# La Bamba and other songs to be embarrassed about **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216 "2014-08-22T17:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/21 "2014-08-22T19:50:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Aaaannnnd, I just found out that memories really aren’t ‘like’ the corners of my mind at all. :smack: And now I found out. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/22 "2014-08-22T20:11:03Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > From The Pogues, “Broad Majestic Shannon:” > > “So I walked as day was dawning > Where small birds sang and leaves were falling > Where we once watched the robots landing, > By the broad, majestic Shannon.” > > Wait, what? Oh, _rowboats_. Who’s this broad Shannon, and if she’s so damn majestic, why does she let you call her a broad? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/23 "2014-08-22T20:17:58Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Aaaannnnd, I just found out that memories really aren’t ‘like’ the corners of my mind at all. They’re not!? :eek: Holy shit! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/24 "2014-08-22T20:21:31Z")
_Ten fingers in leather Sparks flying in the middle of the night It all comes together When they turn out the lights…_ It was years before I found out it’s _ **Head bangers** in leather_. :smack: [Sammy Hagar, _Heavy Metal_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_gOpU0eWU) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/25 "2014-08-22T20:25:25Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Aaaannnnd, I just found out that memories really aren’t ‘like’ the corners of my mind at all. > [@bup](#): > > They’re not!? :eek: Holy shit! Wow! It’s apparently “light” the corners of my mind. My mind was just lighted. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/26 "2014-08-22T20:31:57Z")
In honor of my dear departed mom’s birthday today, one of hers: Tom Petty’s “good love is hard to find” with the drawn-/drawled-out “good” became “silly willy love is hard to find”. She also referred to Dr. John as “The Night Crawler”. I love you, Mom! ---
**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:** [August 22, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/27 "2014-08-22T20:40:31Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It appears that you’re correct, but the first link I clicked on said “bailar, bailar”. Makes more sense the other way. > Double head smack for me. Either way, though, isn’t there a syllable missing? In your OP you stated what you’d thought was being sung: ba dah dah dah dah–five syllables. Which is what the song seems to have. (And I always heard it that way, too, by the way. :o) Maybe I’m showing my ignorance of Spanish pronunciation, but don’t both “bailar, bailar” and “para bailar” have only four syllables apiece? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/28 "2014-08-22T20:40:44Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Who’s this broad Shannon, and if she’s so damn majestic, why does she let you call her a broad? 😕 Shannon is gone, I heard. [☹](http://henrygross.com/s_lyrics.htm) CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/29 "2014-08-22T20:42:24Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I’ve never seen a warm wind strong enough to blow the stars around. :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/30 "2014-08-22T20:44:48Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Who’s this broad Shannon, and if she’s so damn majestic, why does she let you call her a broad? 😕 She’s ‘majestic’ _because_ she’s broad. The broad, majestic Shannon. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/31 "2014-08-22T20:45:10Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Shannon is gone, I heard. [☹](http://henrygross.com/s_lyrics.htm) > > CMC fnord! Drifting out to sea, I fear. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/32 "2014-08-22T20:49:43Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Shannon is gone, I heard. [☹](http://henrygross.com/s_lyrics.htm) > > CMC fnord! > [@Sherrerd](#): > > Drifting out to sea, I fear. Maybe she’ll find an island with a shady tree. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/33 "2014-08-22T20:49:46Z")
Love is **not** like a popsicle, even though if you get too much, you’ll get too high. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/34 "2014-08-22T20:51:28Z")
I tell you to enjoy life, I wish I could polastulate? (Must be a British word… not that OZZY was known for his diction.) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/35 "2014-08-22T20:52:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > From The Pogues, “Broad Majestic Shannon:” > > “So I walked as day was dawning > Where small birds sang and leaves were falling > Where we once watched the robots landing, > By the broad, majestic Shannon.” > > Wait, what? Oh, _rowboats_. Dammit! I always thought it was “robots”, and I liked it better that way! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/36 "2014-08-22T20:52:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Aaaannnnd, I just found out that memories really aren’t ‘like’ the corners of my mind at all. Of course they aren’t! They’re like the colours of my mind. Duh! _checks lyrics_ _slinks away_ :o ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/37 "2014-08-22T20:58:01Z")
Me, riding around with Mom about 1969 with the radio on: Mom: "So tell me, what exactly is a “chicken giraffe”? Me: wut? Mom: “She’s got a chicken giraffe, on the radio there”. Me: “It’s She’s got a TICKET TO RIDE”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/38 "2014-08-22T21:01:35Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > :smack: :smack: :smack: Make that :smack::smack::smack::smack: ---
**Author:** ![lew\_cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@lew\_cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lew_cody)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/39 "2014-08-22T21:29:28Z")
“Hot Stuff” has what seems to be a commonly misheard lyric, given the number of Internet hits I found. I heard it as “Wanna share my love with a woman lover, wanna bring a white man back home”. Perhaps disappointingly, it’s actually “warm-blooded lover” and “wild man”. In “Groovin’” by the Rascals, I tried to figure out who Leslie was supposed to be. A nod to Leslie Gore? Nope, the lyric is “You and me, endlessly…” ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/40 "2014-08-22T21:41:10Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Me, riding around with Mom about 1969 with the radio on: > > Mom: "So tell me, what exactly is a “chicken giraffe”? > > Me: wut? > > Mom: “She’s got a chicken giraffe, on the radio there”. > > Me: “It’s She’s got a TICKET TO RIDE”. Chicken giraffe? Now we’re getting a little far afield. Also, just like Beetlejuice, be careful with the “G” word. Me, it was always “what the hell is Elton John singing?” Now that I know what Bernie Taupin’s lyrics actually are, I can’t say it helps much. “You can’t plant me in your penthouse I’m going back to my plough Back to the howling old owl in the woods Hunting the horny back toad” :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=3)