Let's don't let do mistakes !

[tcb4]

hi

How comes elvis did this mistake regularly ?
nobody told him because they feared he would have become suspicious ?

[Brad M]

HUH?

[tcb4]

HUH?

do you have a suspicious minds ?

there s a mistake in the song > that s all

Lets dont let a good thing die


ok it s not the topic of the month

[Tony Trout]

Elvis was just singing what the songwriter, Mark James, wrote.

[BigredG]

I fail to see the "mistake". It's just a turn of phrase.

Grammatically a little suspect maybe, but hey, that's songwriters for you !!

[ColinB]

...Grammatically a little suspect maybe, but hey, that's songwriters for you !!

It's called artistic license.....................

[BigredG]

...Grammatically a little suspect maybe, but hey, that's songwriters for you !!

It's called artistic license.....................

Exactly !!

I remember once complaining on here that the line "To be better far than you are" from Impossible Dream makes no sense whatsoever to me, but was shot down in flames. So now I take an anything goes kind of approach to song lyrics.

[Mike S]

.

[EagleUSA]

All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me.

[Renan]

I thought Elvis sang: "just don't let a good thing die...."

[KiwiAlan]

Let's get grammatical!

For instance "you are not anything but a Hound Dog" slides off the tongue so easily.

[BigredG]

Perhaps Elvis got the words muddled up on the version you were listening to?

Most of Elvis versions (eg MSG) contain this version of the line rather than the "Love pure and chaste from afar" lyric as written. It seems there are 2 variants of the lyrics.

In fact for years I never heard Elvis do the "traditional" verse, and was highly vexed, but there are a couple of 1971 versions that have the chaste lyric.

[tcb4]

I thought Elvis sang: "just don't let a good thing die...."

maybe sometimes but in MSG , EP said "let's dont let ...". Maybe Elvis changed the sentence because he realized the grammatical mistake .
I m not convinced Mark James did it voluntarily

[ColinB]

Let's get grammatical!

For instance "you are not anything but a Hound Dog" slides off the tongue so easily.

Love Me Tenderly

All Shaken Up

Potentially, I Have a Large Amount of Life I Haven't Lived

A Large Dollop of Intense Affection

No - strike those last two there......................

[Axeman]

How about when Elvis sings "Oh, when time gets rough" in Bridge.

Instead of "When times get rough".

Axe

[Steve Morse]

Or, "there's a dream in my vein" in one verse of Inherit The Wind.

Steve Morse

[53310761]

Lol, I aways thought he sang "dream in my brain" either way the lyrics are a bit naff.

Deb

[BigredG]

Lol, I aways thought he sang "dream in my brain" either way the lyrics are a bit naff.

Deb

I think he gets confused at one point !!!

[The Purple Gang]

Let's get grammatical!

For instance "you are not anything but a Hound Dog" slides off the tongue so easily.

How about 'You're nothing but a Hound Dog'?. I'm no grammarian but I believe this would eliminate that nasty double negative in the original.

[ColinB]

Let's get grammatical!

For instance "you are not anything but a Hound Dog" slides off the tongue so easily.

How about 'You're nothing but a Hound Dog'?. I'm no grammarian but I believe this would eliminate that nasty double negative in the original.

To fit with the music, maybe it would have to be:

"You know, you're nothing but a hound dog"

But nothing is as good as Jerry Leiber's 'ungrammatical' original lyric !

[familyjules]

Let's get grammatical!

For instance "you are not anything but a Hound Dog" slides off the tongue so easily.

How about 'You're nothing but a Hound Dog'?. I'm no grammarian but I believe this would eliminate that nasty double negative in the original.

It's absolute nonsense that a double negative equals a positive. Especially in the real world. Some hung up academic may insist that it does, but everyone who speaks the language knows that a double negative just means twice as much negativity!

Jules

[Steve Morse]

"You ain't nothing" means "You are something".

"but", in this context means "like".

Therefore, the meaning (as I'm sure we all know) is :

"You're just like a hound dog, crying all the time" or

"You are no better than a hound dog, because of your constant crying".

Regardless of all of this bit of fun, I would have to say that Hound Dog is my favourite Elvis record of all time. It's 50's rock'n'roll perfection.

Steve Morse

[Rob]

"You are no better than a hound dog, because of your constant crying".

Somehow, it just doesn't have the same kick to it.

[Daryl]

Hello,

One of my favorites is "Sylvia"

These long lonely evenings
Here I am on the phone
Wondering if she will call
She said she would write me
cause she knows Im alone
But I hear nothing at all

Did Geoff Stephens and Les Reed have call waiting in 1970? Or did they have multiple phone lines in either of their residences?

Another one I get a chuckle out of is not what was originally sung but rather someone's transcription of Danny O'Keefe's "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues" in the book "A Life In Music" by Ernst Jorgensen (Page 378)

"I take the pills to ease the pain
Can't find a thing to ease my brain"

The actual lyric is:

"Everybody's gone away
Said they're moving to L.A.
There's not a soul I know around
Everybody's leaving town

Some caught a freight
Some caught a plane
Find the sunshine
Leave the rain
They said this town will waste your time
I guess they're right, it's wasting mine

Chorus:

Some gotta win, some gotta lose
Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues
Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues

You know my heart keeps telling me
you're not a kid at thirty-three
You play around, you'll lose your wife
You play too long you lose you life

I got my pills to ease the pain
Can't find a thing to ease the rain
I'd love to try to settle down
But everybody's leaving town

Chorus

Some gotta win, some gotta lose
Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues"

Fade out with O'Keefe whistling.

Sounds to me like someone's got rain on their brain!

Daryl

[ColinB]

Hello,

One of my favorites is "Sylvia"

These long lonely evenings
Here I am on the phone
Wondering if she will call

LOL !

Yes, if she does call, she'll just get the 'engaged' tone, won't she ?