# Is there a term of this lyrical technique? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 21, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-of-this-lyrical-technique/954700 "2021-11-21T03:11:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-of-this-lyrical-technique/954700/1 "2021-11-21T03:11:12Z")
St Vincent’s song [_Los Ageless_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9TlaYxoOO8) has these lines: _How can anybody have you?_ _How can anybody have you and lose you?_ _How can anybody have you and lose you and not lose their minds, too?_ Lit’s song [_Miserable_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMOeTLLeaDU) has these lines: _You make me come_ _You make me complete_ _You make me completely miserable_ Is there a word for this technique of repeating a previous line but adding additional words to it to change the meanings of the lines? Bonus points for other examples. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-of-this-lyrical-technique/954700/2 "2021-11-21T03:15:55Z")
I can’t help with what it’s called but here is another example. Flight of The Conchords, Business Time: Making love Making love for two Making love for two minutes ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-of-this-lyrical-technique/954700/3 "2021-12-03T22:18:34Z")
A bump in case somebody who has an answer missed this. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-of-this-lyrical-technique/954700/4 "2021-12-03T22:30:04Z")
My wife’s a poet so I asked her and she didn’t know but I remembered an [example](https://genius.com/Holly-near-hay-una-mujer-desaparecida-lyrics). > And the junta, and the junta knows > And the junta knows where she is > And the junta knows where they are hiding her, she’s dying Doesn’t follow the form as strictly as I remember. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-of-this-lyrical-technique/954700/5 "2021-12-03T22:37:28Z")
The Roches have a song, “[Merciful God](https://www.google.com/search?q=merciful+god+the+roches&oq=merciful+god+the+roches&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l4.12283j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#wptab=s:H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLRT9c3LDTNSkoytbB8xGjOLfDyxz1hKb1Ja05eY9Tg4grOyC93zSvJLKkUkuJig7IEpPi4UDTy7GLSS0lNSyzNKYkvSUyyyk620s8tLc5M1i9KTc4vSsnMS49PziktLkktssqpLMpMLl7EKleSkapQlJ-ckVqskJtalJyZVpqjkJ6fogBRAAD3mE5CnAAAAA),” that does this, but I’m not 100% sure it fits in here. And no, I have no idea if it’s called something. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-of-this-lyrical-technique/954700/6 "2021-12-04T02:10:28Z")
“Copypastanaphora.” “Anaphora” being “repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line throughout a work or the section of a work.”\* (Why not?) \*[Poetry Terms: 40 Brief Definitions](https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/poeterms.htm)