# Lyrics with a flaw **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597 "2015-04-13T21:15:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/121 "2015-04-20T12:43:28Z")
Lynnyrd Skynnyrd, those mavens of literacy, in their song, “Gimme Three Steps”, sing, ``` Wait a minute mister! I didn't even kiss her! ``` The rhyme they missed was, “I never even kissed her!” ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/122 "2015-04-21T06:21:34Z")
This is from a couple of pages back but I didn’t see anybody clarifying the Hathaway line in “Classic” and I was surprised to find that nobody here had apparently heard of [A Song For You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeHiio1sTTI). Or am I being whooshed? It’s the only Hathaway song I can name and I thought it was one of his biggest hits. Besides, it has the lyric “I’ve made some bad rhymes” which is appropriate for this thread. Somebody already cited the one that I hate most which is Kid Rock rhyming “things” with “things” because it’s such a unique word with no possible other rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/123 "2015-04-21T15:07:24Z")
My favorite lyric of all time is from Eddie Money’s _Take Me Home Tonight_: > [@](#): > > I feel a hunger, > It’s a hunger! I laugh every time I hear it. Thanks for the elucidation, Eddie! ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/124 "2015-04-21T15:20:40Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > There’s a different category of bad lyric: the not enough words spread over too much song syndrome. Best example I can think of is Chicago’s “Beginnings.” I actually like this song a lot, but the lyrics do not pull their weight. Consider these lines: > > _When I kiss you > I feel a thousand different feelings. > The color of chills > All over my body_ > > Leaving aside whatever “color of chills” are, there is so much room in the arrangement that Robert Lamm has to stretch these words to ridiculous length; a transcription for how he sings that last “body” might go something like “BAH-day, ay, ay, AY, ay-ye-ay, ay-ye-ay, ay-ye-ay.” That’s fourteen syllables if you’re counting. For gods sake, think of some more words. Actually I think this can be a very effective device in pop music if used appropriately. Two examples I can think of are in Maurice Williams’ “Stay” (“Won’t you press your sweet sweet lips to mi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-ine…”) and the Skyliners’ “Since I Don’t Have You” (“I,I,I-I-I,I,I-I-I don’t have anything…”). (It’s interesting that both of those examples use nine syllables. Maybe nine is the upper allowable limit for melismatic syllables in a composition?) ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/125 "2015-04-22T01:44:43Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > This is from a couple of pages back but I didn’t see anybody clarifying the Hathaway line in “Classic” and I was surprised to find that nobody here had apparently heard of [A Song For You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeHiio1sTTI). Or am I being whooshed? It’s the only Hathaway song I can name and I thought it was one of his biggest hits. > > Besides, it has the lyric “I’ve made some bad rhymes” which is appropriate for this thread. > > Somebody already cited the one that I hate most which is Kid Rock rhyming “things” with “things” because it’s such a unique word with no possible other rhymes. This certainly fits the “Like Hathaway write a song for you” lyric And you have solved it. Though Hathaway did not write the song and was one of many singers to cover it, it was probably his “signature song.” I remember some American idol contestants doing that and it being referred to as a “Donny hathaway” song. Someone else asked what MKTO stood for. I had never heard of them until today, but it’s obviously their initials. The biggest revelation in this thread for me was the fact that the little kid from “Lost” is in a musical duo with hit songs. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/126 "2015-04-22T05:49:04Z")
“God Bless America” To the oceans, white with foam… God bless America, my home sweet home. You can tell they were trying to come up with something that rhymes with “home”. Then the problem with the triple rhyme. “Eve of Destruction” Your old enough to kill, but not for votin… You dont believe in war, but whats that gun your totin… Even the Jordan river has… bodies floatin… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/127 "2015-04-22T14:05:03Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Lerner and Loewe, _My Fair Lady_: > > "_People stop and stare, they don’t bother me > For there’s nowhere else on earth that I would rather be"_ > > Bother and rather do not rhyme. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooOL4T-BAg0) about modern rhyming techniques may be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/128 "2015-04-22T14:11:05Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Cotton Field,” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, has: > > _It was down in Louisiana, > Just about a mile from Texarkana, > In them old cotton fields back home._ > > Texarkana is a good 30 miles from the Louisiana state line. I love John Fogerty and think he’s probably one of the five or six best songwriters in American rock history, but that kind of inaccuracy is what happens when you’re from Northern California and spend a whole career writing songs about the South. :smack: John Fogerty: the Stephen Foster of rock and roll. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/129 "2015-04-22T14:13:34Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > You mentioned Kid Rock I thought you were going to go for “All Summer Long” > > And we were trying different things > We were smoking funny things > > Rhyming things with things. Genius. That song deserves to burn in hell for all eternity already, just for being a rewrite of “Sweet Home Alabama” that accidentally steals the wrong piano hook. Seriously, listen to it and it’s the piano riff from “Werewolves of London” stuck on top of the chord progression from “Sweet Home Alabama,” which it references lyrically. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/130 "2015-04-22T14:27:12Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > That song deserves to burn in hell for all eternity already, just for being a rewrite of “Sweet Home Alabama” that accidentally steals the wrong piano hook. Seriously, listen to it and it’s the piano riff from “Werewolves of London” stuck on top of the chord progression from “Sweet Home Alabama,” which it references lyrically. He admited it’s a mashup of “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Werewolves of London” as soon as he made it, so at least he isn’t trying to fool anybody. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/131 "2015-04-22T14:34:30Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > He admited it’s a mashup of “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Werewolves of London” as soon as he made it, so at least he isn’t trying to fool anybody. I’m glad he admits it. 😃 Still an awful song on several levels, though. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/132 "2015-04-22T14:45:12Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > I love John Fogerty and think he’s probably one of the five or six best songwriters in American rock history, but that kind of inaccuracy is what happens when you’re from Northern California and spend a whole career writing songs about the South. :smack: > > John Fogerty: the Stephen Foster of rock and roll. But as mentioned earlier, John Fogerty didn’t write that song. “Cotton Fields” was written by Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, who _was_ from Louisiana! ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/133 "2015-04-22T15:39:18Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > The lyrics for Anita Ward’s hit _Ring My Bell_ were, hopefully, written in less than five minutes. Possibly as the song was being recorded in the studio. The first verse contains this mindless gem: > > _Well lay back and relax while I put away the dishes._ Ok, sure, take your time. > > The second verse is even worse. Rhyming? Meter? Who gives a shit: > > _The night is young and full of possibilities > Well come on and let yourself be free > My love for you, so long I’ve been savin’ > Tonight was made for me and you_ Consider me enlightened. I never thought there were any other lyrics besides: “You can ring my bell. Ring my Bell. Ring a ling!” ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/134 "2015-04-22T15:47:52Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Any song that reverses the order of subject and object in order to force a rhyme, Yoda-style: > > “And when I’m with you I feel happy inside > It’s such a feeling that _ **my love I can’t hide!** _” I always thought he was addressing her as “my love.” Vis: “It’s such a feeling that, my love, I can’t hide.” ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/135 "2015-04-23T04:15:56Z")
“Kodachrome” by Simon and Garfunckel. Ir originally was supposed to be called “Going Home” but another song had that title so they just for a joke, switched it to “Kodachrome” and barely changed the rest of the lyrics and it worked out great. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597/136 "2015-04-23T04:52:58Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > “Kodachrome” by Simon and Garfunckel. > > Ir originally was supposed to be called “Going Home” but another song had that title so they just for a joke, switched it to “Kodachrome” and barely changed the rest of the lyrics and it worked out great. Just Simon. “Kodachrome” came out in 1973, three years after the breakup. (A few weeks ago, the local “Oldies”\* station made the same mistake. You’d think they’d know.) \*Oldies stations are supposed to play the music my mother grew up with, not the music I grew up with. Clearly their programming director needs a history lesson. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-with-a-flaw/717597.md?page=6)