# Most Irritating Weird/Affected Pronunciation In A Song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974 "2006-04-09T17:30:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/101 "2006-04-11T14:09:34Z")
[QUOTE=WOOKINPANUB"…but it just may be a LOOOOOnatic you’re lookin’ for" .[/QUOTE] But that is the way “lunatic” is supposed to be pronounced. LOO-nah-tick. You have to at least give them the latitude to extend syllables and vowels to fit the song’s music. Now, if Avril Lavigne had sang that song she would have said “Lee-oo-nah-tick,” which would be bad. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/102 "2006-04-11T14:36:05Z")
> [@Guy Incongnito](#): > > Green Day are from Berkeley. To be accurate, they are from Oakland, which is nowhere near being “suburban”. I hate to defend Green Day, but some Californians can sound pretty funky. Though most Californians speak network standard, there is a California accent and it can get pretty thick- I know I’ve got one. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/103 "2006-04-11T15:02:10Z")
It’s not a pronunciation, but a failed attempt to make a lyric fit a melody: “I - could - not - fore - see - this - thing - hap - pen - ing - to - you - u,” Rolling Stones, “Paint it Black.” Still sucking after 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/104 "2006-04-11T15:07:02Z")
Urgh- **Snow Patrol** and **Van Morrison**. There is a reason most Northern Irish people try not to sing with Norn Irn accents. It is the definitive vowel-mangling accent and when the put-on American accent slips, it just gets nasty. Fairly becomes Furrly Head becomes Hey-ad House becomes Hoy-se Hours becomes Arrs Out becomes Oyt Here become Hee-arr yuck, yuck, yuck. ---
**Author:** ![MsMitey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@MsMitey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsMitey)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/105 "2006-04-11T15:24:09Z")
In Sublime’s _What I Got_, you have I think the worst example of this: Love is what I got Don’t start a riot For one thing, it’s a dumb lyric. But then he has to force the pronunciation of riot as “RYE-ot” just to make it fit. Bugs the crap out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/106 "2006-04-11T16:15:20Z")
I don’t know how much it counts as far as pronounciation, but if it does, I have the winner. Maybe it should win anyway, like an anti-Rio by Duran Duran: SANTA BABY Aaargh! ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/107 "2006-04-11T19:03:40Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Just wanted to point out–I said I can’t find a better cite, but hey, this _is_ William Labov being quoted at the cite I gave… Hey, took Linguistics 101 & 102 with Labov! He also paid me a bit to get samples of my accent. In any event, I believe the New Orleans accent described is know n as “Yat.” ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/108 "2006-04-11T19:52:29Z")
There’s this TV commercial that adapts “Our House” by Madness, but the new lyrics are so ill-suited that words repeatedly wind up awkwardly hurried or accented on the wrong syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/109 "2006-04-11T20:02:08Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > There’s this TV commercial that adapts “Our House” by Madness, but the new lyrics are so ill-suited that words repeatedly wind up awkwardly hurried or accented on the wrong syllable. Uggh. You just reminded me of that Applebee’s ad that parodies the Gilligan’s Island theme. They rhyme “skewer” with “three-hour tour [pronounced ‘tewer’].” I know it’s intentionally bad. That doesn’t prevent it from being really annoying. In fact, it might be making it worse. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/110 "2006-04-11T20:19:22Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Good one. I’ve always wondered why someone who’s apparently on a riverboat on the Mississippi, having previously been in Memphis and New Orleans, sings like they’re from Jersey. Well according to John Kennedy Toole (Confederacy of Dunces) people from New Orleans do ideed sound just like people for Jorsy. How sad! (I should say I’m from New Jersey …but I don’t sound like that! I swear!) Anyway no doubt someone else has made that point and I missed it. My attetion span is not what it should be. If so I apologize. But it’s worth mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/111 "2006-04-12T12:44:29Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > To be accurate, they are from Oakland, which is nowhere near being “suburban”. > > I hate to defend Green Day, but some Californians can sound pretty funky. Though most Californians speak network standard, there is a California accent and it can get pretty thick- I know I’ve got one. Thank you for the correction. Problem is, I’ve heard Billie Joe interviewed on VH1 or wherever and he talks like someone from Earth, which is not how he sings. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/112 "2006-04-12T13:06:40Z")
> [@lee](#): > > Styx _Mr. Roboto_, Why does he say “I am a modren man”? Were two letters switched in the sheet music? _Take a gander at the store At the present day store At the mod-ren store At the present-day, mod-ren De-part-mentalized GROC’ry store!_ –“Rock Island”, rhythmic recitation from _The Music Man_ (Meredith Willson, 1957) (The show is supposed to be taking placed in the Midwest in 1912, so maybe people said it there and then, too. Dunno.) > [@](#): > > One doesn’t spell a note. One does if one’s writing music. Frixample, C# may also be “spelled” Db. Same pitch, different roles in theory. You need C# to make the key signature of D; you need Db to make the key signature of Ab. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/113 "2006-04-18T09:41:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “Adieu, adieu > to yieu, and yieu, and yieu…” > > It’s supposed to be “to you, and you, and you…” of course, but that had to get it to rhyme. Except it’s not a forced rhyme for the sake of rhyming; it’s a forced rhyme for humorous effect. The kid’s dad makes an “Oh, you…” gesture at him, the other adults laugh, and the kid smirks as he exits. [off-topic]What irks **me** about that scene is when the oldest girl says, “I’d like to stay and taste my first champagne?” and her dad responds with an emphatic “No.” Puh-leaze. She was 16 in 1930s Europe; she would have had her first champagne at **12**.[/o-t] Anyway, irritating pronounciations. “Right Down the Line” by Steely Dan. “Hoo-man” for “woman”? WTF? ---
**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:** [April 18, 2006, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/114 "2006-04-18T12:15:46Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Anyway, irritating pronounciations. “Right Down the Line” by Steely Dan. “Hoo-man” for “woman”? WTF? Can’t blame Steely Dan for that one; it’s Gerry Rafferty. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/115 "2006-04-18T14:05:13Z")
> [@gallows fodder](#): > > Preach it, sister! She’s the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this thread’s title. I’m a fan, but even I have to admit that she actually deserves some kind of lifetime achievement award for screwy pronunciations in songs. Maybe she was frightened by a phonetics class at an early age, but sometimes listening to her mangle language is unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/116 "2006-04-18T14:10:04Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > I’m a fan, but even I have to admit that she actually deserves some kind of lifetime achievement award for screwy pronunciations in songs. > > Maybe she was frightened by a phonetics class at an early age, but sometimes listening to her mangle language is unbearable. I noticed after this posted that there is no mention of who this is reference to. As if there could be any doubt: Tori Amos ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/117 "2006-04-18T17:59:46Z")
“And when I get excited my little **China Girl** says oh baby just you shut your mouse” ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/118 "2006-04-18T21:46:13Z")
> [@lee](#): > > Styx _Mr. Roboto_, Why does he say “I am a modren man”? Were two letters switched in the sheet music? No, no, no. Mr. Roboto is quite clearly a **[modron](http://www.geocities.com/findorian/Campaign/2-Races/A8.htm)**! My vote is a rather obscure one. In the song “Seven Lives” by In Strict Confidence, the singer (whoever he is) bafflingly pronounces “ressurrect” as “RE-surrect.” Like what you’d do if you accidentally “unsurrected” something and wanted it surrected again. He also rhymes it with “neck,” but that kind of works. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/119 "2006-04-18T22:08:08Z")
> [@MsMitey](#): > > In Sublime’s _What I Got_, you have I think the worst example of this: > Love is what I got > Don’t start a riot > > For one thing, it’s a dumb lyric. But then he has to force the pronunciation of riot as “RYE-ot” just to make it fit. Bugs the crap out of me. 😕 That’s the way I pronounce ‘riot’. How do you say it? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/120 "2006-04-19T04:19:17Z")
**James Reyne** , ex lead singer of **Australian Crawl** , has the be the king of this. Some samples: _Things Don’t Seem_ (universally known as “The Transistor Song” because the first line sounds so much like “Transistor”) THAAAANGS justa DOWWWN’T seema Ter be QUAHT RAHT \ _Indisposed_ Wanna tell you 'bout my frienda He got hit by a fender But he’ll soon be on the menda He’s of the male gender Glad to see that he’s on his way He’s not for burial today Because he’s in… he’s indesPOWsed Because he’s in yeah yeah… he’s indesPOWsed Found him outside the dry cleaners Oh the driver’s misdemeanors I’ve never seen a face so greena He looks a like the cats dinner \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974.md?page=7)