You know how sometimes you listen to a song– one you’ve known for years (decades?)– and as you sing along, you realize you don’t actually know the words? Or the words you know are almost certainly totally wrong?
The song “Kyrie” by Mr. Mister is like that for me. As a kid I thought the lyrics were something like “Carry a laser through the darkness of the night”, which sort of makes sense. But of course the correct lyrics are “Kyrie eleison through the darkness of the night” (hence the song’s title, duh).
The other day I was rockin’ out in the car and realized the second verse– at least as I’ve sung it for 40 years– doesn’t make sense.
My heart is old, it holds my memories
My body burns a gemlike flame
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again
On a whim just now, I looked up the lyrics. Even after 40 years, it’s not too late to learn the right words.
Turns out, those are the right words. Wow. They don’t make any sense! What does it mean when my body burns “a gemlike flame”? And what’s a “soft machine”? The mind boggles.
Nonsensical or not, it was at least a little gratifying that I’ve been singing that verse correctly all this time…