Is the AnneYPetey choir fictional? and other misheard lyrics

[KathleenwithaK]

"Between the MacEldorf's and Feinstein's I was beaten and mauled"

I thought it was the name of 2 stores.

[Low D]

(If you're not a Sabbath fan, what Ozzy actually sings is "I tell you to enjoy life").

Ah, the perils of imperfect scansion.

scansion: Describing the rhythms of poetry by dividing the lines into feet, marking the locations of stressed and unstressed syllables, and counting the syllables.

(i had to look that up, thanks for forcing me to grow & learn, damnit!)

[Sportin' Life]

(If you're not a Sabbath fan, what Ozzy actually sings is "I tell you to enjoy life").

Ah, the perils of imperfect scansion.

scansion: Describing the rhythms of poetry by dividing the lines into feet, marking the locations of stressed and unstressed syllables, and counting the syllables.

(i had to look that up, thanks for forcing me to grow & learn, damnit!)

I wouldn't have thought that scansion was such a life or death matter.

[Jon]

(If you're not a Sabbath fan, what Ozzy actually sings is "I tell you to enjoy life").

Ah, the perils of imperfect scansion.

scansion: Describing the rhythms of poetry by dividing the lines into feet, marking the locations of stressed and unstressed syllables, and counting the syllables.
(i had to look that up, thanks for forcing me to grow & learn, damnit!)

I wouldn't have thought that scansion was such a life or death matter.

Try telling that to Michael Stipe

[philipchevron]

(If you're not a Sabbath fan, what Ozzy actually sings is "I tell you to enjoy life").

Ah, the perils of imperfect scansion.

scansion: Describing the rhythms of poetry by dividing the lines into feet, marking the locations of stressed and unstressed syllables, and counting the syllables.

(i had to look that up, thanks for forcing me to grow & learn, damnit!)

I wouldn't have thought that scansion was such a life or death matter.

Well, in Ozzy's case it absolutely is. If he is putting the stress on EN in "ENjoy life", counterintuitive to its usual sound ("enJOY life"), he has only himself to blame if the listener mistakes his lyric for "END your life", which sounds "correct" to the ear. Of course, all bets are off if Ozzy fudged the meaning on purpose, though I'm going to bet that's unlikely.

[Low D]

Of course, all bets are off if Ozzy fudged the meaning on purpose, though I'm going to bet that's unlikely.

To quote the man himself from that same documentary: "What do they think i am, a rock singer or a fucking rocket scientist? I mean... I mean..."

That specific quote, he was actually responding to the charge that he put a "HemiSynch" in a song, an audio effect that causes the lsitener to a) pay total attention to the message being delivered, and b) powerless to resist instructions(seriously, that's what they were arguing). He went on to say "... I mean, the only sink i know is the one you wash your fucking face in". Incidently, the whole lawsuite was actually about sound & vocal effects in the song Suicide Solution, a song actually about the dangers of alcohol abuse inspired by the death of Bon Scott, him of early AC/DC fame, and not, in fact, an exhortation to commit suicide. The whole Paranoid lyric issue was just something that came up in an interview during this time (the documentary film Just Say Ozzy is one of the funniest music films i've ever seen, and is highy recomended viewing, fan of the Oz or not).

Anyway, i think the message in Paranoid was clearly "don't be like me, be happy instead, it's too late for me", because as all euthenaisa supporters know, it's never too late to end your life. Happiness, however, is much more fleeting.

[Aine]

Bob Dylan allegedly thought the Beatles' "I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide" was," I get high, I get high, I get high," much to their surprise apparently.

No one is immune.

[Insert Witty Username Her]

I jaust had a revelation - the line of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Scar Tissue which i have been cheerfully singing as "whip the burnt down shed, its a lovely view" is infact "with the birds ill share this lonely view". But then RHCP are'nt known for their lyrics making huge amounts of sense ("my disenchanted diplomat asleep inside the laundromat" springs to mind...)

[Broad Majestic Jimmy]

Sea Shanty:

I can hear Shane start out with "There's dirty London in the pouring rain". You can barely make out the th sound, the vowel is short and you can clearly hear the s at the end.

This web site lists the lyric as "Dear dirty London in the pouring rain", yet I maintain he slurs 'There's dirty London". You can even listen to the sound clip on this site. It makes more sense to me that he is pointing out London, not praying to London that he was 'back on the sea again'.

Did Shane actually write it as "Dear dirty London" and then sing "There's dirty London"?

This has been bugging me since I have seen it referenced by posters as "Dear".

[philipchevron]

Sea Shanty:

I can hear Shane start out with "There's dirty London in the pouring rain". You can barely make out the th sound, the vowel is short and you can clearly hear the s at the end.

This web site lists the lyric as "Dear dirty London in the pouring rain", yet I maintain he slurs 'There's dirty London". You can even listen to the sound clip on this site. It makes more sense to me that he is pointing out London, not praying to London that he was 'back on the sea again'.

Did Shane actually write it as "Dear dirty London" and then sing "There's dirty London"?

This has been bugging me since I have seen it referenced by posters as "Dear".

"Dear old dirty Dublin" was the term of faux-endearment used by Dubliner and rural Irishman alike to describe the Capital. It was in widespread use throughout the 60s and served as a constant reminder that there were two Irelands - one in Dublin and one outside. It's a phrase that more or less died out, except in ironic recall, as the globalisation years drew ever closer. My guess is Shane was using it in a playful evocation of an Irishman in London - how better to swiftly sketch him than to have him assume that all alienating capital cities are "dear" and "dirty".

In practice, if I were standing in front of a microphone and actually singing this lyric, there's a good chance I would find the alliteration quite difficult to sing, particularly as the tongue/roof of mouth automatically reaches for the third "D" sound - of Dublin, not London - and in these circumstances, I would seek an easier way to sing the line, sacrificing the lyrical device in the process, or at least relegating it to the lyric sheet.

[kgrunt]

When I am driving in the car my 8 year old daughter often asks to hear the "Chicken Butt song",which of course is the Pixies- La La Love You...."Shake your Butt". Still makes me smile

[Low D]

If he is putting the stress on EN in "ENjoy life", counterintuitive to its usual sound ("enJOY life"), he has only himself to blame if the listener mistakes his lyric for "END your life",

Could we not perhaps place some of the blame on the British school system, for failing to provide it's students with proper elocution education?

On another note, i was listening to John Prine Live (1988) this weekend, and he tells a story about somebody in an audience requesting the "Happy Enchilada Song", to which he replied "I think you must have me confused with somebody else." The requester than sang a few words: "It's a happy enchilada & you think you're gonna drown..." "Well," said John, "I'm glad you like the words".

That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day, the next you're down
It's a half-an-inch of water and you think you're gonna drown
That's the way that the world goes 'round"

[Broad Majestic Jimmy]

The Rolling Stones - Store Bought

I could swear I hear them singing "F**k a Star" in the chorus, not "Store Bought". They sing it fast so many times, the ear starts to tranpose the order of the words. Purely unintentional, I'm sure.

[Aine]

"And it's lend me ten pounds, I'll buy you a drink
And mother wake me early in the morning"


Been singing it as never wake me early in the morning.

Not so funny--in fact, rather sensible, I guess.

[Sandyfromvancouver]

"And it's lend me ten pounds, I'll buy you a drink
And mother wake me early in the morning"


Been singing it as never wake me early in the morning.

Not so funny--in fact, rather sensible, I guess.

I'd been thinking it's an' even if it's early in the morning.