tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662653958093265568.post7913101153087445868..comments2024-03-24T07:00:45.304-07:00Comments on Music Weird: Bob and Ray – "I'd Like to Be a Cow in Switzerland" (1949)Greg Adamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01824643018589133411noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662653958093265568.post-64794435664900722412015-10-05T12:36:43.640-07:002015-10-05T12:36:43.640-07:00By jove, I think you've got it! Updated accord...By jove, I think you've got it! Updated accordingly. Greg Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01824643018589133411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662653958093265568.post-92160534449519854982015-10-05T12:00:01.848-07:002015-10-05T12:00:01.848-07:00In the line in question, I hear "And so shy b...In the line in question, I hear "And so shy because the mountains peek", which seems to make some kind of wordplay sense.Uncle Waldemarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997141104650796480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662653958093265568.post-70730083017987419692015-10-05T11:16:08.985-07:002015-10-05T11:16:08.985-07:00Thanks for your comment! I added the final echo.
...Thanks for your comment! I added the final echo. <br /><br />I thought about the peak/peek/pique question when I transcribed the lyrics, and "pique" seemed to be the only word that makes sense there. "Caused the mountain peek" doesn't make grammatical sense. "Caused the mountain peak" makes literal sense but isn't a joke. "Pique," however, means irritation and creates a pun on "mountain peak," so it works both literally and humorously, unlike "peak" and "peek." Greg Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01824643018589133411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-662653958093265568.post-85870909928243723162015-10-05T10:41:33.748-07:002015-10-05T10:41:33.748-07:00Thank you for posting this! I've been listenin...Thank you for posting this! I've been listening to Bob and Ray for fifty years now.<br /><br />I have two small corrections to the lyrics, though. In the fourth stanza (is that the right word for it?) the final echo is missing: "Twenty-two".<br /><br />The other correction is more of a nitpick. I'm not sure that "pique" was the right word to use. It seems to me that the pun was based on "peak" and "peek". It's a lovely auditory pun, difficult to render in print...but I think I would go with "...peek" (including the ellipses because Ray clearly and deliberately hesitated before that word).<br /><br />Thanks again!Quasithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05147005081906046351noreply@blogger.com