Turn Up The Volume

We like music around here. A lot. Except for my daughter, we like it loud, too. She likes Sara (Starship) and All The Same (Sick Puppies) loud, but that's about it. When we're driving somewhere, she complains if I turn up the volume. When I have the opportunity to drive solo, I crank up the music and sing along. I usually stop singing if there is a car directly next to me or if I'm stopped at light, though. And in the warmer weather I try not to sing loudly if I have the windows down. I can't carry a tune in a bucket. No one needs to hear me belting out my off key version of The Pretender (Foo Fighters) or Black Days (Soundgarden). That would be cruel.

In addition to singing badly, I get the words to the songs wrong sometimes. Some lyrics are especially hard to understand so I fill in the words I don't know with some nonsense that doesn't sound like English or I sing what I think I'm hearing. You know what I'm talking about because you do it too! Have you ever listened to America's Suitehearts (Fall Out Boy)? I'm still not sure of all the words to that song. For a while I was convinced that they were making reference to the magic conch (if you watch Spongebob, you know about the magic conch). Don't believe me? Listen to it and tell me you don't hear it too!

You want more of a challenge, you say? Try these:

• Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) - I'm clueless to the majority of the lyrics. I can't do much more than mumble along to this song.


• Sugar We're Going Down (Fall Out Boy) - Just when I think I've got it, they lose me again.


• Sleeping Sickness (City And Colour) - I still can't figure out what's going on with the knife.


• Rock Me Amadeus (Falco). Is that English or German?

Mr. Willoughby has a talent for picking up the lyrics to a song the first time he hears it. When we were dating, I mistakenly thought he knew every song ever written. Over time I learned that he has a gift for guessing the words. It still amazes me. Not that he doesn't get them wrong from time to time, but he can still fool you into believing he knows a song he's never heard before.

If trying to figure out the lyrics weren't enough, what about the meaning behind them? Ever heard Counting Blue Cars (Dishwalla)? It seems to be about a spiritual journey of some sort. Beyond that, I can't say for sure. And what about Santa Monica (Theory Of A Deadman)? "She fills my bed with gasoline, you think I would have noticed". Huh? I love this song, but I'm not sure about that. Dear Lucid, Our Time Is Right Now (Evans Blue) is out there, too.

Listen to some music today and sing along if you can. Slaughter some lyrics and laugh yourself silly. Karaoke, anyone?





~Note~ All the songs mentioned in this post are currently on my player at
the bottom of the page.