Sunday 19 February 2006

Mountain Tops

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, February 19, 2006 with

I ran past a young lady the other day walking along the cycle path, and I turned around when I thought she said something to me. "Oh, sorry", she said, "I was singing."

Do you sing on the run? I do if I think no one can hear me. Or if I just forget. Do you sing in the shower? I know at least one reader who does. Very loudly. Do you always know all the words? I don't.

Mis-heard lyrics are sort of fun. I call them Mountain Tops after the lyrics which go

What we need is a great big melting pot
Big enough to take the world and all it's got
Keep it stirring for a hundred years or more
Turn out coffee colored people by the score

Mis-heard as

What we need is a great big mountain top
Big enough to take the world and all it's got

"Mountain Tops" was coined by the wonderful "Couldabeen Champions" of ABC radio fame.

Do you still sing along even when you don't know the words? Or, have you heard any really great mountain tops? Have you originated any? I would like to hear about them.

I used to sing along to "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" (Rem) and you could ask my children what words I sang to the line "call me when I try to wake her" - a lot of words rolled into one short burst on the recording.

Back when I was a boy my brother sprung me singing "Walking to new water" for "Walking to New Orleans" - well, the American accent is quite alien, and with the emphasis on the "Or" of "Orleans", quite indecipherable.

It is funny when the mountain top is part of the song title like that.

Do you have any Mountain Tops you can share?

Stars Are Peering