# Songs where the different choruses have a slight change of lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965 "2012-09-17T13:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/61 "2013-12-16T02:33:44Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Mean Mr. Mustard , you forgot the Beatles ‘Ob-la-di, ob-la-da’? for shame > > _Happy ever after in the market place… > Desmond lets the children lend a hand… > Molly stays at home and does her pretty face… > … > Happy ever after in the market place… > Molly lets the children lend a hand… > Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face…_ Funnily enough, that was actually a mistake. They were going to do the song over again, but then decided to keep it as is. “Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face/ And in the evening she’s a singer with the band” is still one of my favorite song lines. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/62 "2013-12-16T02:34:50Z")
There’s no technical term for this? Anyway, do these count: **Bermuda Triangle - Barry Manilow** Bermuda Triangle It makes people disappear Bermuda Triangle Don’t go too near But she Doesn’t see my angle And she thinks I’m being dumb So Bermuda Triangle Here we come! Bermuda Triangle Makes my woman disappear Bermuda Triangle Don’t go too near Looking At it from my angle Do you see why I’m so sad Oh Bermuda Triangle Very bad! Bermuda Triangle It makes people disappear Bermuda Triangle Don’t go too near But look At it from my angle And you’ll see why I’m so glad Now Bermuda Triangle Not so bad! **If You Like Pina Coladas - Jimmy Buffett** ‘If you like Pina Coladas, getting caught in the rain If you’re not into yoga, if you have half a brain If you like making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape I’m the love that you’ve looked for write to me and escape’ “Yes, I like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain I’m not much into health food, I am into champagne I’ve got to meet you by tomorrow noon and cut through all this red tape At a bar called O’Malleys where we’ll plan our escape” “That you liked Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain And the feel of the ocean and the taste of the champagne If you like making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape You’re the lady I’ve looked for, come with me and escape” ---
**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:** [December 21, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/63 "2013-12-21T17:14:20Z")
“She’s Leaving Home” certainly qualifies, both for the main lyrics and the parenthetical ones ## She (We gave her most of our lives) Is leaving (Sacraficed most of our lives) Home (We gave her everything money could buy) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years (Bye bye) ## She (We never thought of ourselves) Is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves) Home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years (Bye bye) She (What did we do that was wrong) Is having (We didn’t know it was wrong) Fun (Fun is the one thing that money can’t buy) Something inside that was always denied For so many years (Bye bye) She’s leaving home Bye bye ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/64 "2013-12-22T05:19:25Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” has slightly different recurring lines: > > …My heart going boom boom boom > “Son,” he said “Grab your things, > I’ve come to take you home.” > > …My heart going boom boom boom > “Hey” he said “Grab your things > I’ve come to take you home.” > > …My heart going boom boom boom > “Hey” I said “You can keep my things, > They’ve come to take me home.” What I came to say. This is (officially in my mind) my daughter Jett’s song. She was in a foster home where she was abused by her foster father and ignored by her foster mother. We sent clothes ahead and that was what she was wearing when we adopted her. They gave her NOTHING but trauma and scars. **You can keep my things they’ve come to take me home.** In the live recording Gabriel doesn’t change that last line. I have no idea why not. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/65 "2013-12-22T09:58:45Z")
The ending choruses of the Christmas carol “What Child is This?” all differ from one another. Some songbooks, and even hymnals, just include the chorus from the first verse, because the chorus from the third verse is has some real downer lyrics, But IMNSHO, one needs to hear them all to get the complete message. #1 This, this, is Christ the king, whom shepherds guard and angels sing. Haste, haste, to bring him laud, the Babe, the Son of Mary. #2 Raise, raise the song on high, the virgin sings her lullaby. Joy, joy, for Christ is born, the Babe, the Son of Mary. #3 Nails, spear, shall pierce him through, the cross be borne for me, for you. Hail, hail, the Word made flesh, the Babe, the Son of Mary. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/66 "2013-12-25T23:46:05Z")
How could I miss Still Alive? Not sure if it has a “chorus”, though: Still Alive But there’s no sense crying over every mistake You just keep on trying 'till you run out of cake And the science gets done and you make a neat gun For the people who are still alive Now these points of data make a beautiful line And we’re out of beta, we’re releasing on time So I’m glad I got burned Think of all the things we learned For the people that are still alive Look at me still talking, when there’s science to do When I look out there it makes me glad I’m not you I’ve experiments to run, there is research to be done On the people who are still alive Its sequel, Want You Gone, has a more distinct chorus that still changes slightly: You want your freedom? Take it That’s what I’m counting on I used to want you dead but Now I only want you gone You’ve got your short sad life left That’s what I’m counting on I’ll let you get right to it Now I only want you gone Go make some new disaster That’s what I’m counting on You’re someone else’s problem Now I only want you gone ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/67 "2013-12-27T00:41:48Z")
There’s a Japanese singer called Gackt who does this constantly. Almost all of his hits have at least two different versions of the chorus, if not different wording to the same melody every time they’re sung. In “Vanilla”, the last line of the chorus is ‘boku wa kimi no vanilla’ (“I’m your vanilla”) the first time, ‘kimo to boku not burning love’ (“You and me, not burning love”) the second, and ‘kimi wa boku no bannin da’ (“You’re my keeper”). “Last Song” has two completely different choruses, which are alternated verse - A - verse - B - bridge - A - B. A: furitzusuku kanashimi wa masshiro na yuki kawaru [sadness keeps falling, turning into pure white snow] zutto sora wo miageteta [I’m always looking up at the sky] kono karada ga kieru mae ni ima negai ga todoku no nara [I only wish that before this body vanishes] mou ichido tsuyoku dakishimete [I could hold you tightly one more time] B: toozakaru omoide wa itsumademo mabushisugite [the far-off memories will always be too dazzling] motto soba ni itakatta [I so wanted to stay by your side] mou nido to aenai kedo itsumo soba de sasaete kureta [though we won’t meet again, I would have been always with you] anata dake wa kawaranaide ite [only you are unchanging] (Translation _extremely_ rough. Things that end in -te are sort of a nebulous all-purpose verb form that can serve as anything from simple present + conjunction to ongoing to habitual, etc etc etc. Translators who have asked Japanese musicians what that’s meant to equate to in English usually get kind of a shrug.) It’s not terribly common in other Japanese pop music, to the point where I wonder if he picked up from the English-language stuff he listened to as a teen. The only other Japanese musicians I know of who use it are heavily influenced by some form or another of American rock. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/68 "2013-12-27T03:35:52Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > **If You Like Pina Coladas - Jimmy Buffett** Nitpick: The name of the song is “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” and the artist is Rupert Holmes. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/69 "2013-12-27T04:11:05Z")
I’m **rockin’ the suburbs** \* Just like [Michael Jackson / Quiet Riot / Jon Bon Jovi] did I’m rockin’ the suburbs Except that [he was / they were / he was] talented I’m rockin’ the suburbs I take the checks and face the fact That some producers with computers Fixes all my s\*\*\*ty tracks –Ben Folds _First line skipped in chorus 3, since Ben’s still screaming "F_\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*K" from the (2nd?) bridge ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/70 "2013-12-27T08:25:46Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Nitpick: The name of the song is “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” and the artist is Rupert Holmes. Oh, so Jimmy Buffett made a cover? No wait, this article [5 Songs the Internet Thinks Are by the Wrong Artist | Cracked.com](http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-songs-internet-thinks-are-by-wrong-artist/) says he’s not even related to the song. What? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/71 "2013-12-27T15:06:33Z")
I always used to get Pina coladas and Margaritas mixed up, too. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/72 "2013-12-28T15:20:18Z")
Bob Dylan’s Just Like A Woman gets my vote for the greatest one word change in the chorus: The first two: She takes just like a woman, yes she does She makes love just like a woman, yes she does And she aches just like a woman But she breaks just like a little girl. The final verse and chorus: It’s was raining from the first And I was dying there of thirst So I came in here And your long-time curse hurts But what’s worse Is this pain in here I can’t stay in here Ain’t it clear that. I just can’t fit Yes, I believe it’s time for us to quit When we meet again Introduced as friends Please don’t let on that you knew me when I was hungry and it was your world Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes you do You make love just like a woman, yes you do Then you ache just like a woman But you break just like a little girl. Changing “take” to “fake” is a stroke of genius. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/73 "2013-12-30T05:16:38Z")
Men at Work - Down Under: “Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover.” “I come from a land down under Where beer does flow and men chunder Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover.” “Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover.” ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/74 "2013-12-30T16:30:09Z")
“Redneck Woman” by Gretchen Wilson: And I know all the words to every Charlies Daniels/Tanya Tucker/Ol’ Bocephus song “Farewell Angelina” by Bob Dylan: Farewell Angelina/The sky is on fire/And I must go …The sky is trembling/And I must leave …The sky is folding/I’ll see you in a while …The sky’s changing colors/And I must leave fast …The sky is embarrassed/And I must be gone …The sky is erupting/I must go where it’s quiet ---
**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:** [December 31, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/75 "2013-12-31T15:08:25Z")
Today in the grocery store I hear The Mamas and The Papa’s Creeque Alley for the first time in decades, and have to add it to this thread: McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin’ higher In L.A., you know where that’s at And no one’s gettin’ fat except Mama Cass McGuinn and McGuire still a-gettin higher In L.A., you know where that’s at And no one’s gettin’ fat except Mama Cass McGuinn and McGuire couldn’t get no higher But that’s what they were aimin’ at And no one’s gettin’ fat except Mama Cass McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin’ fire In L.A., you know where that’s at And everybody’s gettin’ fat except Mama Cass ---
**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:** [January 2, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/76 "2014-01-02T19:46:32Z")
Don McLean’s “And I Love You So” has the first chorus as: And yes, I know how lonely life can be The shadows follow me And the night won’t set me free But I don’t let the evening get me down Now that you’re around me. McLean changes “lonely” to "loveless in the next chorus. I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/77 "2014-01-02T23:40:14Z")
**Seasons In The Sun - Terry Jacks** We had joy, we had fun We had seasons in the sun But the hills that we climbed Were just seasons out of time We had joy, we had fun We had seasons in the sun But the wine and the song Like the seasons have all gone We had joy, we had fun We had seasons in the sun But the stars we could reach Were just starfish on the beach All our lives we had fun We had seasons in the sun But the hills that we climbed Were just seasons out of time ---
**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:** [January 3, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/78 "2014-01-03T00:34:11Z")
Ian Dury: [Billericay Dickie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KC7kO6Nwsw). Each chorus suggests something different to ask Joyce and Vicky, and also uses a different epithet to describe what kind of thickie he isn’t (blinkin’, flippin’, effin’, etc.). ---
**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:** [January 22, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/79 "2014-01-22T15:30:54Z")
Janis Ian’s At 17, first chorus: And those of us with ravaged faces Lacking in the social graces Desperately remained at home Inventing lovers on the phone Who called to say “come dance with me” And murmured vague obscenities It isn’t all it seems at seventeen… 2nd Chorus: We all play the game, and when we dare We cheat ourselves at solitaire Inventing lovers on the phone Repenting other lives unknown That call and say: “Come on, dance with me” And murmur vague obscenities At ugly girls like me, at seventeen ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965/80 "2014-02-05T05:22:35Z")
I’ve got one more! **Down By The River** - Albert Hammond Down by the river, down by the river Said: come in the water’s fine down by the river Down by the river, down by the river A silver fish lay on its side down by the river Down by the river, down by the river ‘Mighty willows weep’, said he, ‘down by the river’ Down by the river, down by the river The banks will soon be black and dead down by the river [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-different-choruses-have-a-slight-change-of-lyrics/634965.md?page=5)