I love music. I also love song lyrics if they are especially clever or well written. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, because I love good lyrics, I tend to gravitate towards artists like Ben Folds, Barenaked Ladies, Mark Schultz, etc. I thought I’d try something new for the blog starting this week and that is a “Lyric of the Week” or “LotW” for short. Each week, I’ll take a piece of a song lyrics, tell you what song it is from, and tell you why I like it.

Let’s start with one as part of this post. For this week, we’ll take a look at some of the lyrics from the song “Testing 1 2 3” by the Barenaked Ladies. Here’s the part I like the most:

She got a new apartment
It’s out on the escarpment
And in her glove compartment
Are my songs

She hasn’t even heard them
Since she found out what the words meant
She decided she preferred them
All wrong

Why do I like this part of the lyrics? Two reasons. The first is I like the word escarpment. I am interested in geology and escarpment is a geological term. According to http://www.geographic.org, it means “A long cliff or steep slope separating two comparatively level or more gently sloping surfaces and resulting from erosion or faulting.” I love the fact that they managed to work that word into a song, and use it in a way that is technically correct.

I also like the second part talking about song lyrics. How many times have you heard a song on the radio and thought you knew the words — only to find out later that you were completely wrong? I’ve had that happen many times. I think it is interesting that this paradox ended up being sung about in a song. Cool.

Want to have a listen to this song? Follow this link to the iTunes Music Store to download your legal copy of the song.

–Pete