YOM Lyrics - "Shines" vs "Shine" in the Chorus

[ringves]

Here is the opening line of the chorus of YOM:

Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines​

I believe that is the official version of the lyrics, right? Note the ending "s" of the word "shines".

However, in the recordings of YOM - at least in the remixed versions - I don't hear the ending "s" in Karen's lead vocal.

Question 1: Has the ending "s" been removed since the song was first released?

Question 2: If so, why ???

I ask the question because I seem to recall Karen clearly singing "shines" when the song first came out. Or perhaps my memory is failing me !

 

[GaryAlan]

In answer to the above question, the Lyric Sleeve to Now & Then does say "shines",
When listening to the original 45-single and the LP the ending of shine(s), the "s", is very difficult to discern in the mix,
Thus, I believe that the "--s" is there, simply difficult to separate from the recording's instrumentation.
(Did I make sense?).

 

[Chris May]

No, she sings it, it's just very subtle and one of those lyrics that producers tend to let go because it's understood and part of the interpretation if that makes any sense. Listen to the vocal isolated and you'll hear it

 

[ringves]

Thanks for your responses, fellas.

The isolated lead vocal track helps to confirm that the "s" is still there - although I have to say, it is very subtle.

I was thinking that Richard may have done some post-1973 editing to remove the "s" so that it would rhyme more precisely with the word "fine". (If he had done this, it would have been the reverse of what happened with Crystal Lullaby where he added an "s" to "tumtimes". Always the perfectionist!)

 

[kprather]

I was thinking that Richard may have done some post-1973 editing to remove the "s" so that it would rhyme more precisely with the word "fine". (If he had done this, it would have been the reverse of what happened with Crystal Lullaby where he added an "s" to "tumtimes". Always the perfectionist!)

That doesn't sound like something he would do. "Shines" and "fine" are close enough rhymes (I imagine there have been far more tenuous rhymes than that in other songs), and changing it to "shine" would make the sentence grammatically incorrect. It's either "Every woo-oo-woo-oo still shines" or "All the woo-oo-woo-oos still shine".

 

[ringves]

You must be an english teacher ! Yes, I think you're right.

In the same vein, perhaps the lyrics later in the song should have been:

They were songs of love that I would sing to then​

 

[byline]

I wonder if Karen minimized the last "s" in "shines" because it created an unpleasant sibilance? It seems to me that singers often make choices which are grammatically incorrect, or even nonsensical, because they are more comfortable to sing that way, and as a result produce a better sound.

A line in the chorus of "I Need to Be in Love" has always bugged me, because it is grammatically incorrect. It's something I would like to ask John Bettis about, except that I think it would come across as insulting his songwriting capabilities, and I don't want to do that. Maybe he wrote it this way for Karen because he knew she would sing it best this way?

I know I ask perfection of
A quite imperfect world
And fool enough to think that's what I'll find​

That last line should be, "And I'm fool enough to think that's what I'll find." It would have been a simple enough thing for Karen to sing that missing syllable, but maybe it felt rhythmically clunky with the melody. John, knowing that, wrote it to best serve the singer, not my editor's ears.

 

[newvillefan]

A line in the chorus of "I Need to Be in Love" has always bugged me, because it is grammatically incorrect. It's something I would like to ask John Bettis about, except that I think it would come across as insulting his songwriting capabilities, and I don't want to do that. Maybe he wrote it this way for Karen because he knew she would sing it best this way?

I know I ask perfection of
A quite imperfect world
And fool enough to think that's what I'll find​

That last line should be, "And I'm fool enough to think that's what I'll find." It would have been a simple enough thing for Karen to sing that missing syllable, but maybe it felt rhythmically clunky with the melody. John, knowing that, wrote it to best serve the singer, not my editor's ears.

Had Karen wanted to, she could have sung "an' am fool enough" with the first two words pronounced quickly. Try it, it does work.

Or - maybe John's lyrical structure was going with the verb...as in "and fool [around] enough..."

You're right though, as it stands it's not grammatically correct. But then there's the lyric on "Tryin To Get The Feeling Again":

"Would you help me re-discover
The way to re-be his lover"

Or how about "such a beautiful burning"

Burning what? 'Burden' would have been a more fitting word.

 

[song4u]

That re-be word always bothered me. :: I have CDO - it's like OCD, but the letters are in alphabetical order like they're supposed to be.

 

[Harry]

I always viewed "and fool enough to think that's what I'll find" to be a shortened, slang version of "foolish". It works as is, in that context.

Re-be? THAT's a tough one to swallow.

Harry

 

[newvillefan]

Re-be? THAT's a tough one to swallow.

I remember reading (on here as it happens) that the lyrics went through something like 5 different versions before Barry released the song as a smash hit. Maybe Karen and Richard caught it in its earliest form, when the lyrics weren't quite honed. I do like the following quote from writer David Pomerantz:

"Barry put his record out, and it was as big of a hit as it was, and then cautiously, they released an album of The Carpenter's called Interpretations in 1995, and on it was a version of 'Tryin' To Get The Feeling' that Karen had recorded, which was a complete surprise to everybody".

http://www.amcorner.com/forum/threads/tryin-to-get-the-feeling-again.6806/

Still, imagine if it had been the UK "winter #1" that was predicted on the sticker that went with the single release?

 

[Toolman]

I always viewed "and fool enough to think that's what I'll find" to be a shortened, slang version of "foolish". It works as is, in that context.

Re-be? THAT's a tough one to swallow.

Harry

Nah, it would still need the verb "am" ("...and I'm foolish enough to think that's what I'll find") to be grammatically correct. Otherwise it would read "I foolish enough". Maybe that's how Arnold Schwarzenegger would sing it...
Or "fool" could even BE the second verb in this lyric (...and fool enough [other people] to think that's what I'll find...")
Used to bother me a lot, doesn't so much these days. I'm sure we've all heard far clunkier lyrics at one time or another. Someone suggested on an earlier thread that this was artistic license, and that's probably the right answer.

 

[byline]

I always viewed "and fool enough to think that's what I'll find" to be a shortened, slang version of "foolish". It works as is, in that context.

Re-be? THAT's a tough one to swallow.

Harry

As Toolman noted, you still need a noun and a verb to make that work: "And I'm fool/foolish" enough to think that's what I'll find." I can do without the "a" before "fool"; but the absence of a noun and verb preceding it always bugged my inner editor.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Well if we're going to get all grammatical, I've always hated the line "But I can dream, and in my dream I'm Christmasing with you" from "Merry Christmas Darling." Sure it sounds kind of charming, but it just seems so ... hokey. There are other things that would have worked. Such as

Holidays are joyful, there's always something new
But I can dream, and in my dream I'm spending time with you

or
sharing joy with you
sharing them with you
sharing gifts with you

etc.

But what the hey, I guess that's why those guys are songwriters and I'm a movie theater owner.

 

[Toolman]

Well if we're going to get all grammatical, I've always hated the line "But I can dream, and in my dream I'm Christmasing with you" from "Merry Christmas Darling." Sure it sounds kind of charming, but it just seems so ... hokey. There are other things that would have worked.

Must be the New England influence ...summering in the Hamptons, Christmasing with the Carpenters...