Greetings Dear Reader (Christmas suggested “Greetings Dear Eater”),
From time to time I ponder things that on surface are absurd. For example there are words that you would not expect to hear in songs. Most of them are quite obvious. Few songs contain words with more than three syllables. This eliminates things like postulation, hypotenuse, and odiferous from consideration. Beyond that is the fact that there are shorter words that one would be surprised to find in a song.
When was the last time you heard the word barium in a song and under what context would you wish to hear it? What about cantaloupe? Oh wait there is an old George Burns ditty, “I know you say you cantaloupe but oh Honeydew.” I guess that one is OK because it is funny.
You do not want to see the word enema in a song ever. There is a Tool song entitled Aenema but that word is not in the lyrics. I can see the value of the word in a political or protest song but I hope that pundits are more creative and prosaic than that. The fact that other functions and words akin to functions have found their way into popular music disturbs me enough.
Then there was the other day when I caught myself singing a song with the words wholesome and nutritious in it. It also has the words baked and fried but these are not drug references. Obviously this is a jingle and in fact the one for Goldfish Crackers. To me it is one of the catchiest jingles ever. I love the look I get from the line “The wholesome snack that smiles back until you bite their heads off!”
One could say that my admiration of this jingle is misplaced but I like both the music and the lyrics. It puts a smile on my face and lightens my step. It makes those around me roll their eyes when I sing it. It is one of the most successful uses of non-lyrical words I have encountered.
To me it is just funny fun and it is fun to bite the heads off of gold fish; the crackers that is.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."
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Ah, I miss goldfish. One of the many things my allergy to wheat means I had to give up. Also tim-tams and those sprinkle-covered pancake things...
ReplyDeleteOn the music front, may I direct your ears to "Cantaloop" by Us3 - lots of large-ish words .. although the title is not one of them.
Later!
I guess I've never really thought about words that don't belong in songs before. I agree totally with your list, though! And now I'm in the mood for some goldfish crackers. Yum!
ReplyDeleteinteresting story - a woman was eating some ocean treats (basically goldfish) at our hostel in Paris and the employees were curious about them. When he tried one the employee said "it doesn't taste like fish." Funny how something we take for granted is new for others.