# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/81 "2014-08-26T19:27:53Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > 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. Now that you’ve set the stage by identifying the mythological Medusa, perhaps [this poem](http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/medusa-2/) will send chills up your back the way it did for me the first time I read it. ---
**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 26, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/82 "2014-08-26T19:43:47Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Which song is that? [Treat Him Well](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/abba/heisyourbrother.html) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/83 "2014-08-26T20:25:42Z")
And there’s a wino down the road… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/84 "2014-08-26T20:29:23Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > And there’s a wino down the road… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/85 "2014-08-26T21:08:52Z")
I just saw or heard about two years ago that it’s not because your kiss is on my lips… ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/86 "2014-08-27T21:48:53Z")
You don’t need a pinhead just to hang around… ---
**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 27, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/87 "2014-08-27T22:31:13Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > You don’t need a pinhead just to hang around… It took me awhile to figure that one out, too. But Fogerty, along with Kenny Loggins, has always been indecipherable. And don’t get me started on Michael McDonald: I never knew that he didn’t come from “somewhere back in the Largo”. :rolleyes: ---
**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 27, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/88 "2014-08-27T22:42:23Z")
I could never figure out what Lionel Ritchie was saying in between “we’re going to party” and “fiesta forever” in _All Night Long_. But the recent beer commercials using the song have let me learn that it’s “karamu” (a Swahili word, apparently). My best guess for years was that Ritchie had maybe misread “carouse” on the lyrics sheet, or was pronouncing it funny: “carousal” or something. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/89 "2014-08-27T23:16:38Z")
Long ago, there was an Italian song about two American cars, Volare and Nell Blue the Pinto. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/90 "2014-08-28T00:14:33Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > \ > > 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. \ There’s an [xkcd](http://www.xkcd.com/1406/)for 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 28, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/91 "2014-08-28T01:03:59Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > You don’t need a pinhead just to hang around… Dinosaur Patrolmen. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/92 "2014-08-28T01:19:02Z")
I just found out yesterday,\* yesterday\* for OG’s sake, that Dion was singing “my two fists of iron” in **The Wanderer**. For 50 damn years I’ve been singing “well the truth is divine but I’m going nowhere”. Taking a shower will never be the same. I should have my doo-wop license revoked. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/93 "2014-08-28T01:21:53Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > I tell you to enjoy life, I wish I could polastulate? (Must be a British word… not that OZZY was known for his diction.) [I’ll say](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TPYI_Y3pWw) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/94 "2014-08-28T06:33:26Z")
I thought the song New Rock Hero was called Juke Box Hero. Until my sister showed me the lyrics of the Journey song “Don’t Stop Believing” I thought it was a depressing song. ---
**Author:** ![NiceGuyJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/niceguyjack/32/3069_2.png) [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/95 "2014-08-28T08:22:03Z")
I remember singing along to Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, but the line; “Excuse me while I kiss this guy!” seemed so strange and out of place, so I remember looking it up only to find the words are actually; “Excuse me while I kiss the sky!” It made more sense sort of, but I’ve heard that this particular line of Purple Haze has been misunderstood by quite a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/96 "2014-08-28T12:49:21Z")
> [@NiceGuyJack](#): > > I remember singing along to Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, but the line; “Excuse me while I kiss this guy!” seemed so strange and out of place, so I remember looking it up only to find the words are actually; “Excuse me while I kiss the sky!” > It made more sense sort of, but I’ve heard that this particular line of Purple Haze has been misunderstood by quite a lot of people. Judging from your Join Date I’d assume you’re funning with us. But just in case you’re being serious, you might enjoy [Mondegreen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen) which includes _kiss this guy_ as one of the prime examples… ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/97 "2014-08-28T13:36:56Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I thought the song New Rock Hero was called Juke Box Hero. Maybe I’m being whooshed here, but I can’t find a song titled _New Rock Hero_. There IS a song by Foreigner called _Juke Box Hero_. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/98 "2014-08-28T14:31:41Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Judging from your Join Date I’d assume you’re funning with us. But just in case you’re being serious, you might enjoy [Mondegreen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen) which includes _kiss this guy_ as one of the prime examples… And the archive of misheard lyrics is called [http://www.kissthisguy.com](http://www.kissthisguy.com) . ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/99 "2014-08-28T17:47:23Z")
> [@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”. It doesn’t matter. I’ve never understood what “ticket to ride” meant anyway. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/100 "2014-08-28T17:51:26Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > It doesn’t matter. I’ve never understood what “ticket to ride” meant anyway. 😕 And I have yet to learn that, too! I figured it was either a token to ride public transport or else there was some place named Ride! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=6)