Rhymes

From This Might Be A Wiki

TMBG has occasionally mentioned rhyme lyrically. The Johns have also selectively avoided the device, for various reasons.

Briefly mentioned[edit]

  • Drink! - "But what words rhyme with buried alive?"
  • Hate The Villanelle - "With these picky rules and odd jigsaw rhymes"
    • In addition, the lyrics of the song are a villanelle, a type of poem with a strict rhyme scheme.
  • Rhythm Section Want Ad - "Plenty of time to turn mistakes into rhyme"
  • Share A Story - "There's so much to rhyme that we don't know what to do"
  • Three Might Be Duende - "Lost in his rhymes"
  • Which Describes How You're Feeling - "You said I'm feeling fine, but it didn't really rhyme, it didn't rhyme, overseas ... but your lie doesn't rhyme with the word overseas"

Songs with no rhymes[edit]

On some occasions, TMBG songs contain few or very scarce rhymes. Instrumentals are not included in this list.

Unexpected lack of rhymes[edit]

A few songs cut out single rhymes in key places, often emphatically.

  • Counterfeit Faker - "There's no way to measure / The damage he has done / Counterfeit faker / Carries a grudge" (Expected rhyme: "gun")
  • Darling, The Dose - "Make no mistake, I still need you the most / Time has the power to bind us too close / The dose is the poison we've had more than most / Darling / Darling" Based on the repeated rhymes, this seems to be leading up to the title of the song, but only the first word ("Darling") is actually sung.
  • Don't I Have The Right? - The fake-out in "I would try someone new / If that someone would love me / The way you did"—where the final word "do" is expected—makes the line's past tense more poignant
  • E Eats Everything - "H burns food so horrible / All I tastes is smoke / J just likes drinking juice / And K drinks only soda" intentionally avoids the brand name Coke.
  • I'll Be Haunting You - "Need I remind you of the oath you swore in 1993 / Don't act like you don't act like you know why you flinch at the image of these words" The second line would be expected to end with "the image of me".
  • I'll Sink Manhattan - In the line "So before I get through / I'll find your answering machine and I'll sink it first", "first" was intentionally chosen over the rhyming "sink it too".[1]
  • I'm Your Boyfriend Now - "You don't have to say it / I can see it in your eyes / I can read it in your heart / I can hear it in your silence" (intentionally and abruptly avoids the rhyming cliché of "I can hear it in your sighs")
  • Kiss Me, Son Of God - "Now you're the only one here who can tell me if it's true. That you love me and I love me" (Expected rhyme: "you")
  • My Evil Twin - Includes multiple fake-outs:
  • "That resembles a Republican president from long ago / I'd hate to see you leave" (rather than "go")
  • "My evil twin / Bad-weather friend / He always wants to start / When I want to begin" (rather than "end")
  • "I lay my head / On the railroad track / Stare at the sky / All painted up" (rather than "black")
  • "Two years ago / Moved from my town / I was looking up / Past the city lights" (I was looking "down" might be expected here)
  • When It Rains It Snows - "There's a note on the door/ and the note will say when it rains it snows" — obviously one would expect to hear when it rains it "pours".

See also[edit]