Say What?

Once upon a time (when I was in law school), I worked as a DJ at a radio station. The most fun thing on the 3 am shift was to answer requests from people who could only quote (in an inaccurate way) lyrics to the song. My favorites misstated lyrics included: "Once more it's a naked love" (Pride - In the Name of Love by U2); "Another turnip, boy, a Ford stuck in the road" (Time of Your Life by Green Day); and "Bought an old house on the dance floor" (Old Apartment by Barenaked Ladies). There are tons more and if you want to have a good laugh, go check out http://kissthisguy.com. It is a website diarying misheard lyrics. Where did the title come from? Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. The actual lyric is "Excuse me while I kiss the sky." It is often misheard, and oddly misheard, as "Excuse me, while I kiss this guy."

Language is a very funny thing. Conveys emotions. Memorializes history. Directs us to do or not do certain things. And when language is misheard or misinterpreted, it can lead to the following: war, theft, anger, death, mistrust, and isolation. I wish that only humor resulted from misheard language. I wish that George Bush wouldn't mishear Congress' call for an end date in Iraq. I wish that other nations wouldn't mishear our words to imply that we want to run the world. I wish that my words would not be misheard - when I say Guantanamo is wrong, I do not mean that we should not protect our country. What I mean is that no person should be deprived of life or liberty without due process of law (see our 5th Amendment to the US Constitution). Person means any person, not just a citizen of the US.

I wish that Scripture wasn't misheard to suggest that God condones violence in the name of religion. As my pastor has told me, and I desparately try to follow, the two greatest commandments are: Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and body; and Love your neighbor as yourself. Sadly, even these commandments are misheard.

In the mean time, bum around the misheard lyrics website and have a laugh today.