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I DON’T LIKE MOST OF the songs listed in “Worst Lines of the Year: The 1995 Bernies” (2/2); however, I don’t see the point of taking lyrics out of context and making fun of them. Pop lyrics sometimes sound silly and they often sound especially silly unaccompanied by music.
Back in the 1950s, someone once read the lyrics to “Be-Bop-A-Lula” on TV. The intention was to get a few laughs and illustrate the ignorance of “today’s music.” It worked. The lyrics do sound dumb without the music. But with the music, and the singing, phrasing, and emotion added, the song still sounds great 40 years later.
I think if James Lochart wants to have a field day, he should sit down with a red pen and go over the lyrics to some old blues albums. I would still say that Willie Dixon was a wonderful composer, even if on paper he seemed self-pitying, shameless, and obtuse. Emotion sometimes doesn’t lend itself to good grammar and proper word order.
However, maybe I’m being to hard on Lochart; he obviously believes that words like “meretricious” and “egregiousness” belong in an article intended for a mass audience.
Alexandria, Va.