Making rock/pop songs grammatically correct
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"It Isn't Me, Babe."--Bob Dylan (should have been). Really, you'd think Dylan with his penchant for the English language would have known better! "Why Don't We Do It In the Road"--Beatles Do what in the road, exactly? Be specific
"I Can't Get Any Satisfaction"--the Rolling Stones (should have been) "Me and Bobby McGee"--Kris Kristofferson (and Janis Joplin)..."Bobby McGee and I" would have sounded more proper. Outrageous-- Kristofferson was a Rhodes Scholar at Cambridge in England 
: "Who's Zooming Who" Aretha Franklin, perhaps should be "Whom is Zooming Whom"-- and the term "Zooming" is a 'slang' word. Should song titles contain slang? -
"Who's Zooming Whom." Hilarious!
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"Hey Jude, don't make it bad" is that correct? I guess it should be "don't make it worse" anyway... I don't think songs should be gramatically correct at all. They're not texts or even conversations, they're close to poems. A poem line can be anything like a combination of words with no verb, preposition.... And a song can put in words in any moment, no need to make sentences. Think of Bohemian Rhapsody. How many grammar mistakes are here? http://www.lyricsfreak.com/q/queen/bohemian+rhapsody_20112599.html Music just uses words here and there, it's not like writing a book. But it's funny to search for grammar mistakes.
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"don't make it bad" is correct I think - 'don't make it worse' is taking a situation that is already bad and making it worse. Look at a situation and take the high road
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rich n:
"don't make it bad" is correct I think - 'don't make it worse' is taking a situation that is already bad and making it worse. Look at a situation and take the high road
Then why is said this: "Make it well" instead of "make it good", so I guess it should be "don't make it badly"
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"Just look over your shoulders, honey" from I'll Be There. Jackson 5.
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This thread is funny! I got a kick out of yours as well, Susy!
These kinda just popped into my head... "Don't DO me Like That".....Tom Petty (as I recall) "I Wanna MAKE it with you"....Bread 'De do do do De da da da is all I have to say to you".....Police "Everything she DO just turn me on".....Police -
Claudia611:
This thread is funny! I got a kick out of yours as well, Susy!
These kinda just popped into my head... "Don't DO me Like That".....Tom Petty (as I recall) "I Wanna MAKE it with you"....Bread 'De do do do De da da da is all I have to say to you".....Police "Everything she DO just turn me on".....PoliceThat last one would send my third grade teacher into a tizzy!
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audi:
Claudia611:
This thread is funny! I got a kick out of yours as well, Susy!
These kinda just popped into my head... "Don't DO me Like That".....Tom Petty (as I recall) "I Wanna MAKE it with you"....Bread 'De do do do De da da da is all I have to say to you".....Police "Everything she DO just turn me on".....PoliceThat last one would send my third grade teacher into a tizzy!
And Sting was a teacher.
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21st Century Paul:
audi:
Claudia611:
This thread is funny! I got a kick out of yours as well, Susy!
These kinda just popped into my head... "Don't DO me Like That".....Tom Petty (as I recall) "I Wanna MAKE it with you"....Bread 'De do do do De da da da is all I have to say to you".....Police "Everything she DO just turn me on".....PoliceThat last one would send my third grade teacher into a tizzy!
And Sting was a teacher.
WAS a techer.
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Live And Let Die: "this ever changing world in which we live in" is tautological but if he is actually singing "in which we're livin'," then it is grammatically proper.
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veggieburgher:
Live And Let Die: "this ever changing world in which we live in" is tautological but if he is actually singing "in which we're livin'," then it is grammatically proper.
This is the one that immediately came to mind when I saw this topic. That line is just painfully poor grammar (unless as you say he is actually saying "in which we're living").
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audi:
21st Century Paul:
audi:
Claudia611:
This thread is funny! I got a kick out of yours as well, Susy!
These kinda just popped into my head... "Don't DO me Like That".....Tom Petty (as I recall) "I Wanna MAKE it with you"....Bread 'De do do do De da da da is all I have to say to you".....Police "Everything she DO just turn me on".....PoliceThat last one would send my third grade teacher into a tizzy!
And Sting was a teacher.
WAS a techer.
A "techer"
what goes around... Now he''s another kind of teacher... -
veggieburgher:
Live And Let Die: "this ever changing world in which we live in" is tautological but if he is actually singing "in which we're livin'," then it is grammatically proper.
When someone first brought this to my attention, I thought they were dead wrong. I couldn't believe such a glaring error would make the cut. I, also, always assumed Paul was singing "...in which we're living." "In which we live in"???? C'mon.
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Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are A' Changing" WRONG!!! "The times, they..." is redundant.
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audi:
Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are A' Changing" WRONG!!! "The times, they..." is redundant.
More precisely, it is an example of pleonasm, as in "the man he said."
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the phrase 'a-changin' isn't correct, either, is it
: However, to be fair, pop and rock music, blues and r and b and hip hop are music 'for the people' and it's not a big horror therefore that the language employed in their lyrics adhere to the way 'real' people actually talk informally and casually among themselves. Is it? -
SusyLuvsPaul:
the phrase 'a-changin' isn't correct, either, is it
: However, to be fair, pop and rock music, blues and r and b and hip hop are music 'for the people' and it's not a big horror therefore that the language employed in their lyrics adhere to the way 'real' people actually talk informally and casually among themselves. Is it?That's a valid point, Susy. I think we're just having some fun with it. I would regard "a-changin'" as a colloquialism and probably is not a phrase Dylan would have used in normal conversation. I also doubt that he ever said "fixin' to" as a youth in Minnesota.
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Of course -- this thread is intended to be absurd. Grammatically correct rock and roll? That would be like "artsy punk." Self-defeating.
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And on that note: "I Saw Her Standing There": "Well, we danced into the night -- and we held each other tight." Tight? WRONG!!!!!!! Paul, I think we need an adverb there, ol' buddy: It should be: "...held each other tightly." Now, "I Saw Her Standing There" is just a little more grammatically correct. My contribution to rock history.
