# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/61 "2014-08-23T00:38:46Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I’ve been listening to “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” and I swear Dan Seals really _is_ singing “There’s a warm wind blowin’ the stars around.” That’s what I always thought he was saying too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/62 "2014-08-23T01:49:46Z")
> [@lew\_cody](#): > > 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…” I just figured it code for some drug like LSD sort of like Mary Jane for marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/63 "2014-08-23T14:57:46Z")
One ton tomato… She ate a one ton tomato… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/64 "2014-08-23T16:10:56Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Apropos of nothing, the first line scans perfectly to: > > ♫♪ “What are the words to La Bamba?” ♫♪ Actually, the real words are 4 syllables and what you suggest is 5, so it doesn’t scan perfectly–you’d have to add another beat to fill it in. Of course, the most popular example from my generation is Peter Gabriel’s **Games Without Frontiers** , where the children are _not_ singing “She’s So Popular” but actually “Jeux Sans Frontiere” (or the title of the song, but in French). ---
**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 23, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/65 "2014-08-23T16:15:45Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > One ton tomato… > She ate a one ton tomato… _Juan ate the mierda Juaquin and Juan ate the mierda_ ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/66 "2014-08-23T17:09:57Z")
> [@lew\_cody](#): > > 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…” I heard this yesterday. A threeway would be ecstasy, right? _“Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie”_ Now you’ve ruined it! \ ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/67 "2014-08-23T19:14:33Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > I heard this yesterday. A threeway would be ecstasy, right? > > _“Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie”_ > > Now you’ve ruined it! \ :smack: Oh, I’m dyin’ here! That’s what I always thought it was about, too! Free love, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/68 "2014-08-25T02:57:48Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > 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: This is actually my #1 nominee for a thread about “That really is what he’s saying!” Followed by And now it’s all right. It’s OK. And you may look the other way. We can try to understand The New York Times’ effect on man. Is that really what he’s saying?! What does it mean? ---
**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:** [August 25, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/69 "2014-08-25T03:13:36Z")
_New York Magazine_ is a slightly lower brow version of _The New Yorker_, or maybe _The Village Voice_ without the polemics. The movie _Saturday Night Fever_ was inspired by a series of articles on the night life of the working class in _NYM_– up until then, most media coverage focused on wealthy people, or at least on the middle class. There was sort of a buzz around after the articles about the economic force that the working class was, and how they were overlooked. There may have been articles in the _NYT_ as well, but I think it just scanned better than “New York Magazine.” Anyway, the line has to do with the back and forth play between the media as merely a reflection of what is happening, and a driving force. If the song were written now, it’d probably say something about Facebook, or Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/70 "2014-08-25T04:32:20Z")
My mom had a problem hearing Kenny Loggins correctly back in the late '70s and early '80s, which were his heyday. The one I remember most was “I’m on fire don’t nobody worry 'bout me” And I can’t remember which Dan Fogleberg song it was, but she was sure that some lady had married an army tent that kept her warm at night. To be fair, she thought this made sense because _Private Benjamin_ was a big hit at the time so “woman in the army” movie and “woman in the army” song somehow seemed coherent and likely to her. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/71 "2014-08-25T06:10:34Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Apropos of nothing, the first line scans perfectly to: > > ♫♪ “What are the words to La Bamba?” ♫♪ Holy shit, an old buddy of mine had a pick up band [and a Puerto Rican wife] and he did the funniest filk of La Bamba that started out exactly like that! Went something like: What are the words to La Bamba I don’t know, I just don’t know, I just don’t know \ I haven’t thought about Glen and Venus for years! [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/72 "2014-08-25T10:28:56Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > “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” He’s a country boy that’s been dragged (drug?) off to the city. He wants to leave the lady that made him her boytoy and go home to his charming and quaint country passtimes. She wants to keep him in her penthouse, he wants to go back to the farm. Back to the woods and the wildlife and the sounds of that wildlife (howling old owl), back to the fun ways to spend his time (hunting the horny back toad). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/73 "2014-08-25T11:01:01Z")
There ought to be clowns in this thread. Maybe next year. Seriously, though, Google’s search engine has really gotten good. I heard a song in French on the radio the other day. My French is very limited, but I really thought the repeated line (and thus, probably, the name of the song) was “Sans Blague Pour Moi” (no kidding for me??). Typing that into Google, though, just produced dozens of hits for “Ça Plane Pour Moi” (that works for me). At first I was mad at Google – do what I’m telling you to do, darn it! Turns out it knows what I’m looking for better than I do. It was gently correcting me. It is indeed Ça Plane. ---
**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 25, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/74 "2014-08-25T14:45:46Z")
My ex-wife thought the ABBA song line was: “Sleeping Willie is your brother. . .” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/75 "2014-08-25T14:56:31Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > One ton tomato… > She ate a one ton tomato… That never sounded like what they were singing, to me. I think my father was closer when he interpreted it as _One ton of metal…_ My wife knows it’s not the way the lyrics go, but she swears every time she hears it she thinks that at the beginning of _La Isla Bonita_ Madonna is singing: _Last Night I dreamed of Salt Bagels…_ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/76 "2014-08-25T15:16:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I thought the lyric was _ **Para** bailar La Bamba_. > > ‘To dance The Bamba, you need a little grace…’ > > . _Yo tambien._ ---
**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:** [August 26, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/77 "2014-08-26T18:20:04Z")
I hope it’s OK to post this here. I always wondered something about a lyric in “Electric Blues,” from _Hair_. This is a song I didn’t hear until the CD came out, because it was cut from the cast LP, for length. There’s a verse that goes like this: _We’re all encased in sonic armor Beltin’ it out through chrome grenades Miles and miles of medusan chord The electronic sonic boom_ And I always wondered what the hell “medusan cord” was? Now, finally, I did hear someone call cables bound together with lots of cables coming out of one plug a [Medusa cord](http://static.webshopapp.com/shops/005269/files/008011764/goal-zero-medusa-usb-cable.jpg), but it was a USB plug on one end, with every conceivable device plug on the other. Obviously, that’s not what the song is about, but maybe the computer plug name is borrowed from a term for graphic equalizer plugs of the types that bands used-- you know, professional bands who had a mixer as part of the group. That would probably be older than the musical\* Hair\*. Can anyone verify that? ---
**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:** [August 26, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/78 "2014-08-26T18:21:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > My ex-wife thought the ABBA song line was: “Sleeping Willie is your brother. . .” Which song is that? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/79 "2014-08-26T18:26:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I hope it’s OK to post this here. > > I always wondered something about a lyric in “Electric Blues,” from _Hair_. This is a song I didn’t hear until the CD came out, because it was cut from the cast LP, for length. > > There’s a verse that goes like this: > > _We’re all encased in sonic armor > Beltin’ it out through chrome grenades > Miles and miles of medusan chord > The electronic sonic boom_ > > And I always wondered what the hell “medusan cord” was? > > Now, finally, I did hear someone call cables bound together with lots of cables coming out of one plug a [Medusa cord](http://static.webshopapp.com/shops/005269/files/008011764/goal-zero-medusa-usb-cable.jpg), but it was a USB plug on one end, with every conceivable device plug on the other. Obviously, that’s not what the song is about, but maybe the computer plug name is borrowed from a term for graphic equalizer plugs of the types that bands used-- you know, professional bands who had a mixer as part of the group. That would probably be older than the musical\* Hair\*. > > Can anyone verify that? I dunno if the term refers to a specific technical thing. As you probably know, “Medusa” was a mythological woman with snakes for hair, and “medusan” refers to a jellyfish - because its long tangled tentacles resemble that figure; so “medusan” is probably just a visual image - a bunch of sprawling cords. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/80 "2014-08-26T19:25:31Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Maxwell Jump! Go ahead and jump! I always thought he was standing there with his back “against the wrecking machine.” Like in a scrapyard or something. I also thought that ACDC were doing dirty deeds in a Dunder Jeep. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=5)