Language and Music

I was listening to the Beach Boys sing their hit song about the lady hairdresser, “Barber Ann,” this morning, and it occurred to me that popular music has presented many opportunities to mispronounce words or mangle grammar. How many times have I heard a hit song where the singer says he wants his lover to "hole me"? I, for one, already have enough body apertures.

One of the biggest offenses is the word “me,” as in “Me and Bobby McGee.” Elton John did it big time when he sang, “I remember when Rock was young. Me and Suzie had so much fun.” There was even an old time song titled, "Me and my shadow."

You might argue that this is done in the interest of rhyming, or the songwriter is taking poetic license. Well, in the case of Elton John, “young” and “fun” do not even rhyme, and “Suzie and I had so much fun,” still works. “Bobby McGee and me, sounds so much better, and it still rhymes. Then there's "everbody" and "everthing" as in "You're everthing I've ever dreamed of."

I happen to live in an area of the country where it is very common to hear, “Me and my old lady did this,” or “Me and Bill went fishing.” Of course, if the individual is uncertain what is correct, all he or she has to do it take reference to the other person out of the sentence, and it will be obvious what is correct. For example, “Me went fishing,” is obviously grossly incorrect. I wonder what influence, “Me and Barber Ann” and other errors have had on our language over the years. Of course, Rock and Roll, Rock, Country, Country and Western, Jazz and Motown styles have all influenced our current music styles, which have led to Rap Music. Don’t let me get started on that. Actually, the term “Rap Music” is an Oxymoron. But that’s just me and my old lady’s opinion.