yet poor hearing.
Domenica Fiorentino, Bearsville
-------
Sunday, November 13, 2005
'I miss you like ... gravy?'
Nobody butchers song lyrics like our readers
By Ray Fashona
Poughkeepsie Journal
When we put forth the premise that everyone jumbles up song lyrics, we didn't realize how right we were.
We asked readers to tell us about lyrics they had misheard, and we received about three dozen responses. Many of them made us laugh out loud. It just proves that not only is music universal, but so is our capacity to mess up a song.
Without further preamble, let's see what our readers had to say about fractured lyrics.
? For a long time, I thought "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" was "Michael Roamed the Polish Shore." Hallelujah!
John Rosett, Highland
? My college roommate used to sing the Elton John song "Rocket Man." She thought the line, "Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone" was "Rocket man, burning a fuse up and my hair is too long." I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure of the actual lyrics myself until I looked up the song online several years ago.
Maria Saraceno-Ward, Hopewell Junction
? Jean Knight sang a song titled "Mr. Big Stuff" during the 1970s. I thought she was singing "Mr. Pit Stop."
Susan Schryver, Poughkeepsie
? When I was a little girl, my brother used to play "Mother's Little Helper" by the Rolling Stones. I used to sing the first line as "What a dragon is getting old," and couldn't figure out what that had to do with being mother's helper. Of course, the correct words were, "What a drag it is getting old."
Carol Simonetty, Poughkeepsie
? The song "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" by England Dan and John Ford Coley goes: "I'm not talkin' 'bout movin' in/And I don't want to change your life." The first line sounded to both me and my wife: "I'm not talkin' 'bout my linen." This never made sense, and the mystery was solved when I checked the lyrics on an Internet site.
Jim Boskus, Poughkeepsie
? In Billy Joel's "Big Shot," the song words were: "You had to be a big shot, didn't you." I thought it was: "You had to be a big shot, pidgeon."
Marilyn Diesing, Wappingers Falls
? After reading your article on fractured lyrics, we had a great time recalling some of our blunders. One of our favorites is a line from Janis Ian's "At Seventeen" when she sings, "high school girls with ravaged faces." My husband thought she said "cabbage faces."
Judy McElroy Wappingers Falls
? "I feel so good if I just say the word/Sussudio, oh Sussudio." From "Sussudio" by Phil Collins. I thought he was saying "Sucia," which is the Spanish word for dirty. I wondered why he was singing a song about dirt.
Linda Cebrian, Rhinebeck
? In 1989, Natalie Cole had a hit single titled "I Miss You Like Crazy." My 7-year-old nephew, Michael Walters, loved to sing this song, but instead of singing "I miss you like crazy," he would sing "I miss you like gravy." To this day, we laugh hysterically every time we think about it.
Frank Gallio, Beacon
? I always thought the Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe" was "Little Blue Scoop" until I belted it out one time and everyone laughed. Another Beach Boys' tune, "Barbara Ann," I thought was "Bob Moran." I really didn't like the Beach Boys; I could never understand them!
Cathy Drier, New Port Richey, Fla.
? Back in the '60s, there was a group called Gerry & the Pacemakers. They had a popular song called, "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey." The lyrics were, "So ferry, 'cross the Mersey to the land, the land I love, and here I'll stay." My mother (God bless her) would sing it: "So very customary to cross the land that I love." We would all tease her and she would tease back, "Tease me now, but you'll miss me when I'm gone." Mom passed away in 1992. She was right ? we miss her every day.
Pat Lustig, Wappingers Falls
? I lost a buck to a grammar school buddy in 1961 for thinking Del Shannon, in his big hit "Runaway," said "to the ball and then I feel the pain" when it was "tears are fallin' and I feel the pain." I'm going to out an ex father-in-law, who probably still thinks the Four Tops' hit "Bernadette" is "Burn the Dead."
Bob Mihalik, Wappingers Falls
? This one is from the extremely popular Jimmy Buffett song, "Margaritaville." When the singer "Blew out my flip-flop/Stepped on a pop-top," I always sang it as "Stepped on a Pop-Tart." I was singing the song with the botched line and my wife burst into hysterics.
Lance Smith, Clinton Corners
? My twin sister, Francesca, spent the majority of her preteens, teens and early 20s believing that the chorus to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" was "Hold me close, oh Tony Danza," rather than the less humorous, yet unfortunately correct, "Hold me close, oh tiny dancer." Despite her pitiful yet relentless arguments, after the release of the movie "Almost Famous," we were finally able to convince her that her lyrics, although unforgettably amusing, did not emerge from Elton John's heart, but from her imaginative yet poor hearing.
Domenica Fiorentino, Bearsville
Comment