Lyrics Talk:Tiny Doctors

In my humble opinion, the lyrics aren't

Now I know that I have a thing in me

I can say I'm in denial

I mean, why else would the edit for (?) be there? Furthermore, 'denial' doesn't really seem to support the idea that the singer found out something and is somehow never sad-- why would he/she STOP being sad if they deny the existence of something new? They would have been sad BEFORE. Ergo, I believe the lyrics should be:

Now I know that I have a thing in me

I can say I'm in delight

--SoreThumb 14:04, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

Whee, I love minuscule lyric talk. First off, without going over the sound, I don't think it's accurate to say the singer is/was never sad. "I'm never sad anymore". In this way, denial has very much to do with the song. Earlier in his life, the narrator was obviously quite lonely and sad. Thinking he had little helper agents in his body wanting the best for him gave him (false) comfort. But yes, there's little reason Linnell would have the narrator flat out *admit* he is in denial (though it can't be ruled out since it's a demo yknow, and the line's placement is apt) when he's trying to say he's so happy with his tiny doctors. In this way "delight" can make the line happy, which works. My opinion, which no one has agreed with, is that it's, "I consider it honorably life". It makes sense in the context. Linnell is still revealing what the song's about, just having said "I have a thing in me" the line before and not to fully disclose it until the line after ("Tiny tiny doctors, doctors, swimming in my veins"). Having the narrator address the disbelief he knows he'll be facing and bestow upon this to-be-named thing which keeps him company/happy the honor of qualifying as a real life form (not just components in his body driven mindlessly by DNA) simply makes sense to me. It fulfills the purpose of the mystery line to the greatest extent in my opinion.

I uploaded an mp3 of the line here. Here's how I would lay out the line in phonetic terms, not trying to match to words: "I ken-surreh [pause] ah-nou [lilt] b/de liiife." To me, the line just doesn't lend itself to the construct "I can say I'm [whatever]". He sings the ahnououou cutely; similarly "surreh" has a bit of a waver in it which would make it "sih-durreh". I naturally hear "bly" where you hear "de", and when I look for it I can convince myself enough that it could be a "d". Similarly I guess ahn could be ahm, but the following syllable has more of an "[c]u[ll]"/ quality than an "[k]i[d]" quality. But what I hear absolutely is an "f" sound. So in my opinion the vocal "I ken-sidurreh, ahnoo-bly life" easily matches "I consider it honorably life" or "I considerin' a nubbly life", etc. To get the phrase to be constructed, "I can say I'm in delight" isn't impossible to fudge with consonants and such, but I'd have to ask what you think the emphasis is in that. Meaning and pronunciation aside, what I like most about the line I think it is is the tunefulness to singing it like that. To sing/hum "I can say I'm in de[___]" "right" I have to pause considerably between "say" and "I'm", which in my hearing Linnell does not do. ~ magbatz 16:47, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

magz, you're awesome. -- 16:58, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

You know another thing I just thought of... since this is really just a rough demo, he may have just been mumbling nonsense here just to get the melody down.--Oddjob 14:13, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

that has been my long-standing opinion on the matter — he probably hadn't thought out the line yet. it is fun to try to decipher it though. -- 19:43, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Magbatz, seeing Wiki discussions and how much you've said already, it's obvious this kind of discussion could go on indefinitely. I suppose this may be my last response in this discussion due to what a time sink this could be.

You say Linnell doesn't pause between "say" and "I'm".. you're right, because he takes a sharp and audible intake of breath to continue singing. I believe there's a pause in lyrics, but not a pause in his breathing. I also don't hear a 'f' at all in his pronunciation.

Furthermore, the D and B sounds in English are easily confused. Here's one of the few quick results I found mentioning such. So, I can see why you see a 'b' possibility.

Continuing on missing letters, you're right if you mention there's no 't' in delight as Linnell pronounces it. However, it's frequently mentioned how Linnell slurs his words in this song. "Delight" could be the word, but pronounced, "De-lie" with an implied or weak T. Linnell's slightly nasally voice, light presence in the song, and Massachusetts background can bolster this.

Interpretation-wise, excuse my original text's lack of clarity. Simply put, the narrator is no longer sad due to a new fact. It's possible he would be unable to recognize his self-denial-- so while 'denial' could be the reality of the singer, I think the statement of 'delight' would be a manifestation of either truth OR denial. This would fulfill many existing interpretations, and still allow us to believe he's in denial. If we can think of alternate emotions that sound similar to 'delight', 'denial', or 'bly life', let's brainstorm.

It's truly hard to only digest the pronunciation OR lyrics and come out with a meaning-- I don't believe the hearing of "It's honorably life" clarifies exactly what "it" is in that case. The singer? The doctors? The coexistence and cooperation of both? Only the latter two make sense, and if they are the case, why would Linnell change the subject? This whole verse was about "I'm" never sad, since the day I found out something about myself... and etc in that verse.

Digesting only the rest of the lyrics leaves us relatively confused because we know how Linnell can be singing about something more somber than the melody and composition. Considering Linnell's lyrical history and the strength of the lyrics in his other demos, I doubt "Not knowing what to say" is the case. It's not impossible, but I doubt we'd hear any song from him with careless lyrics, even a demo.

I don't see you disagreeing with me, but I think I see you mentioning the strength of my case. There's very little ground to stand on with a song as this is, of course. I'd be OK with a (?) next to delight-- but I don't see Denial being the word at all. --SoreThumb 15:23, 22 September 2010 (UTC)