# Song goofs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901 "2007-03-07T02:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/41 "2007-03-08T16:05:56Z")
Sting, “Mad About You”. It’s a beautiful song, but one line makes me cringe every time I hear it: “And though I claim \*dominions \*over all I see…” The only instance in which you can correctly add an “s” to that word is when you’re discussing multiple locations of a particular Canadian grocery store, and that’s really pushing it… ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/42 "2007-03-08T16:18:31Z")
Creative spelling usually doesn’t bother me (paging “Cum On Feel the Noize”) but this one does… Oasis has a song where each line of the chorus begins “Around our way, …” So they decided to title the song “Round Are Way.” _Round_ short for _around_ is pretty standard, but _are_ for _our_? There’s no reason for it, and it makes the title look grammatically retarded. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2007, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/43 "2007-03-08T16:33:33Z")
This isn’t really a goof but I might as well post it anyway. I love the Bangles song “The Real World”, but there’s one thing that bugs me: they pronounce the word “insecure” as “insecurr”. It’s already a great song, but it would be even better if they didn’t pronounce it like that. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/44 "2007-03-08T16:47:27Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Rieux] He’s got to be tied with Jim Morrison for "least literate lyricist " ever. [/QUOTE] Before you go slamming Morrison as “illiterate”–which is obvious bullshit anyway–note that two of the three Doors songs mentioned so far in this thread have lyrics by Robbie Krieger, not Morrison. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/45 "2007-03-08T16:59:56Z")
I’ve got two: _Happy Together_ by The Turtles. **Me and you, and you and me, No matter how they toss the dice, It had to be _The only one for me is you And you for me_ So happy together** What he means is that they are the only ones for each other. But all he says is that she is the only one for him TWICE. It should go: “The only one for me is you, and you, IS me.” _Dumas Walker_ by The Kentucky Headhunters. **He takes all his orders down one at a time Don’t need a pad, he’s got a PHOTOGENIC mind**. Uh…his brain looks good in photos? I think what they mean to refer to is a photoGRAPHIC memory (but I’d accept “mind” for “memory” for the sake of the rhyme). I love the song, but that little mistake gets on my nerves anyway! ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/46 "2007-03-08T17:19:02Z")
The Metallica song “Of Wolf And Man” contains this lyric: _It’s later than you realized_ Now, it can be later than you _think_ it is, but how can it be later than you realize? Once you realize something, you perceive it as a fact. Also, STILL no discussion of Alanis Morrissette’s “Ironic”? Shocking! -Steven- ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/47 "2007-03-08T17:27:11Z")
In “Cotton Fields” by Credence Clearwater Revival we have: “It was down in Louisiana Just about a mile from Texarkana In them old cotton fields back home” I’m here to tell you that Texarkana is a good 30 miles from the Louisiana state line. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/48 "2007-03-08T18:02:22Z")
[QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] Creative spelling usually doesn’t bother me (paging “Cum On Feel the Noize”) but this one does… Oasis has a song where each line of the chorus begins “Around our way, …” So they decided to title the song “Round Are Way.” _Round_ short for _around_ is pretty standard, but _are_ for _our_? There’s no reason for it, and it makes the title look grammatically retarded. [/QUOTE] I imagine Sly and the Family Stone’s _Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)_ would drive you bonkers, then. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/49 "2007-03-08T18:54:15Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] This one just sounds wrong- but I’ll need a grammarian to confirm- Barry Gibb singing in “Shadow Dancing”- ‘You are the question and the answer am I’. [/QUOTE] You’re right. It’s wrong. It should be “…the answer is I”. (Still “I” because it’s a predicate nominative, and not an object.) ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/50 "2007-03-08T18:54:19Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] I’ve tried in the past to give Sir Paulie the benefit of the doubt and accept that this is the real line, but the printed lyrics in the _All the Best_ CD have “in which we live in” right there in black & white. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but I’ve seen countless examples of lyrics being just plain wrong on those things. I always imagine some intern sitting there and listening to the songs, trying to keep up with typing them out before he can go home. I still willing to give Paul the benefit of the doubt on this one. As for my contribution, how about Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait”? _So open up your morning light, And say a little prayer for I._ ---
**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:** [March 8, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/51 "2007-03-08T19:21:55Z")
[QUOTE=DooWahDiddy] Yeah, but I’ve seen countless examples of lyrics being just plain wrong on those things. I always imagine some intern sitting there and listening to the songs, trying to keep up with typing them out before he can go home. I still willing to give Paul the benefit of the doubt on this one. [/QUOTE] True, printed lyrics on an album sleeve are not proof positive. In fact, if you get really picky, they are rarely 100% accurate. But given that Paul McCartney has much more clout with his record label than the average recording artist, and so can control his own packaging; and given that this compilation came out after McCartney had endured years of criticism for that particular line; then if he let it go out with that line _not_ printed the way he wanted it, he was rather careless. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/52 "2007-03-08T19:45:15Z")
Local band called Cloud Cult (I don’t know how popular they are outside of MN, but they’ve got a large record deal, etc.) did a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and botched the lyrics in an inexcusably stupid way: > [@](#): > > I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade > Into my own parade, cast your dancing **smile** my way, > I promise to go under it. Not only is it wrong, but it doesn’t even make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/53 "2007-03-08T20:03:41Z")
**Do They Know it’s Christmas** : _And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmastime The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life(Oooh) Where nothing ever grows No rain or rivers flow Do they know it’s Christmastime at all?_ So, in all of Africa, nothing grows, and there’s no water, huh? And what’s that stuff on [Mt Kilimanjaro](http://www.duiops.net/seresvivos/galeria/jirafascebras/Giraffes%20At%20Kilimanjaro%20Kenya%20Africa.jpg), anyway? Or on [Mt Kenya](http://parkerlab.bio.uci.edu/nonscientific_adventures/climbing/climb_africa.htm)? And what’s the big deal about there being no snow for Christmas, anyway? Plenty of places don’t get white Christmases. Doesn’t mean areas of Africa don’t get snow at [other times of the year](http://wintercenter.homestead.com/photosouthafrica.html). I’ve always hated that song for the ignorant “Africa is one big, barren, shithole” crap that it perpetuates. They could have limited it to some of the countries hardest hit by drought and famine at the time, but even then it still would have been full of ignorant crap. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/54 "2007-03-08T20:11:40Z")
In the song “Be Prepared,” from Disney’s _ **The Lion King** _, Scar declares: “… When at last I am given my dues!” Unless he’s the treasurer for the Lion’s Club, I think he means something else. Sting sings, in “We Work the Black Seam”: “But deadly for twelve thousand years is carbon fourteen.” I’m not even sure what he’s talking about. I think he’s whining about nuclear power, but Carbon 14? What has that got to do with it, and how is it deadly? ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/55 "2007-03-08T20:22:30Z")
I may be wrong here, but Joni Mitchell, “_Raised on Robbery_” “First he bought a '57 Biscayne, he put it in a ditch” Didn’t the first Biscayne come out in '58? mm ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/56 "2007-03-08T20:22:30Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!] The Metallica song “Of Wolf And Man” contains this lyric: _It’s later than you realized_ Now, it can be later than you _think_ it is, but how can it be later than you realize? Once you realize something, you perceive it as a fact. [/QUOTE] Actually, this makes perfect sense. “Realized” is past tense. So it is _NOW_ later than it was in the past when you realized what time it was then. Even if it was a mere 5 seconds ago. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/57 "2007-03-08T21:23:35Z")
**Alanis Morrisette** ’s song _Isn’t It Ironic?_ is full of examples not of irony but simply annoying coincidences, which is not the same thing at all. While _an old man who turned 98, hit the lottery and died the next day_ may be ironic, _rain on your wedding day_ is not particularly ironic, unless you happen to hold it in the deserts of the Sierra Madre in the north of Mexico only to discover when the day arrives that one of the bridesmaids just had Lasik eye surgery, uses rewetting eye drops all the time, and has a tatoo of Tlaloc the Aztec Rain God on the small of her back. And what about _a free ride when you’re already late_? How is that ironic? Would she rather be even later, or (if she’s on a bus or train) pay for already being late? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/58 "2007-03-08T22:03:18Z")
“Gypsys Tramps & Thieves” has a line about picking up a boy “just south of Mobile”- not sure that is possible, unless he was on a raft. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/59 "2007-03-08T22:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=robardin] **Alanis Morrisette** ’s song _Isn’t It Ironic?_ is full of examples not of irony but simply annoying coincidences, which is not the same thing at all. While _an old man who turned 98, hit the lottery and died the next day_ may be ironic, _rain on your wedding day_ is not particularly ironic, unless you happen to hold it in the deserts of the Sierra Madre in the north of Mexico only to discover when the day arrives that one of the bridesmaids just had Lasik eye surgery, uses rewetting eye drops all the time, and has a tatoo of Tlaloc the Aztec Rain God on the small of her back. And what about _a free ride when you’re already late_? How is that ironic? Would she rather be even later, or (if she’s on a bus or train) pay for already being late? [/QUOTE] I totally agree with you about this song, but I think that last line you quoted is _a free ride when you’ve already paid._ ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901/60 "2007-03-08T22:29:16Z")
> [@](#): > > _a free ride when you’re already late_ > [@](#): > > _a free ride when you’ve already paid._ Funny, I always thought it was _a free ride when you’re already there_. I would look it up, but Googling Alanis Morrisette would make my eyes bleed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-goofs/394901.md?page=4)