Tag: lyrics

A big “hello” to music lovers

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Johnny Cash performs at Folsom Prison in the 1960s.

Every so often I stumble upon a certain question on a social media site that draws hundreds of comments. “What’s the greatest opening line to a song?”

I usually answer “Hello darkness, my old friend.”

“The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel is one of the most profound and impactful songs ever recorded, in my opinion. Especially in an era where we are ushering in our future robotic overlords.

However, I’ve recently reconsidered my standing answer. Here’s the alternative opening line that does it for me:

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”

That was the legendary Johnny Cash’s signature opening line to any performance, but I’m thinking of one in particular, “Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison.”

The Man in Black’s famous “Hello” line precedes the start of “Folsom Prison Blues,” and has really become the first line of the song, at least for me.

My friend Ed Godfrey said “when I hear that line, I know I’m about to hear some good music.”

My dad bought the “Live at Folsom Prison” album when I was a kid. I listened to it scores of times and never tired of the audience’s huge reaction when Cash introduced himself, or the song itself.

There’s something ironic about Johnny Cash singing a song about Folsom Prison that he wrote in the 1950s to an audience of Folsom Prison inmates in the 1960s.

Give it a listen:

And you can listen to The Sound of Silence here:

The opening lines of those two songs got me to thinking of other songs whose opening lines begin with “hello.”

You might remember Conway Twitty’s “Hello Darlin'” if you are a country fan of a certain age (including me). It was a pretty big hit back in the day.

Give it a listen:

Todd Rundgren had a huge hit with his song, “Hello, it’s me” that starts with the title line.

Give it a listen:

“Hello,” by Adele was a big hit around the world in 2015.

Give it a listen:

I was a Doors fan back in the late ’60s, and really liked their song, “Hello, I Love You.” It also was a No. 1 hit in 1968.

Give it a listen:

I’m sure there are many other songs throughout history whose lyrics begin with the word, “hello,” that I omitted because I didn’t think of them or know about them. If you come up with some, please alert me by adding a comment at the end of this post.

LATE ADDITION FROM ED GODFREY: “Here’s two more hellos for you: Hello, Walls written by Willie Nelson and Neil Diamond’s Hello, again, hello.”

RANDAL FORSHEE also added Hello Walls.

CASEY HARNESS CONTRIBUTION:  Hello Mary Lou by Rick Nelson; Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd

BONUS CONTENT

Meanwhile, there are some songs that have “Hello” in the title, but whose lyrics don’t start with the word “hello.’ “Hello, Goodbye,” by the Beatles, for instance. And “Hello,” by Lionel Richie, and “Hello” by Beyonce. Also, “Hello Again,” by The Cars.

Misheard mystery lyrics to our favorite songs

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When I was a kid in the mid 1960s, there was no music that captivated me like that of the Beatles. Even as a pre-teen, I couldn’t get enough of their upbeat music, harmony and hair. I listened and read everything I could about the Fab Four.

The only drawback was that I couldn’t get the lyrics down correctly from the songs I heard on Top 40 radio or their albums. But I didn’t realize it then.

For instance, I loved to sing along to “Can’t Buy Me Love,” but butchered a key line all the way into adulthood. I misheard “I don’t care too much for money” as “I don’t care to munch for money.”

I know, makes no sense. But I would hear that in my head and even sing it until it dawned on my in my 20s that I had it wrong. Boy, was I embarrassed.

There’s more. I always heard the lyric of “I can’t hide, I can’t hide” in the song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” as “I get high, I get high.” Of course, there was so much written and rumored about the Beatles and drugs that it couldn’t be anything else to me.

Finally, the most embarrassing admission of all. I loved the song “Ticket to Ride,” and played the 45 record I bought many, many times on my cheap little record player. But I sang it as “She’s got a figure to ride.” I cringe today. Must have been hormones and wishful thinking that turned the key line, which was the actual song title, into a suggestive translation.

Of course, about that time the Kingsmen had a rocking version of “Louie Louie,” in which the lyrics were all but indecipherable. But all the boys in my College Station, Texas, neighborhood couldn’t get enough. The rumor was that the song contained the Queen Mother of all bad words, and we listened and strained to hear it. There were the know-it-alls who even translated it into a version we all went crazy over.

Listen for yourself and then decide:

The song was banned in some places in the U.S., although the singing was so slurred that there was no way to know what was actually sung. Here’s a link to a post on the Rare Records website that puts it all into context.

My point of all this is that lyrics in popular music have been misheard and misinterpreted forever. The most famous may be the scene from Friends in which Phoebe sings a line from Elton John’s Tiny Dancer as “hold me closer, Tony Danza.”

I polled friends here in OKC, and got some interesting responses. My friend Steve says his wife misheard “Suicide Blonde” by INXS as “Soup and Salad Bar.” I took a listen and could see how she could mistake it.

There’s another from Steve’s (unnamed to protect her identity) wife. She misheard the title line from George Michael’s “Father Figure” as “I’ll be your butterfinger.” That’s a stretch.

Another friend I’ll identify as “Ed,” says his wife (also unnamed to protect her dignity) has a long history of misinterpreting lyrics. The best example he gave me is hearing her enthusiastically singing the title lyric from Johnny Rivers “Secret Agent Man” as “Secret Asian Man.”

Of course, neither Steve nor Ed shared any misheard lyrics from themselves. Curious.

If you Google “misheard lyrics” or ask ChatGBT to give you a list, there are dozens of examples. Manfred Man’s “Blinded by the Light.” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations.” Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” The list goes on an on.

It shows that we’ve all misheard lyrics from some of our favorite songs over time. Maybe we just interpreted them into what we wanted to hear.

I’m heading off to listen to “Whiter Shade of Pale” one more time so I can sing along with “She skipped a line fandango.” I mean, that’s the line, right? Right?