# Songs that piss you off by adding words to get meter or using made up names to rhyme **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901 "2006-06-08T15:47:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/101 "2006-06-14T20:24:38Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > And then there’s the classic [“A Horse with No Name”](http://www.accessbackstage.com/america/song/song005.htm) by _America_ : > > _'Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain._ > > “Ain’t” is fine. “Give you no pain,” sure, I’ve heard “no” replaced with “any” plenty of times in the South. But I have _never_, ever heard a conversation where someone used the double prepositions “for to.” This is an archaic formation that may still be used somewhere dialectally, and is still intact in some romance languages like Italian. The form “for [infinitive]” is used to mean “in order to. . .” and you might hear foreign speakers produce this (erroneously) as a word-for-word translation. For example, you would say, “I need the key for to go to the bathroom.” Now in English we get the same meaning without the “for.” You probably haven’t heard it in a conversation but it’s used poetically, and I’ll bet you’ve heard: I came from Alabama With my banjo on my knee, I’m goin’ to Louisiana My true love for to see; > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Note to Loretta Lynn: “Hard” and “tired” do not rhyme. They might not in New Jersey, but they do in Virginia. 😃 Several years ago there was a huge pile of old tires that started to [burn](http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/000909/Front_tirefire.asp), causing all kinds of environmental strife, as well as a minor tourist attraction. Someone put up a hand-lettered sign: Tarr Farr → And last but not least, Alice Cooper gets the prize for admitting that: Well we got no class And we got no principals And we got no innocence We can’t even think of a word that rhymes ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/102 "2006-06-14T20:31:18Z")
> [@](#): > > I came from Alabama > With my banjo on my knee, > I’m goin’ to Louisiana > My true love for to see; Ahem… shouldn’t that be “I _come_ from Alabama” and “I’m _a-goin’_ to Louisiana”? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/103 "2006-06-14T20:35:44Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Well we got no class > And we got no principals > And we got no innocence > We can’t even think of a word that rhymes “Principles”, shurely? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/104 "2006-06-14T20:48:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > You probably haven’t heard it in a conversation but it’s used poetically, and I’ll bet you’ve heard: > > I came from Alabama > With my banjo on my knee, > I’m goin’ to Louisiana > My true love for to see; Another one: …for I’m going to Luzianna for to see my Suzianna singing polly wolly doodle all the day… ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/105 "2006-06-15T01:14:28Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > As much as I like large parts of his work, mainly in the first several years, Bob Dylan has gotten away with a lot of this crapola over the decades too. “You speak to me In sign language As I’m eating a sanguage In a small cafe” ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/106 "2006-06-15T04:55:29Z")
> [@luvtinayothers](#): > > This line from Billy Joel’s Piano Man has always bothered me: > _And he’s talkin’ with Davy who’s still in the navy_ This is funny, because the line prior to that has always bugged me far more…_“And Paul is a real estate novelist who never had time for a wife…”_ WHAT THE HELL IS A REAL ESTATE NOVELIST? I’ve never read a real estate novel. I doubt there is such a thing. Does that mean he’s a realtor who writes novels also??? I always thought Joel could’ve come up with something stronger to even out the meter there. Another small bone to pick is the reference to “tonic and gin.” I’ve bartended for years and nobody’s ever ordered “tonic and gin.” They order “gin and tonic.” I realize it rhymes perfectly with “the regular crowd shuffles in” but it’s still kind of goofy. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/107 "2006-06-15T05:28:14Z")
Yes, I think it means he’s a real estate agent who writes/wants to write novels on the side. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2006, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/108 "2006-06-15T11:01:52Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > “Principles”, shurely? Obviously both meanings are intended, so I don’t think it matters which spelling you choose. (“Shurely”? As in, “Alice Cooper sang into the [SM58](http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/WiredMicrophones/us_pro_SM58-CN_content) microphone shurely”?) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/109 "2006-06-16T16:18:46Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > (“Shurely”? As in, “Alice Cooper sang into the [SM58](http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/WiredMicrophones/us_pro_SM58-CN_content) microphone shurely”?) Sorry, unconscious use of a running gag from _Private Eye_ magazine, which regulary features interjections such as “Shurely some mishtake? - Ed”. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/110 "2006-06-16T17:29:30Z")
> [@Audrey Levins](#): > > This is funny, because the line prior to that has always bugged me far more…_“And Paul is a real estate novelist who never had time for a wife…”_ > > WHAT THE HELL IS A REAL ESTATE NOVELIST? I’ve never read a real estate novel. I doubt there is such a thing. Does that mean he’s a realtor who writes novels also??? I always thought Joel could’ve come up with something stronger to even out the meter there. > > Another small bone to pick is the reference to “tonic and gin.” I’ve bartended for years and nobody’s ever ordered “tonic and gin.” They order “gin and tonic.” I realize it rhymes perfectly with “the regular crowd shuffles in” but it’s still kind of goofy. And the line after it: And the waitress is practicing politics (What does that mean?) While the businessmen slowly get stoned (No, they are getting drunk, but that doesn’t rhyme with the next two lines, which redeem the song by being two of the best lines in rock music) Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call lonlieness But it’s better than drinking alone. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/111 "2006-06-16T17:46:48Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And the line after it: > > And the waitress is practicing politics (What does that mean?) > While the businessmen slowly get stoned (No, they are getting drunk, but that doesn’t rhyme with the next two lines, which redeem the song by being two of the best lines in rock music) > > Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call lonlieness > But it’s better than drinking alone. Not to totally take away from the gist of the thread, but I have an interview of Billy Joel’s on CD where he states that “all of the people in that song are real”. He says the "waitress in the song was his first ex-wife. She was a cocktail waitress while I was playing piano at this place for a while. [He didn’t mention the “politics” but I always took it as “being overly nice to the customers in the hopes that someone will get her out of there”]. “The businessmen actually got stoned in the place. [This could mean getting high or drunk… in the 60’s and 70’s “stoned” was commonly used for both]. Paul was this guy who was a real estate broker but he was writing the Great American Novel [and then he mocks Paul in an “I’m very drunk” voice]. The old man didn’t actually rhyme when he asked me to play an old song [laughter] but he did ask me to.” He didn’t mention the “tonic and gin” thing… I’m sure that’s a case of necessary meter change. But kind of a cool insight into the song. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/112 "2006-06-16T18:33:07Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > The one line where I wish they’d done something to improve the scansion rather than sing breathlessly to cram all the words in the line is from Africa by Toto: > > > [@](#): > > > > As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti > > I just wince and then giggle. It’s too much. Ha! I always thought the lyric was “Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a _lepress_ above the Serengeti”. Lepress (sp?), as in a female leopard. I have no idea if that’s a word, or what you call a female leopard. I like that better than “Olympus”, though. You’re comparing one mountain to another mountain? How poetic. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [June 16, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/113 "2006-06-16T19:33:24Z")
> [@MrSquishy](#): > > Ha! I always thought the lyric was “Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a _lepress_ above the Serengeti”. Lepress (sp?), as in a female leopard. I have no idea if that’s a word, or what you call a female leopard. I like that better than “Olympus”, though. You’re comparing one mountain to another mountain? How poetic. :rolleyes: When I hear “lepress” ( which I never actually have until I read your post ) I think of a female leper. And that would still be better than the real line. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/114 "2006-06-16T20:18:49Z")
First of all, thank you, **saoirse**. Loretta Lynn can sing in any dialect she pleases (and thank God she chooses to sing in her native dialect,) because she rules, and her songs are fantastic. Also, > [@](#): > > …for I’m going to Luzianna > for to see my Suzianna > singing polly wolly doodle all the day… See, I always thought it was Suzy-Anna. Southerners do like their female double first names. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many Lou-Anns, Anne-Maries, Leigh-Annes, Jaime-Lynns, etc. I know. For my own lazy lyrics submission, my brain shuts down anytime I hear **world** rhymed with **(un)furled** or (God help me) **life** rhymed with **strife**. FUCK. YOU. Send an email next time. It’ll save you the trouble of phoning it in. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/115 "2006-06-16T20:26:28Z")
Oh, and as an aside, it’s been my experience that, upon hearing a female double first name (especially if the woman is also from some jerkwater rural area,) one can pretty safely assume that the woman in question is smoking hot. I have no idea how or why, but it seems to work that way. Guy 1: Hey man. I want to introduce you to this girl. I think you two might hit it off. Guy 2: Oh yeah? What’s her name? Guy 1: Amber-Leigh. She’s from Santuck, y’know, between Wetumpka and Titus. Guy 2: Fuck yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/116 "2006-06-16T21:56:10Z")
> [@MrSquishy](#): > > Ha! I always thought the lyric was “Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a _lepress_ above the Serengeti”. Lepress (sp?), as in a female leopard. I have no idea if that’s a word, or what you call a female leopard. [Leopardess.](http://www.answers.com/leopardess&r=67) > [@](#): > > I like that better than “Olympus”, though. You’re comparing one mountain to another mountain? How poetic. :rolleyes: While many mountains are parts of ranges and thus seem to blend into one another when seen from afar, both [Kilimanjaro](http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/hall/images/Kilimanjaro.jpg) and [Olympus](http://www.walking-europe.co.uk/Greece/Olympus2a.jpg) stand out rather starkly from the surrounding terrain. So the comparison has some depth. **The Punkyova** : I have _The Stranger_ on vinyl, complete with printed lyrics on either the album cover or sleeve, and can thus state confidently that the phrase is indeed “she’s earned her degree”. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/117 "2006-06-16T22:34:55Z")
> [@Audrey Levins](#): > > Another small bone to pick is the reference to “tonic and gin.” I’ve bartended for years and nobody’s ever ordered “tonic and gin.” They order “gin and tonic.” I realize it rhymes perfectly with “the regular crowd shuffles in” but it’s still kind of goofy. I agree. I take Douglas Adam’s word on this over Billy Joel’s, any day of the week. Ginandtonic is the universal standard. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901/118 "2006-06-17T01:19:01Z")
> [@](#): > > The Punkyova: I have The Stranger on vinyl, complete with printed lyrics on either the album cover or sleeve, and can thus state confidently that the phrase is indeed “she’s earned her degree”. That’s an authoritative cite, so I’ll have to agree that it makes no sense. I guess my mind couldn’t cope with the non sequitur and made up rational lyrics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-piss-you-off-by-adding-words-to-get-meter-or-using-made-up-names-to-rhyme/359901.md?page=5)