You might have noticed the “bad” grammar in some song lyrics. Should we let it slide for the sake of art? Would the Rolling Stones song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” suffer if the title and lyrics were “I Can’t Get Any Satisfaction”? If you say yes, it might just be that you are so used to hearing it with the double negative, that it sounds funny any other way.
My personal opinion is that sometimes the song just sounds better with the incorrect grammar. In the case of the song above, I can imagine it with any instead of no, and it sounds okay if you put any to the right notes. But even being the rather conservative grammarian that I am, I am inclined to let incorrect grammar remain in song lyrics. As I have said before, I used to write song lyrics. I don’t recall, but I may have put some incorrect grammar in — but probably not!
That said, I think most of these “grammar mistakes” are intentional because somehow they sound better.
“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” is one of the more well-known songs with bad grammar. But there are others:
“Lay Lady Lay” – In this Bob Dylan song we have both grammar and a punctuation issues. It should be Lie Lady Lie, but that sounds odd, and the lie could be mistaken for the other meaning of lie. I looked on the Dylan website and other online places, and it does seem as if the commas are there most of the time. It is Lay, Lady, Lay.
“I Got You (I Feel Good) “- Websites I found on the topic of grammar mistakes in lyrics said that this James Brown song should be I Feel Well. I disagree. Actually both good and well are correct. Good is actually grammatically correct: with a sensing verb such as feel (as it is being used here). we use an adjective (good), not an adverb (well). However, well is acceptable to describe a state of health, so either is fine. But I Feel Well — can you imagine James Brown singing those words?
“Hungry Eyes” – Lyrics in this Eric Carmen song include “I feel the love between you and I.” I think this one is a real error. And you and me would sound just as good, if if not better.
“Rich Girl” – Gwen Stefani goofs on this one with “If I Was a Rich Girl.” If is generally followed by the subjunctive mood (because it isn’t true). Fiddler on the Roof got it right with “If I Were a Rich Man.” Beyonce also got it right with “If I Were a Boy.”
“Everytime You Go Away “- Paul Young uses everytime, which isn’t a word at all. It should be every time. Although sometime and some time are both words, and anytime and any time are both words, there is no everytime. But sometime and some time are different: Come see me sometime Do you have some time to spare? Same with anytime and any time: I am available anytime today. Do you have any time to do that?
“Ghostbusters” – Who You Gonna Call, asks Ray Parker, Jr. Do you think it would sound better as Whom You Gonna Call? I don’t think so.
“What’s Love Got to Do with It? “- Tina Turner has made the common error of saying got instead of have. (May not be her fault. I don’t know who wrote that one.) What’s love have to do with it? I don’t know. I could go either way on this one.
“Hound Dog” – It really bothers me every time I hear Elvis say “When they said you was high class.” If she was high class, I hope she would say were!
“Bad Romance “- Lady Gaga probably knows better than to say, “You and me could write a bad romance.” But then, how many people do you know who talk like that? Lots. Of course, it should be you and I.
“Somebody That I Used to Know” – Gotye uses that instead of who according to some websites. So they are wrong, too, because it should be whom. Actually that is better than who (which is wrong). It is okay to use that to refer to a person. Of course you could just leave out that entirely (someone I used to know), but that might ruin the rhythm!
“The Way I Are” – I don’t know who Timberland is. Never heard of him, but whoever wrote this song must have done this intentionally!
“Two Less Lonely People ” – Well, in this song by Air Supply, the internet says that it should be fewer rather than less. Fewer would sound a little off. AND, maybe the lyrics really mean less: less lonely (than they used to be) rather than fewer lonely people. It’s a possibility!
“Bad” Titles
Tons of songs have incorrect grammar in their titles, many of them using ain’t. (Oh, I guess ain’t is in dictionary, but still…. and the double negatives!!!)
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Diana Ross (Isn’t Any Mountain High Enough???)
“Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers (Isn’t Any Sunshine???)
“Ain’t That a Shame “- Fats Domino (Isn’t That a Shame???)
“Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison (Brown-eyed Girl???)
“Don’t Ask Me No Questions” – Lynyrd Skynrd (Don’t Ask Me Any Questions???)
“Lay Down Sally” – Eric Clapton (Lie Down, Sally – sometimes the lyrics are written with the comma, which is correct)
“Me and My Shadow” – Ted Lewis (Oh, come on: My Shadow and I??? Or even My Shadow and Me if used as an object???)
“That Don’t Impress Me Much” – Shania Twain (That Doesn’t Impress Me Much???)
“Where You At “- Jennifer Hudson (Where Are You???? Artistic license, definitely in this case.)
…and many, many more.
A big thank you to Bruce Blakely for suggesting this topic and pointing me to one of the sources I used.
Devo’s “Whip it good. Whip it real good,” has always bothered me. When teaching Latin along with “good and well,” I point out that it should be, “Whip it well.” Also, in the want ads, “Car runs good.” Or “She sings really good.”
Another good example Thanks!!! Yes, I have seen runs good in car ads!
Welcome to artist’s license! LOLOL
Yup! Gotta have it!