Words in Gord's lyrics & nobody else's

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

I'm amazed at the number of words that appear in Gord's lyrics and apparently in nobody else's recorded lyrics. I suggest these include: Finery, Flotsam, Ironcast, Ironclad, Kinsale, Mariners, Muskie, Navvies, Oft-times, Quietude, Ringneck, Scrimshaw, Spectre, Stemming, Tattletale, Verdant and Vocabulary. Feel free to add words to this list and/or subtract any of these words you've noticed in other people's recorded lyrics.

[GeoMan]

Gitche-Gumee

[jj]

nice list, guys.... i'd love to add and would have to think about it lots (there was a rare GL phrase thread at one time) - perhaps "Joneses"

to subtract: flotsam, muskie (in Canuck songs anyhow:)), tattletale

[jj]

here is the thread that will have some of the same, perhaps some others

http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=18784&highlight=stemming


could possibly add: Casino Rama or Couchiching????

[formerlylavender]

How about "lee" from Christian Island? I had to look that one up.

[BendRick]

Dave, are you confusing Muskie with Muskeg? Muskeg is a swampy, muddy mess that traps wheeled vehicles, not just in Canada but also in Alaska and Siberia. Lee usually means the backside of something. Scrimshaw is a whittled carved whale bone, it isn't in the American dictionaries. I love learning Canadian language.

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

Dave, are you confusing Muskie with Muskeg? Muskeg is a swampy, muddy mess that traps wheeled vehicles, not just in Canada but also in Alaska and Siberia. Lee usually means the backside of something. Scrimshaw is a whittled carved whale bone, it isn't in the American dictionaries. I love learning Canadian language.

BendRick, the song RESTLESS mentions "the muskie and the old trout too". And the lee (of an island etc) is the back side, but I understand it's more specifically the sheltered side, protected from the wind.

Keep the additions and subtractions coming, folks, but please back up each subtraction with a song title if possible.

[Auburn Annie]

Starcase - The Pony Man
Catbird - Pussywillows, Cattails

[joveski]

polka dot underwear?

[jj]

yeah, i use the term lee as wind shelter mostly... from storm or whatever... (it makes quite a difference these days, lol) ... the wind usually blows from the west so i suppose the lee of CI is on the east side... less waves... breakwater effect

one of my peter gabriel albums has Flotsam & Jepsam tune.... tattle tale like in a few tunes but how about Tattle Tale Tears ... we hear muskie (muskellunge) lots up here cos we're hosers:) how about Muskie Maniac... i can hear a Stompin Tom muskie lyric in my head but can't put my finger on it... he did many cover tunes live so maybe its on one of those 'cassettes' i still have

go to Wayne's GL Geography page and see if some of those places are only mentioned in Gord songs ...sure, they are pronouns... i think rare nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs makes for a nice twist on any prior discussion

i had never heard "stemming" or the definition until hearing the GL lyric

[jj]

yeah, Tattle Tale Tears was Faron Young (thanks, bro)

[jj]

Mendecino
Assinaboine, Dumoine, Chibougamau, Resolute
Penzance, Kinsale
Hornepayne

these could be in other songs, but if so, i can't name them

[joveski]

Mendecino



i cringe when i hear that cause my name's is in it!. still love the tune and album though!

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

The suggestions from this thread and the 14Aug2008 Vocabulary Terms thread 18784 mentioned above by JJ are:
Adieu (but I have to subtract it due to The Sound Of Music's "So Long, Farewell")
Assinaboine
Casino Rama
Catbird
Chaste
Chibougamau
Couchiching
Dumoine
Finery
Flagon
Flotsam (but subtracted as on a Peter Gabriel album)
Flywheel
Gentry
Gitche-Gumee
Hangdog
Hexagram
Hornepayne
Ironcast
Ironclad
Joneses
Kinsale
Lee (of an island etc)
Mariners
Mendocino (but I have to subtract it due to Kate & Anna McGarrigle's "Talk To Me Of Mendocino")
Muskeg
Muskie (but subtracted due to "Muskie Maniac")
Navvies
Nous Vivons Ensemble (and other French vocabulary in that song)
Oft-times
Penzance (I don't think any songs from "The Pirates of Penzance" mention the actual town)
Polka Dot Underwear
Prima Donna (but I'm sure it's heard in a song on Van Morrison's album "A Night in San Francisco")
Quietude
Resolute
Ringneck
Rural Sprout
Scrimshaw (which apparently isn't in American dictionaries but as an irrelevant segue I remember an Ian Scrimshaw playing for Hawthorn in the Australian Football League)
Spectre
Starcase
Stemming
Tattletale (but subtracted due to Faron Young's "Tattle Tale Tears")
Uptight
Verdant
Vocabulary
Wherefore.

I can't recall some of those words in Lightfoot songs, but I have no reason to doubt the people suggesting them. I probably shouldn't have suggested a place name like Kinsale, as Gord has sung a lot of place names and many would have appeared in songs recorded by famous and/or unknown artists. There would also be a good argument for leaving multiple-word expressions and non-English-language words off the list.

[charlene]

sliderule

[jj]

Wherefore
Uptight

great list, good work

subtract: i hear this great Pet tune about once a week on my AM radio dial

PETULA CLARK- "DON'T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY" - YouTube

and

STEVIE WONDER- "UPTIGHT (EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT) - YouTube

[Seven_Islands]

Gitche-Gumee
Joneses
Lee (of an island etc)
Prima Donna (but I'm sure it's heard in a song on Van Morrison's album "A Night in San Francisco")

For the above...

Not sure if Neil Diamond's 'Gitchy Goomy' counts (I've always assumed his is a nonsense lyric?)

Joneses is most definitely incldued in Boz Scaggs' 'Lowdown' ('This runnin' with the Joneses boy just ain't where it's at')

CSNY's 'The Lee Shore' is possibly the same type of lee and/or named for an actual place?

And Chicago mention a prima donna an awful lot in, erm, 'Prima Donna'!

[Rob1956]

I would suggest that Ian Anderson would give Gord a run for his money, both his solo and Jethro Tull work. An extremely intelligent and well read guy.

[jj]

sliderule

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover:cool:

[charlene]

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover:cool:

???

[joveski]

paul simon?

[jj]

oh, it's actually another tune that Paul Simon sang (Sam Cooke sang it also)

A Wonderful World:

Don't know much geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for....


( for some reason my brain went from that verse into a "slip out the back Jack" chorus! )

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

Here's a 2nd revision of the list of suggestions, after some help from Google:
Adieu (subtracted due to The Sound Of Music's "So Long, Farewell")
Assinaboine
Casino Rama
Catbird
Chaste
Chibougamau
Couchiching
Dumoine
Finery
Flagon
Flotsam (subtracted due to Peter Gabriel's "Flotsam And Jetsam")
Flywheel
Gentry
Gitche-Gumee (not subtracted due to Neil Diamond’s “Gitchy Goomee “, because Diamond's is a made-up phrase and has no connection with Lake Superior)
Hangdog
Hexagram
Hornepayne
Ironcast
Ironclad
Joneses (subtracted due to Boz Scaggs’s “Lowdown”)
Kinsale (subtracted due to Third Eye Blind's "Kinsale Harbour")
Lee of an island etc (subtracted due to Crosby Stills Nash and Young’s “The Lee Shore”)
Mariners
Mendocino (subtracted due to Kate & Anna McGarrigle's "Talk To Me Of Mendocino")
Muskeg
Muskie, also spelt Musky (subtracted due to Brian Schram's "Musky Maniac")
Navvies
Nous Vivons Ensemble (and other French vocabulary in that song)
Oft-times
Penzance (subtracted due to Ian Anderson's "Old School Song")
Polka Dot Underwear
Prima Donna (subtracted due to Chicago's "Prima Donna")
Quietude
Resolute
Ringneck
Rural Sprout
Scrimshaw
Sliderule (subtracted due to Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World”)
Spectre
Starcase
Stemming
Tattletale (subtracted due to Faron Young's "Tattle Tale Tears")
Uptight (subtracted due to Stevie Wonder's "Uptight (Everything's All Right")
Verdant
Vocabulary
Wherefore (subtracted due to Petula Clark's "Don't Sleep In The Subway").

[charlene]

http://www.whosampled.com/cover/25550/Art-Garfunkel-Paul-Simon-James-Taylor-Wonderful-World-Sam-Cooke-Wonderful-World/

Sam Cooke wrote it. James Taylor cevered it too.

oh, it's actually another tune that Paul Simon sang (Sam Cooke sang it also)


A Wonderful World:

Don't know much geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for....


( for some reason my brain went from that verse into a "slip out the back Jack" chorus! )

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

http://www.whosampled.com/cover/25550/Art-Garfunkel-Paul-Simon-James-Taylor-Wonderful-World-Sam-Cooke-Wonderful-World/

Sam Cooke wrote it. James Taylor cevered it too.

The "Wonderful World" cover I remember was Simon and Garfunkel and James Taylor together. Brilliant harmonies.

[jj]

rural sprout?

polka dot underwear?

i can find those words in songs... you want to expand this to add phrases not found in other songs? that would be a 100 page thread:)

[jj]

hate to subtract more, but ....

The Decemberists - The mariner's revenge song (Live) - YouTube

[jj]

i think she won artist of the year, Lorde - finery

Team - Lorde (LYRICS) - YouTube

[Don Quixote]

"Haloed"? For some reason, "If You Need Me" has been running around what's left of my brain these days.
I suspect "Lemon Lilies" is also not much used, from "Whisper my Name."

Best to all,
DQ

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

"Haloed"? For some reason, "If You Need Me" has been running around what's left of my brain these days.
I suspect "Lemon Lilies" is also not much used, from "Whisper my Name."

Thanks, DQ. I have to subtract "haloed", though, because it's in "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" written by Jack Rhodes and Dick Reynolds and recorded by Wanda Jackson (and later by Linda Ronstadt). Like Gord's lyric, it was a haloed moon. It's hard to imagine "haloed" applied to anything else in song lyrics.

[johnfowles]

Like Gord's lyric, it was a haloed moon. It's hard to imagine "haloed" applied to anything else in song lyrics.
Halo Dolly perhaps!!!

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

Third revision:
Adieu (subtracted due to The Sound Of Music's "So Long, Farewell")
Assinaboine
Bounding Main (subtracted due to Godfrey Marks's "Sailing, Sailing, Over The Bounding Main")
Casino Rama
Catbird (subtracted due to The Old Ceremony's "Catbird Blues")
Chaste (subtracted due to PT Grimm & The Dead Puppies' "Chaste Makes Waste")
Couchiching
Dumoine
Finery (subtracted due to Lorde's "Team")
Flagon (subtracted due to The Whitlams' "Pass The Flagon")
Flotsam (subtracted due to Peter Gabriel's "Flotsam And Jetsam")
Flywheel (subtracted due to The Cramps' "Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs")
Gentry (subtracted due to Cahn & Van Heusen's "Love and Marriage", recorded by Frank Sinatra")
Gitche-Gumee (subtracted due to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Song of Hiawatha", later recorded as a song by Laurie Anderson and others)
Haloed (subtracted due to Jack Rhodes & Dick Reynolds' "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" recorded by Wanda Jackson and later by Linda Ronstadt)
Hangdog (subtracted due to Drag The River's "Hangdog")
Hexagram (subtracted due to Deftones' "Hexagram")
Hornepayne
Ironcast (subtracted due to DevilDriver's "The Blame Game")
Ironclad (subtracted due to Sleater Kinney's "Ironclad")
Joneses (subtracted due to Boz Scaggs’s “Lowdown”)
Kinsale (subtracted due to Third Eye Blind's "Kinsale Harbour")
Lee of an island etc (subtracted due to Crosby Stills Nash and Young’s “The Lee Shore”)
Lemon Lilies
Mariners (subtracted due to The Decemberists' "The Mariner's Revenge Song")
Mendocino (subtracted due to Kate & Anna McGarrigle's "Talk To Me Of Mendocino")
Muskeg (subtracted due to Wade Hemsworth's "The Land Of The Muskeg")
Muskie, also spelt Musky (subtracted due to Brian Schram's "Musky Maniac")
Navvies (subtracted due to Ian Campbell's "Here Come The Navvies")
Nous Vivons Ensemble (and other French vocabulary in that song)
Oft-times (subtracted due to Bob Dylan's "Days of '49")
Penzance (subtracted due to Ian Anderson's "Old School Song")
Polka Dot Underwear (subtracted due to Scott Walker's "Plastic Palace People")
Prima Donna (subtracted due to Chicago's "Prima Donna")
Quietude (subtracted due to David Bowie's "I Would Be Your Slave")
Resolute (subtracted due to Yellow Second's "Resolute")
Ringneck
Rural Sprout
Scrimshaw (subtracted due to The Rainmakers' "Tattoo")
Sliderule (subtracted due to Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World”)
Spectre (subtracted due to The Pogues' "Turkish Song Of The Damned")
Starcase
Stemming in relation to gold (apparently a unique lyric in this context, although other songwriters have used the word in a different context)
Tattletale (subtracted due to Faron Young's "Tattle Tale Tears")
Uptight (subtracted due to Stevie Wonder's "Uptight (Everything's All Right")
Verdant (subtracted due to the traditional carol "O Christmas Tree")
Vocabulary (subtracted due to Burl Ives's "The Same Old Hurt")
Wherefore (subtracted due to Petula Clark's "Don't Sleep In The Subway").

After starting this thread, I discovered the website www.lyrics.net , which provided a lot of the information leading to subtractions. As you can see, not much is left!

[jj]

Looks like it's down to place names or two word phrases. I guess we can add to that type of list

Gord took license and maybe that's why ringneck might survive. I think it's "ring-necked"

It's still a cool list. Add it our archives. Food songs, person name songs, geography songs, etc. Any new themes???