A collection of the least "rock and roll" words included in rock and roll songs
#cumulonimbus
On the weekend I looked up the lyrics to 'Alcoholiday' by Teenage Fanclub (excellent, underrated song) as I was laughing about the fact they used the word 'interim' in it. It turns out I had completely misheard the lyrics, but it ended up leading to a discussion which led to this column, so was I really wrong? (I was).
First, a blanket rule. No Morrissey. No Leonard Cohen, no Bob Dylan - nobody who is considered a poet, or for whom tricky wordplay and literary devices are primarily what they are known for. this will be an ever-expanding list, so please feel free to make some suggestions.
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Animosity - Metallica: And Justice For All
Apathy their stepping stone
So unfeeling
Hidden deep animosity
Apropos - Sheryl Crow: All I Wanna Do
"All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die, "
Says the man next to me out of nowhere
It's apropos of nothing
Reporting from inside the Australian music business since '94.
Brook - Led Zeppelin: Stairway To Heaven
In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings
Canopy - Incubus: 'Wish You Were Here'
The sky resembles a backlit canopy
Combustication (sic) - Incubus: 'Pardon Me'
Cause lately I've been thinking of combustication
Constipation- End Of Fashion: O Yeah
Constipation verbally Then I walk away
Cumulonimbus - Crowded House: 'When You Come'
Like a cumulonimbus coming in from a distance
Echolalia - Something For Kate: 'Three Dimensions'
And if I listen to the seconds
Reminds me of echolalia
Equilibrium - Beck: Sexx Laws
Can’t you hear those cavalry drums hijacking your equilibrium
Interventionist - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Into My Arms
I don't believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
Mausoleum - Beck: Sexx Laws
Midnight hags in the mausoleum
Where the pixilated doctors moan
Moot - Rick Springfield: Jessie's Girl
You know, I feel so dirty when they start talking cute
I wanna tell her that I love her
But the point is probably moot
Pataphysical - The Beatles: Maxwell's Silver Hammer.
Joan was quizzical, studied pataphysical science in the home
Parable - Tool: Parabola
Twirling round with this familiar parable
Spinning, weaving round each new experience
Parasympathetic - Andrew Jackson Jihad: People II
Your parasympathetic nervous system reacts
And you’re in fight or flight mode
Placenta - Live: Lightning Crashes
The placenta falls to the floor
Somnambulist - Incubus: Vitamin
A zombified, somnambulist society.
Leaving us as vitamins
Verisimilitude - Teenage Fanclub: Verisimilitude
I only hope the verse is good
I hate verisimilitude
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Got any additions? Send them to us on the back of a lewd postcard, or simply add them to the comments.
Now, where we were?
