Why-hi-hi-hi-hi?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Why in God's name do really bad singers split up single syllable words with the letter "H"?

Examples: "TIME" becomes "TI-HI-HIME", "WORLD" becomes "WUR-HURLD","TURN" becomes "TUR-HURN" etc. (ugh, I feel green).

Next time you hear someone do it on the radio (or, say, elsewhere), I can personally GUARANTEE that they will be a rubbish singer. Conversely, all those that don't do it are brilliant.

So why do it in the first place? Hmmm?

― Harold Jonestown (39 Steps + 40 Winks), Friday, 31 October 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Jimmy Sommerville to thread.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 31 October 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

definitely not as cool as "WHY-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI" (a la Duran Duran "The reflex")

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 31 October 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

DB, could anything be as cool? Other than us, of course.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 31 October 2003 16:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Jerry Colonna singing "Spring" as "ah spa ha ring.."

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 31 October 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Why is every other post about the way singers pronounce words at the moment? Surely singing is all bout manipulating words around a tune and to do that you will need to use some kind of artistic license?

― dog latin (dog latin), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

THANK YOU DOG LATIN

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

because "turn" is 1 syllable, "tur-hurn" sounds like 2, "tur-hur-hurn" = 3 and so on.

if you can think of a better way to say turn and use up 2 syllables i'd like to hear it.

― dyson (dyson), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Sure can - just do it without the fucking "H". It's that simple. Loads of people manipulate words in a cool way, but... that "H", man.

It's plain evil. Like in Jesus "H" Christ.

P.S. "WHY-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI" is fine cos there's no "H". And Mark E. Smith is fine cos his come at the end of words.

― 39 Steps + 40 Winks (39 Steps + 40 Winks), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Better than the adding-a-gratuitous-grunted-syllable-to-the-end-of-words thing, a la James Brown/Hetfield Syndrome.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe, but to me that screams sex and soul. Don't forget the Jackson/Bedingfield axis on the suffix-grunt, either.

Death to "H"'ers! Like Molko! He's first.

― 39 Steps + 40 Winks (39 Steps + 40 Winks), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Better than the adding-a-gratuitous-grunted-syllable-to-the-end-of-words thing

Mark E. Smith to thread! Though that's not grunted, more drawled.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Funny - this doesn't bother me at all, generally speaking - if it's a song I already didn't like, then maybe it'll bug me a little, but we heavy metal enthusiasts can't be asking people not to draw out their vowels. This is funny to me because a possibly related phenomenon, the mispronunciation of words to make them fit metrically within the line, drives me completely insane

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Friday, 31 October 2003 17:26 (twenty-two years ago)

It only bothers me when it's *really* forced, as in the last 5 years of Neil Tenant's output.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Friday, 31 October 2003 18:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I know of one lyricist off the top of my head who can force words to rhyme and still sound awesome - Q-Tip.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 31 October 2003 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Most annoying purveyor of this technique: Lou Reed

Reference: Live versions of "We're gonna have a real good time together"

"We'll ba-ha-hall and shou-hou-hout, together"

Someone told Lou he was a shitty singer, so he started sing-talking instead of singing.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 31 October 2003 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Nick is on-point - there's a certain way of doing this where you can sound (quietly) self-aware about it, and then it's cool. Tough to pull off, though.

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Friday, 31 October 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm thinking that Buddy Holly lays waste to the basic premise of the thread.

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Friday, 31 October 2003 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.