# In praise of the "fake-out rhyme" lyric **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475 "2014-05-28T17:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/41 "2014-05-31T12:26:09Z")
In _Up Pompeii_, the young master Nausius fancied himself a poet and was always writing odes that he would try out on Lurcio, the family slave. Unfortunately, Nausius had a hard time finding a rhyme. It was a TV series and later they did a feature film. [Here’s a collection of some from the TV series and movie.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSt7M8FrYw&list=RDkWSt7M8FrYw#t=194) I prefer the ones from the series, Frankie Howerd had an audience to work with so I think his fourth wall asides are much better. Odes start about 3:30 in. Ode to Flavia I love her face, that bosum fair That skin without a ripple But most of all I love to lie With my lips upon her left shoulder Ode to Gropia I spied this beauty quite by chance The one I yearn to woo She was not standing on a cloud She was sitting on the balconey ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/42 "2014-05-31T13:52:04Z")
There once was a man from Japan Whose limericks would never scan. When asked why it was, He answered _because_ _I can never think of a suitable ending._ ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/43 "2014-06-02T18:42:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The Adam Again song “[Strobe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLKz2nWcK4g)” includes the verse > _Remember when you laughed in my ear three times > I was waiting for more you said “who am I” > Now you’re yelling in the shopping line > Saying here’s two nickels will you give me a quarter_ Another Adam Again fan! Will you be my friend? ---
**Author:** ![Ad\_Astra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Ad\_Astra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Astra)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/44 "2014-06-02T21:28:22Z")
The Arrogant Worms’ “The Assumption Song” is another full example of this: [QUOTE=The Arrogant Worms] There was an old farmer Who lived on a rock He sat in the meadow Just shaking his Fist at some boys Who were down by the crick Their feet in the water Their hands on their Marbles and playthings And at half past four There came a young lady She looked like a Pretty young creature She sat on the grass She pulled up her dress And she showed them her Ruffles and laces… [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/45 "2014-06-02T23:05:35Z")
Michelle Shocked does it in ‘On the Greener Side’: You say you want to give me a run for my money, There’s something I’m gonna admit: Well, it may sound funny, but Romeo, honey, I don’t want none of your Love, love, love Don’t keep me satisfied… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/46 "2014-06-03T00:37:22Z")
Not a rhyme, but I just heard Paul Simon’s “Late in the Evening” and I’m reminded of a word he may have wanted to use instead: I stepped outside to smoke myself a “J” […] And I turned my amp up loud and I began to play And it was late in the evening And I blew that **room** away Wouldn’t it be a lot funnier if, as a double entendre, he had said “I blew that **joint** away”? It’s so obvious that I’m wondering if he just left it unsaid for the listener to figure out what the word was supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/47 "2014-06-03T01:48:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I’ve always wondered if it was just me, as that line and the implied ending is just so jarring to me and takes me out of that song. Really makes me cringe. I’ve never realized what they’re doing. I’m a bit slow. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/48 "2014-06-03T02:11:45Z")
Anthrax, “I’m the Man”. Does it at the end of every verse. One guy sings the verse, and leaves the last word for another guy, who gets it wrong, every time. The band then yells at him, or says what the word should have been. I loved this song, because it was a heavy metal band playing a joke rap song. It was funny when i was 14. The bolded word is the joke word, and the underlined parts are the other band-mates spoken “lines.” Warning- very crude lyrics: Now we’re Anthrax and we take no shit And we don’t care for writing hits The sound you hear is what we like I’ll steal your pop-tarts like I stole your **socks** Yo man, what’s the matter with you? **I’ll get it the next time, I mean it** Charlie, beat the beats, the beats you beat The only thing harder is the smell of my feet So listen up 'cause you might get dissed Go drain the lizard or take a **chair** Damn, watch the beat We’ve got real def rhythms and fresh new jams And ya think we got egos but we’re just hams Scott plays stick ball and likes to skate Frank is never on time he’s always **sleeping** Late They drink the drinks, the drinks they drank I put my money in the bank They cut their crack, they offer joints We don’t do drugs, do you get our **meaning** Point, point, watch the beat For a heavy metal band raps a different way We like to different and not cliche They say rap and metal can never mix Well all of them can suck our **Sexual organ located in the lower abdominal area** No man, it’s dick Fart the farts, the farts he farted I pick my nose 'cause I’m retarded Like El Duce says, "Smell my anal vapor And wipe my butt with your **face** Toilet paper, yo, watch the beat So, as this rap is winding down It’s plain to see we wear the crown You know Anthrax is number one But we don’t care, we just wanna have **a festival** Fun you stupid, idiot ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/49 "2014-06-03T02:33:47Z")
“Let Her Sleep Under the Bar”: “’Twas a cold winter’s evening, the guests were all leaving, O’Leary was closing the bar, When he turned and he said to the lady in red, ‘Get out, you can’t stay where you are.’ She shed a sad tear in her bucket of beer As she thought of the cold night ahead, When a gentleman dapper stepped out of the —phone booth, And these are the words that he said: ‘Her mother never told her About the ways of college men. And how they come and go, mostly go, Now age has taken her beauty. And sin has left its sad scar; So remember your mothers and sisters, boys, And let her sleep under the bar.’” I don’t want to say how many years it took before I realized he hadn’t in fact been in the phone booth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/50 "2014-06-03T03:48:14Z")
I was hoping no one would beat me to this one… I had a great collection of early 30s show tunes years ago that led off with “Eadie Was a Lady” by Ethel Merman. Among the many lines extolling Eadie’s virtues was this one: Now Eadie could get plastered And call a man a…scoundrel ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475/51 "2014-06-03T17:28:48Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > There once was a man from Japan > Whose limericks would never scan. > When asked why it was, > He answered _because_ > _I can never think of a suitable ending._ I always enjoyed this one: In Oxford there was a young miss Who went down to the river to read A man in a punt Stuck his oar in her eye And now she has to wear glasses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-fake-out-rhyme-lyric/689475.md?page=2)