Monday, February 05, 2007

"Centrifugal" - Songwriters steer clear

When a word stubbornly refuses to fit a rhythm, irrespective of how you try and shoehorn it in, it's probably an indication it shouldn't be used. On the radio this morning, on the way to work, was a contender for the most contrived song lyric.

This Kiss by Faith Hill is as unremarkable a song as you could wish for, except for a bizarre use of the word "centrifugal". It's a smashing word, "centrifugal", but it's also a bit of an awkward one which doesn't exactly lend itself to popular songs. Faith, to her discredit, makes every effort to fit it to the metre, though the effect is like forcefully pushing a reluctant cat into a box.

Most songwriters would have given up at this point and found a synonym to use instead, but Faith ploughs on and elects to put the accent on the second syllable, the resulting word sounds something like "cenTRIFfugal", which just sounds shite.

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