[QUOTE=Rucksinator]
Is that from “Whenever, Wherever”, or a translation from “Suerte”? Because it sounds cool in Spanish.
[/QUOTE]
I won’t blame Shakira, who makes a sincere – if perhaps too vocal – attempt to learn English, but her collaborator on the English lyrics, one Gloria M. Estefan, according to the booklet with Laundry Service. Yes, Rucksinator, Suerte is one of my favorite songs.
Shakira and Gloria…
“Lucky that my lips not only mumble
They spill kisses like a fountain
Lucky that my breasts are small and humble
So you don’t confuse them with mountains”
Compared to Shakira only…
“Suerte que es tener labios sinceros
Para besarte con más ganas
Suerte que mis pechos sean pequeños
Y no los confundas con montañas”
Per her (accurate?) bio, Gloria “Once worked as a translator for the U. S. Customs Service at Miami airport.” My imagination is running wild, like a nameless horse in a desert.
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat]
Am I being whooshed here, or do you not know what a rhyme is?
[/QUOTE]
As I said, the dictionary defined assonance as “vowel rhyme,” and you can find songs using either one. Whether you call it assonance or rhyme, Miller establishes a pattern in the other verses and makes you think he’s trying to shoehorn Texas/facts is/taxes into it, which sounds awful to most people’s ears.
So in verse 3, you expect “Texas” to rhyme with “facts is” and “justice.” My feeling is that Miller couldn’t make it rhyme and made a joke out of it. It’s a pretty good one.
[/QUOTE]
How about this one from School’s Out by Alice Cooper:
We ain’t got no class,
we ain’t got no pricipals,
we can’t even think of a word that rhymes.
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
That was the fault of Galt McDermot, who wrote that song for the musical “Hair.” And yes, he was trying too hard. Way too hard.
[/QUOTE]
FWIW, McDermot only wrote the music: Geromi Ragni or James Rado (or both) wrote the lyrics.
[QUOTE=Nature’s Call]
Stan Bush - The Touch (from the Transformers animated movie)
A couple of highlights:
After all is said and done
You’ve never walked, you’ve never run,
You’re a winner
…
When all hell’s breakin’ loose
You’ll be riding the eye of the storm
[/QUOTE]
Remember when Mark Wahlberg sang this in Boogie Nights? I swore it was a made up song. I was blown away to learn it was an actual song. Presumably “Stan Bush” seriously thought this was something he would be proud to attach his name to…
The one I’ll add to the list would be “Cowboy” by Kid Rock.
To me it always sounded like something a 15-year-old burn-out would write while wasting time in algebra, trying to think up all the cool things he would do out in California-- bitchin’ bad-ass that he is-- and then make it all rhyme.
Sample lyric:
And I’m headin’ out west sucker…because I wanna be a
Cowboy, baby
With the top let back and the sunshine shining
Cowboy baby
West coast chillin’ with the Boone’s Wine
I wanna be a cowboy baby
Ridin’ at night 'cause I sleep all day
Cowboy baby
I can smell a pig from a mile away
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, but why pick those lyrics, when these FAR WORSE lyrics are in the same song:
Yeah…Kid Rock…you can call me Tex
Rollin’ Sunset Blvd with a bottle of Becks
Seen a slimmy in a ‘vette, rolled down my glass
And said, “Yeah, this dick fit right in your ass”
No kiddin’, gun slingin’, spurs hittin’ the floor
Call me Hoss, I’m the Boss, with the sauce n’ the whores
No remorse for the sheriff, in his eyes I ain’t right
I**‘m a paint his town red, then paint his wife white **HUH
Cause chaos, rock like Amadeus
Find West Coast pussy for my Detroit players
Mack like mayors, ball like Lakers
They told us to leave, but bet they can’t make us
Why they wanna pick on me…lock me up and snort away my key
I ain’t no G, I’m just a regular failure
I ain’t straight outta Compton I’m straight outta the trailer
Cuss like a sailor…drink like a Mick
My only words of wisdom are just, “Suck My Dick.”
I’m flickin’ my Bic up and down that coast and
Keep on truckin’ until it falls in the ocean
Somewhere along the way, I’ve gotta mention this lyric from The Who’s “Athena”:
Consumed, there was a beautiful white horse I saw on a dream stage
He had a snake the size of a sewer pipe living in his rib cage
And I felt like a pickled priest who was being flambed
You got me requisitioned blondie
She’s just a girl - she’s a bomb
InvisibleWombat - Eh, at least it’s spread out. Unlike, say, Hey Jude or Fly Away.
Ooh, ooh, another one…Gotta Be Starting Something, Michael Jackson.
Okay, I kinda get that this is about an overprotective boyfriend threatening to mix it up with whoever’s making trouble for his girlfriend. Other than that, it’s just all over the place…it honestly sounds like he was making it up as he went along. The highlights, of course, are “suh bes tuh vuh” (twice!) and the bizarre “mubba say mumma sah uh mah poo sah” chant at the end (which lasts for roughly 1:10, ye gods).
Why, yes, this is my favorite Michael Jackson song, how did you guess?
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
Inspired by ArchiveGuy’s joke in this thread, we have Paul McCartney’s Jet:
[/QUOTE]
I’ve always found it odd that there are two pop songs (that I know of) that mention suffragettes (Jet and Suffragette City by David Bowie), and both are incomprehensible.
At least, in the Bowie song, I understand what “she’s a total blam-blam” means. At least, I think I do.
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig]
I’ve always found it odd that there are two pop songs (that I know of) that mention suffragettes (Jet and Suffragette City by David Bowie), and both are incomprehensible.
At least, in the Bowie song, I understand what “she’s a total blam-blam” means. At least, I think I do.
[/QUOTE]
And I sort of know what she did after she had to squeeze it, but…he never comes right out and says it, so how can we know for sure?
All grown up and no place to go
Psych 1, psych 2
What do you know?
All your life is channel 13
Sesame street
What does it mean?
I have an impression that “What does is mean?” is a go-to deep-sounding question lazy songwriters.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, but it’s not Billy Joel asking “What does it mean?” He’s projecting upon the person he’s writing about. If you listen to the entire song, the person’s whole life has involved coddling and the totality of real life experiences amount to pop-culture soundbites and introductory liberal arts courses. This person is now exposed to the real world and recieved a wake-up call. Also, at one of the bridge points where he uses the “What does it mean?” lyric (he uses it twice), Billy follows up with “I’ll tell you what it means.”
I can’t believe I get to be the first one to cite `Drops of Jupiter’ by Train:
“Can you imagine no love, pride, deep fried chicken
Best friend always stickin
Up for you even when I know you’re wrong”
Oh God, that’s terrible. And then later
“She checks out Mozart while she does Tae-Bo.”
Twenty years from now when `Drops of Jupiter’ is being played on an oldies station people will think “Did he say Tie-Bow? Did he mean a bow tie? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
:mad:!