In some cases I like it when the singer/songwriter ignores good grammar. Can you imagine if every song you love was grammatically correct?
~ Cathy ~
And I dream I'm on vacation 'Cause I like the way that sounds,
It's a perfect occupation for me.
I agree, PM! Sometimes completely proper grammar comes off as too perfect and irritating. Sometimes like you have a stick up your @$$. I don't believe in playing to the lowest common denominator, but let's face it, most people in the States are totally turned off by people who speak proper English (or Queen's English). Easy for me to say, as people from Western PA aren't known for an accent, per se, but we are known for poor grammar.
VK
You can't change the world but you can change yourself.
I honestly didn't mean to sound like a snob there. If I was that bothered with correct grammar I wouldn't listen to songs like Ain't It Love or I would get annoyed when I hear 'don't' used instead of 'doesn't' (e.g. Bread's It Don't Matter To Me). I don't like 'a icy chill' though because it's lazy. If others aren't bothered by it fair enough.
Funny, I always heard the "sway" as "swing". Out of curiosity I checked Jack's website for the picture of the original words of the song that Jack had scribbled as they came to him. He had written "swing". That doesn't mean that it is what Glenn is singing though. This is the link to the picture http://www.peacefuleasyfeeling.com/p...sy_feeling.php. It's interesting to read this & then look at how it evolved from there into a finished song.
VK
You can't change the world but you can change yourself.
I didn't think you were being snobbish, FP. I've never thought of the Somebody lyric one way or the other, but I thought your post was a good opportunity to discuss the general use of poor grammar in songs.
~ Cathy ~
And I dream I'm on vacation 'Cause I like the way that sounds,
It's a perfect occupation for me.
Nothing specific is coming to mind, but don't is often used incorrectly, instead of doesn't. Probably because they mean the same thing and 'don't' is one syllable and 'doesn't' is two.
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but it wasn't until HC came out in CD (vs. vinyl or cassette) that I realized it was 'we are all just prisoners here' instead of 'we are all just visitors here'. "Of our own device" didn't make any sense to me with 'visitors', but it's what I thought none the less.
VK
You can't change the world but you can change yourself.
Okay UTW - Sorry it's at your expense, but this one really cracked me up!
And I'm one that isn't bothered if lyrics aren't grammatically correct in songs as a general rule. In the case of Somebody, I actually like 'a icy chill'. I don't see it as lazy - it doesn't take any more effort to say 'an' than it does 'a'. I think it's done for effect. It kinda reminds me of Glenn sometimes pronounces an 'a' instead of an 'i' in some words. I Found Somebody immediately comes to mind when he sings "You got me 'sangin' this song".
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
Another grammatically incorrect one is Henley's 'They don't know much of nothing' in FGOTBP. I should love that song as it's a typical Henley deconstruction of life, but I can't endear myself to it for some reason