I am very good at learning lyrics to songs. I pride myself on how fast I can learn them. My mom was music teacher and had me performing from the age of 3, so I guess after this many years it just comes naturally to me. Now I forget them if I have to perform in front of someone, anyone, but generally I am good at learning them.
Then today, my ego was crushed. I was listening to No Rain by Blind Melon. Whether or not you like the song, it was one of the iconic songs of my high school years. It came out when I was a senior, and just learning how to tell my mom to fuck off when it came to her control over what I listened to. I LOVE the song. That was the year I finally burst out of my music plastic bubble and learned about other types of music. Other than classical, 40's, 50's rock, 60's rock and folk, and of course humor (Weird Al and Dr. Demento will always have a place in my heart).
So anyway, I was listening along, but this time I did not sing with it as usual. I was typing, so I just listened while I was typing. When it got to the chorus, such as it is, I finally HEARD the lyrics for the first time in nearly 20 years. I stopped typing and rewound it (well, placed the cursor at a previous point. Still stuck in the 90's). I listened again. Wow. The words that I had taken for granted for nearly 20 years were wrong. He was singing it wrong. I couldn't have learned it wrong. So I went backwards again.
Nope, I was WRONG. You see, I used to see this as an asshole slacker song. This guy wanted to sit around all day doing nothing, expecting his woman to go out and support him, AND he wanted her to let him cheat on her. Asshole slacker. Not really that surprising, considering some of the other songs other groups were doing. The words I heard are "I just want someone to say to me, oh oh oh oh, I'll always be there when you wake, yea ah ah ah./You know I'd like to keep my cheating strategy yeah yeah/ So just stay with me and I'll have it made"
Sounds pretty douchy, right? Well, turns out the lyrics are mostly the same, except that middle line is "You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today". That totally changes the song. Completely takes the asshole right out of it.
Then I started thinking.....maybe I am not as good as I thought about learning lyrics. Maybe I am just a schmoo who doesn't know anything. One of my few talents? Gone. I don't dare go through and find out what else I have misheard. I know of only one other in my entire life. That was Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I used to think it was Dirty Me and the Dunder Chief. What the hell, they were high anyway. Didn't need to make sense. but this? He wasn't a tad clearer in his enunciation. Not much, but still.
And when I read the Bloggess's post on this very topic I think a month ago I was SO smug. I only had one. Ha ha losers. She is so funny. But now I am beginning to doubt myself. My abilities as a lyric memorizer...are they false?
Have I become one of those douches who thinks everything they do is awesome, even when it is total shit? That is the question. My generation tends to be very smug. When I started school they were doing the "EVERYONE gets first place because we want everyone to feel good about themselves" method of teaching. The problem with that is we didn't really learn the difference between shitty work and quality work. We were raised to think that no matter what we did, it was the AWESOMEST THING EVAR!!. It has annoyed me over the years how entitled and full of themselves so many people my age are. It annoyed me way back in high school. I vowed never to become like them. Granted, there are a few that aren't. But still, DON'T want to be one.
Ya know, I like my version of the song better. I like the douchy statement. I am going to keep singing it my way. There is a difference between being bad at something, and being stubborn. As my mom used to stay, I choose to be stubborn. I know it's wrong, but I don't care. That isn't the same, is it?
Then today, my ego was crushed. I was listening to No Rain by Blind Melon. Whether or not you like the song, it was one of the iconic songs of my high school years. It came out when I was a senior, and just learning how to tell my mom to fuck off when it came to her control over what I listened to. I LOVE the song. That was the year I finally burst out of my music plastic bubble and learned about other types of music. Other than classical, 40's, 50's rock, 60's rock and folk, and of course humor (Weird Al and Dr. Demento will always have a place in my heart).
So anyway, I was listening along, but this time I did not sing with it as usual. I was typing, so I just listened while I was typing. When it got to the chorus, such as it is, I finally HEARD the lyrics for the first time in nearly 20 years. I stopped typing and rewound it (well, placed the cursor at a previous point. Still stuck in the 90's). I listened again. Wow. The words that I had taken for granted for nearly 20 years were wrong. He was singing it wrong. I couldn't have learned it wrong. So I went backwards again.
Nope, I was WRONG. You see, I used to see this as an asshole slacker song. This guy wanted to sit around all day doing nothing, expecting his woman to go out and support him, AND he wanted her to let him cheat on her. Asshole slacker. Not really that surprising, considering some of the other songs other groups were doing. The words I heard are "I just want someone to say to me, oh oh oh oh, I'll always be there when you wake, yea ah ah ah./You know I'd like to keep my cheating strategy yeah yeah/ So just stay with me and I'll have it made"
Sounds pretty douchy, right? Well, turns out the lyrics are mostly the same, except that middle line is "You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today". That totally changes the song. Completely takes the asshole right out of it.
Then I started thinking.....maybe I am not as good as I thought about learning lyrics. Maybe I am just a schmoo who doesn't know anything. One of my few talents? Gone. I don't dare go through and find out what else I have misheard. I know of only one other in my entire life. That was Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I used to think it was Dirty Me and the Dunder Chief. What the hell, they were high anyway. Didn't need to make sense. but this? He wasn't a tad clearer in his enunciation. Not much, but still.
And when I read the Bloggess's post on this very topic I think a month ago I was SO smug. I only had one. Ha ha losers. She is so funny. But now I am beginning to doubt myself. My abilities as a lyric memorizer...are they false?
Have I become one of those douches who thinks everything they do is awesome, even when it is total shit? That is the question. My generation tends to be very smug. When I started school they were doing the "EVERYONE gets first place because we want everyone to feel good about themselves" method of teaching. The problem with that is we didn't really learn the difference between shitty work and quality work. We were raised to think that no matter what we did, it was the AWESOMEST THING EVAR!!. It has annoyed me over the years how entitled and full of themselves so many people my age are. It annoyed me way back in high school. I vowed never to become like them. Granted, there are a few that aren't. But still, DON'T want to be one.
Ya know, I like my version of the song better. I like the douchy statement. I am going to keep singing it my way. There is a difference between being bad at something, and being stubborn. As my mom used to stay, I choose to be stubborn. I know it's wrong, but I don't care. That isn't the same, is it?
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