Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Are You Able to Feel the Love This Evening

In the gym locker room this morning they were playing an elevator music version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight? from The Lion King.  Or, rather, a perhaps-unlicensed cover—the rhythm was spot-on, but the tune wasn't right.  There were enough subtle differences that they didn't seem like mistakes or artistic license, but it was close enough that I thought at first that maybe I just didn't quite remember the original tune.  But once it got to the "wide-eyed wanderer" line (of course, it was instrumental) I was certain that it was just a bad cover.

It reminded me of something I was talking with Jason about recently: I get really annoyed when I remember song lyrics incorrectly, especially when my head's version is notably different from the real thing. Worse, rather than correct myself on future listenings, I tend to just reinforce my incorrect lyrics with every subsequent hearing.  The best example of this that comes to mind is from Somewhere Only We Know by Keane.  There's a line "...sat by the river and it made me complete" that I sing every time as "...sat by the river and admitted defeat."  My version is just about the opposite of the correct lyrics, and I know I'm wrong, and I try to sing them correctly, but despite my efforts, I get it wrong constantly, and I'm not really improving.  It's frustrating.  (I have a playlist of songs for which I want to learn the lyrics and be able to sing along, and that one is on it.  It's my driving/Segwaying playlist.)

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