A few years ago, a summer game show ran that focused on the fact that people don't know the lyrics to songs--but think they do. The hilarity circled around HOW people messed up the lyrics, like singing "Comea comea comea Charming a long" rather than "Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon."
Regarding the classic Meatloaf song, "I Would Do Anything for Love," I was convinced for years that the female vocalist's lyrics included the phrase, "Will you (Can you) cauterize my life? I'm so sick of black & white."
Let me be clear: My lyrics make NO sense!
Especially when one considers the line that follows.
The real line, of course, is, "Will you (Can you) colorize my life? I'm so sick of black & white," which naturally makes a billion times more sense.
But I quite like "cauterize." One cauterizes a wound to stop bleeding and prevent infection. As an idiom, "cauterize" often refers to ending (wiping out) one part of life and moving on to another. I thought it fit perfectly into what the female vocalist is requesting--Will you take me away from my current life? Will you help me change?
Of course, he responds, but I will never change.
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"Votaries of horror" is a phrase used in a 1946 review of The Duchess of Malfi. This site is not devoted to the genre of horror but rather to the practices of the votary. Basically, the votary is a devoted fan. According to current academic thought, horror is any product of Western culture and capitalism. Since I like such products, the title seemed appropriate.
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5 comments:
Despite knowing what the words are, I still swear Michael Jackson sings "The chair is not my son" in "Billie Jean". Apparently, I'm not alone.
REO Speedwagon, Can't Fight This Feeling:
What I hear:
I've forgotten what I started fighting for
And if I throw up on the floor
Come crashing through your door
Actual lyrics:
I've forgotten what I started fighting for
And if I have to crawl upon the floor
Come crashing through your door
It's a wash (groan.)
Sister Golden Hair, America:
What I hear:
I've been one mumble mumble, and I've been mumble hard to find.
Actual lyrics:
I've been one poor correspondent, and I've been too, too hard to find.
What's amazing about this is the number of times I've started singing along to a song, absolutely SURE that I know the lyrics--I have, after all, sung along to them before--yet, finding myself left to my own devices, have had to resort to "la la la, mumble mumble" or completely made up lyrics: "And then caterpillars ate the cheese, ya ya ya!!!!!"
Then there are lyrics which those youngsters don't understand:
I blew out my flip flop,
Stepped on a pop top,
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home.
A "pop top" is the pull tab on old soda cans which separated from the can. The non-separating tab was patented in 1975 and by the 80s were ubiquitous. Interestingly, the song Margaritaville came out in early 1977, right on the cusp of the lyric becoming obsolete.
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