~riette
Sat, Jun 13, 1998 (18:23)
seed
I've just been watching Top Of the Pops on BBC, and one of the lyrics I heard
there induced me to come here to share. It went.
I'm horny
horny horny horny
horny in the night
horny all night
I'm so horny
horny horny horny
etc.
I was making lemonade all the way!!!
Especially when I thought that in Afrikaans it would go:
Ek's op hitte
hitte hitte hitte
hitte in die nag
hitte die ganse nag
ek is so op hitte
hitte hitte hitte
ha-ha ---- like a car that can't get started!!!!
~terry
Mon, Jun 15, 1998 (23:46)
#1
And you can't stop singing this?
~riette
Tue, Jun 16, 1998 (01:23)
#2
Uhg, no I'm trying my best to forget it!!! It's absolutely horrible. I mean these
girls have about five silly little buns on their heads (God knows how they achieve it with their hair being about 3 cm long), they wear these strange camouflage pants (which CAN look good on a person if they actually fit), which sag down
to just below their arses with their ten year old knickers displayed all over the
place, they sway like a couple of drunks, and that's how they hope to get
the audience as horny as they are?!?!? No, thank you! It was a good laugh,
but Sovory makes me alot hornier; I'd like to think of myself as less of a slut
than I used to be!
~KitchenManager
Wed, Jul 1, 1998 (13:44)
#3
drat
~riette
Thu, Jul 2, 1998 (01:25)
#4
What the fu�k?!?!
~KitchenManager
Thu, Jul 2, 1998 (12:10)
#5
French again?
~riette
Thu, Jul 2, 1998 (12:20)
#6
Absolutely!
Did I mention that French is my favourite language? I mean, it's just so musical on the ear, isn't it? Especially when spoken, not written . . .
Wat zuh fok!
Beautiful, ain't it?
~KitchenManager
Thu, Jul 2, 1998 (12:23)
#7
*lol*
~riette
Thu, Jul 2, 1998 (12:44)
#8
And here's one of the most moronic song lyrics I've heard in a long time. It's by DJ bobo - fun to listen to, until you figure out the words, which are sung with a heavy Swiss accent.
Planet earth, that's the name of my place
I'm born in this world, in the entire space
(how fat can a person possibly be?!)
Planet earth is my home, is my face
(uh, imagine that for a moment . . .)
Follow your trace, embrace this human race
(sounds like anal sex!)
I'm talking about respect, this is my destiny
(not with lyrics like these, pal!)
Feel free and stop running away
From the doubt in your mind -
never fade to grey
(what the fu�k??)
Planet earth, gentle and blue
Then cold as a rock, or ice without a hue
(ag shame!)
Planet earth made out of dust
A big ball of metal, condemned to rust
(like, WHY, and since when?!)
Pray, let your soul be free
(trying to sound like the english chap in Batman?!)
Find out how to heal a bleading (his spelling) wound
(ever tried putting on a plaster?)
don't stand around
Life could be paradise
(yeah, right!)
Peace on earth is what I found
(not difficult if one lives on a few million a year in a country like Switzerland!!!!!!)
All around in a magic world
from the air to the ground
(WHAT THA FU�K?!?!?!?! I mean, what in the he�� is supposed to connect those last two phrases?!?!?!)
�sitting on my chair, shuddering my arse off, eyebrow touching the ceiling!�
~TIM
Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (09:34)
#9
Raise the roof. Or at least the ceiling. Anyway most of my favorite silly song lyrics are in songs by Jerry Reed. ( I don't Know if I spelled his name right. It might be Reid)
~TIM
Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (09:39)
#10
Incidentally, I haven't heard the expression, "What the Fuck", used since I was in the army. Whenever things were really FUBAR, someone would call in on the radio with,"What the Fuck....over?".
~autumn
Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (15:57)
#11
FUBAR? Jerry Reed? What the fuck...?
~TIM
Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (16:59)
#12
Now, don't tell me that you've never heard of Jerry Reed. FUBAR is the worst of three designations for messed up, used by the military. They are:
SNAFU= situation normal all fouled up.
TARFU= things are really fouled up
FUBAR= fouled up beyond all recognition.
~riette
Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (02:59)
#13
You don't swear?
~TIM
Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (04:35)
#14
I try not to swear, sometimes it's unavoidable, but usually there is a way around it.
~autumn
Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (21:55)
#15
Very interesting, Tim! Never heard of those last two military designations (and I worked for the Army for 3 years--my husband still does). About Jerry Reed, I am clueless. Is he a friend of Funky Bob's by any chance?
~TIM
Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (01:46)
#16
Jerry Reed is a country western singer who makes mostly comedy songs.
~riette
Tue, Nov 24, 1998 (08:56)
#17
He is NOT a friend of Funky Bob's then! Funky Bob's a hip hop artist. Stinks, but I love him.
~TIM
Tue, Nov 24, 1998 (10:00)
#18
Riette, bring some of his music when you come! I'd love to hear it.
~riette
Wed, Nov 25, 1998 (03:21)
#19
I shall indeed! I hope I'm not going to make you crazy - you must just say, enough when I get out of hand, will you? Because I don't want to be rude and stuff.
~TIM
Wed, Nov 25, 1998 (13:11)
#20
Riette, I'm sure that you won't get out of hand. You are not a rude person. And
besides, I like all music.
~riette
Thu, Nov 26, 1998 (12:46)
#21
Well, I'll try not to anyway. And I'm looking forward to hearing the kind of music you listen to over there.
~TIM
Thu, Nov 26, 1998 (18:05)
#22
Riette, I can Hardly wait.
~riette
Sat, Nov 28, 1998 (01:53)
#23
Yes, HARDly!!!
ha-ha!!! Couldn't resist!
~TIM
Sat, Nov 28, 1998 (02:03)
#24
I hope Not, Riette!
(I could not just let that one slide by)
~riette
Sat, Nov 28, 1998 (16:07)
#25
ha-ha!!! If you carry on like this, I shall refuse to come!
�wink�
~TIM
Sat, Nov 28, 1998 (19:28)
#26
Riette, That is something that I would definitely have to see to believe.
~riette
Mon, Nov 30, 1998 (02:42)
#27
Me too!
~KitchenManager
Sat, Dec 26, 1998 (23:57)
#28
Jerry Reed was also in the Smokey and the Bandit movies...
and at least one episonde of Scooby Doo...
~PT
Tue, Jan 12, 1999 (19:19)
#29
I enjoy his lyrics.
~Isabel
Wed, Sep 1, 1999 (14:03)
#30
MacArthur�s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down...
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don�t think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I�ll never have that recipe again
Ho, no !
(Donna Summer: MacArthur Park, 1978; from http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2249/song_map.html )
Hello?
Could anybody please explain these lyrics for me?
Why did she leave the cake in the rain, if it took her so long to make it?
Where did she loose the recipe?
Why does it rain at all?
And: Who was supposed to eat that cake?
This is a mystery that has occupied my mind for many years...
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 1, 1999 (14:25)
#31
I can't explain the cake mystery, but MacArthur Park was originally performed by Richard Harris (great actor, not much of a singer) in 1967. Disc jockeys loved his version, because back then, in the day of the 2 minute 30 second single (45 rpm vinyl, no less), it was nearly 7 minutes long, allowing the announcer to go to the bathroom.
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 1, 1999 (14:34)
#32
Jerry Reed played truck driver Cletus "The Snowman" Snow (Burt Reynold's sidekick) in the Smokey and the Bandit movie series. Here's an example of one of his lyrics:
Amos Moses was a Cajun, he lived by himself in a swamp.
He hunted alligators for a livin', he'd just knock 'em in the head with a stump.
The Loosiana law's gonna gitcha, Amos...
It ain't legal huntin' alligators down in the swamp, boy
Now, everybody cursed his old man for makin' him as mean as a snake.
When Amos Moses was a boy his daddy would use him for alligator bait.
Tie a rope aroun' his waist and throw him in the swamp...
an alligator man in the Loosiana bayou
About 45 minutes northeast of Thibodeaux, Loosiana
Lived a man name Doc Roy South and his pretty wife, Hannah
They raised them a son who could eat up his weight in groceries...
Named him after a man of the cloth, called him Amos Moses
copyright 1969, Jerry Reed
~mrchips
Thu, Sep 2, 1999 (07:11)
#33
"Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah!" ("Drive My Car"/Beatles, written by George Harrison)
"Who put the bop in the bop de bop? Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong?" (Barry Weil)
"Polk salad Annie, the gator's got yer granny (chomp, chomp, chomp)
Everybody said it was a shame, cause yo' mama was workin' on a chain gang" (Tony Joe White)
"Hey Moe, Hey Moe, well-a, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk" ("The Curley Shuffle"/Jump in the Saddle)
"Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filet gumbo
Cuz tonite I'm a gonna see my ma cher ami-oh
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar, and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we're gonna have big fun on the bayou" (Hank Williams, Sr.)
"California tumbles into the sea, that'll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn her about Gino and Daddy G, but I can't seem to get to you in the county jail,
Well I heard the whistle and I must go, I'm gonna take it down to Mexico
She said oh, no, Guadalajara won't do now!
Well I did not think the girl could be so cruel
And I'm never goin' back to my old school." (Steely Dan/written by Donald Fagan and Walter Becker)
~riette
Thu, Sep 2, 1999 (14:34)
#34
Hey Moe, Hey Moe, well-a nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!!!! ha-ha!!! Sounds like Beavis and Butthead pick-up line!
~mrchips
Thu, Sep 2, 1999 (21:16)
#35
I think Elmer Fudd is Butthead's long-lost daddy. They have the same laugh.
~riette
Fri, Sep 3, 1999 (02:52)
#36
�uncontrollable giggles�
PLUS his face looks like a hairless bum - a sure sign ....
~mrchips
Fri, Sep 3, 1999 (03:35)
#37
LOL!
~mrchips
Sat, Sep 4, 1999 (19:17)
#38
"Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase, Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing phase,
Means 'no worries' for the rest of your days,
It's a problem free philosophy
Hakuna Matata" (Jimmy Cliff, sung by Nathan Lane in The Lion King
"She's got electric boots, a mohair suit, you know I read it in a magazine,
Oh, oh
B-B-B-B-Bennie and the Jetsssss" (Sir Elton John)
"I saw the news today, oh boy. about a lucky man who made the grade.
And though the news was rather said, well, I just had to laugh...
I saw the photograph.
He blew his mind out in a car, he didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared, they'd seen his face before
(nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords).
I'd love to turn you on....
Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup, and looking up, I noticed I was late
Grabbed my boots and got my hat, I made the bus in seconds flat...
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
and somebody spoke and I went into a dream
AAAAAAAHHHHHHH AAAAAAHHHHHHH AAAAAHHHH ah ah, AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAHHHHH"
(The Beatles "A Day in the Life" Lennon/McCartney 1968)
~riette
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (04:55)
#39
With Hakuna Matata I love the bit where the pig says it's there motto. And Simba asks what a motto is. And the meercat says, 'Nothing. What's the motto with you?'
My kids fall over with laughter every time - me too! I LUUUUV those knock-knock type jokes.
~mrchips
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (05:09)
#40
Great film, period.
"Oh-bla-di, oh-bla-da, life goes on, tra la la how the life goes on" (Lennon/Mc Cartney, 1968)
"Outside, inside out, livin' la vida loca!" (Ricky Martin, 1999)
"Ooh eee, ooh ah ah, ting tang walla-walla bing bang!" ("Witch Doctor," David Seville & the Chipmunks, 1959)
"Solar prestige a gammon, kool kar kyrie kay salmon" (Sir Elton John, 1975)
~Isabel
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (10:46)
#41
PINHEAD
Gabba gabba We accept you
We accept you One of us.
I don't wanna be a pinhead no more
I just met a nurse that I could go for.
D-U-M-B Everyone's accusing me.
Gabba gabba hey
(The Ramones, Leave Home, 1977)
TEENAGE LOBOTOMY
Lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy, lobotomy!
DDT did a job on me
Now I am a real sickie
Guess I'll have to break the news
That I got no mind to lose.
All the girls are in love with me
I'm a teenage lobotomy.
Slugs and snails are after me
DDT keeps me happy Now
I guess I'll have to tell 'em
That I got no cerebellum.
Gonna get my Ph.D.
I'm a teenage lobotomy.
(The Ramones, Rocket to Russia, 1977)
I luv' their lyrics! They're a bit mean, but funny!
Heyho, let's go!
~aschuth
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (11:23)
#42
Yeah! R'n'R!
(jumping up and down, singing silly crap, like the whole "Pleasant Dreams" album...)
~riette
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (13:59)
#43
Geez!
~aschuth
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (14:06)
#44
I told you I'm not much into, uh, SERIOUS music...
~riette
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (14:20)
#45
Sure. Does that mean that, when you take your girlfriend out, and the teenage lobotomy song comes on, Alexander says in deep, erotic voice, 'Oh, listen, honey, they're playing our song!' ?
~mrchips
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (16:08)
#46
"Suck on my chocolate salty balls...put 'em in your mouth and suck 'em"
(Isaac Hayes as South Park's "The Chef")
~Isabel
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (17:39)
#47
mongoloid
mongoloid he was a mongoloid
happier than you and me
mongoloid he was a mongoloid
and it determined what he
could see
mongoloid he was a mongoloid
one chromosome too many
mongoloid he was a mongoloid
and it determined what he
could see
and he wore a hat
and he had a job
and he brought home the bacon
so that no one knew
mongoloid he was a mongoloid
his friends were unaware
mongoloid he was a mongoloid
nobody even cared
(Classic Devo-Song, "Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo!" Their first 7'' 1978)
~mrchips
Sun, Sep 5, 1999 (23:04)
#48
And She Was (Talking Heads-lyrics by David Byrne)
And she was lying in the grass
And she could hear the highway breathing
And she could see a nearby factory
She's making sure she is not dreaming
See the lights of a neighbor's house
Now she's starting to rise
Take a minute to concentrate
And she opens up her eyes
CHORUS:
The world was moving and she was right there with it (and she was)
The world was moving she was floating above it (and she was)
and she was
And she was drifting through the backyard
And she was taking off her dress
And she was moving very slowly
Rising up above the earth
Moving into the universe
Not touching ground at all
Up above the yard
CHORUS
She was glad about it... no doubt about it
She isn't sure where she's gone
No time to think about what to tell them
No time to think about what she's done
And she was
And she was looking at herself
And things were looking like a movie
She had a pleasant elevation
She's moving out in all directions
CHORUS
Joining the world of missing persons (and she was)
Missing enough to feel alright (and she was)
~riette
Mon, Sep 6, 1999 (01:36)
#49
I think that's rather deep, don't you? I love it.
~mrchips
Mon, Sep 6, 1999 (01:40)
#50
I love the song. I won't pretend to understand the lyrics.
~Isabel
Mon, Sep 6, 1999 (09:08)
#51
O.K. I don't want to you think that I'm a complete sicky!
I DO KNOW NORMAL SILLY SONG LYRICS, TOO!
Here's one:
ARTIST: Manfred Mann
TITLE: Do Wah Diddy Diddy
There she was just a-walking down the street
Singing do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
Snapping her fingers and shuffling her feet
Singing do wah diddy...
She looked good, looked good
She looked fine, looked fine
She looked good, she looked fine
And I nearly lost my mind
Before I knew it she was walking next to me / Singing...
Holdin' my hand just as natural as can be / Singing...
We walked on, walked on
To my door, my door
We walked on to my door
Then we kissed a little more
{Refrain}
Wo-o-o-oh, I knew we was falling in love
Yes I did, and so I told her all the things
I'd been dreaming of
Now we're together nearly every single day / Singing...
We're so happy and that how we're gonna stay / Singing...
Well I'm hers, I'm hers
She's mine, she's mine
I'm hers, she's mine
Wedding bells are gonna chime
{Refrain}
Now we're together nearly every single day / Singing...
We're so happy and that's how we're gonna stay / Singing...
Well I'm hers, I'm hers
She's mine, she's mine
I'm hers, she's mine
Wedding bells are gonna chime
Wo-o-o-o-o-o, oh yeah
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
Isn't that a silly one?
Alexander: Ever been to a Ramones-Concert? I've been at their "Goodbye-Tour"
Great Show!
John: That's what it's all about and why I posted the MacArthurPark-thing.
By the way, have you ever understood the lyrics of Procol Harums "Whiter Shade of Pale"? Do you have the lyrics? I love that song, but I really don't know what it's all about!
~riette
Mon, Sep 6, 1999 (11:42)
#52
I used to LOVE that song when I was a teenager, and all the seventies hits hit Namibia. My sister and I even used to do the little dance, and sometimes we'd translate it into Afrikaans (and most of ABBA's songs!!), and perform them for my mother. Used to have us making lemonade in our pants!
~aschuth
Mon, Sep 6, 1999 (14:59)
#53
Riette - Whiter Shade of Pale, or Doo-Wah-Diddy ? I guess the latter, no?
~riette
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (04:03)
#54
Doo-Wah-Diddy. I remember those girls with their little white tennis skirts doing that dance, and the balloons and glitter that spurted from the roof at the end of the song. And there was another one - I don't know the group, but the song was called 'Fantasy Island'. Also with the glitter and balloon; we thought it was SOOOOO cool. I hope my kids never ever find out about it.
~mrchips
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (04:54)
#55
Isabel, will get back to you with "Whiter Shade..." lyrics...have them somewhere. Sometime when I'm not nodding out at keyboard. BTW, Robin Trower was the guitarist for Procul Harum. Quit the band because they were more keyboard/vocal oriented. Caught a lot of flak for Hendrix "knock off" style in 70s, but still think Trower was great guitarist. As for "Doo Wah Diddy"--how the hell did I overlook that. Love the drill they did to it in movie Stripes.
~riette
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (11:00)
#56
~mrchips
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (15:26)
#57
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" (Procul Harum, music: Gary Brooker, lyrics: Keith Reid)
We skipped the light fandango
And turned cartwheels across the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said "There is no reason,
And the truth is plain to see"
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might just as well have been closed
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale
The only reference I remotely get is to "The Miller's Tale." It is the bawdiest of the many tales in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
~mrchips
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (15:33)
#58
Here are the silly lyrics to one of my all-time faves, Sir Elton's "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" (music by Elton John/lyrics by Bernie Taupin)
The roses in the window box
Have tilted to one side
Everything about this house
Was born to grow and die
Oh it doesn't seem a year ago
To this very day
You said, "I'm sorry, honey
If I don't change the pace
I can't face another day."
And love lies bleeding in my hand
Oh it kills me to think of you with another man
I was playing rock and roll and you were just a fan
But my guitar couldn't hold you
So I split the band
Love lies bleeding in my hands
I wonder if those changes
Have left a scar on you
Like all the burning hoops of fire
That you and I passed through
You're a bluebird on a telegraph line
I hope you're happy now
Well if the wind of change comes down your way girl
You'll make it back somehow
And love lies bleeding in my hand
Oh it kills me to think of you with another man
I was playing rock and roll and you were just a fan
But my guitar couldn't hold you
So I split the band
Love lies bleeding in my hands
~Isabel
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (15:43)
#59
Hey, just when I found the "Whiter Shade Of Pale" lyrics in the net and wanted to post them, they where already there. Thank you, John!
I heard that there's an explanation for these cryptic lyrics, maybe I'll find more about them in the net. Surf On!...and soon being back!
~mrchips
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (15:51)
#60
I'd like to know myself. Some of it sounds like the Titanic...some like the Canterbury Tales...some even like the Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Coleridge).
~riette
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (16:14)
#61
Or the Madness of King George, for that matter ..,
~autumn
Tue, Sep 7, 1999 (23:51)
#62
Or Jane Austen: Pet Detective... (hi, Ree!!)
Remember this from summer of '83(?): "A...E...I...O...U...Sometimes...Y"
~riette
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (02:55)
#63
I don't remember that one. Sing it, maybe I'll recognize it.
~riette
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (02:56)
#64
Jane Austen: Pet Detective?????
HA-HA!!!!
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (03:13)
#65
and who could forget this seemingly endless stream of non-sequiturs?
We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel
Copyrighted Maritime Music (1989 )
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye"
Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new Queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez
CHORUS
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide
Buddy Holly, "Ben Hur", space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo
CHORUS
Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say
CHORUS
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller, cola wars, I can't take it anymore
CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (08:16)
#66
Isabel, the following is excerpted from Mike Butler's book Lives of the Great Songs:
'I never understand when people say they don't understand it,' said (Procul lyricist Keith) Reid. '"We skipped the light fandango"'. That's traightforward. "Turned cartwheels across the floor." It seems very clear to me.' Nervously, I hazarded my own reading, the summation of my voluntary immersion in the world of A Whiter Shade of Pale, and much pondering on its significance. Is it about getting pissed and fancying the person opposite you? 'It's a story, a journey, seen from the point of view of a man ch
racter.'
The song explores what it means to be wrecked, in more than one sense of the word. A nervous seducer sustains his courage with alcohol. As he becomes more drunk, his impressions of his unfamiliar partner become confused by stray thoughts, fragments of childhood reading and his own faint-hearted aspirations. The song's recurring metaphor is of maritime disaster, and a parallel is drawn between romantic conquest and the allure and peril of the sea. The hero is a callow juvenile, far happier with a book than
risking the emotional bruising of relationships. This ambivalence is underscored by frequent allusions to nausea.
As befits a night of excess, there are gaps in the telling. The evasive 'And so it was that later ...' is given weight by repetition and its positioning just before the hook ('Her face at first just ghostly / Turned a whiter shade of pale'). The listener is invited to fill the gaps with his or her own (prurient) imagination. An entire verse was dropped early in the song's gestation. Another is optional ('She said, 'I'm home on shore leave,' / Though in truth we were at sea') and was excised from the recor
ed version at the insistence of producer Denny Cordell, to make the record conform to standard single length.
For a pop song, A Whiter Shade of Pale carries an unprecedented amount of literary baggage. Although, Reid reveals, the reference to Chaucer is a red herring. 'One thing people always get wrong is that line about the Miller's Tale. I've never read Chaucer in my life. They're right off the track there.' Why did he put it in then? (In mild dismay at the peremptory demolition of this intellectual prop.) 'I can't remember now.' The analogy with Canterbury Tales, whether welcomed by Reid or not, holds good. Bo
h are quintessentially English works, the one established in the canon of literature, and the other a pop standard. Both have associations of piety and decorum. (The song has become a regular fixture of the wedding ritual, supplanting Handel's Wedding March as the tune to walk down the aisle to after the ceremony: it was played, indeed, at the wedding of Gary Brooker and Fran�oise, known as Frankie, with Procol Harum's Matthew Fisher in the organ loft.) Both, beneath their respectable surface, are puerile
and sex-obsessed works. [sic!]
Even discounting the Chaucer reference � the Miller's Tale is the usual mediaeval bawdiness, involving cuckoldry, bared buttocks, flatulence and a sadistic rear-end attack � the conviction remains that A Whiter Shade of Pale is all about sex, and juvenile sex at that. The following memorable couplet is the giveaway:
[I] would not let her be
One of sixteen Vestal Virgins
Vestal Virgins were handmaidens of the Roman half-goddess Vesta (meaning hearth), whose job was to maintain a sacred and perpetual fire. The number of them is significant, invoking the biblical parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins, and, less edifyingly, the barrack-room ballad of '... four-and-twenty virgins ... down from Inverness'. Why Reid's lot should amount to 16 is one of the song's more imponderable details. Maybe it has something to do with 16 being the youngest a girl can be lusted a
ter by a rock'n'roller with impunity (You're Sixteen, Sweet Little Sixteen, etc). The passing allusion to Lewis Carroll in the preceding couplet � 'I wandered through my playing cards' � suggests that some of the obscurity of A Whiter Shade, as in Alice, may be due to the broaching of taboo. The hesitant lover in the song is caught midway between the chivalry of When a Man Loves a Woman and the carnality of Jane Birkin in Je t'aime (a smash hit of the following year, blatantly modelled on the Procol Harum
song).
END OF QUOTED TEXT--rest is paraphrased by me (John Burnett)
Reid says the title "Whiter Shade of Pale" came from a friend, having watched another friend smitten by a woman at a wedding reception, saying to the guy "Man, you just turned a whiter shade of pale." He realized he had a line for a song lyric then and had to go to putting the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together.
When asked about Willie Nelson's version of the song, where he changed the line about the miller to "and the mirror told it's tale" Reid replied, 'I like it. It's better. You can see why he's such a great songwriter.'
(I don't know if this actually tells you what the song means, but it should shed some light on how the lyrics came together. Hope this helps.)
~Isabel
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (09:01)
#67
...and it sounds soo harmonious like another love-song ( my cousin chose it for her wedding, too, I don't believe I would...
~Isabel
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (11:50)
#68
Das dritte Auge
King Rocko Schamoni - Jeans und Elektronik
Ich hab das dritte Auge, doch leider haengen Haare drueber
Und an meinen Haenden habe ich innen offene Wunden
Ich trage eine Dornenkrone und die Wuerfel in der Hand
Alles was ich tue, richtet sich nach ihnen nur
Und tief im Dunkeln dreh ich einsam in der Feuchte meine Kreise
Je schneller ich mich drehe, desto heller wird es hier
Gefangen, viel zu eng ist mir der Kerker meines Schaedels
Und mein Horizont, er reicht vom linken bis zum rechten Ohr
Ich habe sieben Beine, doch leider gehn nur zwei davon
Und in meinen Fuessen stecken lange Naegel
Ich fluestere meine S�nden zuhause ins Klosett hinein
Und spuele sie zusammen mit dem, was ich nicht brauche weg
(2. Verse repeated)
Hope I got all the 'umlauts' out!
Now, isn't that a real silly one?
~stacey
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (11:55)
#69
hysterical!
(actually it'll take me a week to translate I'm sure!)
Hey... is this topic hidden... it doesn't come up as having any new posts...
I only realized new stuff was being entered when I came in through a browser and saw it in the 'last five posts' section...
~stacey
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (11:56)
#70
~Isabel
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (13:01)
#71
Mmmh, don't know why it doesn't show on your main page, but it's not "members only", post your silliest song lyrics, too!
It would take me a week to translate this silly stuff into decent english, but I may try...coming soon!
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (13:15)
#72
Sorry, I forgot to close the HTML italics tag. Did so now, before Marcia does another of her mock-annoyed but secretly gleeful production of doing so. If I ever get married again, I might choose "Love Stinks" by the J. Geils Band, but somehow, I doubt I'll find the woman who will go along with that choice.
~aschuth
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (13:29)
#73
Gosh, so many letters - be glad you people don't work for a mag - you'd use up all letters on the Spring, and have only some Umlaute and consonants left for the job...
*Response 45 of 70: Riette
*Sure. Does that mean that, when you take your girlfriend out,
*and the teenage lobotomy song comes on, Alexander says in deep,
*erotic voice, 'Oh, listen, honey, they're playing our song!' ?
Riette, make that an excited, over-eager high voice, pitching over from even more excitement! Besides that - what's missing... AH, right - dumb, jerking moves (looks shit, feels good!), the same I'm involuntarily urged to by certain (most) Devo tunes. JERKIN' BACK 'n' FORTH!
Those two bands saved my sanity, but nobody noticed... The Ramones are not only funny. They are, as Isabell said, mean. Good songwriting, where fun stuff creates non-fun imagery, or bad things are ridiculed to bring them down to size.
They have done some very nice love songs and no-more-love-songs, too, and drug songs, and depressed songs. Stuff like Dee Dee's Sitting In My Room from the Pleasant Dreams album...
The difference between Lou Reed on one side and Joey and Dee Dee Ramone is, the Ramones were fun, while he is always so serious about everything. Great artist, that Lou, but always in a bad mood. Bored, annoyed - read interviews or watch documentaions on him, he never has fun, never smiles.
Look at Dee Dee. Read Poison Heart, his autobiography. What a life. You wouldn't wish that on an enemy! And yet he wrote so nice songs, that so many people loved all around the world! Not the old farts Mick and Keith, no, the Ramones were the greatest and most loved band of the world!
Even when Joey seemed so weak, and Dee Dee had quit, people loved them. The Ramones were ROCK N ROLLS most reliable institution.-
*Response 51 of 70: Isabel (Isabel)
*Alexander: Ever been to a Ramones-Concert?
*I've been at their "Goodbye-Tour". Great Show!
Isabell, I have, though not as often as John saw the Grateful Dead. I would never call me a fan - like I don't have all their albums, etc., but I dearly love their work and respected this band. I first saw them in mid-eighties (rather late... a friend even saw the Sex Pistols on their Germany tour in 1977, but I never had the money for "real" concerts). That was in Munich, in the club Schlachthof, which is long since history, too. I went with the flow and somehow lost one of my shoes... IN THE MIDDLE OF T
E SLAMMING CROWD! I tried to follow it, but all those folks slamming around, legs and arms milling about, it was migrating all thor the club... Had some good time to catch up with it! Anyhow, I think that was the only concert i saw with Dee Dee on bass.
Second time was an Open Air, the fourth or so Bizarre Festival - then still above the Rhine, on the stage near the Lorelei-cliff. Next time was in Frankfurt, where they were on a bill with Monster Magnet (who were great then!), Sisters Of Mercy, and Type-O-Negative, who were cancelled.
I saw them last on their farewell-tour, too. Had to pay them their dues, say thanks for the music. And what a sad moment! Opener were Rammstein - then unknown, but they sucked SO super-bad... The Ramones had deserved better! And then they played, with the last "new" Ramone, C.J. instead of Dee Dee on bass.
Joey looked very pale - as usual -, and weak, too. He left the stage several times, in which they played new songs that CJ sung. Every time Joey went off stage, I was very worried... And it was the loudest concert I've been to!
Isabell, how was your experience of that tour?
Rocko Schamoni - Stacey, translate it, it's worth it! Wonderfully esoteric, absurd and full of absurdities. Possibly a critique, factually a story well told (and what it's about, it does not matter...) Rocko is the MASTER of LOVE in music, as far as German lingo, L.O.V.E., soul, caring and mysteriousness concerned. He is a soul-loving pragmatic playing the mystic, or a mystic playing the fool. It doesn't matter, it's all very good!
superstar 3/99 features an exchange between Rock Schamoni and Bernd Hartwich from Munich band Merricks.-
Isabell - where'd you get that one? Huh?
Stacey - Speechless?
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (13:39)
#74
Und I thought Dieter of "Sprockets" fame (Mike Myers) was the ubermeister of love! Either him or Mozart. BTW, Myers is in the process of writing a Sprockets movie.
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (13:41)
#75
Alex, you're right about Lou being serious. Hard not to be with a 30 year heroin habit. But I never took "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" seriously. It's too damn funny, even if the lyrics sound depresssing.
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (13:50)
#76
For those of you who likely won't make it over to my "Screwed" site, remember the song "Diana" by Paul Anka? Earlier this year, I wrote some new lyrics for it and recorded it. It became kind of a cult item locally when I played it on the radio--even though my boss hated it and told me to cease and desist after a couple of weeks. He did say, though, that he liked my singing voice and was surprised by that. I still get requests. Here are the lyrics.
Viagra (tune "Diana" by Paul Anka, lyrics by John Burnett
(STANZA I)
When I'm down and want some love, there's an angel from above
Just ten dollars, a blue pill, and it gives me such a thrill...
Pretty soon I'm feelin' up, makes me frisky like a pup
Oh, please, stay with me, Viagra
(STANZA II)
Some who've tried it, they have died, but their joy they could not hide
and the smile upon their face, undertakers could not erase
And their caskets could not close, rigor mortis had arose
Oh, Please stay with me Viagra
CHORUS
Oh, Viagra, it's for sure
You're the miracle impotence cure
You make me feel so secure
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
REPEAT STANZA I (repeat final line three times and fade)...
lyrics, copyright 1999 John Burnett
~riette
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (14:05)
#77
ha-ha! I still love one of those very first viagra jokes which goes: why do they give old men viagra before they go to sleep at night? And the answer is: so they won't roll out of bed.
Apparently women have been taking it as well. Wonder what THAT looks like....
~Isabel
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (14:41)
#78
Hey, Alexanderr , who do think you are writing my name with double "ll" at the end? *grin* I'm not offended, but one "l" is good enough for me! O.K.?
Did you ever get that shoe back, or was it lost forever?
I loved this last Ramones-Concert, except Rammstein. They weren't famous then and nobody in the audience understood, what this was all about. It was sooo awful, I can't understand how they got that famous!
But you could see that the Ramones, esp. Joey had gotten very old (or sick?).
Hey, I was at the Super-Bang (was this the right name of this concert, don't really remmember), too! We could have met!
The Rocko Schamoni-LP? A friend recorded it on a tape for me...and I still love it most from all the LP's I know from him.
I saw that superstar-topic. Where do I get that mag? Is it german?
John , I love that song! Can't we hear it somewhere? Like on the internet, Real Audio, You know?
I know what you mean with "Lou" and "depressing". Can't listen to his "Heroin"-Song no more. Makes me depressive, too. No, I wasn't a drug-addict, but I knew some...
~aschuth
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (16:00)
#79
Isabellllll, give me a break. I've known Isas, Izas, Isabells, Isabelles, Ysabels and what have you not! But an Isabel NEVER crossed my path until now... I think.
So, please excuse mmmmmmmmmme. ;=}
Lou Reeeeeeeed - Don't get me wrong folks, love this guy's work, too. Well, most of it. SET THE TWILIGHT REELING disappointed me a bit. There's the best sound and fattest guitar he had in ages, and he writes so wonderful pieces with so unmoving lyrics. Perhaps the lyrics he does when in love (here: with Laurie Anderson) are not as strong as these when he hates...
He always seems so hard and serious, and that's nothing to do with 30 years of Heroine (btw, the version on the ROCK 'N' ROLL ANIMAL album - recorded somewhere live in Texas?- is great and so opulent I'd call it barock...). Look at Dee Dee, or Iggy. They have humour, he doesn't. Even when they are cynic or ironic, he has nothing to match that. Perhaps he controls his public image so good, perhaps he never is happy. But trust me, it's not the dope. Most dope fiends have at least sarcasm. Look at Bowie - HE
s always laughing! Never stopped!
superstar: German mag, available at any trainstation or around Berlin. End of sales plug.-
Sprockets: Saw that on MTV. Wish it still were on...
The show: I slammed along on one foot, following it, and eventually recovered it. It was a nice shoe with steel cap, so it was worth it...
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (16:00)
#80
"Heroin, it's my life and it's my wife" (can't laugh at that one)
Wish I could put it on the net. It's doing me absolutely no good right now. My boss won't allow me to play it anymore and I don't have my own website. He even erased the song out of the station's computer bank. I have the master, but it's a 24-track studio tape. When I played it, I didn't tell people it was me unless they called to ask. Some thought that it was Paul Anka.
~aschuth
Wed, Sep 8, 1999 (16:21)
#81
I don't know, Just where I'm going.
But I'm gonna try for the kingdom, If I can...
The important thing is not this song, it's the music. My best friend through many years told me, the whole thing was the best rendition of the feeling when the smack hits he ever found (Especially in the Rock 'n' Roll Animal-Version...). Of course the lyrics are important, but more as means for another instrument, Lou's voice.
And I'm rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus' son
And I guess I just don't know
Oh and I guess that I just don't know.
- and here the music explodes, bombastically, a high for every listener.
Doubtlessly Lou's masterwork. Stefan and I shared this opinion.
~riette
Thu, Sep 9, 1999 (11:18)
#82
Well, I guess feeling like Jesus' son must indeed be a ball-crushing experience...
~aschuth
Thu, Sep 9, 1999 (11:34)
#83
I guess I just don't know
Ah, and I guess that I just don't know...
~mrchips
Thu, Sep 9, 1999 (15:03)
#84
"I've opened up my veins too many times
Now the poison's in my soul and in my mind
Poison's in my bloodstream
poison's in my eyes
I'm after rebellion
I'll settle for lies..."
Blue Oyster Cult (can't remember song title...Help?)
~riette
Fri, Sep 10, 1999 (02:58)
#85
Wow, what paradoxical lyrics! No wonder counter-culture never remains 'counter'!
~aschuth
Sun, Sep 12, 1999 (05:00)
#86
Don't know the song...
Anybody read Dee Dee Ramones autobiography around here? "Poison Heart". Heavy stuff... Gives one a new perspective on the "cool" rock bands, and the musicians. And made me appreciate this artist even more...
~riette
Mon, Sep 13, 1999 (01:48)
#87
I haven't read it. I love reading auto-/biographies, but haven't read any recently. How did it give you a new perspective?
~aschuth
Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (11:41)
#88
You look at the Ramones, and what do you see? Punk rock's eternal boy group, and if you don't pay attention, you'd bet they sing all happy and silly tunes and are all good friends. Well, they don't and they weren't.
Dee Dee writes about where he's from - an Army brat, born in Berlin by his German mother, son after the war. Parents alcoholics, violent environment. Move to US, being to far out to fit in. Enter drugs and more violence...
If you have a bit of an idea about things that are connected together, how neuritcal behaviors come about, etc., you'll see some fascinating stuff here... A tortured soul, perhaps only calmed by music or silenced by dope. Music biz exploiting the artists. Also gives much insight into the NYC scene of 1976ff.
But the most fascinating is the behavioristic mechanisms. How patterns - even hated ones - rematerialize in oneself's acts. How creativity and pain can interact and relate to each other in cases (but in my mind, you don't have to be pained to be creative).
superstar 3/99 runs a little talk Sonny Vincent had with NY producer Daniel Rey, and Sonny asks about some NY-people. About Dee Dee, Daniel say, he's "painfully artistic".
~riette
Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (13:09)
#89
Sounds really interesting - and hellish! Isn't it amazing how many stars come from backgrounds like that? I sometimes wonder how much of it is real and how much of it is Cinderella syndrome - some of it certainly seem to be flaunting it like some sort of accessory on talk shows and stuff. On the other hand, who knows? Perhaps growing up like that gives them a very strong will to achieve something better for themselves.
'Painfully artistic' - I find that rather poignant.
~aschuth
Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (16:13)
#90
it is, and I don't think Dee Dee felt like Cinderella... But that book is good! Give it as present to somebody into punk, and borrow it...
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (20:43)
#91
I wish I were painfully artistic! I'm sick and damn tired of being broke and in debt.
~riette
Thu, Sep 16, 1999 (03:35)
#92
ha-ha! And HEAR HEAR!
~aschuth
Thu, Sep 16, 1999 (12:33)
#93
John, it wouldn't help you. Dee Dee was sick and tired, too . probabply still is. And his cash situation has - per his own accounts - never been great, courtesy of habits.
He even wrote songs that were released by the Ramones after he quit to get some money...
~mrchips
Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (01:08)
#94
BTW, Saturday Sep. 18 Dee Dee Ramone (born Douglas Colvin) is 47 years old (one year older than me). And I don't have habits, just debts. Kerry Livgren (Kansas) is 50.
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Dont you cry no more.
Decidedly unsilly and classic lyrics.
~Isabel
Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (14:20)
#95
So, it's your birthday today, too? Or did I get that wrong?
~mrchips
Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (18:13)
#96
No it's not my birthday, but I do see how you got that impression. Didn't mean to be misleading. Dee Dee is a little more than a year my senior, not one year exactly. But thanks for the thought!
~riette
Sun, Sep 19, 1999 (03:28)
#97
Oh, John, you're such a YOUTH!
~mrchips
Sun, Sep 19, 1999 (03:44)
#98
I'm glad SOMEONE is older than I am. My students tell me I'm ancient. They tell me the only reason I'm cool is I know a (co-worker) disc jockey they love who's 22. They tell me "My parents listen to you--sometimes"
~aschuth
Sun, Sep 19, 1999 (08:05)
#99
Perhaps you should play some house or other current flavors?
~mrchips
Wed, Sep 22, 1999 (23:24)
#100
I absolutely detest most rap and hip hop (our station plays it only at night--the jock the kids like, actually I have more listeners than he does, mine are just older). I do like some alternative rock, but would get fired for playing it on the air. Another station in town services that market--and I do tune them in myself. Love Matchbox 20, The Offspring, Blink 182, Fastball, Goo Goo Dolls, Soundgarden, Green Day...