Corrected grammar in song lyrics

[GretschWretch]

It should be “until you were there”, or possibly “until you came along”. But then the song, in the original context, was sung by a librarian in the midwest, circa 1912, so there’s all sorts of contradictions going on.

So what are the contradictions? That midwest librarians in 1912 can sing? That the midwest had librarians in 1912? (Posted by a librarian)

 

[Major Seven]

About "She Loves You":
I remember that in 1964, "yeah, yeah, yeah" was one of the key things that the old folks seized on when they wanted to ridicule or parody the Beatles. That, and their hair ("Are they boys or girls?") and that horrible, pounding beat!

OOOOOH!

 

[Major Seven]

We don't need education.
We don't need thought control.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Teacher, leave those kids alone.

We don't need NO education.

 

[Major Seven]

This always bothered me.

Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'

Whoa-oh, I knew we was falling in love

 

[Major Seven]

Inna Gada DaVida

 

[Michedelic]

This always bothered me.

Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'

Whoa-oh, I knew we was falling in love

But not…
(Bomoma-bom, baboma-bom-bom, baboma-bom-bom)
(Va dang-a-dang-dang, va-ding-a-dong-ding)
Blue moon, blue, blue, blue moon
Dip da-dip da-dip
Blue, blue moon, blue moon
Dip da-dip da-dip
Blue, blue moon, blue moon
Dip da-dip da-dip
…?

Let alone “Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom”?

 

[Michedelic]

Inna Gada DaVida

Well, see, right there you’ve misspelled it…

 

[Turnaround]

But doesn't this change the person to whom the line is directed from singular to plural?

No. Were is used for second-person singular, as in "Where were you?" or "If I were you..."

 

[Major Seven]

But not…
(Bomoma-bom, baboma-bom-bom, baboma-bom-bom)
(Va dang-a-dang-dang, va-ding-a-dong-ding)
Blue moon, blue, blue, blue moon
Dip da-dip da-dip
Blue, blue moon, blue moon
Dip da-dip da-dip
Blue, blue moon, blue moon
Dip da-dip da-dip
…?

Let alone “Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom”?

 

[Michedelic]

So what are the contradictions? That midwest librarians in 1912 can sing? That the midwest had librarians in 1912? (Posted by a librarian)

Well, she theoretically should have known better grammar, but then what were her educational opportunities in that time and place?

 

[Turnaround]

The opening for Roy Orbison's "Blue Angel" goes like this:

Sha-la-la, dooby-wah
Bum-bum-bum, yep-yep, bum

But I always sang:

Sha-la-la, dooby-wah
dumb-dumb-dumb, ping, snap, thud

Sounded much more interesting, but my band mates wanted to kill me.

 

[Major Seven]

Speaking of that line in "She Loves You", it's fun to imagine what, say, Cole Porter or Noel Coward would have written.
"She loves you, yes, quite so!"
"She loves you, yes, she vowed!"
"She loves you, yes, rather!" (Pronounced "rah-THER", as in "Rah-THER, old chap!")

She rather fancies you. A bit

 

[Turnaround]

Well, she theoretically should have known better grammer, but then what were her educational opportunities in that time and place?

Ooooo..... careful.

 

[turf3]

So what are the contradictions? That midwest librarians in 1912 can sing? That the midwest had librarians in 1912? (Posted by a librarian)

Well, if you read Shirley Jones' autobiography, there was more to Marian the Librarian than you might have thought....

 

[turf3]

Well, she theoretically should have known better grammer, but then what were her educational opportunities in that time and place?

The Gary, Indiana Conservatory of Music?

 

[GretschWretch]

No. Were is used for second-person singular, as in "Where were you?" or "If I were you..."

I can get my head around "You were there," but "There were you" sends it spinning. Could the difference between subject and object have something to do with this?

 

[GretschWretch]

The Gary, Indiana Conservatory of Music?

Except that it was Professor Harold Hill who was from Gary, Indiana. "Seventy-six Trombones" will always be among my favorite musical pieces, mainly because a Conn double-bell euphonium was my fist horn that I owned (as opposed to school horn). I still have it.

 

[turf3]

Except that it was Professor Harold Hill who was from Gary, Indiana. "Seventy-six Trombones" will always be among my favorite musical pieces, mainly because a Conn double-bell euphonium was my fist horn that I owned (as opposed to school horn). I still have it.

Or maybe he wasn't from Gary.

All kidding aside, the real life education level of modest people from the turn of the century was really remarkable. My grandmother graduated high school in 1927, in a small town in Kansas, and she was far more educated than many university graduates of today. They were expected to read Shakespeare, Milton, etc., and to LEARN the material.

When I look at old letters written by my family members from 50 or 100 years ago, the level of literacy exhibited by these people, many of whom finished school in eighth grade, is really remarkable compared to what we see in e-mails and internet postings today. Proper sentence structure, well thought out paragraphs, expressive use of language. Where they fell down was in spelling. But ignore that and those casual family letters are written better than 90% of what you see in print today. And mine was NOT a literary family. They were just ordinary folks - farmers, mechanics, bookkeepers.

 

[Plectrum72]

We don't need NO education.

Well, now you've reintroduced the poor grammar of a double negative that I had corrected. Also, I only left one of those four lines unaltered.

 

[gln1955]

But doesn't this change the person to whom the line is directed from singular to plural?

I was
You were
He, she, it was

"Wish You Were Here" is correct usage.