# Songs with ill-fitting lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579 "2012-11-20T03:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/41 "2013-01-28T07:57:30Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I also once thought it was lepress, but then I was taught otherwise. Now I don’t feel stupid anymore. I always heard it this way, too and felt rather foolish when I read the real lyrics. At least I know now that I wasn’t alone!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/42 "2013-01-28T11:33:45Z")
Kilimanjaro rises LIKE Olympus above the Serengeti. It’s a simile! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/43 "2013-01-28T13:43:25Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Kilimanjaro rises LIKE Olympus above the Serengeti. It’s a simile! Yes, it is. But it’s a particularly pointless and stupid simile. "See how that mountain rises above the Serengeti – just like some entirely different mountain would rise above it if it were anywhere near the Serengeti, which it isn’t so I don’t know why I bothered to mention it.” ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/44 "2013-01-28T13:51:56Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Yes, it is. But it’s a particularly pointless and stupid simile. "See how that mountain rises above the Serengeti – just like some entirely different mountain would rise above it if it were anywhere near the Serengeti, which it isn’t so I don’t know why I bothered to mention it.” Perhaps not so stupid as many people think. Olympus is the Greek mountain where according to the Greek mythology most of their gods lived. I have always thought the line uses the mythical meaning of Olympus in this verse, rather than the geographical. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/45 "2013-01-28T13:53:46Z")
On the topic of misplaced syllabic stress: Dutch band Kayak had a top10 hit in the Netherlands with Ruthless queen. Sung as ruth \*\*less \*\*queen. ---
**Author:** ![Hookit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71e660/32.png) [@Hookit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hookit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/46 "2013-01-28T14:00:27Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > Another kind of ill-fitting lyrics is when the melody and the lyrics seem contradictory in tone. > > The melody of Radiohead’s “Creep” has a sweet, romantic sound to it, but the lyrics are depressing and somewhat disturbing (example: “But I’m a creep/I’m a weirdo/What the hell am I doing here?”) > > It works, though. The melody of the Hollies ‘the air that I breathe’ you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/47 "2013-01-28T14:02:20Z")
Pop Punk band Alkaline Trio has a song that is too clever by half – he starts off one verse with “I’ve got this bottle in hand”, and then the rest of the verse has nothing to do with a bottle. Then in _another_ verse, he talks about spending money on a “D.I.Y. lobotomy”, which completes the reference, but too late for the “bottle in hand” lyrics to not be ill-fitting. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/48 "2013-01-28T14:10:01Z")
_The Star Spangled Banner_. The accents of the words do not match the strong beats of the music. “…and the home…_of the_…brave.” ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/49 "2013-01-28T14:16:15Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > Perhaps not so stupid as many people think. Olympus is the Greek mountain where according to the Greek mythology most of their gods lived. I have always thought the line uses the mythical meaning of Olympus in this verse, rather than the geographical. I agree. It’s the majesty that they’re referencing, not the big-mountain aspect. God-like, if you will. Although I do agree it’s not a particularly lovely lyric, it’s not like it’s a big chunk of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/50 "2013-01-28T19:13:57Z")
Alice Cooper, in “School’s Out”: _Well we got no class And we got no principles And we got no innocence We can’t even think of a word that rhymes_ ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/51 "2013-01-28T20:27:48Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I agree. **It’s the majesty that they’re referencing** , not the big-mountain aspect. (Bolding mine) Which, coincidentally, is why I liked “Empress”. All the majesty, none of the geographic confusion! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/52 "2013-01-28T20:32:01Z")
Lerner & Loewe’s ‘_When I’m On The Street Where You Live_’, which requires ‘bother me’ to rhyme with ‘rather be’. (Also, if the character is supposed to be English he would be IN the street, not ON it). ---
**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:** [January 28, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/53 "2013-01-28T21:11:30Z")
The Rolling Stone’s _Paint it Black_ “…I could not _fore_see this thing happening to you”. That has irked me for years. The meter in Ozzy’s songs are off more than not. Damned if I can name an example, but once I was trying to explain to someone why I really don’t care for him as a singer and they were able to help me figure out that his lyrics just don’t flow and so end up sounding clunky. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/54 "2013-01-28T23:50:16Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > The Rolling Stone’s _Paint it Black_ “…I could not _fore_see this thing happening to you”. That has irked me for years. Donovan’s songs do that a lot, as in the “crys-TULL spec-TICK-les” of “Epistle to Dippy” or the “Moth-ER bird eating cherries” from that springtime song on _Gift From a Flower to a Garden_. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579/55 "2013-01-29T00:29:19Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > (Bolding mine) > > Which, coincidentally, is why I liked “Empress”. All the majesty, none of the geographic confusion! 😉 And includes the “r” that is clearly audible at that point in the line. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-ill-fitting-lyrics/641579.md?page=2)