I believe I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE to sing along with music in the car. And not knowing the words-- or the language, for that matter-- has never really dampened the ol' spirits.
It's not that I necessarily SET OUT to mangle other people's creativity. It's just when it's a melody I particularly like, this great wave of joy overcomes me, I become totally immersed-- and there's nothing left to do but sing... SING... SIIINNNG!
But as I caught myself doing this again this week-- much to the horror of my fellow commuters and the innocent people standing on the sidewalk--
(good music requires projection)
--I realized HOW MANY artists I like without having any concept of what I'm singing. I mean, I could look them up... but then that would ruin the fun, wouldn't it?
Here are a few:
Def Leppard, the Rock of Ages album. This is one of my guilty pleasures. There's this great powerful chorus of voices that gets me all inspired and ready to sing along, with NO CLUE what the actual words are. (Which is just as well, because I'm pretty sure they're not the musical equivalent of Shakespeare).
Like my favorite song on the album, "Rocket":
Rocket
Yeah
Meah-liiiiii-ba-da-numble-nah
This, of course, gets normalized to the point that I forget "Meah-liiiiii-ba-da-numble-nah" isn't the real lyrics. And then I sing it with gusto in front of friends who don't view gusto as a great substitution for, say, talent.
Or like the opening of "Pour Some Sugar On Me":
Bomb-ee-domba-bomb (with echo).
Bomb-ee-domba-bomb and
come on get it on
Yomba domba domba domba
Red eye phone
Man, I love that album!
Dave Matthews is another one. Dave has some really interesting work. But the wrap-around lyrics and singing style which make him so distinctive, also make certain songs a bit challenging. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out "Satellite":
Sa-till-lite
Nin-my-liiiiie
Lyga-dyma-inna-guy
How I wonder
And I DID wonder. I finally broke down and read the lyrics on that one.
And then there's Steve Winwood. I LOVE Stevie's stuff, because his melodies are sharp, his early work has an interesting use of keyboard, and he's not bad lookin', either. But as for understanding half of what dear Mr. Winwood sings...
The key to singing with Steve Winwood-- if you were looking for some tips (you WERE, weren't you? fess up!... Okay, nevermind)-- is to make up the lyrics as always, but:
Do it with a Cockney accent. Also, don't move your lips or jaw when you sing.
In terms of World music, Om Shanti Om has been one of my recent favorites to scare the locals with. This is a Bollywood soundtrack to a film of the same name which a guy on BlogCatalog got me into. It's hugely fun-- very upbeat-- terrific to sing to... IF you know Hindi.
I myself do not know Hindi.
I know people who KNOW Hindi, who have tried hard to teach me to pronounce a few assorted words properly so I do not embarrass myself. Because they're considerate that way.
But this doesn't really lend itself to singing loudly in the car. My consolation is, that in looking online to see what the songs are actually about, there seem to be a number of people in India who also don't speak Hindi and are confused. I also noticed some American kids of Indian descent posting online who like the album, and don't know what the singers are saying.
So I don't feel quite as bad about that one. Not knowing brings us all together!
All hot girls put your hands up and say, 'Om Shanti Om!'
Woo-HOO!! (I know: I'm a big dork.)
Lastly, Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" of a few years ago had me totally baffled. I could have SWORN there was a line in it that sounded like:
Mr. Mom is stinkin'
In retrospect, that didn't seem quite right. I mean, why the harsh words for ol' Mr. Mom, dudes? What's Keaton done to you? So I went online and looked up the lyrics:
This time I'm mistaken.
OH. Sure. I knew that. (Okay, not really.)
So tell me folks-- are there musicians or particular songs YOU like without actually knowing the lyrics? Do you sing along? Have I inadvertently made your eardrums bleed at some point because I've driven past you while singing "Rocket"? (If so, my apologies.)
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The folks at Humor-blogs LOOOOVE karaoke.
