30 Dec 2008
It’s not like you’ve been captured by Barbary Corsairs
Ooh, HMHB play Quo. 27 Yards Of Dental Floss is a work of genius on so many levels, not least of which is the line above. And the second verse is the most Steely Dan thing to come out of England ever. Thanks to Max and Neil G
See lyrics to 27 Yards Of Dental Floss
14 Letters Sent:
Matt Lee
I think it’s “I’ve been yesterday”
Dec 31st, 2008
Ben
…one of my very few ‘meh’ HMHB tunes in my opinion.
- always skip it, never done owt for me.
Dec 31st, 2008
Chris The Siteowner
@Matt: I can’t hear an “I’ve” on either the album or Kershaw session versions, and it wouldn’t scan if there was one.
@Ben: Each to his own, I think it’s top notch.!
Dec 31st, 2008
Charles Exford
No, there certainly isn’t an ‘I’ve’ – it could have scanned if NB wanted to put it in, you’d just change the pauses & stresses around said & been, but it’s not there.
However, there isn’t a “to” in “go the zoo” either.
It’s a Merseyside thing. I’m goin’ the match in Preston on Saturday meself. I’ve been goin’ the match since 1972. Anyone else goin’ the game ?
Exford.
Jan 1st, 2009
Neil G
There is a kind of glottal stop t in goin’ t’ the game. The t’ is ‘swallowed’ (for want of a better description). It is there, though. I live just up the road from Birkenhead, so I’ve got lots of experience of hearing it. There are lots of people who don’t pronounce the t at all but I hear it here.
Jan 1st, 2009
Charles Exford
I wouldn’t call it a glottal stop! It’s not Yorkshire you know.
cf “What say we go the Isle of Man, Man, Man ?”
Jan 1st, 2009
Charles Exford
Having hastily posted the above reaction, I do now agree there is an alternative variant which yes, you hear commonly on Merseyside – something like “Goat the match,” “Goat the zoo,” etc. I wouldn’t call it a glottal stop (as Lord forbid that does seem to condemn us to some kind of linguistic grouping wi’t'Yorkies), and I can’t hear NB using it in any songs – the very clear “Go the Isle of Man” precedent springs to mind.
Exxo
Jan 1st, 2009
moo
I reckon you’re spot on there, Exxo.
For further evidence of Nige’s aversion to prepositions, there’s:
‘Let’s go the Met Bar and cause an altercation/Let’s go the Groucho and snap at rakish heels’.
Jan 13th, 2009
Paul F
I’d agree with removing the “to” completely – I always used to “go the match” or “go the Halfway” or “go the State” when I was growing up in Liverpool.
Jan 14th, 2009
dj
regards the turpentine consumption, i always heard it as “been”, rather than “still”
May 25th, 2009
Sera_6969
Hmm… Always sung the “Would you like to go the zoo?” line as “Would you like to go visit?” she said “Yeah, but not with you.” which seems more in keeping with the general gist of the song. Zoo, appearing out of nowhere, seems obtuse even for NB.
Jul 17th, 2009
Si
Minor pedantry, but surely its ‘baling wire’? Wire for making bales, not bails
Aug 5th, 2009
Dave F.
Hardly minor! Si. Well spotted.
Whilst I agree with baling it surprising how many manufacturers list it as Bailing Wire.
Aug 5th, 2009
Tony H.
‘Can’t I see his dead eye glow, / Bright as ’twere a Barbary corsair’s?’ (Robert Browning, *Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister*; stanza iv).
Jan 28th, 2010
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