The Medusa Fora

Have any of the musicians of you, especially Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Chevron, ever got really nervous and forgot the words to a song. I did it in a pub on monday with the wild rover and am looking to see if its a common thing not to worry about

don't worry about it. Shane does it all the time

ALL THE TIME

I used to do it all the time when I first started as I've got a bit of a shy streak. Don't do it as much now.

Frequently. Premature senility is my excuse, 'cause that's better than admitting to it being whiskey.

"Good night......*pause*..... Springton, there will be no encores!"

Hooperman wrote:Have any of the musicians of you, especially Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Chevron, ever got really nervous and forgot the words to a song. I did it in a pub on monday with the wild rover and am looking to see if its a common thing not to worry about

I have personally witnessed David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews and Ronnie Drew forget the words in concert. Theatre folk call it Going Up and sometimes have nightmares about it. I personally have a blind spot about two of my songs, "Lorelei" and "Plura Belle", but I've also been known to forget bits of "Faithful Departed" and especially, ever since I did the 2004 rewrite, "Television Screen". It is a quite normal occupational hazard. Most people agree that the more familiar you are with a song, the more likely you are to forget it. Barbra Streisand and Brian Wilson use autocue.

This is apparently a true story. John Gielgud, giving his Hamlet, paused pregnantly after "To be.................." in the Dane's most famous speech.
"............or not to be" came the helpful cue from the prompt corner after a few moments.

Try not to worry - every one makes mistakes it human nature.

Just make up some other line.. and all will be ok.. probably 2 people out of 100 will notice.

MissWalshy wrote:Try not to worry - every one makes mistakes it human nature.

Just make up some other line.. and all will be ok.. probably 2 people out of 100 will notice.

Agnes Bernelle's performance of Brecht & Weill's BILBAO SONG had a dramatically built in forgetting-the-words section la la la la la la...............I can't even remember the words now.............it's SOOOO long ago....la da......... which she performed with elan for many years. Sadly, in her final shows in the mid-to-late 90s, the after-effects of two brain tumour operations began to exact a heavy price from her as a performer for real. But when we were planning just one final album (it never happened), I suggested she try Stephen Sondheim's long and complicated "I Never Do Anything Twice". The very last time I saw her perform, at Pirate Jenny's in London in 1996, she gave a word-perfect performance of it.

philipchevron wrote:Ronnie Drew forget the words in concert.

I saw that one too, I was totally flabbergasted

I have a great version of Mack the Knife where Ella forgets the words,
but keeps singing "oh, what's the next chorus to this song now, this is the one I don't know...", etc. Never misses a beat. Got this off Napster during
the wild wild west days. Don't know where it came from.

Mike from Boston wrote:I have a great version of Mack the Knife where Ella forgets the words,
but keeps singing "oh, what's the next chorus to this song now, this is the one I don't know...", etc. Never misses a beat. Got this off Napster during
the wild wild west days. Don't know where it came from.

Ella live in Berlin. It's an inspired piece of ad-libbing and was a big hit for her. Ella and her fellas indeed.

oi have those moments as well... forgetting lyrics in studio, at gigs..hmm oi guess not or oi was too pissed to rememeber that oi forgot lol

Mark E. Smith of The Fall used to get a A4 folder with all the lyrics in it out on stage when he forgot the words.

Well, most of songs we do are written by me and I don´t have too big problems with those as I have some sort of bond to them. When I do other songs...troubles come Mostly I have a paper with lyrics which I cover in sheet music (or my cryptic notes which I wrote 2 o´clock last morning ). That helps a lot.

RoddyRuddy wrote:Mark E. Smith of The Fall used to get a A4 folder with all the lyrics in it out on stage when he forgot the words.

Ah, the good old reliable A4 folder.... I've got about 5 of them full of lyrics and tunes for when the brain collapses in on itself... I find that most of the time the mere sight of the first line triggers of the rest of the song. Quite the invaluable aide de memoire.