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It is no secret that there are language errors in songs. But, I have come across a very crass error in Kelis's "Trick Me" from 2003, in which she sings: "And it's only 'cause I'm not with you that makes me number one". Please comment if you understand my point and/or have something to say about that.
I'm not familiar with the song, but from the quoted line I get the impression you're saying the line ends up meaning the opposite of what the songwriter intended. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened. All the way back in 1942, Harry Babbitt (with Kay Kyser's orchestra), Tex Ritter and Gene Autry were all singing:
I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle
As I go ridin' merrily along
And they sing, "Oh, ain't you glad you're single"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong
The rest of the song suggests that the song, and the spurs, think the singer is glad to be single, but "ain't...far from wrong" turns the whole sentiment around 180 degrees.
I am not familiar with the song "Trick Me" but the line quoted sounds like another way of saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". I don't disagree with you, Ron, about Jingle, Jangle, Jingle, but it is not a mistake by the lyricist. "Ain't very far from wrong" is an old idiom meaning it is right. So, the mistake goes back to the idiom rather than the lyrics.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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