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;
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, 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
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 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.
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:
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,
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.
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.
While many mountains are parts of ranges and thus seem to blend into one another when seen from afar, both Kilimanjaro and Olympus 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”.
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.
Several years ago there was a huge pile of old tires that started to burn, causing all kinds of environmental strife, as well as a minor tourist attraction. Someone put up a hand-lettered sign: Tarr Farr → 
