Are there any songs that always tend to bring out the pedant in you? Something in the song that gets you twitching a little?
Maybe songs where they got their facts wrong, or maybe pronounced a word weirdly to make it rhyme?
What's your beef?
An all time classic of the genre has to go to Alanis Morissette and 'Ironic'.
Most of her examples in the song are not really ironic but simply a case of bad luck.
Apparently she has said that the fact that nothing in the song constitutes irony, is the irony itself and was completely intentional.
Hmmm, not sure I'm buying that 😊
Another one that gets me, is probably a case of me not them but, Martha and the Muffins 'Echo Beach' where the lyrics go-
From nine to five, I have to spend my time at work
My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk
Now, they're Canadian so I suppose I have to let them off rhyming Work with Clerk, but still. Makes me itch a little when I hear it as a British person who pronounces it 'clark' 😊
What you got?
My pet peeve is pedantic pendants
Don't leave us hanging...
Anything to say about them? 👆😂
An all time classic of the genre has to go to Alanis Morissette and ‘Ironic’.
"I remember when 'she' was just plain old Allam Morris". Ed Byrne had a routine where he finished off each line so that it was actually an irony - a No Smoking Sign one your cigarette break when you work in a tobacco factory. A traffic jam when you're already late for the presentation you have to give on improving transport infrastructure.
I've always thought the Weather Girl's 'Its raining men' is a very cheerfully sung account of what seems to an absolutely gruesome tragedy. I mean thats proper old testament stuff.
I'm sure this is what you were after.
Edit: sorry not sorry
Not Ironic as such:
But a very concise (millennial) critique of quite a few ironic features of the modern age... (IMO)
Any song where they sing "You and I" to get the rhyme when grammatically it should be "You and me".
"this world in which we live in" - tell me Macca was joking.
Dancing on the ceiling, Lionel Ritchie?
Keep the light on for me, Belinda Carlisle.
All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey.
I went for a walk, on a winters day
- if the leaves are brown, isn't that still technically autumn?
Not quite the same thing, but I hate it when a song refers to the song itself in the song. It completely takes you out of the moment... I can only think of one that make me cringe if I don't turn it off in time (although the whole song is pretty cringe anyway) -
"Why do I find it hard to write the next line?" I mean, well you just wrote the line, but it was shit. Have another think Mr Kemp.
I know there are others.
Echo Beach used to wind me up so much I Googled to check their nationality - I have to let them off, being Canadian.
The one that still winds me up is John Lennon's 'Merry Christmas (War is Over)'...
So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Err, no. Christmas is at the end of the year, the new year is still a week away.
Ah, but the 12 Days of Christmas are still going at New Year.
I don't think deserts do miss the rain- I think their whole existence relies on there not being any.
"Moët et Chandon" as sung by Freddy.
"All I ever wanted, all I ever needed" pissed off a generation of English teachers trying to teach "ed" ending pronunciation.
Bruce Springsteen gets "deuce" right but Manfred Man has a shower.
A misheard lyrics thread might be more amusing.
Ah, but the 12 Days of Christmas are still going at New Year.
I don't buy that 😉
Not quite the same but
spirit in the sky.
All good singing along then "I got a friend in jeeez..." Nope not singing that bullshit.
Pedants' Playlist.
And isn't it ironic?
Don't you think?
Swing Low Sweet Chariot.
Something from Swing Out Sister?
– if the leaves are brown, isn’t that still technically autumn?
No, meteorological winter starts on 1st Dec and oaks could still have leaves, as well as beech and hornbeam which would hold some leaves all through winter.
Do you think he's noticed yet?
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
Neither Kilimanjro nor Olympus is visible from the Serengeti.
Also...
Whom do you think you are kidding Mr Hiltler...
If you are the champions then surely you've won, ergo you've already kept on fighting to the end.
No, meteorological winter starts on 1st Dec and oaks could still have leaves, as well as beech and hornbeam which would hold some leaves all through winter.
Could have avoided a lot of angst if they'd been clearer which system they were working to.
Also where in the world were they when they started singing? There's a lot of seasonal drift across the US.
@BigJohn -
“this world in which we live in” – tell me Macca was joking.
Not that I'd ever defend him, but isn't it "this world in which we're living"?
Freddie again...
"She's a Killer Queen, gun powder, gelatine."
Gunpowder and gelatine.
"Blasting Gelatine" I think? Which I think is gelignite but I might be wrong.
Either way I am pretty sure gelatine is used in explosives at a pretty useful medium for keeping stuff suspended and dispersed like silver nitrate in camera films.
Infact. Just listening.
I think it's
Gunpowder, (blasting) Gelatine , dynamite, with a laser beam.
It's a list of dangerous things in the wrong hands.
I Can't Get No Satisfaction ... do I need to explain a double negative to young Michael Jagger?
If you are the champions then surely you’ve won, ergo you’ve already kept on fighting to the end.
A champion can mean 'the winner', but it also be someone who you put forward to compete on your behalf. So "we'll keep on fighting (for you) to the end". The song has always been a bit of a sing-along but perhaps the 'We' isn't all of us, 'We' is the band and they the world's nominated champions. Maybe
"in trial by battle, a procedure in which guilt or innocence was decided by a test of arms. Clergy, children, women, and persons disabled by age or infirmity had the right to nominate champions to fight by proxy."
Your championship also persists for the following season, so currently Manchester City are the de facto Champions of English football.
So they are absolutely right to continue 'fighting' under that banner until it becomes mathematically impossible for them to retain their title.
But that would be hard to make it scan, so substitute 'mathematically impossible.....etc.' for 'the end' and you'll see that it's a perfectly reasonable lyric.
– if the leaves are brown, isn’t that still technically autumn?<br />No, meteorological winter starts on 1st Dec and oaks could still have leaves, as well as beech and hornbeam which would hold some leaves all through winter.<br /><br />
They’re in California…
The Dutch techno choon James Brown is Dead by L.A. Style, released in 1991, fifteen years before it bore any truth in relation to reality.
Yaz, “The Only Way is Up!”
Demonstrably incorrect.
Do they know it’s Christmas? Yes. Christianity is a very popular religion in Africa, plus the commercialisation of the festive season will cover any non believers.
There’ll be no snow in Africa this Christmas time.
Yes there will. Kilimanjaro has snow capped peaks, year round.
No rain nor rivers flow Apart from the Nile, one of the longest in the world.
In Working Man by Rush, Geddy moans about leaving for work at 9 and being home for a beer at 5.
He then moans that he doesn’t have time for living because he’s working all the time. Let’s assume he has a 30 minute commute …9.30 to 4.30 is a pretty cushy working day.
I feel his woes will fall on deaf ears of NHS workers and those on zero hours contracts.
In Working Man by Rush, Geddy moans about leaving for work at 9 and being home for a beer at 5.
He then moans that he doesn’t have time for living because he’s working all the time. Let’s assume he has a 30 minute commute …9.30 to 4.30 is a pretty cushy working day.
In my last job, my working day was 6.30am to 6.30pm. With a 30-40 minute commute.
Mike Oldfield / Maggie Reilly's "Moonlight Shadow". 4am in the morning. 4am cannot possibly be in the afternoon.
Robbie Williams's "Strong". And that's a good line to take it to the bridge. No, Mr. Williams, it is not.
Oh, and anything by Pendulum, if we're being pendantic
Saturday night’s alright for fighting.
The law disagrees here.
Year 3000 by Busted. Great, great, great grand daughter.....
They’re in California
Surely they are dreaming of going to California?
Can leaves dream?
Pedants’
If several pedants are contributing to a single playlist.
Anyway. Bluebirds are not to be found in the vicinity of Dover, as they're not a native species.
'Thunder only happens when it's raining'
Not necessarily.
I've never really looked at that album cover before (not my sort of thing at all), but has Mick there got a pair of fake bollocks dangling? Wassat about then?
"Err, no. Christmas is at the end of the year, the new year is still a week away."
New Year is during Christmas. And yes there will be snow somewhere in Africa, not everyone will be having fun and snowmen are not responsible for snow.
"Have you not cycled Moscow to California on a warm Scottish day?"
I have always fancied a cross border run doing Oxford to Cambridge
'Are we human or are we dancer?': is that not a false dichotomy?
Have you not cycled Moscow to California on a warm Scottish day?
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/cyclists-complete-brilliant-challenge-bike-20865656 - with a beard like that, surely they're a STWer?
And did those feet, in ancient times
Walk upon England's mounrtains green?
er no.
'And did those feet...'. The Swedenborgians thought so.
Ride a White Swan... baby can't go wrong...
I won't be putting any baby of mine anywhere near a swan. Can break a man's arm, apparently.
An all time classic of the genre has to go to Alanis Morissette and ‘Ironic’.
This is an age old "argument". I remember at Uni the campus drunk who liked the sound of his own voice wrote an article on it on the Union rag. It was time to move on a long time ago.
“Tonight there’s going to be a jailbreak somewhere in this town”
I’m going to guess the jail?
London has many jails.
indeed. Another that's been done to death.
went to a party in the county jail...
- Oh really?
- That's what we're going with...
“Tonight there’s going to be a jailbreak somewhere in this town”
I’m going to guess the jail?
London has many jails.
It's a city mind.
'Everybody walk the dinosaur'
Dinosaurs were never domesticated and certainly didn't require walks.
Wassat about then?
‘Clackers’ , very popular in the late 60s, and like a swan they could break your arm (apparently).
In Working Man by Rush, Geddy moans about leaving for work at 9 and being home for a beer at 5.
He then moans that he doesn’t have time for living because he’s working all the time. Let’s assume he has a 30 minute commute …9.30 to 4.30 is a pretty cushy working day.
I've listened to that song a million times and yet it's never struck me how short his working week is. And if he's hitting the bottle at 5 every evening he's probably a borderline alcoholic too.
And now I'm beginning to wonder if they ever really did fly through that black hole. I always assumed it was a true story!!
And did those feet, in ancient times
Walk upon England’s mounrtains green?er no.
Definition of a mountain seems to vary slightly but, generally 300m elevation or approx 610m above sea level is a mountain. Apperently there are over 200 mountains in England.
You can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
I'll be honest, I'd thought it was more likely piles playing up?
