Entertainment For Lively Minds
Misunderstood American lyrics
In 1978, when I was 16, I bought Bruce Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town" LP. At the end of Side 1 was the famous ballad "Racing in the Street," featuring a lyric that I found rather interesting:
"Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
And go racin' in the street"
"Some guys come home from work and wash up". I thought well, at least that's considerate of them. They do the washing up before they go out. A nice bit of gender equality there. Everyone appreciates it when their partner does the dishes. It's never much fun to have lots of dirty pots and pans lying around. Washing up is an important household chore.
It wasn't until decades later that I found out that that's not actually what "wash up" means here. In American English, as I'm sure we all know now, to 'wash up' means to have a wash, to perform one's ablutions, to wash one's body - or at least part of it. I felt rather foolish for having misunderstood Bruce for all those years.
So my question to the Massive is this: Have you ever misunderstood a lyric because of a difference between two geographical varieties of English?
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It's not for nothing
that he's called Bruce Springclean
Eh?
a 'wash up' AFAIC means: adrift, rudderless, amounts to nothing, beached
but I've never worshipped at the altar of Loose Windscreen
It does. Although I think something along the lines of...
... "he's all washed up" would be more common rather than calling someone "a wash up."
"To wash up" does indeed mean to have a wash. A "Puerto Rican Shower" if you will.
Washington?
When i first became familiar with that song, I thought he said "Some guys come home from work in Washington, and go Racing in the Street". I never understood why he chose Washington specifically. I think at one stage I had attached some sort of political significance to it. God knows how. It took me years to realise what he was actually saying..
The entire Squeeze catalogue
Deptford is a place where they speak an indecipherable language when you're 17 in California. Fun City
you're so right Me Ol' Septic Dish And Plate
Hello Mrs Jones
How's your Bert's lumbago?
Bin goin on for years mate I tell ya - years
vat ol ChurchIll ad it right dinny? Divided by a common language innit.
Bruce also admits
... in the same song, to an outrageous dalliance with our very own '66 World Cup winning goalscorer. He had him 'ON THE FLOOR' ... apparently.