# She said there is no reason, and the truth is plain to see **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655 "2014-10-27T15:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/41 "2014-10-31T00:36:32Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Don’t turn this into a composer pun thread; I don’t think I could handel that. Are you telling me I should lay orff the puns? B, zay it ain’t so! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/42 "2014-10-31T12:32:29Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I’ve long thought that some of John Lennon’s lyrics of that time (think “I Am The Walrus” and “Strawberry Fields”, for examples), besides the above mentioned influences of mine, was also Lennon playing with the sounds and rhythms of the lyrics and not the meanings of the words at all. I read some time ago that Lennon had received a fan letter telling how one of the Beatles’ earlier songs had been analyzed in the fan’s class (symbolism and all). He found that hilarious and decided to write a song with the most absurd lyrics possible to give future analyzers some food for thought, and came up with “I Am The Walrus”. Sorry, no cite, can’t remember where I read it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/43 "2014-10-31T13:41:39Z")
Way too late to edit, but Wiki confirms my memory about the writing of [“I Am The Walrus”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_the_Walrus#Composition). > [@Robert163](#): > > conversly, i’ve heard david bowie would actually change up the order of lines of lyrics to just get a random effect., the point being there was a lot of experimenting with lyrics/music in that era. In the very interesting BBC documentary [“Cracked Actor”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377047/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) from 1975, in one segment he explains and shows how he uses the [cut-up technique](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut-up_technique) to write songs. ETA: Here’s the [segment.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1InCrzGIPU) ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/44 "2014-10-31T13:51:55Z")
[Here’s a scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNXpNwnjgjk) from _The Commitments_ (referenced upthread by **Miss Mapp** ) that includes a discussion of the melody’s origin as well as the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/45 "2014-10-31T16:00:14Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > [Here’s a scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNXpNwnjgjk) from _The Commitments_ (referenced upthread by **Miss Mapp** ) that includes a discussion of the melody’s origin as well as the lyrics. That’s an odd exchange, though, because AWSOP has nothing to do with Marvin Gaye. The character undoubtedly meant Percy Sledge: “When a Man Loves a Woman” came out a year before AWSOP and bears a clear resemblance, which Procol’s Gary Brooker acknowledges. Was the error intentional? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/46 "2014-10-31T16:07:57Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > That’s an odd exchange, though, because AWSOP has nothing to do with Marvin Gaye. The character undoubtedly meant Percy Sledge: “When a Man Loves a Woman” came out a year before AWSOP and bears a clear resemblance, which Procol’s Gary Brooker acknowledges. Was the error intentional? Later on, he makes the same mistake while in the confessional, and the priest gently corrects him. “It’s Percy Sledge… I have that particular album.” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/47 "2014-10-31T16:35:55Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > Later on, he makes the same mistake while in the confessional, and the priest gently corrects him. “It’s Percy Sledge… I have that particular album.” Thank you! It’s been a \*long \*time since I saw the film. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/48 "2014-10-31T16:52:18Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Thank you! It’s been a \*long \*time since I saw the film. [This essay](http://alanparker.com/essay/introduction-to-henry-scott-irvines-procol-harum-ghosts-of-a-whiter-shade-of-pale/) by _The Commitments_ director Alan Parker explains the mistake (and the correction) … it’s a good read about _A Whiter Shade of Pale._ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/49 "2014-11-01T00:04:07Z")
I thought it was obvious it was about a guy whose date got drunk and sick at a party. If they then got high and had sex, well, it’s not like that never happened before, it being the 60s. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/50 "2014-11-18T17:11:55Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Are you telling me I should lay orff the puns? B, zay it ain’t so! Okay, you’re all on my Liszt. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655/51 "2014-11-20T07:45:32Z")
Well, you will agree that puns in threads are Pärt and Purcell of the SDMB experience… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-said-there-is-no-reason-and-the-truth-is-plain-to-see/702655.md?page=2)