Members rockerdiva Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 It's the wierdest thing. I just wondered if anyone else has had this happen. Surely I can't be the only one. You're singing at a gig - and your mind wanders away from the song - and suddenly a word that rhymes with a word in the song inserts itself it the other word's place! And you are surprised, even shocked to hear it come out of your mouth! The first time it happened, I was reminding myself to pick up the check from the night before. In place of the word "honey", the word "money" just came flying out. Then, I was gigging once, and in place of the word "well" the word "smell" came out of my mouth. I was shocked .... and remembering the other time, wondered why. I soon realised that about 20 seconds before that, a gentleman had come and placed a magazine in a rack across from the stage and I had glanced at him and then down at the cover. Not even really reading it, but it must have registered. An article about local polution - with "What's that SMELL?" - was advertised on the cover. Third time, I was gigging with a pretty bad cold. I was singing Don Mclean's Starry Starry night, and to my surprise "a silver thorn, a bloody rose" became "a silver thorn, a runny nose". Fourth time was a little different in that it was just a related thing rather than a rhyming thing. I was singing "I feel Lucky" by Mary Chapin Carpenter. The room was pretty empty but during the song a bunch of people came in while several other tables left. I thought to myself, "well at least we ahave a FEW more people in here than we did before" .. and suddenly instead of singing "the pot's eleven MILLION" I sang "the pot's eleven PEOPLE". I was just amazed .. and after the song I thought - did my mind really do that? Count the people? Sure enough I looked around the room and made a mental note of how many people had come in vs how many had gone out. The crowd had increased ... by 11 people! Fifth time was two weeks ago and a local musician showed up at my gig. A talented guy and one I hoped to sound good for, you all know how that goes. I was thinking, it's too bad my voice isn't as good as it is sometimes, it was one of those times that the singing isn';t coming as easily and you are working at it rather than flowing. I thought i was sort of straining to hit the higher notes. Somebody asked for Journey "Lovin Touchin Squeezin" - and you know, it's a really pushing kind of vocal. You know that most intense part. that goes, "She's loving, she's touching, she's Squeezingg .... another!" I couldn't believe it - full on loud, I sang "she's loving, shes touching , she's SCREAMING..."! Ha ha, I told my musician friend about it when I took a break and we had a laugh. He happened not to have been listening at that moment, and missed it. In fact every time any of these things happened - I looked around and nobody in the crowd was ever really hip to it but me. (That sounds like I get ignored all the time huh? But anyway, it just amazes me that your mind would do something like that. And you are just totally stunned to hear different lyrics come out of your mouth as they come out. Here's the moral - watch your thoughts up there! Don't be thinking about sex or anything, lol. Has this happened to anyone else? Please share if you have a similar story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MusicalSchizo Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 That has never happened to me. But rarely is my mind engaged in anything other than playing and singing when I'm doing those things at a show, lest it all completely falling apart due to brain flatulence... Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mstreck Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 Happens to Amy, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SmileyGuy Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 It never happened exactly like you described. However, I will say that remembering lyrics is the toughest part of being in a band for me and the most likely to produce anxiety. I never know when I will lose track. Just happens sometimes. The odd thing is that the more I stress over it the more of a problem it becomes. I often cannot remember the next verse as it is coming up and instead of freaking out I just relax and USUALLY the right words roll out. Kind of like muscle memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockerdiva Posted April 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 Yes SmileyGuy. It's an interesting thing. I find that if you feel that anxiety creep into your mind that you are about to forget something, that's when you do. If I allow myself to focus on the thought, I'll lose it. If I just tell my mind not to go there, and relax, it doesn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockerdiva Posted April 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 It's nice when you get over the nerves that you had when you first started performing, and you realize that the audience would probably not care, or even notice, if you flub something. Even when it does happen and the audience notices, as long as you don't let it shake you up, the audience is ok with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members musicmanmu Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 That never happens to me, but I have this weird thing where I almost always forget the second verse in Matchbox 20's 3AM...I've been singing that damn song for more than a decade, but I swear that 95% of the time, I forget the start of that verse. My band thinks it's hilarious and just stare at me after the chorus waiting for me to screw it up...almost a running joke now. I bet I'm psyching myself out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted April 23, 2012 Moderators Share Posted April 23, 2012 I love those stories rockerdiva. That's really funny. I've never heard of that but it reminds me of Austin Powers seeing Fred Savage as the spy/mole with a mole... and Austin not being able to help himself from saying, MOLE! Or Tommy Chong telling Cheech not to stare at his cousin "Strawberry's" birthmark on his face before they meet. And of course Cheech just loses it staring. Pretty funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 Sometimes I'll intentionally change the lyrics, just to see if people are paying attention. My favorite is in "Green Green Grass of Home". Instead of the actual lyrics of "Down the lane I look and there runs Mary, Hair of gold and lips like cherries" I might substitute "Her face is fat and her legs are hairy". Almost never does anyone ever catch it. Reminds me of the story of the new college student who was going through the faculty receiving line. He noticed that everyone said something trite, like "Nice to see you" or "Happy to be here" and got some sort of mumbled reply along the same lines. He thought he'd say something outrageous to see if anyone was listening. So he started saying "I murdered my grandmother this morning." He'd gotten through about 15 professors without any acknowledgement, until he got to the English professor who nodded his head and said, "I'm sure she deserved it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 Ha! I'd love seeing a band where that happens once in awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockerdiva Posted April 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 That's funny stuff, Lee and MDLM... There's a song by Ani DiFranco I do and the actual line is "we are made to fight, and talk, and f*ck, and fight again..." and a lot of times there are kids in the audience so I always just say "talk and fight and talk and fight again..." but I'm just working so hard on thinking, "do NOT sing f*ck, do not sing that..." haha. And also a song i do with the word "prostrate" in it ... and I just can't help thinking every time, "I'm going sing 'prostate' ... oh Lord which is it? Prostate or prostrate ... here it comes ..... " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nomadh Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 You must be very comfortable on stage although having your own brain going gouge on you could be a little unsettling it seems to be on your team. If I let my concentration go for a second I either lose timing or the chord or the starting words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 Happens to Amy, too. Girl thing? I know I find that if I get too caught up in the moment or distracted by something else I may forget a lyric, especially if the verses are "samey". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 And also a song i do with the word "prostrate" in it ... and I just can't help thinking every time, "I'm going sing 'prostate' ... oh Lord which is it? Prostate or prostrate ... here it comes ..... " OK now *that's* some funny {censored} right there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 Sometimes I'll intentionally change the lyrics, just to see if people are paying attention. My favorite is in "Green Green Grass of Home". Instead of the actual lyrics of "Down the lane I look and there runs Mary, Hair of gold and lips like cherries" I might substitute "Her face is fat and her legs are hairy". Almost never does anyone ever catch it.Reminds me of the story of the new college student who was going through the faculty receiving line. He noticed that everyone said something trite, like "Nice to see you" or "Happy to be here" and got some sort of mumbled reply along the same lines. He thought he'd say something outrageous to see if anyone was listening. So he started saying "I murdered my grandmother this morning." He'd gotten through about 15 professors without any acknowledgement, until he got to the English professor who nodded his head and said, "I'm sure she deserved it." In a previous band, the bass player sang Summer of 69... in the later verse where the lyric goes "Sometimes when I play that old 6 string", out of the blue he (intentionally) sang "Sometimes when I wear that old g-string". We were cracking up on stage but no one else seemed to notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 The singer in an old band used to sing "Padded Bra" instead of "Panama". LOL. That's another one you can just throw in there and most people probably don't catch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 The first time it happened, I was reminding myself to pick up the check from the night before. In place of the word "honey", the word "money" just came flying out... Then, I was gigging once, and in place of the word "well" the word "smell" came out of my mouth.... . You know that most intense part. that goes, "She's loving, she's touching, she's Squeezingg .... another!" I couldn't believe it - full on loud, I sang "she's loving, shes touching , she's SCREAMING..."! There's a song by Ani DiFranco I do and the actual line is "we are made to fight, and talk, and f*ck, and fight again..." and a lot of times there are kids in the audience so I always just say "talk and fight and talk and fight again..." but I'm just working so hard on thinking, "do NOT sing f*ck, do not sing that..." haha. And also a song i do with the word "prostrate" in it ... and I just can't help thinking every time, "I'm going sing 'prostate' ... oh Lord which is it? Prostate or prostrate ... here it comes ..... " Don't be thinking about sex or anything, lol. You got SOMETHING on your mind when you're singing, girl..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J.Paul Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 I wanna tell her that I love her but the point is probably MUTE~ "Jessies Girl" happens to me all the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted April 25, 2012 Moderators Share Posted April 25, 2012 This does raise an interesting point. I know it's hard to do this all the time but... ...it's fun to actually think about the words and their meaning as you perform. After learning, memorizing, fine tuning, rehearsing... and sometimes performing it for a number of years, it's pretty freaking easy to not be thinking about the words you're singing. But... ever find yourself bored? Tune into the lyrics. All of a sudden your vocal steps up a few notches. Your expression, your connecting with the audience. all of it steps up cause you're paying attention to what it is you're saying. Note: I'm not criticizing not thinking about those lyrics, it's what we all do. Just pointing out how simple and cool it can be to re-engage into the actual lyric and what it can do to a performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 I wanna tell her that I love her but the point is probably MUTE~ "Jessies Girl" happens to me all the time EPIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sillypeoples Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 Wandering is one thing...but the main problem is distractions....IF the band has the song down and I don't have to carry them and sing..then it's an issue of focus on my playing and singing, knowing they have my back....I am just starting to open my eyes when I sing and play...some of you might understand what that means... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted April 25, 2012 Members Share Posted April 25, 2012 I wanna tell her that I love her but the point is probably MUTE~ "Jessies Girl" happens to me all the time So do you actually sing the wrong word there, or do you open your mouth and no sound comes out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J.Paul Posted April 26, 2012 Members Share Posted April 26, 2012 So do you actually sing the wrong word there, or do you open your mouth and no sound comes out? wow. english is such a slippery slope.lol Yes I actually sing "mute" instead of 'moot" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted April 26, 2012 Members Share Posted April 26, 2012 "When I was a child, I caught a fever, out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look but it was gone..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted April 26, 2012 Members Share Posted April 26, 2012 "When I was a child, I caught a fever, out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look but it was gone..." Might as well follow up with this: "When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse, my hands felt just like, two ballons..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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