Mystery Mix 2021 Solution
In my last post, I again presented a selection of songs in which my puzzle-minded readers could attempt to guess the hidden commonality. This game is patterned after what has become a longstanding Lott family tradition. Now, having done it two years running, this blog version could potentially become a similar annual tradition. However, the jury’s still out on whether there’s enough interest to sustain another effort. Let me know if you care one way or the other.
And, with the deadline for entries having expired, I can now reveal the solution and announce this year’s winner. However, before I do, let me thank those who participated. Even if you didn’t solve it or submit a guess, I hope you had fun with it. And, if you’d like to read or revisit that previous post, you can find it here.
The Solution: Notwithstanding the occasional informal colloquialism, like “gonna” or “ain’t,” both of which I find perfectly acceptable in pop songs, each track in this mix contains one or more grammatical errors. Many are glaring and fairly obvious, a few are quite subtle and hard to catch. In some cases, the lyric was improved with the error and the choice to use it was apparently deliberate and appropriate, whether for the sake of the rhyme or simply because that’s the way many of us talk. In other cases, there seems to be no logical reason for the grammar atrocity, and hearing it grates on the ear like fingernails on a chalkboard.
I hear you: “But, Russell, most people don’t generally get all hot and bothered about ungrammatical song lyrics.” That’s true. I understand that songwriters should be given a poetic license to craft a lyric that occasionally bends the grammar rules, but does that mean they are totally exempt from the standards of syntax and even logic? I think not, particularly when there are acceptable alternatives that are more reasonably correct. Mind you, I’ll be the first to argue that “There Isn’t any Sunshine” and “I Can’t Get Any Satisfaction” would be completely different songs from the originals, and not nearly as endearing. Besides, what fun would rock ’n’ roll be if everyone followed all the rules?
What follows is my brief take on the grammar errors in each of the songs in this playlist.
These is Good Songs
The lyric “Her and Bobby was stepping out” particularly irritates. The line could have been “She and Bobby were stepping out” without any loss of musicality or appeal.
There are several grammatical errors in this one: the use of “don’t” instead of “doesn’t” and “ain’t nothing” instead of “isn’t anything.” I can tolerate those two, but the one that grates on my nerves is the use of “you and I” instead of “you and me.” Don’t get me started on what seems to be some people’s aversion to the word “me.” It’s a perfectly good word. At least Neil didn’t say “you and myself.”
I ask you, would the song be any less pleasing if Eric had sung “Lie down Sally, rest here in my arms”? Oh well, I guess I can forgive him, just as most of the world forgave Bob Dylan when he sang “Lay Lady Lay.” For one thing, this mistake is very common in spoken language and it doesn’t really change the intended meaning of what the songwriter is trying to say.
“There ain't no one for to give you no pain." Are you kidding me?! What does this even mean anyway?
Okay, I’m not a songwriter, but even I understand that sometimes words must bend to melody in popular music. I forgive you, Shania. “That Doesn’t Impress Me Much” just wouldn’t have had the same catchy punch.
This is a tough one for me, and I almost didn’t include it. This song has been overly criticized on the internet for the line “What if God was one of us?” in which the songwriter fails to use the more appropriate subjunctive form "were.” I’m a bit ambivalent here. Substituting the proper word wouldn’t have made much difference lyrically, but it might’ve been considered a bit highbrow by a few. This error could be chalked up to ignorance of proper grammar. However, I tend to think the songwriter intentionally went with what's more pleasing to the ear given that so many people misuse English in this way. And is there anything wrong with that? Not from my point of view.
“This night is mine / It's only you and I / Tomorrow is a long time away” Ouch! I wince every time I hear this one. It’s “You and ME,” Billy. Don’t you know no better?
Given its popularity as a James Bond theme and a #1 hit for Paul McCartney and Wings, this song continually comes up in lists of songs with bad grammar solely for its redundancy faux pas: “But if this ever-changing world in which we live in / makes you give in and cry.” This is another case where the fix would be so easy and it wouldn’t change a thing lyrically: “…this ever-changing world in which we’re living.”
No, it’s not grammatical, but what’s wrong with saying “I can’t get no satisfaction”? Nothing, not as long as your name is Mick Jagger. As I said above, “I can’t get any satisfaction” just wouldn’t be the same song.
“I was born by the river in a little tent / Oh and just like the river I've been running every since.” I cringe every time I hear Sam say “every” instead of “ever.” Once you hear it, you can’t unhear it. Sheesh!
And now . . . [Drum Roll please] . . . The year’s winner is . . . my long-time friend and former colleague, fellow trivia maven and word nerd, and faithful follower of My Back Pages: Charles Ingram. Thank you for playing, Charley. Your trophy mug is on its way to Walls, Mississippi.
A Word to Ponder
sheesh (interjection): used to express disbelief, exasperation, or disappointment; origin unknown, though it dates to the early 1900s, probably as an alteration of jeez, Jesus, or maybe sh**.
merriam-webster.com
Additional note: In March 2021, “sheesh” went viral on the video-sharing social platform TikTok when a TikToker posted a video where he poured water on a frog with an audio recording of “sheesh” in a high-pitched voice playing in the background. This spurred other TikTokers to post memes about their impressive literal or satirical feats with the same “sheesh” audio and the #sheesh hashtag.
slangit.com
Song of the Day
“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers (Just As I Am, 1971)
Here, the double negative doesn’t irritate the purist in me. It’s a stylistic, bluesy choice—I get it. It’s what helped make this song so iconic. Does Bill literally mean that there IS sunshine when his lady is gone? You and me both know he don’t.
Bonus Track
“Ironic” by Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill, 1996)
This popular song from the ’90s doesn’t contain a grammatical error like the others above, but it does have an error of a type that’s extremely annoying to me, more so than any of them. Despite its title, there’s nothing ironic about the instances of bad luck the singer/songwriter decries. “Rain on your wedding day” is not ironic, unless you happen to be a meteorologist. Morissette’s misconception of this literary notion is the only true irony here. Hmmm? Maybe that was her whole point. Don’t ya think? Nah.