Monday, November 30, 2009

"Let Earth Receive Her Beef"

I was driving down the road, singing Christmas songs with the girls, when I heard a little voice straining to hit that high note. "Joy to the World, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her beef!!" I asked my sweet Lily if she would repeat what she just sang. She did. And the lyrics remained the same. It was then I realized my daughter not only inherited her looks from me, but I have apparently passed down my inability to ever understand or hear song lyrics as well. Oh, I sing with the utmost confidence that what I am belting out is right, but as my husband says, it rarely is. He claims I "butcher" every song. There are two ways in which he says I do this. First, by singing the wrong words completely. Second, he says I tend to sing the same verse (probably the only one I really know) over and over again. If you have been around me lately, you have more than likely heard "If you like it then shoulda' put a ring on it." It's really quite sad:(

In light of this, I thought I would share some songs that I have "royally butchered." I really cannot even begin to list them all since I am not 100% sure of any song that I sing.

Okay, there is really no excuse for this one. It is one of my favorite songs. But alas, no artist is immune to me hacking their song, including one of my favorite bands:
U2.."With or Without You"..... "See the storm set in her eyes, see the scorn that's in her thighs..."

Some country song called "Straight Tequila Night"..."Don't ask her on the strength to keep her alive" This made a LOT of sense in my head, if you just ignore the song title.

Another popular one :"Give me the beach boys to free my soul. I wanna get lost in your rock and roll."

One of my all time favorites: (Sorry, Anna, but I have to drag you down with me on this one) the Christmas song "Feliz Navidad." For years, this was our favorite Christmas song, because we just KNEW it was somehow about our grandmother, Mama Dot. "Fleas, Mama Dot..."

This one is for Jenna: "Take your cat and leave nice weather.." I can't remember the name of the song (maybe "You're gonna think of me?"), but it actually goes "Take your cap and leave my sweater"....I think.
Anyway, this is just a SMALL sampling of the many songs I have failed to learn correctly. If you would like to hear more, just ride in my car with me any day of the week. Patrick says it's just disturbing. I am surely hoping Lily and Evie have a better ear for music in general than their mommy. And I hope that if not, they can just take it in stride when their significant other laughs hysterically at what they consider a beautiful rendition of their favorite song.

Do you have any songs that you have hummed along heartily for the world to hear, only to learn years later you have been singing it wrong?



8 comments:

  1. LOL... loved this post!!
    This aspect of you just makes me laugh... There have been so many songs through the years that you got all wrong!
    Also, another comes to mind that you would sing only the one part... "To the window, to the wall...."
    If only you would post a video of the dance you do along with the singing--haha!

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  2. This post cracked me up--you and Gary Barker both have the same butchering tendencies apparently! Here are some that I have butchered:
    "Blinded by the light/wrapped up like a douche/another rover in the night" (correction: "Blinded by the light/revved up like a Deuce/another roamer in the night" I think?
    "You hide behind walls of Cherry Coke" (supposed to be 'you hide behind walls of Jericho' but what's the dif?)
    "You make the rice, I'll make the gravy but it just might be a luatic you're looking for" (correction: You may be right, I may be crazy...)
    And last but not least:
    From Love Shack, my friend sings instead of "Tin roof...rusted" she thought it was "Henry! Busted." LOL
    ps. the last song is Keith Urban and you got it half right, its "Take your cat and leave my sweater" I think?
    Haha, good post!

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  3. Yes, it is definitely "Take your cat and leave my sweater"-LOL.. Sarah, yours were funny too!
    I remember one that I would sing whatever words came to mind-- Paralyzer by Finger Eleven...I would sing: "your face on my face" and really it was "your place or my place"... I butchered that whole song, which is a good thing because Nathan says it is a dirty song. haha

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  4. HAHAHAHA I love this post! I do the exact same thing to every song!! But, I have a pretty valid excuse for my misunderstandings :)

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  5. I always thought the Keith Urban song was take your cap & leave my sweater but cat makes more sense I guess....

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  6. Sarah, are you telling me it's not "wrapped up like a douche?" B/c that goes down as one more that I have been singing wrong....Funny we both thought it said that.

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  7. "Hold me closer, Tony Danza"
    "Hold me closer, tiny dancer"

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  8. Thank you for your tribute to me. I will never forget that song and how incredible it was to hear YOUR version. However, I have butchered many a song myself... one being "Toes" by Norah Jones. I play her cd for my class, and we listen to it A LOT... unfortunately I learned it wrong and now it's hard to sing it right. I kept singing...

    "Walked a mile just to find the air
    some place low now to stand by me
    now I'm here and I can't forget.. youuuuu.."

    Real version:

    "Walked a mile just to find the edge
    some place low enough to step right in
    now I'm here and I can't begin.. to moooovee.."

    As you can see they are VERY similar.... lol

    So you're definitely not alone. haha

    Love ya friendly.

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