# Literal complaints at lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371 "2019-01-07T21:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/141 "2019-01-18T21:00:21Z")
Don’t get me wrong, I really like Sly and the Family Stone’s _Dance to the Music_, and you have to make the lyrics fit the melody. But every time I hear the bass player sing, “I’m gonna add some bottom, so there’s a dancer that just won’t hide,” I cringe a little. I’m sure you mean you don’t want _anybody_ to hide from dancing. But the way you’re saying it, only one dancer _isn’t_ hiding. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/142 "2019-01-18T22:29:51Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > INXS - “Never Tear Us Apart” > > “We could live > For a thousand years > But if I hurt you > I’d make wine from your tears.” > > You’d make wine from someone’s tears? What the hell’s wrong with you? From the same song: _I was standing You were there_ Wow, that paints quite a picture. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/143 "2019-01-19T03:23:53Z")
Dealing with death of a close one can take on many different forms of healing and therapy. But Yoko: starting off this wierdness with gun shots and then screaming is probably goofy as all fucking fuck. warning: [weird shit to ruin your evening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_59e9V1TEkI) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/144 "2019-01-19T14:36:35Z")
Another Tom Paxton one: Since the first amphibian crawled out of the slime, We’ve been struggling in an unrelenting climb. We were hardly up and walking before money started talking, And it said that failure is an awful crime. /come on, Tom! The better line would have been " We had barely started walking before money started talking." ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/145 "2019-01-23T23:58:42Z")
CSNY, you goddamned hippy fascists!!! “A new day, a new way.” (later) “Rejoice, rejoice, you have no choice.” Right then - hup hup hup hup come on everybody let’s go! No lagging! Flowers in our hair? Got enough patchouli on? Right amount of insouciant whimsy going on? Ok! Let’s go! hup hup hup hup! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/146 "2019-01-24T09:37:15Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Heh. When I sing that one at Karaoke, I end the song with > > _And good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye, > “Singin’ that’ll be the day-ay-ay – that I die.”_ The levee was a bar. That had given up or lost it’s liquor licence. And the good old boys were singing Buddy Holly’s song – That’ll be the day – because it was “the day the music died”: Feb 2, 1959 You just got to be a bit more literal… ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/147 "2019-01-27T02:03:02Z")
From George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set On You”: _But it’s gonna take money A whole lot of spending money It’s gonna take plenty of money To do it right, child_ He seems to make quite a fuss about this (the refrain’s repeated three times). Not sure if he’s going after a golddigger or what, but it does sound kinda…solicit-y, or something. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/148 "2019-01-27T18:58:04Z")
Is everybody _really_ Kung Fu fighting? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/149 "2019-01-27T23:41:17Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Is everybody _really_ Kung Fu fighting? If so, how fast were the kicks? Like, did they even break the sound barrier? (WAR! Huh! Yeah! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? Various things. Granted, _sometimes_ it’s a bad idea; but, strictly speaking, it sure seems to have its uses.) ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/150 "2019-01-28T06:57:15Z")
While it is more about pronunciation, [The Pixies - Allison](https://youtu.be/6yaeATCPwbQ) Allison is pronounced _al·​li·​son_ and I keep expecting _al·​li·​sion_, which is a nautical term for running into a stationary object or boat vs a _collision_ which is reserved for when two boats are moving. Allision al·​li·​sion | \ əˈlizhən, aˈ- : the running of one ship upon another ship that is stationary —distinguished from collision Funny enough all of the lyrics make sense if you do swap out the “son” for “sion” > [@](#): > > From distant star to this here bar > The me, the you, where are we now? > Hurray the blues of everyone > Allision > > Keeps a smile around a while > He took no fright and jettisoned > We’ll go tonight to hear him tell > “Oh well, Allision” > > And when the planet hit the sun > I saw the face of Allision > Allision, Allision, Allision, Allision ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/151 "2019-01-28T14:37:41Z")
“For there ain’t no one for to give you no pain” is probably the worst gramatical line in any song. And then it goes on: After nine days I let the horse run free 'Cause the desert had turned to sea There were plants and birds and rocks and things There was sand and hills and rings Things and rings in a sea? What the hell does that mean? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/152 "2019-01-28T14:41:34Z")
“I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger”, pains me also. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/153 "2019-01-28T16:43:38Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Don’t get me wrong, I really like Sly and the Family Stone’s _Dance to the Music_, and you have to make the lyrics fit the melody. > > But every time I hear the bass player sing, “I’m gonna add some bottom, so there’s a dancer that just won’t hide,” I cringe a little. I’m sure you mean you don’t want _anybody_ to hide from dancing. But the way you’re saying it, only one dancer _isn’t_ hiding. I hear this as “…so that the dancers just won’t hide,” and lyrics sites seem to agree. He puts a little “uh” before “just” which you’re interpreting as another word. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/154 "2019-01-28T21:21:16Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > “For there ain’t no one for to give you no pain” is probably the worst gramatical line in any song. And then it goes on: > > After nine days I let the horse run free > 'Cause the desert had turned to sea > There were plants and birds and rocks and things > There was sand and hills and rings > > Things and rings in a sea? What the hell does that mean? I still like the song though. I pay attention to lyrics, always have, but sometimes it just doesn’t matter. The early Beatles lyrics were pretty fluffy, but man do I like their melodies. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/155 "2019-01-29T15:12:04Z")
Why does Billy Joel’s Piano Man have internal rhymes in some verses and not in others. I consider that a major flaw in an otherwise perfect song. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/156 "2019-01-31T03:34:11Z")
“It’s better to burn out, than to fade away.” Sorry, Niel - not really seeing a whole metric ton of degrees of separation between the two concepts. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/157 "2019-01-31T04:11:51Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > “It’s better to burn out, > than to fade away.” > > Sorry, Niel - not really seeing a whole metric ton of degrees of separation between the two concepts. Really? Maybe you’re too young to understand how much worse fading away is than burning out. Trust me, it’s not the same thing at all. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/158 "2019-01-31T05:34:26Z")
Can you elaborate? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/159 "2019-01-31T05:37:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > “For there ain’t no one for to give you no pain” is probably the worst gramatical line in any song. And then it goes on: > > After nine days I let the horse run free > 'Cause the desert had turned to sea > There were plants and birds and rocks and things > There was sand and hills and rings > > Things and rings in a sea? What the hell does that mean? Not as out there as: So please believe in me When I say I’m spinning round, round, round, round Smoke glass stain’d bright colors Image going down, down, down, down Soapsud green like bubbles Rock music lyrics frequently are just put there because they sound like they fit. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371/160 "2019-01-31T05:44:01Z")
heh - quite missed edit window I would gather burning out would be the same as being strung out, and basically spent from the whole experience, in a deleterious way, as opposed to fading away, which, sure, is a loss in popularity, but simply the end of a chapter that at least doesn’t involve being strung out, per se. That’s about the best I can glean from this, so I’m curious what your (KayT) take is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literal-complaints-at-lyrics/827371.md?page=9)