Pass the shoehorn
Posted by Archie Valparaiso on 4 April 2008 - 4:16pm.
It's Friday afternoon, so this'll probably get no response, but I don't think we've done this one and I'll probably have forgotten all about it by Monday.
Some lyrics, however hard the vocalist tries, just don't fit the metre of the tune they're set to. The best (i.e. worst) example I can think of to set the ball rolling is Adam and the Ants' "Princechar MING! Princechar MING!"
Over to youse.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
- More from Archie Valparaiso.
- Login or register to post comments
Elton etc
..." It's no sacc-err-ih- fies
no sacc-err-ih- fies" etc.
squeezes an extra syllable into a word in order to fit the melody.
Also, Kaiser Chiefs song (called Ruby is it?) goes something like:
"Due to lack of inteREST
tomorROW is cancELLED ..."
almost every word is stressed wrongly. Absolute rubbish.
it is Ruby
and its lyrics are my personal top peeve too. lazy, crappy writing.
Toto
Africa.....second verse...."Serengeteeeeeeeeeeee"
A Beatles mention
"And though it's true, pride comes BEfore a fall" from I'm A Loser.
I nominate
Most things by the Manic Street Whiners...
particularly
A deh-SIGN for-hor life
I'm getting prickly heat just thinking about it
I really like it
when you speak like AAAAYYYY child.
Leo Sayer
I may be mistaken because I don't have the record to check but Leo Sayer's "Moonlighting" has one bizarre line that is sung at twice the speed of the rest of the song.
I had a look on the internet and I think its the bit that goes...
"And the water department of the council offices has a message
That mrs. parks daughter is missing"
It's a story song and he just tries to cram too much information into one line.
You're right
I don't remember the lyric either, and couldn't confirm whether the bit you checked is right, but I found that part so irritating. I used to hear it a lot as I had a friend at the time who was a big Leo Sayer fan.
I think the Style Council
had a dreadful lyric which went something like
'between those who have and those who have not
they dangle jobs like the donkey's car-ROT'
Also...am I the only one who wants to strangle that Nash gal everytime she sings 'FOUR-get' ?
It's 'forget' girl...FORGET!!
Didn't they teach you anyffink in that bleedin' Brit School??
Simple Minds, j'accuse
Dreadful song in every way, topped off with that "soaring" chorus of "AH-live and kicking".
Jona Lewie....
in general, but, especially, "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties". Nice tune, nice sentiment but none of the lines fit or even remotely scan. It's a mess of a song.
Aaargh!
I like that one
I have a soft spot for songs with parochial little details. This one mentions "Palmers Green", and I am sure beyond any reasonable doubt the only published song ever to do so.
I think you'll find.....
....that Palmers Green is mentioned in Silver Machine, just before the fade. ("I've got a silver machine, it's parked in Palmers Green") It doesn't scan very well there, either!
Bob Seger
There's a strange one in Roll Me Away where the lyric reads;
"We rolled across the high plains,
Deep into the mountains"
However Bob doesn't rhyme plains and mountains but pronounces mountains as moun'uns.