 |
Net Gains (Apr 14, 98) |
Gone are the days when you could catch the lyrics of a song
the very first time you heard it. Those were the good old days,
that parents of Generation Net keep referring to fondly. Catching
the lyrics of the songs of today is no easy task, as we'll discover
in today's surfing session.
Take ChumbaWamba's hit track Tub-Thumping. The chorus of the
track is : "I get knocked down, but I get up again. You're
never gonna keep me down". But there are people who learn
by listening, and end up crooning the following lyrics on top
of their voices for the above chorus : "I get a dog, but
he shut-up again. He's never gonna keep his frown" !
Then there's Guns 'N Roses epic track - November Rain. I wore out the cassette trying to get the lyrics right, what with Axl Rose running words into one another for most part of the song. Others who didn't take the time or the effort to try to discover the lyrics masked all that high pitched voice, ended up rewriting the song as follows :
Real lyrics : Or else I'll walk out on you, In the cold November
rain.
Misheard as : Rockets in the Balkans, In the cold November rain.
My sympathy to Aqua, what with a 6 year old girl screaming on
top of her voice "Come on Barbie, let's go potty", instead
of "Come on Barbie, let's go party" for their Barbie
Girl track.
A couple of ABBA tracks take the cake :
Original lyrics (Take a chance on me) : If you change your mind
(take a chance) / I'm the first in line (take a chance)
Misheard as : If you chance your mind (Jackie Chan) / I'm the
first in line (Jackie Chan)
Original lyrics (Chiquitita) : Chicateeta, tell me what's wrong
Misheard as : Take your teeth out, tell me what is wrong
If you think these were hilarious, you should visit The Archive
of Misheard Lyrics
(http://www.kissthisguy.com) where 1,339 bungled
lyrics are archived for your browsing pleasure. These songs can
be viewed by title or by the singer, and you can even add your
two bits if you've come across similar instances of muddled lyrics.
In addition to these "remixed" versions, you can also
read under what circumstances realisation of the correct lyrics
dawned on the victims. Take for instance this girl who was serenading
a new boyfriend by singing along with the radio her own version
of "How deep is your love" when she realised that the
lyrics are not "Then you come to me on a submarine",
but "Then you come to me on a summer breeze". Poor thing ...
Interestingly, over 75% felt that their version was better than
the original lyrics, and almost 40% managed to convince someone
that their own version was the right one !
If you'd rather play safe, there's relief at hand - surf over
to the International Lyrics Server (http://www.lyrics.ch), which
boasts of lyrics of over 73,000 songs on their site. What makes
this site so useful is that they have a search engine which asks
you for either the title, singer or the album and returns a list
of matches. Do this, and you need not be at a loss for words again.
Or for that matter be listed in kissthisguy
If you have the time, money and inclination, they have a monthly
coronation, crowning Ms/Mr. Lyrics - you have to send a snapshot
of yourself to them via snail mail to Switzerland. The best snap
each month is crowned - do it, and that may very well be your
ticket to fame !