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I would like to coin a word: MONOGREEN - The online computery journal thingy of a turtle

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Feb. 12th, 2007

12:37 am - I would like to coin a word: MONOGREEN

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mon·o·green [ˈmɑn oː ˌgɹiːn], [ˈmɒn oː ˌgɹiːn]

A mistake in a song lyric that appears on every damn lyrics site on the web because they all just copy from each other.

Example:

In a cd karaoke bar
By the banks of the mighty Bosphorus
Is a Japanese man in a business suit singing smokets in your eyes


--"Wheels" by Cake -- J. McCrea, C. Forster

"CD" should be "seedy" and "smokets" should be "Smoke Gets". (At first I thought "Bosphorus" was another mistake, for "Bosporus", but apparently the -ph- spelling is an acceptable variant.)

To be fair, "CD karaoke bar" is a plausible-sounding phrase. But COME ON, PEOPLE! "SMOKETS"?!?

(Actually, while searching for lyrics sites, I found two that got the words right, so these are not true monogreens.)

Current Music: Cake - Wheels
(12 comments | Leave a comment)

Comments:

From:mr_fu
Date:February 12th, 2007 08:26 am (UTC)
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For those of you who are unsure why KT came up with the word that he did:

http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/carroll/mondegreens.shtml

Enjoy, with my compliments.
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From:kinkyturtle
Date:February 12th, 2007 09:12 am (UTC)
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Oh right, I forgot the etymology!

[mono- + (monde)green]
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From:deckardcanine
Date:February 12th, 2007 06:12 pm (UTC)
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If Mondegreens are that broad, then I can list my favorite care of the Metaquotes community: a clerk asked a customer what she heard as "Would you like some centipedes?" Only after he put them in her bag (without a straight answer) did she discover they were scented beads.
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From:thecanuckguy
Date:February 12th, 2007 09:28 pm (UTC)
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But if it wasn't for monogreens (and mondegreens), KT'd have nothing to sing!

Wait, this may be a good thing ...
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From:kinkyturtle
Date:February 13th, 2007 01:42 am (UTC)
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I make my own homebrew mondegreens in a vat out back. Whenever the cops come around, I tell them it's a perfectly legal beer microbrewery.
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From:zrath
Date:February 13th, 2007 02:26 am (UTC)
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Oh yes, I have run into this phenomenom (o/~ Doot doot, doot-doot doot! o/~)

It's a pain in the arse. You never know if the lyrics are correct or not.
Why are there a gazillion lyrics websites on the 'Net?
I mean, seriously, WTF?
I don't understand.


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From:qaianna
Date:February 13th, 2007 05:08 am (UTC)

It's hard to bargle nawdle zauss ...

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..and that's assuming I got THAT lyric right! (A Yankovic, 'Smells Like Nirvana')

As he was trying to illustrate in that song, sometimes a singer just isn't that clear when he or she sings out a line, and often the people who contribute are relying on their ears and whatever recording they may have on paw.

For a long time, for example, I thought that one of the later lines in James Taylor's 'Fire and Rain' went: 'Sweet dreams and fine machines ... '; from what others have told me, it's really 'Sweet dreams and flying machines ... '. Granted, 'fine' there would work.

I've seen books in print showing fun things people have done with weird lyrics, including some illustrations. Don't know if it's in print.

I don't know if there's a way to test something being UNIVERSALLY mistaken, tho. And what do you do for intentionally garbled lyrics?
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From:wbwolf
Date:February 13th, 2007 05:47 am (UTC)

Re: It's hard to bargle nawdle zauss ...

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The one line I remember from that book is:

"Excuse me while I kiss this guy" -- "Purple Haze" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

(the real line is "Excuse me while I kiss the sky")
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From:darksasami
Date:February 13th, 2007 08:38 pm (UTC)

Re: It's hard to bargle nawdle zauss ...

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I have heard that in concert Jimi would often follow that line by kissing some guy. This guy (not the "this guy" this guy) says that the guy was Noel Redding.
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From:kinkyturtle
Date:February 13th, 2007 07:34 am (UTC)

Re: It's hard to bargle nawdle zauss ...

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Yeah, but what really sucks is when the mistake is something really stupid (I reiterate: SMOKETS?!?!?) and it gets copied all over the place, and crowds out the correct version (if the correct version is even online anywhere).

But yeah, mondegreens can be fun! Heck, the phrase "kinky turtle" comes from a mondegreen. ("Lead On, O King Eternal" -> "Lead On, O Kinky Turtle")
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From:mr_fu
Date:February 13th, 2007 07:58 am (UTC)

Re: It's hard to bargle nawdle zauss ...

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I think my favorite (which, if I recall correctly, was also posted once in a Jon Carroll column) was when the Steve Miller Band complained that "Big Ol' Jed left a light on." Despite the reality being that Steve was imploring the "Big Ol' Jet Airliner" not to carry him too far away, I like to think that Tom Bodett and Big Ol' Jed were close friends.
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From:kinkyturtle
Date:February 13th, 2007 09:04 am (UTC)

Re: It's hard to bargle nawdle zauss ...

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And every wine bar down the road
A shallow stone and I soloed
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants some sharks
How everything still turns to stone
And if you listen very hard
The Jew will bother you a lot
I want a woman what is old
To feel rough and natural
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