# The point of that "I've seen fire and I've seen rain" thread ? . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679 "2017-09-06T22:36:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/41 "2025-12-09T21:35:18Z")
Little snippets of songs can be quite poetic and express just what you want to say. And plus, maybe it’s just fun. The point in “Fun” Why are people so opposed to a tiny bit of fun in a dreary, grim world. Yep. Just fun. Don’t over think it. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/42 "2025-12-10T03:09:04Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Little snippets of songs can be quite poetic and express just what you want to say. > > And plus, maybe it’s just fun. You should have stopped here, where you were presenting your thoughts and perspective. Instead you had to go on, as you so often do, and tell us what’s wrong with us people and how we should think and live our lives. Please, learn when to stop. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/43 "2025-12-10T03:10:50Z")
It is better when sung by Elmer Fudd. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/44 "2025-12-10T06:16:58Z")
So sorry. I thought I did fine on that post. Excuse, please. (I didn’t mean you personally) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/45 "2025-12-10T12:06:05Z")
Moderating > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Why are people so opposed to a tiny bit of fun in a dreary, grim world. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > You should have stopped here, where you were presenting your thoughts and perspective. Instead you had to go on, as you so often do, and tell us what’s wrong with us people and how we should think and live our lives. > > Please, learn when to stop. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > So sorry. I thought I did fine on that post. > > Excuse, please. > > (I didn’t mean you personally) Please drop it, both of you. @Beckdawrek , there was no need to criticize other posters @Roderick_Femm , if you must react, please just report posts like that. You, too, went on to attack the poster, not just the post. And that’s the sort of “attack the post” that we ask to be restricted to moderators. And Beck, your next post is just bickering in the thread. Please report the criticism of you and step away next time. No warnings issued. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/46 "2025-12-10T20:13:29Z")
The original Fire thread actually originated in MPSIMS close to a decade ago now. At the time we _already_ had an ongoing song lyric thread in Thread Games, but when the first Fire thread got moved over there it pretty much took over and made that thread moribund. The tl;dr rule is use something which parallels a line, motif, or theme in the previous set of lyrics; not any more complicated than that. > [@robby](#): > > I’ll note that I am one of those people who simply does not hear lyrics. With few exceptions, almost all songs sound like the singer is singing in a foreign language to me. Now if I see the lyrics in print while the song is playing, it will click. But seeing lyrics without the accompanying music doesn’t do anything for me. I am always amazed at these kinds of “Same planet, different universes” kinds of perspectives. I was literally weaned on the Beatles, and as a preteen Bernie Taupin’s lyrics for Elton John’s tunes certainly exhibited a lot of depth and clever wordplay that deeply appealed to me. By the mid-80’s I had graduated to Steve Kilbey of the Church for my lyrical fix. For me lyrics are an absolutely _indispensible_ and crucial part of my musical enjoyment, something by this point I cannot imagine doing without. Now, I certainly do enjoy non-singing pieces, incl. some classical, but for example someone put in King Crimson’s Moonchild the other day, so I naturally used the Fields of the Nephilim cut of the same name (NOT a cover note), as both are very meaningful cuts for me, sharing a lot of the same themes natch. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/47 "2025-12-10T20:44:41Z")
I’m on team “rarely notice lyrics, sometimes hear them wrong in ways that amuse my husband”, fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/48 "2025-12-14T14:20:26Z")
I play in a band, and in regular jam groups. I am often mocked for the extent to which I am oblivious to song lyrics - including on songs we’ve played hundred of times. And people will comment on how meaningful particular lyrics are to them - of which I am oblivious. Often I will not even know what a song is “about.” Unless I’m singing lead, a line or 2 at most will stand out to me. But the rest is pretty much just another instrumental line - expressing the melody. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/49 "2025-12-14T16:22:37Z")
I’m a member of what I call “Team Vocals Are Just Another Instrument in the Arrangement” when I listen. And yes, someone may note that I’ve been making regular-ish contributions to the “Fire and Rain” thread, which would indeed run counter to that. It has surprised me a great deal, how many lyrics I remember now that I’m trying to make those song-to-song connections the thread asks for. I guess they just sink in. (But I do look them up on lyrics sites before posting, as I’m sure other contributors do, because I trust that people posting them there have a greater chance of actually getting them right than I do.) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/50 "2026-09-21T15:26:11Z")
Sorry, mistake ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/51 "2026-09-21T18:00:40Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I am always amazed at these kinds of “Same planet, different universes” kinds of perspectives. I was literally weaned on the Beatles, and as a preteen Bernie Taupin’s lyrics for Elton John’s tunes certainly exhibited a lot of depth and clever wordplay that deeply appealed to me. Just saw your post when this thread recently resurfaced. The Beatles were actually one of the few bands that I could generally hear the lyrics. And The Cars for some reason. But Elton John? I was lucky to pick up snippets of Bernie Taupin’s choruses, and that was it. Despite hearing Elton John’s songs literally hundreds of times over the decades, the lyrics have been complete gibberish to me—until a few months ago when I listened to them again after watching the _Rocketman_ movie…this time with the printed lyrics visible for the first time on Apple Music. I got several days of “Ohhhh, _that’s_ what he’s singing!” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/52 "2026-09-21T20:00:26Z")
I’d listened to _Tiny Dancer_ for decades without understanding what kind of sheets he was being laid down in. Then there came a time when I was in a group of people watching a TV show where someone was singing a cover version, and they clearly pronounced the word. Three people in the group simultaneously exclaimed, “oh LINEN!”. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/53 "2026-09-21T20:09:56Z")
Here’s a good one …! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hie_0jxwHi8/maxresdefault.jpg "ELTON JOHN - IM STILL STANDING - EXPLAINED") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hie_0jxwHi8&t=20) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/54 "2026-09-22T23:52:04Z")
In Elton John’s “Step Into Christmas”, there’s a line that sounds (to me) kind of like “hey, can you feel me?” I eventually looked it up on a lyrics site and he’s saying “eat, drink and be merry”. But even knowing what the lyrics are, I still can’t hear them! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/55 "2026-09-23T00:24:44Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I got several days of “Ohhhh, _that’s_ what he’s singing!” Yeah, his songs tend to be riddled with mondegreens as a consequence. For example, in High Flying Bird every lyric site insists this is the correct line: _I wore a chain upon my wrist that bears no name_ I have always heard it as: _I wore a chain upon my wrist that bears your name_ The problem is that his British accent (despite him usually singing in an “American” accent, something he has in common with many if not most UK singers) breaks through here, and he drops the “r” at the end of “your”, so it sounds like “yo”, which the mondegreeners who infest the lyric sites duly transcribed as “no”. I could be here all day with such examples. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/56 "2026-09-23T02:42:08Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’d listened to _Tiny Dancer_ for decades without understanding what kind of sheets he was being laid down in. Or who it was about. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4o2u2RjEFHo/maxresdefault.jpg "Phoebe Buffay - Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o2u2RjEFHo) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679/57 "2026-09-23T10:28:44Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > And people will comment on how meaningful particular lyrics are to them - of which I am oblivious. Often I will not even know what a song is “about.” I remember someone saying how Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” is a sad song because it’s about teenage suicide (which was news to me). I’ve heard it many times and the only lyrics I can remember are something like “Jeremy’s fallen again”. Wrong – it’s “Jeremy spoke in class today”. So out of the whole song, the only lyric I correctly remember is “Jeremy” and I’m pretty sure I only got that one correct because it’s the name of the song! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-point-of-that-ive-seen-fire-and-ive-seen-rain-thread/795679.md?page=2)