Wednesday, June 21, 2006

You Don't Have to Read My Rhyme to Know What I Have in Rhyme

For some reason, "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner has been in my head for weeks. I've sung it over and over in my head without really paying attention to the lyrics. I've heard them a thousand times after all. Anyway, the other day, this line absolutely cracked me up:

"You don't have to read my mind/To know what I have in mind."

That got me to thinking about the practice of using identical rhyme in songs and how completely awesome it is. Here are some that come to mind (and mostly to these people's minds):
  • Beastie Boys, "Pass the Mic": "Everybody's rapping like it's a commercial/acting like life is a big commercial"
  • Black Sabbath, "War Pigs": Generals gathered in their masses/just like witches at black masses"
  • The Who, "Happy Jack": Happy jack wasn’t old, but he was a man/He lived in the sand at the Isle of Man"
  • America, "Horse With No Name" (these lyrics are awesome in lots of ways): I been thru the desert on a horse with no name/it felt good to be out of the rain/In the desert, you can remember your name/'Cause there ain't no-one for to give you no pain"
  • But I think you can guess my favorite example: "But she never lost her head/Even when she was givin' head"

Now that is Advanced Genius at work. If I got any lyrics wrong, forgive me, and if you know of other songs with identical rhyme, please write in!

1 comment:

Jon Black and Britt Bergman said...

i like in a live version when lou says, "but she never lost her head, even when she was givin' good head". really jazzes it up.