Come To Me, Leon

 My mother did not understand anything about rock and roll music.

One time, she announced she was going to Treasure Island (a local department store, sort of like Target) and my brother asked if she could pick up the new record album by the new group "Led Zepplin".  Mom went to Treasure Island and asked the kid that worked the record department if they had the new record by "Led Zipper".

But where she was most confused was by the lyrics.  She didn't even attempt to translate "Louie, Louie".  Here are some of the song lyrics she got totally wrong, with the correct lyrics highlighted.


"Yellow, yellow, yellow wheels".  "Helen, Helen, hell on wheels"- Paul McCartney "Helen Wheels".

"Oh, man, Dee".  "Oh, Mandy" -Barry Manilow "Mandy"

"I much rather be, Reverend Blue Jeans"- "I much rather be forever in blue jeans"-Neil Diamond "Forever In Blue Jeans".

You get the picture. This went on for years.


One time, in the mid-80's, she asked me if I had heard this song "Come To Me, Leon".  I said I hadn't and asked her if it was something she heard on Ludlow Porch.  "No", she said, "They play it on the regular radio all the time. It doesn't make any sense".

Mom was always saying songs didn't make sense. One time, she asked me if I had heard this "stupid song" about this cake that was left out in the rain and the singer was caterwauling that he'll never have the recipe again.

I said, "That's McArthur's Park" and I went into a whole liberal art education explanation (just to let her know we got our money's worth) about the  symbolism.of the song. The cake represents the relationship but it was left out in the rain (whatever caused the couple's problems) and the relationship has now been dissovled. Oh no.

Mom said, "It is still stupid"

Back to "Come To Me, Leon".  I asked Mom to sing a few bars.

She sang "Come, Come, Come, Come to me, Leon. You come and go. You come and go".

Even though it was sung off-key, I picked up the song she was talking about:  "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club.

"What's a Karma Chameleon?", she asked.  I told her that basically it was a two faced person then she asked why didn't they say that in the first place.  I didn't have the nerve to tell her about Boy George.

"And another thing, why do they say, You're my lover not my Bible?"

"Mom, it is You're my lover not my rival".

"Oh.  That's stupid".

I am happy to say I've inherited some of the inability to catch the correct lyrics to songs. I thought Johnny Rivers was singing "Secret Asian Man"  instead of "Secret Agent Man".

I couldn't make out what Elton John was saying in "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" "We had enough of your add-do-tation, we had it with your guitar playin'" is what I thought he said.  He said, however,  "Oh, don't give us none of your aggravation, we had it with your discipline."

I'm sure I was in my forties before I understood "Rocket Man".  I knew it gave out great parenting tips: Mars isn't a good place to raise children because it is cold as Hell.  But I didn't know it was "Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone." and don't tell me you did.

I've been looking at a lot of John Prine videos lately. Prine has released a new album and he's finally getting some well deserved acclaim.

In one video, he talks about liking Fats Domino and a song called "Margie".  He said he thought Fats sang in the song "Don't you forget about your mumbly beads".  He relates his suprise when he read in Hit Parader magazine the words were "Don't you forget your promise to me."

Here's the song.  I'm not so sure he doesn't say "mumbly beads" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAM74H_4y8U&list=RDMMEAM74H_4y8U

I guess if a professional Americana country legend can misunderstand a lyric, I can cut Mom some slack.