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Post by Michael1973 on Jan 16, 2021 12:39:24 GMT -5
What songs can you think of where the singer intentionally mispronounces a common word, likely to make it fit better with the melody?
For example, in Long Train Runnin', the Doobie Brothers mention the state of ill-in-OY-iss (Illinois).
But my favorite instance is one that drove me insane back in the 1980s. In Stuck With You, Huey Lewis pronounces the word address as uh-DRAY-ess.
For months I wondered what the heck he was saying there. Upon finally seeing the lyrics, my head exploded. "ADDRESS???"
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Post by 80sat40fan on Jan 16, 2021 13:35:13 GMT -5
Elton John mispronounces "attached" in "Wrap Her Up" as does George Michael singing back ground vocals. Elton sings, "No strings at-TACH-ed" like it's a three syllable word (Money talks, see what it catches / Postage paid, no strings attached).
Dan Folgelberg, in "Part Of The Plan", sings, "One day, we'll all un-DER-stand. One day, we'll all un-DER-stand. One day, we'll all un-DER-stand." I get that it had to fit the rhythm but it seems odd to accent the second syllable.
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Post by at40petebattistini on Jan 16, 2021 14:27:41 GMT -5
...where the singer intentionally mispronounces a common word... When I was in France with the army One day I looked into my kit. I thought I would find me a sandwich But the darn thing was loaded with...“Shaving Cream” doesn’t rhyme with “kit”
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Post by johnnywest on Jan 16, 2021 17:14:27 GMT -5
In “99 Red Balloons,” Nena mispronounces “ministers” as “muh-NiS-turs.”
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Post by mga707 on Jan 16, 2021 22:20:44 GMT -5
Elton John mispronounces "attached" in "Wrap Her Up" as does George Michael singing back ground vocals. Elton sings, "No strings at-TACH-ed" like it's a three syllable word (Money talks, see what it catches / Postage paid, no strings attached). another well-known Elton mispronunciation is "...don't diz-GARD me, just because you think I mean you harm..." in "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me".
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Post by Jessica on Jan 16, 2021 22:41:14 GMT -5
Elton John mispronounces "attached" in "Wrap Her Up" as does George Michael singing back ground vocals. Elton sings, "No strings at-TACH-ed" like it's a three syllable word (Money talks, see what it catches / Postage paid, no strings attached). another well-known Elton mispronunciation is "...don't diz-GARD me, just because you think I mean you harm..." in "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me". That always made me nuts when he would sing that line.
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Post by saltrek on Jan 17, 2021 16:09:43 GMT -5
We could probably dedicate this entire thread to Elton John if we wanted to.
I know the line is "Well, Crocodile rocking is something shocking", but the pronunciation of "Crocodile" is more like "Crile".
In "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - "Back to the howling old owl in the woods" - Really?
"Bennie And The Jets" - "I read it in a maga-za-eene"
"island Girl" - about 75% of the song is unintelligible.
Etcetera and so forth.
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Post by slf on Jan 17, 2021 19:23:10 GMT -5
One of the worst examples of mispronounced words in a song is in the retro-1920's hit from 1966 "Winchester Cathedral". First off, the singer sings the last two letters in the second word of the title as AL, as in the male name (Al Bundy, Al Capone, etc.). Then, in the bridge, he mispronounces the word "bell", giving the "e" the same short "a" sound as the "al" in "cathedral", just so he can force a rhyme with the word "gal".
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Post by doofus67 on Jan 17, 2021 22:46:26 GMT -5
In the Human League's "(Keep Feeling) Fascination," the word "slide" is sung more like "Slade" to make it rhyme with "made."
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Post by johnnywest on Jan 17, 2021 23:20:26 GMT -5
In “The One I Love,” R.E.M. sings in the chorus, “Fire, she’s coming down on her own now.” All the words are completely slurred and unintelligible.
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Post by giannirubino on Jan 19, 2021 7:12:53 GMT -5
I never thought of Nena's "miNISTers' mispronunciation as intentional. I'm assuming English is not her first language. I thought of it the same way I would pick on ABBA for singing "champagne" with a 'hard' 'ch' not a soft 'ch.' (This was on the 1980 Super Trouper album track "Happy New Year.")
One of my favorite purposely mispronounced lyrics is the title of the #1 1975 hit by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds: ""Fawwin' In Love" for "Fallin' In Love."
I adore Donna Summer, but it irked me that she threw in an extra 's' on her #1 late 1978 hit "MacArthur Park" (she sings "MacArthur's Park.")
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Post by Hervard on Jan 19, 2021 10:17:47 GMT -5
I never thought of Nena's "mi NISTers' mispronunciation as intentional. I'm assuming English is not her first language. I thought of it the same way I would pick on ABBA for singing "champagne" with a 'hard' 'ch' not a soft 'ch.' (This was on the 1980 Super Trouper album track "Happy New Year.") One of my favorite purposely mispronounced lyrics is the title of the #1 1975 hit by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds: ""Fa wwin' In Love" for "Fallin' In Love." Reminds me of little kids not quite being able to pronounce r's and l's and using the w phonation instead. There was a kid who lived in my neighborhood many years ago and for years, I thought his name was Allen. It was actually Aaron (since he pronounced it as "Eh-wen" when he was three or four years old).
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Post by mga707 on Jan 19, 2021 10:42:30 GMT -5
One of my favorite purposely mispronounced lyrics is the title of the #1 1975 hit by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds: ""Fa wwin' In Love" for "Fallin' In Love." Reminds me of little kids not quite being able to pronounce r's and l's and using the w phonation instead. There was a kid who lived in my neighborhood many years ago and for years, I thought his name was Allen. It was actually Aaron (since he pronounced it as "Eh-wen" when he was three or four years old).[/quote] Sheldon's nemesis Barry Kripke ('Bawwy Kwipke') on 'Big Bang'.
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Post by Hervard on Jan 19, 2021 19:57:24 GMT -5
And who could forget..."Roll Out (My Bizz-nazz)" by Ludacris
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Post by johnnywest on Jan 21, 2021 12:26:51 GMT -5
In "Love Shack," one of the girls doesn't pronounce the "t" in "tin roof," which she shouts toward the end of the song.
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