Note: This message has absolutely nothing to do with the teaching of
psychology. Please don't read it while drinking coffee.
Coming in to Los Angeles,
Bringing in a couple of geese...
Michael:
Now, not to poke fun at your misinterpretation of the lyrics, but your
message almost made my coffee come out of my nose. I'm still chuckling now
(I'm not laughing At you, I'm laughing (hopefully) WITH you).
[Reminds me of a one-liner: If a cow laughs really hard, does milk come
out of her nose?]
A couple of GEESE? Unless "geese" is a term with which I'm not familiar
(12 joints = 1 goose, 24 joints = 2 geese, 144 joints = 1 Flock?) I sense
you may be fearing a Canadian conspiracy to smuggle water fowl into
California.
Perhaps Guthrie was describing someone accompanying a couple of Canadians
to Florida for the winter months (we call them "snowbirds" or "snow geese"
up here) and just got the states mixed up.
The lyrics by Guthrie really are "a couple of keys", keys being short for
kilograms (to the best of my knowledge) of a controlled substance. That's
why the next line is "Don't check my bags if you please, Mr. Customs man."
Dave Barry, the humor writer, has a great column on misinterpreted song
lyrics. This includes one that I had wrong for a long time (CCR's Bad Moon
Rising). For years I thought they were singing "There's a bathroom on the
right".
There are a couple of books written about lyric mix-ups (I just checked
Amazon.com):
He's Got the Whole World in His Pants : And More Misheard Lyrics; Gavin
Edwards, Seth (Illustrator)
Scuse Me... While I Kiss This Guy : And Other Misheard Lyrics; Gavin
Edwards, Chris Kalb (Illustrator)
Thanks again for the chuckle!
Now, back to teaching of Psychology related issues...
-Max
On Wed, 22 Sep 1999, Michael J. Kane wrote:
> Michael Sylvester wrote:
>
> My favorite classic rock tune remains Arlo Guthrie's
> "Coming into Los Angeles,bringing in a couple of keys"
>
>
> Funny, I always thought it was "bringin' in a couple of GEESE."
> Can anyone confirm?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mike
>
>
> *****************************************************
> Michael J. Kane
> Psychology Department
> Georgia State University
> University Plaza
> Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
> phone: 404-651-0704
> fax: 404-651-0753
> email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing
> is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good,
> as it is not to care how you got your money as
> long as you have it."
> -- E.W. Teale
>
>
Maxwell Gwynn, PhD [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology (519) 884-0710 ext 3854
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 Canada
