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Monday, May 19, 2014

Knowing the Words


I've known my husband for 7 years now but yesterday on a long car trip I discovered something new about him: he knows all the words to just about every Elvis song. 

This is apparently the result of childhood osmosis, being brought up in the household of a fan of Mr Presley. I thought it was funny until I realised I probably know every word to Air Supply's Greatest Hits. 

It's funny what our brains decide to remember when it comes to song lyrics. For example, I know I can still rap every word to DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "Boom Shake The Room". And probably have a good crack at Salt 'N' Peppa's "Shoop". Neither of these songs are my favourites but somewhere along the way my brain decided to burn the words into my memory. Probably in an area I could have used to remember login passwords and PINs but there you go. 

The other thing I've found is if you've ever performed anything, such as a musical, you tend to remember the lyrics forever. And this is why is why I sing bits of "The Mikado" in the shower. 

What do you know all the words to?

16 comments:

  1. Sadly there are probably a HEAP of 80s songs which I could sing without access to the lyrics - though I suspect I used to get a few wrong back then… ie. in the days before you could 'google' lyrics to see what they were. I'm old enough that I remember having to start and stop cassette players to write the words down!!!

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    1. Oh how well do I remember that! And getting the lyrics for four of the most popular from TV Hits!

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  2. Anything from the 80s. Oh and some of the Mikado. And Pirates of Penzance. I had an odd childhood.

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    1. Me too! "Three little maids from school are we..."

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  3. I know all the words to a number of really lame 80s soft rock classics. I am sure those brain cells could be put to better use. Elvis? Now that's cool! By comparison my husband is into Coldplay :-(

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    1. Oh hey Coldplay isn't so bad! There are far worse things to be singing I'm sure. And who doesn't love 80s soft rock? Maybe we need to do a deal with our brain cells for the processing space taken up by these things though.

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  4. I despair that I can recite most of the works of Steven Patrick Morrissey and Ian Curtis but can't remember even half a poem. ("In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree" is about as good as it gets.)

    Yes, I know you could argue that song lyrics are the poetry of our modern age but it isn't a comfort to me watching the clever people on University Challenge or Eggheads!

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    1. I am exactly the same with poems. Know the first line then... blank! I think SOME song lyrics would qualify as the poetry of our times, but for every Bob Dylan there is a Justin Bieber I guess!

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  5. For me it's Bob Dylan - He put out a greatest hits album not long before his sojourn into Christian/Gospel music called 'Masterpieces' A double CD I know the words to every song

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    1. How lovely! My childhood was sorely lacking in Bob and I need to remedy this :)

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  6. I'm also one of these people that can remember most lyrics after a few times and I can still remember words from 20-25 years ago! Hubby, not so much :)

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    1. You must be one of those people with excellent memories! How great to be able to remember things from so long ago. It is amazing what our brains can do.

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  7. The scariest for me would probably be Spice Girls. I've never owned a CD of theirs! They must have been on the radio so much they just burned in. Thanks for linking up!

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    1. Ha ha that's hilarious! Over-played on the radio-waves and burned into your brain forever. That happens to me with songs I hate sometimes :p

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