# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/101 "2014-08-28T18:29:20Z")
Holy crap, it’s “There’s a warm wind blowin’, the stars are out…” I _just now learned this._ :eek: Seriously. I’m not kidding. For that matter, I always wondered what the big deal was about being “like a one-winged dove.” Wouldn’t it fly in circles? Oh…_white_-winged dove. That makes more sense… /slinks off to be embarrassed about the warm wind… ---
**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 28, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/102 "2014-08-28T18:31:12Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > 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! I think it’s just poetic manipulation for the sake of the song. “She’s got an airline ticket” doesn’t scan as well. ---
**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 28, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/103 "2014-08-28T18:41:19Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > For that matter, I always wondered what the big deal was about being “like a one-winged dove.” Wouldn’t it fly in circles? > > Oh…_white_-winged dove. That makes more sense… Heh. I thought it was “wild-winged dove.” ---
**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, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/104 "2014-08-28T20:23:43Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > 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! Which is when someone told me it was originally “ticket to Rye,” and they changed it for the American release, because they thought Americans wouldn’t know where Rye was, I believed it. Prior to that, I thought maybe “ticket to ride” was some British expression for a certain kind of ticket, like a 1st class ticket. Maybe whoever she is, she makes more money than the singer, or met a new, richer guy, and dumped the singer’s coach-riding ass. ---
**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, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/105 "2014-08-28T20:34:34Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > 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! This became part of a really geeky costume I made for a friend. A long-sleeved white T-shirt with visual puns of Beatles songs. A big map of the USSR across the back. A long winding road drawn on the sleeves with pennies glued on it. A sew-on patch of Peanuts Lucy on sky fabric with glue-on diamonds. And so on. Incredibly, he had a ticket stub from something called Ride and this was attached as well. 🙂 ---
**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, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/106 "2014-08-28T20:36:20Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > /slinks off to be embarrassed about the warm wind… What did you think he was not talkin’ 'bout? a) The linen b) Movin’ in c) Other ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/107 "2014-08-28T20:40:27Z")
I’m still angry that the Pogues did not really sing about the “robots landing” by the “broad majestic Shannon”. :mad: Another Pogues improvement: in Summer in Siam, the moon is full of “wrinkles”. Makes more sense than “rainbows”! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/108 "2014-08-28T20:53:39Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > What did you think he was not talkin’ 'bout? > > a) The linen > b) Movin’ in > c) Other Moo venom. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/109 "2014-08-28T21:15:38Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > What did you think he was not talkin’ 'bout? > > a) The linen > b) Movin’ in > c) Other I got that part right, thankfully. But I thought “warm wind blowin’ the stars around” was some sort of cheesy '70s attempt at being poetic. ---
**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 28, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/110 "2014-08-28T21:19:53Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > What did you think he was not talkin’ 'bout? > > a) The linen > b) Movin’ in > c) Other > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Moo venom. 🙂 Meridian. ---
**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 28, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/111 "2014-08-28T21:39:30Z")
I have to say that this thread has been educational. We’ve had other threads with misunderstood lyrics, but I don’t recall being surprised that I had so many wrong. 😃 ---
**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, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/112 "2014-08-28T21:48:41Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I got that part right, thankfully. But I thought “warm wind blowin’ the stars around” was some sort of cheesy '70s attempt at being poetic. I had both wrong for many years, and only got the correction on the linen when it came up in Long Kiss Goodnight when Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson argue about it. Otherwise I’d still be saying it today. The stars part I only realized a few years ago. ---
**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, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/113 "2014-08-28T21:49:35Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Another Pogues improvement: in Summer in Siam, the moon is full of “wrinkles”. Makes more sense than “rainbows”! Unless you’re on acid. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/114 "2014-08-29T04:05:35Z")
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=224&width=400&href=https://www.facebook.com/haroldwhiting/videos/10202479718975590/ (link goes to a video full of misheard lyrics with subtitles) ---
**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 29, 2014, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/115 "2014-08-29T09:40:09Z")
> [@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… I was being serious, but perhaps I should have explained that my misunderstanding of Jimi’s Puple Haze lyrics happened in my early teens, (back in the late '70’s early '80’s). I have since understood that this has been a prime example of a mondegreen, which I am also aware of and have read about. Don’t know, it seemed to fit the topic of the OP, maybe I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/116 "2014-08-29T11:44:11Z")
One to make up for La Bamba… There is a song which many people in Spain (and, apparently, other Spanish-speaking countries as well, since I’ve met cases from Venezuela and Ecuador) know as _Las maravillas de Maláy_, “the wonders of Malay”. We don’t know whether Malay is a place, a person or a food, but apparently it’s wonderful. Last night a DJ saved my life… (can’t link to it while on the VPN) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/117 "2014-08-29T11:49:10Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Okay (and thanks for that). But are you saying that one of those will sound like five syllables, due to the pattern of stresses? > > In the song it really does sound like five (not four) syllables being voiced before the first “la bamba.” They won’t sound like five, but since the song does call for five, one of the syllables does get turned into two: “pa-a-ra bai-lar…”, this kind of splitting works better when done on the stressed syllable. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/118 "2014-08-29T16:37:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Freddie Mercury > She’s a Killer Queen > **Gunpowder, gelatine** > Dynamite with a laser beam Until just this week, I thought the bolded was “Got my virginity.” I heard it in the car the other day and was like “WTF is he saying anyway?” and looked it up. ---
**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 29, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/119 "2014-08-29T16:52:55Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > 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_. Maybe I had it backwards… or maybe I was right all along. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216/120 "2014-08-29T16:59:40Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > Until just this week, I thought the bolded was “Got my virginity.” I heard it in the car the other day and was like “WTF is he saying anyway?” and looked it up. Thanks! I didn’t even have a substitute word for that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-bamba-and-other-songs-to-be-embarrassed-about/696216.md?page=7)