Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Suggestive of Rabies

Okay I want to keep talking about the long-playing record TEENAGERS LOVE THE TWINS JIM AND JOHN, specifically the song "Bubble-ee Bubble-ee Bubble Gum," specifically the line "Every time I kiss her bubbly lips my heart does flippity flop." Let us put aside the bubbly lips, which are, of course, suggestive of rabies. Why "does"? "My heart GOES flippity flop" might make more immediate sense. But the choice of "does" elevates the phrase. It has the quality, almost, of a Shakespearean "doth." Shoot, it occurs to me as I type that the singer is probably singing, "My heart does flippity flops," considerably less poetic. I should listen again. Maybe I should "live tweet" as I listen to the whole album again. That is something to do with a portion of the time left to me on this earth.