# One Little Bit of Vocal Phrasing In A Song That Overshadows The Entire Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088 "2005-02-27T01:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/41 "2005-02-28T04:06:56Z")
FAA-AA-AA-AA-AA-AA-AME… ---
**Author:** ![midget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@midget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midget)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/42 "2005-02-28T04:57:02Z")
> [@Kantalooppi](#): > > I Am Iron Man Before I ever heard the song, I always heard people quoting this line. When I actually got around to listening to it, I’ll be damned if he NEVER says that. Am I missing some? Here’s the lyrics: [http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/black-sabbath/19426.html](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/black-sabbath/19426.html) ---
**Author:** ![meara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/43 "2005-02-28T04:57:02Z")
For some reason, I always hear: Blinded by the light… Wrapped up like a douche, another motor in the night… I have no idea what the real words are, but I’m pretty sure those aren’t they. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![midget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@midget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midget)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/44 "2005-02-28T05:03:27Z")
Ahem… \*Am I missing someTHING ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/45 "2005-02-28T05:10:42Z")
> [@midget](#): > > Before I ever heard the song, I always heard people quoting this line. When I actually got around to listening to it, I’ll be damned if he NEVER says that. Am I missing some? Yes. Before the famous riff, he says it in a distorted, mechanical-sounding voice. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/46 "2005-02-28T05:28:35Z")
> [@meara](#): > > For some reason, I always hear: > > Blinded by the light… > Wrapped up like a douche, another motor in the night… > > I have no idea what the real words are, but I’m pretty sure those aren’t they. :eek: Dude, the kids on my floor have been trying to figure that out since the start of last term. It’s practically legendary. So, no help from me, but commiseration. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![midget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@midget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midget)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/47 "2005-02-28T05:34:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes. Before the famous riff, he says it in a distorted, mechanical-sounding voice. Ah, that would make sense. Guess my dl’d copy was cut a little short ---
**Author:** ![thewombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@thewombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thewombat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/48 "2005-02-28T05:43:56Z")
\*\*LilyoftheValley \*\*- you’re lucky. A former boss of mine would always replace “to me” with “jetski”. To me, that song will always be about a man who thinks his Jetski is so beautiful. I can’t hear anything else now! Also… too much. MAGIC BUS! And the whistle from Dock of the Bay. ---
**Author:** ![lunarnoodle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@lunarnoodle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lunarnoodle)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/49 "2005-02-28T05:55:04Z")
eight six seven five three oh nye eeee eye ein I think the quintessential one was “Maaaaaaaaurice waaah wwaugh” ---
**Author:** ![Leroy\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Leroy\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leroy_Brown)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/50 "2005-02-28T06:52:13Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > Dude, the kids on my floor have been trying to figure that out since the start of last term. It’s practically legendary. So, no help from me, but commiseration. 🙂 It’s “Wrapped up like a deuce in the middle of the night.” watever that means. I don’t have a source, but I remember thinking “oh, **deuce** that makes sense…no wait, it doesn’t!” BTW, The Boss wrote the lyrics. I haven’t heard his version, but lyric sites have him singing “Cut loose like a deuce…” and other Manfred Mann sites have them singing “Revved up like a deuce…” The version I think we all know have “Wrapped up like a deuce…” I just dug some more and found out [what a deuce is](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=964). Nope, Manfred Mann’s version still makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Leroy\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Leroy\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leroy_Brown)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/51 "2005-02-28T06:55:54Z")
Sorry, should read: “Wrapped up like a deuce another runner in the night.” :smack: I’m tired, goodnight. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/52 "2005-02-28T08:40:24Z")
You’re bad, **Leroy Brown**. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/53 "2005-02-28T11:01:57Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I love ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down,” but I grit my teeth when they sing **BRRRRRRUCE!** Yes, I know it isn’t really “Bruce,” but by gum, it sounds like “Bruce,” and the way they sing it has spoiled the name “Bruce” forever, in my mind. And the name “Bruce” wasn’t in very good standing in my mind to begin with. So what the heck IS that word that’s not ‘Bruce’? 🙂 It’s all I’ve ever heard in there. All this time I thought it was a really stupid lyric, and I’ve just been mishearing it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/54 "2005-02-28T11:36:29Z")
I thought that had been discussed on these boards before and that it IS “bruce” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/55 "2005-02-28T11:38:28Z")
According to [here](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Don't-Bring-Me-Down-lyrics-Electric-Light-Orchestra/2DD753480D06F59448256AB80011ACFE) it is bruce. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/56 "2005-02-28T12:03:34Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Threemartiniquarterhour > Listentoyourselfchurn > Continentaldriftdivide > LEONARD BERNSTEIN! _Ahem_ … “The other night I dreamt of knives, continental drift divide: moutains sit in a line, LEONARD BERNSTEIN…” ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/57 "2005-02-28T12:06:10Z")
And as for my own pick, I choose Tori Amos’ _Leather_, wherein she decides to do a weird Sean Connery / 30s gangster impersonation. “I almost ran over an angel: _he had a naish big fat shigar_.” No good reason to do that line in that style, and it annoys the hell out of me. It might be my least favorite moment on the whole album. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/58 "2005-02-28T13:59:49Z")
Kind of obscure. But. In “Oh, Atlanta” by Allison Krause, at the end of the chorus– “No need to worry There ain’t no hurry cause I’m On my way back to Georgia” –she makes “Georgia” into a four-syllable word that sounds something like “Jabudjijah.” Maybe it’s secret code or something, but almost nobody identifies it as “Georgia” on first or 30th listen. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/59 "2005-02-28T14:02:00Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > No good reason to do that line in that style, and it annoys the hell out of me. The reason, I think, is that you can’t deliver the line “nice big fat cigar” straight-up, especially with the tone of the song being what it is. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088/60 "2005-02-28T14:07:06Z")
SSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN-ta Claus is comin’ to town. Try to find a post-Bruce cover that sings it the original way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-little-bit-of-vocal-phrasing-in-a-song-that-overshadows-the-entire-song/292088.md?page=4)