Misplaced stress in the word "guitar" S&D, RFI, BLT, C/D

In my dialect of spoken English, the word "guitar" has its primary stress on the second syllable: guiTAR.

In certain lyrical contexts, one sometimes hears it pronounced with the primary stress on the first syllable: GUITar. One can hear this pronunciation, for example, in Elton John's "Love Lies Bleeding."

Please identify other instances of this peculiar phenomenon, and (if you wish) opine on its validity. Are there times you believe it to be effective and appropriate? Or do you believe it to be an indication of inferior songwriting?

Note: my preference is to leave aside the larger issue of misplaced stresses and tortured syntax in lyric writing, which is a topic of larger scope than I want to tackle at this time. For now, I just want to discuss GUITar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpOjQvADLG4

Lou Reed, "Vicious"

"You want me to hit you with a stick
But all I've got is a GUITar pick"

I'm inclined to believe this is more common in songwriting? It seems to work better.

I think Bootsy does this for at least one of the "hang on to my guitar" lines in "Rubber Duckie."

I've always pronounced the greek root kithara with emphasis on the first syllable, so I think it's got a claim to be the more venerable and elite pronunciation. I've always enjoyed the stress on the first syllable, it rolls off the tongue, gives certain phrases a really nice cadence cf. "he's a fool with guitar"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TuWzAqMfu8

my grandma used to say "banJO" which was too elite for me

otoh "keytar" has no correct pronunciation

now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it
you play the guit-tar on the mtv

"banJO" is canonical from "i've been workin' on the railroad" tho

GZA dies this on that “you could see the prints on the strings of his GUItar” line in As High As Wu-Tang Get

Does this

Does "Sultans of Swings" do this? Can't bring myself to listen to it again, not my favorite band.

“Check our GUITar George/He knows all the chords” is that the lyric?

Yes. I believe that Matt "Guitar" Murphy may also be an example

ogmor

I've always pronounced the greek root kithara with emphasis on the first syllable, so I think it's got a claim to be the more venerable and elite pronunciation.

bonus points for pedantry

Of course "Loser" has "He hung himself with a GUITar string"

And the Gourds' "Burn the Honeysuckle" has "killed me a panther before I was even born, with a pocketknife and a GUITar string and a live honeycomb."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8nvMChadA8

um, "born" there should be "grown"

https://img.discogs.com/Yj3vP8Fo14rpQTWJRogxhvwX0tE=/fit-in/600x611/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7482654-1442579042-1165.jpeg.jpg

They’re both valid pronunciations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DkcQ09h2Vo

They’re both valid pronunciations.

Check m-w.com

Any speculation as to how the pronunciation has changed over time? My dad always used "GUITar" and other older relatives who were around the same age (born in early 1900s) pronounced it that way too.

Webster's 1828 has it with stress on the first syllable.

GUIT'AR, noun git'ar. [Latin cithara.] A stringed instrument of music; in England and the United States, used chiefly by ladies, but in Spain and Italy, much used by men.

especially Southern and Midland US also ˈgi-ˌtär \

Had no idea. That doesn't explain Def Leppard, though, right?
https://youtu.be/5o1G0GSiNQM?t=3m40s

“Guitar George” sounds pretty normal to me.

“Pop Goes the World” totally does this.

in England and the United States, used chiefly by ladies

luv it

http://jasobrecht.com/blues-origins-spanish-fandango-and-sebastopol/

Think the first time I heard this may have been For Those About To Rock We Salute You.

Seems to me the alternate pronunciation is a regionalism, in addition to whatever songwriting trick or crutch it may be.

Mott the Hoople: Honaloochie Boogie

I get my kicks out of GUITar licks

language is nothing *but* regionalism, please

Oh please.

Noodle please

Some regionalisms are bigger than others

you're arguing for "correct" pronunciation?

No, not exactly. In any case, take it up with the thread starter who put the word “Misplaced” in the title.

If I wanted to say “GUI-tar” with three syllables, would you accept that pronunciation?

Unless it was some kind of internet speak for “GUI avatar”

I was gonna take it up with the thread starter tbh but hey

"Trombone" has the same issue

Digital Underground "Tales of the Funky"

"I said I know the drummer can you let me in
Tell the Gui-tar player that I brought a friend"