# Fix a Broken Lyric **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748 "2017-02-01T14:31:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/61 "2017-04-16T04:14:47Z")
“Touch Me” by the Doors 'Till the stars fall from the sky For you and I." Till the stars fall in the sea For you and me." That “I” has ALWAYS grated on me! ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/62 "2017-04-16T08:02:46Z")
“To the oceans, white with foam”?? Come on. How about: “From the mountains, to the prairies, To the WalMarts, with our phones” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/63 "2017-04-16T11:02:28Z")
**Hotel California:** _On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of [del]colitas[/del] **fajitas** , rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night._ At least “fajitas” is an actual word. And they do smell both warm and divine. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/64 "2017-04-16T13:20:20Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > At least “fajitas” is an actual word. So is [colitas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colitas). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/65 "2017-04-16T13:28:26Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > At least “fajitas” is an actual word. And they do smell both warm and divine. In addition to the above, we have [this Straight Dope column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1053/in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean) getting to the bottom of it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/66 "2017-04-16T15:31:01Z")
“Say,” by John Mayer: Without mentioning the fact that his singing voice is 10 miles of bad road, the chorus could use some beefing up. “Say what you mean to say.” Fine. But repeated 8 times (the last chorus is 24 times)? With no other change in the accompaniment? Why not: Say what you mean to say, Say what you want to say, Say what you have to say, Say what you ought to say. “Want” and “ought” is a bit of a stretch for a rhyme, I’ll admit. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/67 "2017-04-17T10:21:00Z")
Carly Simon - You’re so vain … _You walked in to the party Like you were walking on to a yacht Your hat strategically dipped below one eye Your scarf, it was apricot_ Famously she pronounces apricot as apree-cott, which is just wrong, wrong, wrong, but we can easily fix this - \*You walked in to the party Like you were walking on to a boat Your hat strategically dipped below one eye Your scarf, it matched your coat etc\* It gets rid of the offending fruit, but continues and embellishes the natty dresser theme of the verse, and because it was about Warren Beatty, I think that’s what she was really trying to say. Ms Simon, if you’re reading, your people are welcome to call me to discuss my share of any re-recording you may like to do. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/68 "2017-04-17T11:16:09Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Carly Simon - You’re so vain > > … > > _You walked in to the party > Like you were walking on to a yacht > Your hat strategically dipped below one eye > Your scarf, it was apricot_ > > Famously she pronounces apricot as apree-cott, which is just wrong, wrong, wrong, but we can easily fix this - > > \*You walked in to the party > Like you were walking on to a boat > Your hat strategically dipped below one eye > Your scarf, it matched your coat > > etc\* > > It gets rid of the offending fruit, but continues and embellishes the natty dresser theme of the verse, and because it was about Warren Beatty, I think that’s what she was really trying to say. > > Ms Simon, if you’re reading, your people are welcome to call me to discuss my share of any re-recording you may like to do. I prefer to think that the scarf was “apres cote,” or, an “after thought,” you know, worn as though it were just tossed on at the last minute, and yet it completed the outfit perfectly, thereby describing the subject’s instinct for topping off an outfit with an exact right thing. If she was more familiar with Quebecois French than the French of France, she might pronounce “apres” “apree.” ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/69 "2017-04-17T12:17:27Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I prefer to think that the scarf was “apres cote,” or, an “after thought,” you know, worn as though it were just tossed on at the last minute, and yet it completed the outfit perfectly, thereby describing the subject’s instinct for topping off an outfit with an exact right thing. If she was more familiar with Quebecois French than the French of France, she might pronounce “apres” “apree.” RivkahChaya, I think its wonderful and noble of you to try to defend Ms Simon, but even you must admit its papering over a pretty big crack. Let us help her by getting her out of the hole, rather than giving her the impetus to keep digging herself deeper. With our sincere support, she may just rise above this, put it behind her and be able to salvage some credibility and leave on a high note. RivkahChaya and I believe in you, Carly! We only want whats best for you. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/70 "2017-05-31T16:43:11Z")
Tom Paxton’s I’m Changing My Name to Chrysler Original lyrics: Since the first amphibians crawled out of the slime We’ve been struggling in an unrelenting climb We were hardly up and walking before money started talking And it’s sad that failure is an awful crime I always sing: We ha barely started walking before money started talking. I can’t believe Paxton didn’t write it that way. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/71 "2017-05-31T17:33:43Z")
Well, since this thread lives again… Cranberries - Zombie “_In your head, in your head, they are fighting With their tanks, and their bombs And their bombs, and their guns In your head, in your head they are crying_” The duplicate words “bombs” kind of irks me. Maybe change the second occurance of bomb to “planes” or “ships” or, if it must be ground infantry, “knives”. Boney M - Rasputin Putting aside the fact Czar Nicholas’ consort was Tsarina (Empress as well) and not really the “Russian Queen”, there’s a few places we need to jack up the melody and slide some reworked lyrics in… “_He could preach the bible like a preacher Full of ecstasy and fire_” This is a bit tough, all the good synonym for preach are 2 or more syllables (exhort, prophesize, relate, etc). Let’s go with “teach the Bible” “_Then one night some men of higher standing Set a trap, they’re not to blame “Come to visit us” they kept demanding And he really came_” Not sure what to do with “not to blame” (“Set a trap, without shame”?), but the last 2 lines I recommend… “Come visit us” they kept demanding Until he finally came" “_And so they shot him till he was dead_” Hmm, just go with “And so they shot him…dead!” (it scans in the song). Of course, you do NOT mess with that great line “_Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia’s greatest love machine_” Also, once and for all need to make it clear the correct “Live and Let Die” lyric is “But if this ever changing world in which we’re living…” [SIZE=“1”](Don’t give me this “_Cerebral rape and pillage in a village_…” nonsense - “We will rape and pillage in a village…” is 10x cooler…)[/SIZE] ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/72 "2017-06-01T15:15:28Z")
You Raised Me Up has the lyric “You raise me up to more than I can be.” Uh, you cannot be any more than you can be. It’s humanly impossible. I sing “You raise me up to all that I can be.” ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/73 "2017-06-01T21:50:47Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > You Raised Me Up has the lyric “You raise me up to more than I can be.” > > Uh, you cannot be any more than you can be. It’s humanly impossible. > > I sing “You raise me up to all that I can be.” It’s a Christian choral anthem, so I think the songwriter means, “more than I can be _by myself,_ but with Jesus, I can be more than I otherwise could be.” At least, that’s my interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/74 "2017-06-02T03:09:46Z")
Perhaps choosing this song is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but in Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”: > [@](#): > > And as we wind on down the road > Our shadows taller than our soul, > There walks a lady we all know > Who shines white light and wants to show > How everything still turns to gold. > And if you listen very hard should actually read/sound > [@](#): > > And as we wind on down the road > Our shadows taller than our soul. > There walks a lady we all know > Who shines white light and wants to show > How everything still turns to gold. > And if you listen very CLOSE ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748/75 "2017-06-03T20:21:30Z")
_Come fly with me, let’s float down to Peru, In llama land, there’s a one-man band, and he’ll toot his flute for you. Come fly with me, we’ll take off in the blue._ All well and good. _ **EXCEPT** _ nobody ever sings _“in llama land.”_ Everybody invariably goes with _“in lama land”_ (which Peru isn’t). That’s okay. _“In lama land”_ can be accommodated. _Come fly with me, let’s drift off to Tibet, In lama land, there’s a one-man band with a tune you won’t forget. Come fly with me, we’ll take my private jet._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fix-a-broken-lyric/778748.md?page=3)