Good Song: I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
Bad Lyrics: One major geographical quibble about this Christmas classic.
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day in the morning.
Sounds like a joyous time! Christmas, ships, sailing: what’s not to like?
Wither sailed those ships all three
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?
Wither sailed those ships all three
On Christmas Day in the morning?
Excellent question! Wither did those ships sail? It’ll help our mental picture of the day.
They sailed in to Bethlehem,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
They sailed in to Bethlehem,
On Christmas Day in the morning.
Uh… wait a minute. Bethlehem? Land-locked Bethlehem? This seems, if not impossible, then certainly unusual.
All the bells on Earth shall ring
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day
All the bells on Earth shall ring
On Christmas Day in the morning
That is going to be a heck of a racket, you know.
About me
Music is the joy of joys, but sometimes, words can get in the way. Be it a weak metaphor, a forced rhyme, or just pure nonsense - lyrics can go wrong a hundred ways. It won't stop us from loving a song, but it might give us pause to say, "Wait... what?""And, as I say, 70% is how you look, 20% is how you sound, only 10% is what you say." -Eddie Izzard
Send in your favorite song with questionable lyrics to the name of this blog at gmail.com.
