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July 11, 2006
Modern Life is Rubbish
After extensive research I have discovered that the perpetrator of the song "It's all about the money" is a lady who goes by the name of Meja. She is Swedish. Wikipedia says her real name is Anna Pernilla Bäckman but that's not important. The lyrics of the song are important - crucially important - to understanding the General Decline of Everything. Here's a sample:
"It's all about the money
It's all about the dum dum du du du dum"
Nothing wrong with that.* Lou Reed was always partial to a little doo doo wah's and when he sings la la la la la la on "Sweet Jane," well... But Meja is no Lou Reed. Her song continues:
"I don't think it's funny"
"Money" and "funny" has to be the most banal rhyme in the English language (how lucky we are so little rhymes with "love.") It's a linguistic trap lying in wait for poetasters and Miss Meja danced straight into it. Look how Pink Floyd elegantly flirted with and skirted around the same problem on Dark Side of the Moon:
"Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash"
See how they tease you? Gas means "funny" but it doesn't rhyme with money. Instead they pull off a partial rhyme with "stash" - which means "money."
It might seem unfair to compare Pink Floyd with Meja. After all, one is just pop while the other is far more ambitious stuff. But "pop" means "popular" and Dark Side of the Moon was certainly that. The only conclusion that can reasonably be drawn from this wide-ranging study is that modern life is, indeed, rubbish.
I spend far too much time on buses listening to commercial Polish radio.
*Actually, if you've heard her you will know that there is plenty wrong with that.
Posted by hgrodsk at July 11, 2006 10:25 PM
Comments
I think Lou Reed was actually indebted for his lyrical style to Frank Sinatra. ‘Strangers in the night, Do be do be doo ….’
Pop lyric writers are desperate to use the words ‘month’ and ‘orange’ in their work – particularly rappers - but nothing rhymes, dude!
And you are right about the use of ‘money’ in lyrics. Note that the great soul song ‘Money’s too tight to mention – cut backs!’ is not ‘To tight to mention is money’… which is strange because money goes very well with honey, funny, and bunny…surely a rich seam to mine for rhyming couplets.
But you are right about Polish pop radio – complete and utter ‘sh^te!
Posted by: beatroot at July 12, 2006 08:30 AM
Inevitably, there's a website for incompetents like Meja: http://www.rhymezone.com/
But month and orange stump even Rhyme Zone.
Posted by: Henry Grodsk at July 12, 2006 10:50 AM
The most banal rhyme is 'arms and 'charms' ugh ugh ugh.
Posted by: michael farris at July 16, 2006 06:01 PM