Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Alright, Okay, You Win

Congratulations Justin Ritchie, from Washington, DC you are the big winner of our mondegreen challenge!

Justin correctly identified "When the world gets naked, hun" as being a misheard lyric from Girls Just Want to Have Fun. He also knew that the correct lyric was “When the working day is done”, and that it was originally sung by Cyndi Lauper. In the process we learned that there are more than a few other recordings out there including one by Greg Laswell (who knew it was really a ballad?), Miley Cyrus and a band with an unprintable name but an oddly catchy version. Being ladies, we can only tell you that the band’s name starts with Star.

Justin, your copy of Hit Me With Your Pet Shark: Misheard Lyrics of the 1980’s is on its way. By the way, Cyndi will be in DC at the 9:30 club on August 12th, maybe you can get her to sign it! The photo comes from Cyndi's website, doesn't she look AMAZING?

3 comments:

AitchD said...

Hi Ladies,

Does the book mention John Lennon's singing Chuck Berry's '...It's got a back beat, you can't lose it' (Rock & Roll Music) as "It's got a black beat, you can't lose it"? Maybe it's my ears, or a lot of saliva in John's mouth, but I swear he sings that lyric at least once on a few of the several Beatles versions, including live, concert performances.

What do you call it when Chet Baker on That Old Feeling sings - instead of "my heart stood still' - "my heart stid stull [rhymes with pull]"?

Laurel Massé said...

Though I have not heard it, John Lennon was just the kind of irreverent wit to say "black beat" on occasion on purpose.

What I call it when Chet Baker sings "my heart stid stull" is either a live take (with the vocals recorded at same time as and in same room as the instruments) that was otherwise so good that they let it stand, or else a recording budget too small to allow another take.

Laurel Massé said...

What's missing in a lot of recordings today is that element of human error. I am all for taking another run at a tune to make it better, but too much recorded music is more perfect than is actually possible and, to my ear, a little "chilly" as a consequence.