In "The Dean and I," at the moment of a critical confession of love, 10cc proclaim that "The elevator in my heart has gone AWOL, AWOL, AWOL, AWOL." Which sounds cool, but doesn't really make a lot of sense:
* This is the only use of the "elevator" metaphor in the song, and it's a concept (going AWOL) that has no particular association or clear meaning with regard to elevators.* At a stretch, they might be suggesting that the elevator is not where it's supposed to be, like it's dropped rapidly or something, which would fit the emotional stakes of the situation, but is just really labored to my ears. Nobody either in or waiting for the elevator would ever proclaim "This elevator's gone AWOL" upon realizing it's plummeting to the bottom of the shaft.* MAYBE they want to suggest that the elevator has flown up and out of the heart's building, like Willy Wonka's Great Glass Elevator. After all, the song was released just two years after the original Wonka film, and one year after Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator hit bookstores. But nothing else in the text supports this reach.
My conclusion: they meant to say "haywire."
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:18 (one year ago) link
think they need to see a cardiologist quickly
― and the worms, they entered his ass (Neanderthal), Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:22 (one year ago) link
Now explain what the rest of the song is about.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:26 (one year ago) link
Not sure that this one fits exactly with the theme of this thread, but it strikes me as the same kind of sacrifice of sense for the sake of the rhythm or the rhyme:
"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreakSomewhere in this town"
Uh, yeah, it's gonna be somewhere in this town . . . at the jail.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:29 (one year ago) link
There might be more than one jail in the town.
― Buckfast At Tiffany's (Tom D.), Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:32 (one year ago) link
Hackd iphone could be anywhere.
― pplains, Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:35 (one year ago) link
xxp great minds…
I always had trouble with this classic by Thin Lizzy:"Tonight there's gonna be a Jailbreak/Somewhere in this town!""Somewhere in this town?" Ummmm.....the jail, maybe?― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, January 2, 2002 5:00 PM (twenty years ago)
― Porcine-lina of the Pig Oceans (morrisp), Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:58 (one year ago) link
There is nothing new under the sun.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 25 August 2022 21:59 (one year ago) link
"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town"I'd imagine it'll be taking place at the jail, Phil. Great track though, and great band.― does it look like i'm here (jon123), Tuesday, December 3, 2019 4:21 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink
I'd imagine it'll be taking place at the jail, Phil. Great track though, and great band.
― does it look like i'm here (jon123), Tuesday, December 3, 2019 4:21 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― budo jeru, Friday, 26 August 2022 00:31 (one year ago) link
The whole town is like one big jail, and the name of the jail is Society
― Sonned by a comedy podcast after a dairy network beef (bernard snowy), Friday, 26 August 2022 01:31 (one year ago) link
Singer doesn’t know where the jail is exactly
― President Keyes, Friday, 26 August 2022 01:50 (one year ago) link
iirc the original liner notes lay out a narrative that more or less matches bernard snowy's summary
― Doctor Casino, Friday, 26 August 2022 02:07 (one year ago) link
Just got the iPhone joke, that’s pretty funny.
― Porcine-lina of the Pig Oceans (morrisp), Friday, 26 August 2022 02:16 (one year ago) link
xxxxxpost some towns have multiple jails.
― henry s, Friday, 26 August 2022 03:47 (one year ago) link
They might have been on work placements
― Mark G, Friday, 26 August 2022 09:33 (one year ago) link
I always figured that jail was a metaphor for being grounded.
― peace, man, Friday, 26 August 2022 10:50 (one year ago) link
One thing we can be sure of, there's gonna be trouble.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 26 August 2022 12:39 (one year ago) link
In "Do You Believe in Magic" by the Lovin' Spoonful, the line
I'll tell you 'bout the magic and it'll free your soulBut it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll
confuses literal and figurative language. It's not like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll; it is that. He's literally talking about rock and roll to someone he doesn't know.
― Lily Dale, Thursday, 23 March 2023 04:52 (one year ago) link
pic.twitter.com/rfcsKSUxYL— potato bun (@erewhonsmoothie) August 15, 2023
― Alba, Tuesday, 15 August 2023 21:00 (eight months ago) link
the chef's kiss here, really, is using a child's cartoon to defend this error
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:24 (eight months ago) link
squidward plays a clarinet tho
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:27 (eight months ago) link
It's also funny b/c even if he had correctly named a wind instrument, there's a lyrical confusion in conflating the literal and figurative meaning of "blow"
― You have been verified with your voice (morrisp), Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:35 (eight months ago) link
Recommendations for hip-hop without adagio (or these other tempos)?
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:43 (eight months ago) link
Recursive confusion: Squidward actually plays the clarinet, not the flute.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:48 (eight months ago) link
what's the matter jimbeaux, don't you know how to reed?
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:50 (eight months ago) link
Embouchure hope we get this sorted out
― You have been verified with your voice (morrisp), Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:56 (eight months ago) link
I fucked up, but it do sound good.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 15 August 2023 23:57 (eight months ago) link
baby i'm scared of you by womack & womack probably one of my favorite songs ever but this always irked me:
But my heart is nothing like those locksAnd your formula's not my brand of stockLike little red riding hood, you're the foxOh baby I'm scared of you
― ✖, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 01:01 (eight months ago) link
Men are all canids
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 11:33 (eight months ago) link
elliott smith uses the wrong pronoun for the hindu god shiva in "son of sam"
Shiva opens her arms nowTo make sure I don't get too far
what i find interesting about this is that i'm pretty sure that line is recycled from something he wrote when he was in high school - so in all that time he either didn't learn shiva's gender, or just chose to stick with the line cause it sounds better
has parallels with another early lyric -
The mighty mother with her hundred armsSwept all aside
so maybe this theme of powerful many-armed female deities was something he liked to stick with?
― spellbound dogfighter (milo), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 11:50 (eight months ago) link
there's a lyrical confusion in conflating the literal and figurative meaning of "blow"
"she play the skinflute all night..."
ACUTALLY, one "blows" into the "edge" of a flute, so....
― pplains, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 14:32 (eight months ago) link
that's probably the funniest mea culpa I've ever read honestly
― frogbs, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 14:43 (eight months ago) link
he blames his A&R guy, then blames everyone who heard the song for not telling him, then admits he got the idea from Spongebob Squarepants, then gets the instrument wrong anyway? amazing
― frogbs, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 14:45 (eight months ago) link
stupid sexy squidward
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 14:47 (eight months ago) link
also I think he's implying he thinks Squidward is the yellow one?
― frogbs, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 15:03 (eight months ago) link
First of all, who's his A&R? A mountain climber who blows an electric guitar?
― hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice f (President Keyes), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 15:20 (eight months ago) link
i used to know a girl named shiva, maybe ES did too
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 16:29 (eight months ago) link
she worked at Red Lobster but he didn't remember
― earosmith (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 16:35 (eight months ago) link
In “Konichiwa, Bitches,” Robyn says “I’ll hammer your toe, like a pediatrician.”
Surely she means podiatrist?
― Cow_Art, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 16:35 (eight months ago) link
thinking her childhood doctor might need some investigating
or maybe she was referring to that lil reflex test they do only they don't hammer your toe it's your knee
― earosmith (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 16:36 (eight months ago) link
I'll squeeze your balls and make you cough
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 17:48 (eight months ago) link
Like a podiatrist
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 17:52 (eight months ago) link
I'll examine your throat like an EMT
― hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice f (President Keyes), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 18:13 (eight months ago) link
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, August 16, 2023 12:52 PM
Lost Lulu lyric
― pplains, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 18:14 (eight months ago) link
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1200x675/p01h6z6b.jpg
― Monthly Python (Tom D.), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 18:36 (eight months ago) link
gd this revive delivers
― You have been verified with your voice (morrisp), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 18:41 (eight months ago) link
"To Sir With Love" would be a great entrance song for Trump
― hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice f (President Keyes), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 18:45 (eight months ago) link
more like "Tosser with Golf Glove" amirite
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 19:10 (eight months ago) link
Like a basketball player
― earosmith (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 21:53 (eight months ago) link