Thursday, April 6, 2006

Fractured lyrics

Singing songs is fun. Singing songs when someone else mixes up the lyrics can be even more fun - even if you're the one who doesn't know the words! :) There are a couple that come to mind when I think of fractured lyrics:

"Jose, can you see...", instead of "Oh say can you see..." (Star Spangled Banner)

"Through the night with the light from a bulb", instead of "Through the night with the light from above." (God Bless America)

My most recent was from a Dan Fogelberg song "Part of the Plan" - in trying to be encouraging, I only a) missed the opportunity to be truly encouraging, and b) mis-quoted the lyrics to the song!

While I hope my efforts accomplished their ultimate purpose, here are the real lyrics (with apologies to the Dan):

Love when you can
Cry when you have to
Be who you must
that's a part of the plan
Await your arrival with simple survival
and one day we'll all understand.

Had I gotten it right, I would have realized first of all that the real encouragement in the song is in the first verse, not so much in the chorus:

I have these moments all steady and strong
I'm feeling so holy and humble
The next thing I know I'm all worried and weak
and I feel myself starting to crumble
The meanings get lost and the teachings get tossed
and you don't know what you're going to do next
You wait for the sun but it never quite comes
Some kind of message comes through to you
Some kind of message comes through....

Anyway, the weird part is, he's right:

Your conscience awakes and you see your mistakes
and you wish someone would buy your confession
The days miss their mark and the nights get so dark
And some kind of message comes through to you
Some kind of message shoots through
And it says to you

(Chorus)
Love when you can
Cry when you have to
Be who you must
that's a part of the plan
Await your arrival with simple survival
and one day we'll all understand.

Of course, he blows it at the end, but to that point, it's a pretty good song. Exegesis of popular music was not my strong suit, raised as I was on gospel quartets, the Carpenters, Pat Boone and folkies, but I know a good lyric when I misquote it! :)

To my friend, hope you feel better soon. Really.

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