Grammar In Lyrics : Music Quiz

by Amanda Flinner

Attention! The Songfacts grammar class is now in session. Unsheathe your red pens and prepare to do battle with the Billboard charts. We'll no longer tolerate double negatives, erroneous apostrophes, problematic pronouns, and that pesky proliferation of ain'ts. Motown will have to make do with "There Isn't Any Mountain High Enough." By the time we're done, every poetic license will be revoked. Some of our favorite songs will sound terrible, but hey, they'll be error free. (I see that dirty look. Report to Mr. Yankovic in "Word Crimes," and explain yourself.)

Not all grammar guides agree on what should be considered hard-and-fast rules (The Chicago Manual of Style decided ending a sentence with a preposition is A-okay). Go with the strictest sense of a rule, and we'll explain some possible exceptions or refutations in the answer.

Hey, we have a whole list of songs with bad grammar in the title

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Comments: 22

Peter Griffin from TexasTough quiz with a lot of trick questions. It was fun tho
Had A Hard Time from Monterey Park, CaI agree with Brandon From Fresno. Saw a few punctuation issues and was scored (oh, oh. Passive voice) as having selected the wrong answer. Then later, punctuation counted. This is a quiz with trick questions.
Brandon from FresnoI chose to duck out of this one due to the inconsistent precedents set regarding the 'rules'. The first question cites the lyrics, "Since you've been gone I can do whatever I want
I can see whomever I choose". I chose incorrect as it was missing a semicolon after the word "want". So at that point I figured that syntax was 'out the window' for this quiz. Only later to be stymied by the comma placement for, "Smokin' in the Boy's Room". I don't expect you to care that I've elected to refrain from completing what had, at first, appeared to be an interesting quiz. For this set of questions, consistency within the questions would've kept things honest to the point that I would've appreciated this quiz, regardless of how many incorrect answers I submitted, if the implied rules had remained clear. Bummer.
Steve from Dallas, TexasIncorrect grammar is never correct. "Incorrect grammar" is the correct answer." is correct. LOL
Steve from Dallas, Texas Cool quiz! "Baby, I'd rather die without you and me," "Me" is not the object of the verb. It is the object of the preposition (without.) An example of the object of the verb is "You hit me." "Me" receives the action of the verb (hit.) Today though, it's trending to use the first person nominative pronoun (I) even in objective context. That is probably due to so many people doing just the opposite for so long (You and me are going to ...) "You and I are going to ..." is proper.
Gillian from New York, Ny Great site! Glad someone mentioned it in another forum. I'm still mulling over the references to lie and lay. In lyrics especially, the absence of "you" or "yourself" could be the solution to the usage problem. As in the child's prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep ..."
Karle Hussey from Markham Ontario Canadathat was an interesting view of song lyrics
cheers
may two four
Stonewoman from Dallas, TxRE: Second Question - "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye
Out of 11 questions, I answered 9 correctly; however, I believe the actual score should have been 10 correct answers. With respect to such question, my answer to which you scored as incorrect [i.e., "I guess that I don't need that though" (next line) "Now you're just somebody that I used to know"], I would've eliminated the first "that" in the first line and deleted the second "that" and replaced it with "you." I would have moved and inserted the word "that" between "Now" and "you're" in the second line, thereby solving the problem. I believe with those minor changes, it is more grammatically correct and does not interfere with the cadence of the verses. Of course, these changes would need to be made in all of the choruses. So, the two lines would read: "I guess I don't need you, though," (second line) "Now that you're just somebody I used to know."

Fun quiz. Your site is very interesting, and I intend to study it in greater depth as time permits. Thank you.
Jim from Mobile, AlMy English Teacher is rolling in her grave.....
Paul White from Columbus, OhioI took the test and scored about 75%. Not bad for a guy who was a 70’s music lover.
Barge from Melbourne AustraliaGreat quiz, you done good.
Christina Castell Ott from HarahanFun!
Pedro Opeleña Taghoy Jr from Makilala, PhilippinesI think grammar is not important in song writing, but the best is the message in it.
Shaorn Gallant from Maple Ridge my spelling is atrocious and my grammar sucks
Eleonora from Senigallia (italy)Not bad, if you consider that I am an "old" Italian woman who never properly studied English grammar...
Ray from Md.I think I better go back to English 101
Joshua from MinneapolisThe chorus of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" must give English teachers nightmares.

"I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free..."
("An American" is a person, but the rest of this line treats it as a place.)

"And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me..."
(And now this line treats "an American" as a right; i.e. a thing.)

"And I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today..."
[Who's "her"? I think he means America as a nation, but again, so far the chorus has only referenced a person; i.e. "an American"; i.e. Greenwood himself, who certainly isn't a "her" (unless, of course, there's something he's not telling us...)]
Martin from TorontoThe Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down. The Band. "by May 10th Richmond had fell..."
Dj from CaliAntiquated grammar "rules". Languages change over time. "Whom" is pretty much dead outside of pretentious academia...just let it go. Fewer and less mean the exact same thing. 10 items or less, 10 items or fewer...who cares. Still, there is "literally" no excuse for saying "literally" for things that can only be taken "literally" and not figuratively or symbolically. Interesting article - a good read.
Shawn from MarylandGreat article, but I failed the quizzes. Ain't you got nuthin' easier?!?! ;-)
David from Georgia I guess your degree in English is still paying off especially for this article.
Cindy from AzWell,I suck at grammar

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