Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/08/89)
Really-From: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> I was listening to the Whole Story today and in the song Babooshka, I thought I heard Kate say "She couldn't have made a worst move..." ----^ which is grammatically incorrect (it should be worsE). So I checked the lyrics I have from the lyrics server, and (although I know there are some mistakes in there) they said "worse." I listened to the song again and indeed Kate utters a very pronounced worsT. Has anyone else noticed this? Is Kate intentionally erring? Or am I missing something subtle in the lyrics? I suppose the sentence could mean that "She was incapable of making a WORST move," but from the context, this does not appear to be the intended meaning. . /\/\ / /\/\ / / /_/ / / /
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/09/89)
Really-From: jsd@gaffa.mit.edu (Jon Drukman) In article <8908081522.AA19540@m.cs.uiuc.edu> Love-Hounds@GAFFA.MIT.EDU writes: >Really-From: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> > >I was listening to the Whole Story today and in the song Babooshka, >I thought I heard Kate say > > "She couldn't have made a worst move..." > ----^ You know what I find interesting is that it sounds a hell of a lot like Kate starts to say "choice" and then replaced the word on the master tape with "move" but did a sloppy punch-in job. I have always thought this but never mentioned it to anyone. This seems like a good opportuinity to bring it up. Anyone else hear it? Listen carefully - I'm almost positive there's a glitch there of one sort or another... +---------------------- Is there any ESCAPE from NOISE? --------------------+ | | |\ | jsd@gaffa.mit.edu | "I think quotes are very dangerous | | \|on |/rukman | jsd@umass.bitnet | things." -- Kate Bush | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/09/89)
Really-From: Mark Anderson <manderso@ugly.cs.ubc.ca> Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> writes: > I thought I heard Kate say > "She couldn't have made a worst move..." > ----^ jsd@gaffa.mit.edu (Jon Drukman) writes: > You know what I find interesting is that it sounds a hell of a lot > like Kate starts to say "choice" and then replaced the word on the > master tape with "move" but did a sloppy punch-in job. Until I got the lyrics with _Never_For_Ever_, I thought Kate was singing "choice"--albeit with a rather strange pronunciation. Actually it sounds like "chove" to me, suggesting Jon's theory might have some merit. Though I thought Kate was too much a perfectionist to let that slip by. And since we're on the topic of Babooshka grammar, is there any such word as "freezed"? -- Mark Anderson <manderso@ugly.cs.ubc.ca> {att!alberta,uw-beaver,uunet}!ubc-cs!ugly.cs.ubc.ca!manderso "Narrow mind would persecute it, die a little to get to it..."
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/09/89)
Really-From: motcid!marble!meadley@uunet.UU.NET (A. Meadley) Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> says: >I thought I heard Kate say > "She couldn't have made a worst move..." Yes. That is what I have always heard on "Never For Ever", too. As far as I can recall from my English lessons at school, worse compares two things ("This is the worse of the two") and worst compares three or more things ("This is the worst of the three"). So Kate is implying several (ie. three or more) options of which the one she took was the "worst". Ant in Chicago uunet!motcid!meadley
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/10/89)
Really-From: tracyr@uunet.uu.net (jane smallberries) In article <8908081522.AA19540@m.cs.uiuc.edu> Love-Hounds@GAFFA.MIT.EDU writes: >Really-From: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> > >I was listening to the Whole Story today and in the song Babooshka, >I thought I heard Kate say > > "She couldn't have made a worst move..." > ----^ > >which is grammatically incorrect (it should be worsE). > > [..thinks he definitely hears..] > [..her sing "worsT" nevertheless..] my guess is that it's "intentional erring", michael. altho i prefer to call it Artistic Liscense, myself. i think kate uses this technique elsewhere--for example, in "breathing", i could swear she sings, "my radar send me danger, but my instincts ^^^^ tell me to keep breathing." ofcourse, this could also be attributed to that zany british convention of considering something like radar to be more than one thing, but who knows. someone's playing debbie gibson in the parking lot--time to put on my headphones and dream of sheep... "that cloud is nothing but trouble." -tracy ...!uunet!sco!tracyr, tracyr@sco.com -- ---
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/10/89)
Really-From: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> Ant in Chicago writes: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> [that's me] says: >I thought I heard Kate say > "She couldn't have made a worst move..." Yes. That is what I have always heard on "Never For Ever", too. As far as I can recall from my English lessons at school, worse compares two things ("This is the worse of the two") and worst compares three or more things ("This is the worst of the three"). So Kate is implying several (ie. three or more) options of which the one she took was the "worst". Unfortunately, I don't think it works that way, Ant. WORST is the superlative form, whereas WORSE can be used as a superlative, or as a *comparative*. You are correct when you say that (as superlatives) WORSE is of two things, and WORST is of greater than two things. But what Kate seems to be using in Babooshka is the comparative. The case is more clear if we pretend she's saying a BETTER move. Using analogies, GOOD:BAD = BETTER:WORSE = BEST:WORST. "She couldn't have made a BEST move..." is clearly ungrammatical (in the sense Kate seems to want here), whereas "She couldn't have made a BETTER move..." is grammatical. In the same way WORSE is better than WORST. In the words of another song-writing genius, "You better you bet!" . /\/\ / /\/\ / / /_/ / / /