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Thread: Question For Musicians: Singing Other Lyrics Live

  1. #1

    Question For Musicians: Singing Other Lyrics Live

    Frank Zappa was famous for changing the lyrics of his songs to add in references to things that happened while on tour or perhaps during the concert itself (see YCDTOSA Vol. 2). Have any of the singers here ever been tempted or actually gone ahead and started singing other lyrics off the tops of their heads just to "fuck around" for no other reason than to amuse themselves?

    I walk around my office often singing snippets of songs where I'll add in the names of my coworkers and perhaps a reference to something embarrassing they've done. I know that if I were a singer I would probably just go ahead and throw in references just to amuse myself with the fact that the audience would have no idea why I'm singing "Dovy-lozh" and "Dovy-love" or even know what those terms meant.

  2. #2
    I've got an example of this - IQ at 3RP. Peter's microphone died during the first chorus of Stronger Than Friction. He found one that was working, and instead of the lyrics "this hand is useless...", he sang "this Mic is useless...".

  3. #3
    We used to play in a theme park that featured Looney Tunes characters. It was the 80s, and we did that Brian Adams song "I Need Somebody", so when the characters came around we changed it to "I Need Bugs Bunny (and Daffy Duck too!)". What was great was one of the guys in a Bugs costume could play drums and we let him sit in one time, in costume. They almost fired us all for that...

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Robert Wyatt was famous for doing this with "The Moon in June." Rich Sinclair also did it quite a bit with songs like "Only The Brave."

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    Not too long ago, my friends and I were killing time before a Musical Box show and we dropped into a little pub with one of those one-man bands, singer/guitar player with a beatbox, basically. There were two doors into the pub, one of which had a teeny-tiny sign on it stating to use the other entrance.

    As we tried to open the forbidden door, we heard the singer sing into the mic, to the whole bar, to the tune of whatever song he was singing: "There's a bunch of idiots who can't read trying to come in the wrong door."

    We turned right around and left, taking our business to another bar.

    I'm sure the singer was working for a percentage of the door. So who was the real idiot in that scenario?
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    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Twelfth Earl of Mar View Post
    I've got an example of this - IQ at 3RP. Peter's microphone died during the first chorus of Stronger Than Friction. He found one that was working, and instead of the lyrics "this hand is useless...", he sang "this Mic is useless...".
    I too remember that vividly, and iirc we (the audience) both laughed & applauded PN just a little so as not to dramatically disturb the performance of the song.
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by progeezer View Post
    I too remember that vividly, and iirc we (the audience) both laughed & applauded PN just a little so as not to dramatically disturb the performance of the song.
    Mike Holmes does this too. One of his favourite songs is Wings' Jet which is occasionally played as an encore. Those of us who are wise to his pranks now, sing boldly along with him the slightly revised chorus of 'Jeff'. Which could be a tribute to their ex-manager, or not...

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    Member rapidfirerob's Avatar
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    I saw a guy named Stu Blank who had a band called Stu Blank and The Nasty Habits in the SF Bay Area.
    One night they did Wild Thing and he changed the lyrics to "Wild Thing, I think you're ugly, but I want to know
    for sure. Wild Thing, take that bag off your head. Yup, you ugly." RIP Stu.

  9. #9
    ^^^^^
    I was also in a band that did a narcissist medley- love songs with "you" changed to "me", including hits like "I Honestly Love Me" and "I Am So Beautiful"...

    "I am so into me
    I can't think of nothing else..."

  10. #10
    Jefferson James
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    I remember throwing in some politically-charged lyrical changes to ELP's "Battlefield" when I was in an ELP tribute band several years back. I don't think it went over real well....especially with my band-mates.

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    Believe it or not, I had never heard Johnny B. Goode before I sang it with a blues-rock band back in 1986. Somebody gave me the words on paper and I had a half hour to learn it before I went on stage. I flubbed one of the lines but most of the audience was drunk anyway.

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    ItalProgRules's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    ^^^^^
    I was also in a band that did a narcissist medley- love songs with "you" changed to "me", including hits like "I Honestly Love Me" and "I Am So Beautiful"...

    "I am so into me
    I can't think of nothing else..."

    I have an oldies Christmas compilation with Diana Ross's "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me." Yeah, she's singing in the "person" of a star, but given her inafamously diva-esque qualities, the title alone cracks me up.
    High Vibration Go On - R.I.P. Chris Squire

  13. #13
    I suppose you can count Phil Collins' frequent in-concert changing of a line from "Invisible Touch" from "she will mess up your life" to "she will fuck up your life." Always good for a cheap pop from the crowd.
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  14. #14
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    The thread title should've read "Question for Some Musicians..." because there are those of us (like myself) that couldn't sing if our lives depended on it.
    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    ^^^^^
    I was also in a band that did a narcissist medley- love songs with "you" changed to "me", including hits like "I Honestly Love Me" and "I Am So Beautiful"...

    "I am so into me
    I can't think of nothing else..."
    Never did that live, but a friend and I once came up with lyrics along the same lines. From "I am the Sunshine of Your Life:"

    I must've known that you were lonely
    That's why I came to your rescue
    And you know that this must be heaven
    How could so much love be inside of me?!


    A now departed friend (died of ALS) that I used to work with in a wedding band often came up with amusing alternate lyrics that he sang on gigs. From Willie Nelson's "You Were Always on My Mind;"

    If I made you feel the second best
    Girl I'm sorry but you were


    So much for my contribution to this thread...
    Last edited by No Pride; 02-06-2013 at 12:37 PM.

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