My name is Luca, I live on the second floor. I live upstairs from you, I stomp really loud on the floor! While maybe not the original lyrics, I have to say, who hasn’t had this version of a Luca living above them? The old lead foot, upstairs neighbor?
More importantly, while Kristen and I regularly try to impress you with our rendition of whatever song seems to somewhat fit the situation, I think we mess up the lyrics as often as we get them right. This is an issue that has been going on as long as songs have been around.
I remember as a kid being wrong on all kinds of lyrics. I never really knew what was being sung. I assumed it was all “artistic” and it wasn’t really supposed to make any sense to me because I didn’t really understand that kind of thing as a kid. However, I do remember really enjoying the 1985 song by Paul Young, “Every Time You Go Away”. The lyrics really puzzled me. Why did every time she went away, did she take a piece of meat with her? That’s just so odd! Did she always leave when she was hungry? Did they have a surplus of steaks in the freezer? Going with the artistic route and assuming there was a deep meaning there my child brain was too underdeveloped to grasp (and admittedly a weird concept, but hey, I was 12 and trying to be “deep”) I thought maybe this was an abusive relationship and since I had heard that a steak on a bruise really helps, would this poor lady just grab a steak on her way out the door?
Kristen fessed up that she messed up the lyrics to one of her beloved Billy Joel songs, 1983’s “Uptown Girl”. The line in question here is toward the beginning of the song, “As long as anyone with hot blood can”. But alas that is not what 13 year old Kristen heard. She thought this Uptown Girl had been living in her white bred world as long as anyone could pop a can. Doesn’t seem like much of a challenge. I bet she’s been there forever! I, having heard my brilliant sister sing along to the song and never thinking she could be wrong about anything, especially Billy Joel, assumed she was saying UG had been there as long as Papa can. I mean heck, a few lines before he was talking about her momma, clearly this song is a family affair!
We listened to a LOT of Billy Joel in our house as it was Kristen’s favorite. While not near as cool as she was, I loitered outside her door to hear the music being played and tried to soak up as much as I could to increase my cool factor. It didn’t work…at all. But I did learn a lot of Billy Joel songs! One of the songs I would loudly sing to was “Big Shot”, which definitely had some lyrics I did NOT understand. For example: “You had the Dom Pérignon in your hand And the spoon up your nose”. What the heck is Dom Perignon and is it even possible to get a spoon up your nose? How big is the spoon for crying out loud? This was not the error in listening that I will confess to. Please don’t laugh at me too hard….but the line of “you had to be a big shot, didn’t ya” I thought was “you had to be a big shot, Dinja”. What is a Dinja, you ask? It’s not a what, it’s a who! Dinja, I believed, was the really unusual name of the lady with the Dom Perignon in her hand and the spoon up her nose. Before your guffaws get too large, I will let you know that a quick Google search found a lady named Dinja. I kid you not! Dinja van Liere is a Dutch dressage rider. I’m just saying if you are looking for a baby name, don’t overlook Dinja!
Another song I heard and misunderstood was Kiss’, “Rock and Roll all Nite”. I think that this is a pretty commonly flubbed lyric. Actually, years later on an episode of Dharma & Greg (a 1997 comedy classic), Greg made the same mistake. Much like straight laced Greg, I would never expect anyone to want to rock and roll all nite and party every day. That sounds very unhealthy and quite frankly, exhausting. As a child, who would even assume anyone would be that dedicated to rocking, rolling or partying? I believed that all night and part of every day was certainly more than appropriate. I mean, 8 hours of sleep each night is important for health and growth, did they not know this?!?!
While I have no doubt there would be many more that I could share if I thought long and hard enough, I am going to limit myself to just one. This is another one that is an incredibly common one. It’s the embarrassment I felt upon learning of my mistake when I was about 25 years old that makes it stick in my mind. This would be the huge 1977 Steve Miller Band hit, “Jet Airliner”. It is the title lyrics that I messed up. One would think that I would know the lyrics because of the name of the song but alas, I can’t be expected to know that kind of thing! I thought Mr. Miller and his band were singing about a big old jet that had a light on. It’s possible that “my love light seems so far away” because it is on that plane headed in the opposite direction that you are, right? Not to be out done, however, Kristen has a friend who thought they were singing about a big old jet and Lionel. I’m not sure what role Lionel played in the song, maybe he was carrying people too far away? Maybe Lionel was the pilot? Super hard to tell.
Sometimes, I think the misunderstood lyrics are, at the least, more amusing than the actual lyrics. Whether right or wrong, I stand by my misunderstanding, it is simply not healthy to party and rock and roll as much as KISS suggested.