tetris11

Please, sir, tell me why there's no black Superman, KKK kryptonite?
"God only makes Caucasian super-heroes."
Please, sir, tell me why we stick a man on the moon when life on earth's so cheap?
"Son we gotta do our bit for the world trade deficit."

Please, sir
Please, sir
Tell me why
If "God is love," I'm so dysfunctional

Please, sir, tell me why there's so much vagrancy
"Layabouts get a job." - Well, there's an opening for a part-time Unabomber Please, sir, tell me why my life's so pitiful but "the future's so bright."
Well, I'd look ahead but it burns my retinas

Please, sir
Please, sir
Tell me why
If "God is love," I'm so dysfunctional

1. Superman (1903)

   • In terms of Übermensch (evolved being who transcends good/evil), the reference is from 1903.
   • Superman the hero from 1941, but the comicbook hero meaning is not necessarily needed here.
   • https://www.etymonline.com/word/superman#etymonline_v_22373

2. Superhero (1930)

   • An archetypical or transcendant human, from Nietzche.
   • First applied in Tarzan in 1930, for wider usage.
   • https://www.etymonline.com/word/superhero#etymonline_v_38760

3. Kryptonite (1943)

   • Simple weakness to invulnerable foe
     • https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=kryptonite
   • Older audiences would recognize "Achilles heel" better
     • Heel from 1810, tendon from 1680s, myth from 1c. C.E
     • https://www.etymonline.com/word/Achilles%20tendon#etymonline_v_44082

4. KKK (1878)

   • Kuklux Klan abbreviation
   • https://www.etymonline.com/word/Ku%20Klux%20Klan

5. Caucasian (1795)

   • Blumenbach's anthropological theory that man is distinguished into 5 races, based on skull similarity. Assigned "white" to Caucasian.

6. God / "God is love" (Biblical origins)

   • John 4:8, "The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
   • https://biblehub.com/1_john/4-8.htm

7. "If we can put a man on the moon..." (1962)

   • Phrase first used less than a year after President Kennedy announced the moon landing program, but then used by others soon after. Lowell Purdy coined the phrase to criticize Kennedy about the federal farm policy:
     • "Nothing is impossible in this age of miracles,” he said. “If we can put a man on the Moon, we surely are capable of seeing that our temporary surplus agricultural products are placed in many hungry stomachs of the world.”
   • https://www.fastcompany.com/90366583/the-wild-improbable-history-of-the-phrase-if-we-can-put-a-man-on-the-moon

8. trade defecit (1540s)

   • Individually:
     • "trade" (1540s), business matters
       • https://www.etymonline.com/word/trade#etymonline_v_16851
     • "deficit" (1782), lacking in amount
       • https://www.etymonline.com/word/deficit#etymonline_v_911
     • Trade deficit (1540s)
       • When imports exceed exports, from the emergence of international trade systems
       • Likely from mercantilist era between 16th-18th centuries.

9. Dysfunctional (1915)

   • Dysfunction, "failure to function", medical/anatomical term.
   • https://www.etymonline.com/word/dysfunction#etymonline_v_31969
   • https://www.etymonline.com/word/dysfunctional#etymonline_v_16032

10. vagrancy (1706)

    • Life of idle begging
      • https://www.etymonline.com/word/vagrancy#etymonline_v_30854
    • "Vagrant" is around 1500s
      • https://www.etymonline.com/word/vagrant#etymonline_v_4601

11. pitiful (1580s)

    • wretched, contemptible
    • https://www.etymonline.com/word/pitiful#etymonline_v_36016

12. layabouts (1932)

    • "Habitual loafer"
    • https://www.etymonline.com/word/layabout

13. job (1620)

    • work to be done
    • https://www.etymonline.com/word/job#etymonline_v_6471

14. Part time (1891)

    • employment of less than the usual time
    • https://www.etymonline.com/word/part-time#etymonline_v_7266

15. Unabomber (1979)

    • Ted Kacznski was "initially called the Junkyard bomber", but this was changed when the FBI led a task force against him labelled "UNiversity and Airline BOMbing".
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski
      • https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/unabomber

16. "future's so bright" / burn my retinas (1986)

    • "Bright future" generally means a positive future, but here it is used with a more grim outlook, likely referencing the 1986 song "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" written by Pat MacDonald.
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Future's_So_Bright,_I_Gotta_Wear_Shades

• "Kryptonite" (1943) could be swapped out for an older word such as "repellant (1660s) and still match the timing of the song

  • https://www.etymonline.com/word/repellent#etymonline_v_46223

• "Layabouts" (1932) could be swapped out for "lazybones" (1590s) which is much older

  • https://www.etymonline.com/word/lazybones#etymonline_v_43170

• The whole "parttime unabomber" line could be swapped for "partial" (1380s) + "troublemaker" (1843), or the much older "instigator" (1590s)

  • https://www.etymonline.com/word/partial#etymonline_v_7255
  • https://www.etymonline.com/word/troublemaker#etymonline_v_39464
  • https://www.etymonline.com/word/instigator#etymonline_v_34963

• "I'm so dysfunctional" (1915) could be swapped out for "I'm just too much impaired" (1380s) and keep the same meaning, albeit it sounding stranger.

  • https://www.etymonline.com/word/impair#etymonline_v_1546

• "Superhero" (1930) could be swapped with the older "Superman" (1903) and still carry the same meaning.

Yeah, bam, bam, bam, heyya, whassup, yeah
We was like that you know
Yeah, and I bet you got layed back
Yeah, I'ma uh, I'm a just sit in here for a couple of hours
Man, don't sweat it, yo, we gonna catch some stuff, dude
Oh no, I'm kinda tired
Nah, we got a basket, we're gonna fill this basket before we go, yo
Aight, bro Cause there are otha fish...

It took a second to register up in my branium
My dome, my head, my skull, my cranium
My eyes have had enough, it was time to do some talkin
I had to creep through the hound-dogs that were stalkin

This slimmy caught me peepin, this means she wasn't sleepin
on who I was, so she crept in like a hawk
In a minute's time, we adjourned to the floor
Ooh! I hit a high note cause of the way that she was walkin

We got into the groove, I didn't bust no, uh, hip-hop moves
I just kept it nice and smooth
Next thing you know, we got together, word, I thought we'd be forever
Didn't have an um-ber-ella, now I'm soaked in stormy weather
whether two birds of a feather fly or fall it'll be together

Never sympin, and leave your love life limp
There'll be no suicide attempts for this slim-trim kid
Cuz you know there's otha fish in the sea, that is, in the sea
In the sea that is

[Chrous] (In the sea) You know there's otha fish in the sea that is x 3

I reminisce, try to clear up all the myths
for an imaginary kiss with you again
Not even friends, though I wish that I could mend
like a tailor and be Olive Oyl's number one sailor
I ams what I am, still I falls like an anvil

She's heavy on the mind sometimes it's more than I can handle
But men aren't supposed to tumble into the den B
Macho, but I hancho like Pancho will give in
Family oriented, but not Oriental

A dame is supposed to claim ya even if you drive a Pinto
A hero is a sandwich, and a Manwich is a meal
A marriage is a paper, are they fakin or for real?
What's the deal dabbers? Will you go tumbling after
your man and take a stand or will you help him roll faster?

The reason why I ask you is because I'm sick of this
B--ch lickin drip drip from a niggaz benefits
He doesn't even suit ya and he's surely not ya size
I'm surprised that you slept on a heart that's worldwide
And when ya open up ya eyes, babe, my mate, I really wish
that ya don't bruise a limb, as ya swim with otha fish in the sea
In the sea that is

[[chorus]]

Now, if there ain't no mountain high enough
Why ain't you climbin up?
My hand has been extended every since the day I lent it to ya
I thought I knew ya, but I didn't even know ya
Bro, you're stupid, cause ya thought you'd catch a Cupid
and you found that love ain't two whiffs of shit
So I resign or quit
It ain't even about the hips, or the lips or the tits or
Even the pussywhip, Elizabeth, this is it
Because I slipped and I tripped into a shoe that didn't fit

And now the next man is stealing my heart away
I'd charge him like a bull, but his pull never fades me
The kid is going crazy, they steppin with my lady
They workin on a baby, I'm pushin up the daisies, but
hey diddle diddle, I won't play second fiddle
To no man and stand firm on this
And seal up on the bliss with a big juicy kiss
Just call me Big Gibraltor miss
No, I won't diss, I'm just like on to otha fish in the sea
In the sea that is

(Chorus 3X)

You know there's otha, you know that there's otha

(chorus repeats 20X) In the sea, baby (4X)

1. we got a basket (1980)
   • A drug reference, probably 1980s
2. otha fish in the sea x 30 (1573)
   • "Other fish in the sea" in usage since 1573 though sources are dubious...
3. Olive Oyl's number one sailor (1933)
   • Pop-eye was around in 1929, but Olive Oyl was surprisingly around earlier in 1919. However this lyric only makes sense in reference to Bluto to complete the weird non-consensual love triangle, and he first appeared in 1932 and was the main antagonist since 1933.
   • The "I ams what I ams" and "hey diddle diddle" are all the same reference
4. den B (???)
   • According the genius annotation, no one really knows what this means even now
5. hancho like a Pancho
   • Pancho is a nickname for Francesco, and hancho could be a reference to honcho, a yakuza boss.
6. Pinto (1970)
   • A Ford Pinto
7. sandwich (1762)
   • Slices of cold meat between breaks from 1762
8. Manwich (1969 or 1990s)
   • Type of sloppy joe sauce, though maybe its used here as a manly type of sandwich which seems to be more of a 1990s thing
9. dabbers (1952)
   • Reference to beatniks
10. B--ch (1400)
    • Term of contempt toward women
11. niggaz (1835)
    • It's not really used as contempt here, but more like one black person speaking to another, so I think this dates to 1835.
12. Cupid (1400)
    • In use since late 1400 to describe god of passionate love.
13. Pussywhip (1956)
    • A man who has been cuckolded I think, first attested in 1956
14. "Elizabeth, this is it" (1972)
    • Reference to "Sanford and Son" where the character would fake a heart attack
15. shoe that didn't fit (860, Ye Xian variant)
    • The shoe not fitting mentioned here in 860.
16. pushing up the daisies (1842)
    • To be dead and buried, from 1842
17. play second fiddle (1800s)
    • The word fiddle for violin has been around since late 14c, but the idea of being second violinist as part of a string section has been around since 1800s.
18. Big Gibraltor (1800s)
    • Reference to the large immovable Gibraltor rock known by Romans under a different name. The saying 'as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar' has been around likely since the 1800s.

• The pope-eye references will be hard to swap out, and still maintain the cartoonish wordplay.

• The Sanford and Son reference doesn't need to be understood for the song to work, since the audience might just think that the girl who is being sung about is called Elizabeth.

• The pussywhip can just be swapped for the time specific word for cuckolding, though it would ruin the flow of the sentence if it doesn't rhyme with 'it'.

• The Ford Pinto should be swapped with something that slightly rhymes with 'oriental' but still conveys the meaning of a man who still holds worth as a man regardless of his standing. 'Even if he rides a mule'?

• "Mannwich is a meal", if the meaning here is that a man is not to be taken lightly, whilst building on the sandwich line, then I think this could actually still be replaced with "sandwich" and still work.

• "What's the deal dabbers" contains the idiom 'whats the deal' which could be hard to translate, and it's not clear how far back this one goes. Dabbers can be replaced with the time appropriate word for 'listeners', though the alliteration might suffer.

Fourteen years have passed since that day
Your stories are the same but the ends have all changed
You carried on like you were some type of god
Some things will never change

We went home to see our folks
We laughed and we told jokes
It was like we were young again
On that deathbed our mother lay
How long she's got they still can't say
It took all this to get us back together again

How long is this going to last
You can't keep reliving your past
Screwing over the ones that you love
In the name of some new drug

So brother, raise another pint
Rev up the engine and drive off in the night
See you somewhere some place some time
I know there's better brothers but you're the only one that's mine x 2

The bondsman came to my door early the next day
He said "I come lookin' for you brother
You don't know what kind of trouble that he's in"

How long is this going to last
You can't keep reliving your past
Johnny law keeps a poundin' at my door
'Cause you screwed up some new score

So he's standing in the doorway like he owns the place
With a look of smug satisfaction on his face
I'm gonna give you up
Of that he's sure as hell
But I take one look at him and I know I'll never tell

So brother, raise another pint
Rev up the engine and drive off in the night
See you somewhere some place some time
I know there's better brother's but you're the only one that's mine

So brother, raise another pint
Rev up the engine and drive off in the night
I still look out for you no matter what you heard.
They can knock all of my doors down but I won't say a word x 2

Fourteen years have passed since that day and still nothing has changed.

1. pint x 3 (1742)
   • Measure of liquid since 13C, but 'pint of ale' since 1742
2. Bondsman or Ombudsman (1754 or 1959)
   • A bondsman holds someone to their debt, in use since 1754
   • An Ombudsman is the government title for the above, in use since 1959.
3. Screwing over (1900)
   • To screw in the sense of to cheat someone has been in use since 1900.
4. Rev up the engine x 3 (1916)
   • Rev as in to revolve an internal combustion engine since 1916
5. Johnny law (1670)
   • A Johnny has been used as a contemptous or humerous placeholder for a man since the 1670s.
6. drug (1900s or 1500s)
   • Surprisingly drug has been used in a negative context since the 1500s, but the meaning of 'opiates and narcotics' since early 1900s.
7. score (1951)
   • The word score, in the sense of the "act of obtaining narcotic drugs" is from 1951.

• Rev up the engine and drive off in the night conveys the idea of stealing away loudly into the night, which could be done by reining up a horse and galloping away, or loudly exiting a house and running to the hills. I think a singer could modify this line to the time appropriate version of this, though they might have to change the pint in the previous line to make it rhyme.
• Both score and drug could be switched to ploy has been around since 1722, or sham which has been around since the 1670s, though the rhyme with the love in the previous line would be awkward. I think the main idea is that they are some scheme or gimmick, and that the drug angle in the song is only used to show how the brother is unreliable or impulsive. Ploy and Sham have more scheming connotations than impulsive ones, so the singer would need to find a word that could capture the right sentiment.

One, two, three!
My baby don't mess around
Because she loves me so
This I know fo sho!

But does she really wanna
But can't stand to see me walk out the door
Don't try to fight the feeling
Because the thought alone is killin' me right now
Thank God for Mom and Dad
For sticking to together
Like we don't know how

Hey ya! Hey ya! x 4

You think you've got it
Oh, you think you've got it
But got it just don't get it when there's nothin' at all
We get together
Oh, we get together

But separate's always better when there's feelings involved
Know what they say -its
Nothing lasts forever!
Then what makes it, then what makes it x 2
Then what makes love the exception?
So why, oh, why, oh
Why, oh, why, oh, why, oh
Are we still in denial when we know we're not happy here

Hey ya! (y'all don't want to here me, ya just want to dance) Hey ya!
Don't want to meet your daddy (oh ohh), just want you in my caddy (oh ohh)
Hey ya! (oh, oh!) Hey ya! (oh, oh!)
Don't want to meet your momma, just want to make you cum-a (oh,oh!)
I'm (oh,oh) I'm (oh,oh) I'm just being honest! (oh,oh)
I'm just being honest!
Hey! alright now! alright now, fellas! Yea?
Now, what cooler than being cool? Ice cold!
I can't hear ya! I say what's, what's cooler than being cool? Ice cold!
Alright x 16
Okay, now ladies! Yea?

Now we gonna break this thang down for just a few seconds
Now don't have me break this thang down for nothin'
I want to see you on your badest behavior!
Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor!
Ah! Here we go now,
Shake it x 9
Shake it like a Polaroid picture! Hey ya!
Shake it x 8, suga!
Shake it like a Polaroid picture!

Now all the Beyonce's, and Lucy Liu's, and baby dolls
Get on tha floor get on tha floor!
Shake it like a Polaroid picture!
Oh, you! oh, you!
Hey ya!(oh, oh) Hey ya!(oh, oh) x 3

1. Beyonce and Lucy Liu (1996 and 1990)
   • Beyonce started her music career in 1996
   • Lucy Liu was in the business from 1990
2. shake it like a Polaroid (Polaroid, 1948)
   • The Polaroid Model 95 was on sale in 1948
3. want you in my caddy (Caddilac, 1902)
   • The Model A was on sale by 1902
4. baby dolls ("Baby", 1922)
   • Usage of the word 'Baby' from 1922 student slang
5. Get on tha floor (Dance Floor, 1921)
   • Dance floors come from Sprung floors which were around since 1921.

• The Beyonce and Lucy Liu line don't really need to be there for the song to work, and can be swapped out for other famous people at the time of singing. Caddy could be swapped to Waggy (as in "wagon"), though it's bit of a stretch...
• "baby doll" could be swapped to the time appropriate word for fair maiden, but the next line ("Get on the floor") would need to be changed for it to rhyme. That might actually be good, because then the "floor" could be swapped for the time appropriate word for a common dancing ground.
• The Polaroid picture serves two purposes that I can think of: being shaken with the hand (giving rise to a particular form of dance), and invoking the sentiment of being in the moment or capturing the moment. Possible replacements could be shaking a handkerchief or simply waving, but the capturing-the-moment sentiment would be missing.

I'm on it, get on it
The troops are on fire!
Ya know I need it, much closer
I'm trading just a little more
Step on it, electronic
The troops are on fire!
I'm much deeper, a sleeper
Waiting for the trip
Come on it, get on it
I'm carving through a letterbomb
I need it, loud potions
These drugs are just an hour away
Come on it, electronic
A polyphonic prostitute, the motors, on fire
Messiah for the animals
Ah, oh come on!
We got our backs to the wall!
Ah!
Get on!
And watch out!
Sayin', "Yer gonna kill us all!"

1. electronic (1901)
   • "pertaining to electrons" from 1901
2. trip (1959)
   • Falling over, journey and drug reference from 1959.
3. letterbomb (1764)
   • letter c. 1200 + bomb from 1580, or literally delivering an explosive from 1764. In this context it means writing something powerful.
4. drugs (~1400)
   • drug from late 14c
5. polyphonic (1828)
   • "multiplicity of sounds" from 1828, though its greek root could likely be understood much earlier.
6. prostitute (1620)
   • The word is from 1620s, but the meaning is ancient.
7. motors (1450)
   • If in reference to a motorvehicle, then from 1896, though the song could mean abstract motion in general, in which case mid-15c
8. backs to the wall (1918)
   • An idiom for being executed by a firing squad, popularized by Sir Douglas Haig in WWI (1918)

• letterbomb is the most difficult reference, but could be exchanged with a word equaling "large devastating treaty" that should exist at any time in written history.

• electronic is also not really required to preserve the overall meaning of the song, as it only conveys a general sense of synthetic melody (completing the audio synths). One could equate this with a fancy instrument for the time.

• backs to the wall in general conveys a desperate situation, and warfare is not a new invention. A similar more timely phrase could be substituted, though it would require a more timely replacement for "you're gonna kill us all" too.

Now “Man is born to trouble
Sure as sparks to Heaven fly.”
So said the man sat all alone
In the corner of my eye.
I said, “Why the long face? Why so sad?
Things cannot be that bad!”
He said, “My aching bones tell of trouble on the road
And you can’t make light of this load”
He said, “You can’t make light of this load.”

Now just don’t get me started on work, trust or money,
There are not enough hours in the day.
In a land where nothing works except the answering machines
You have to watch what you say.
All the high hopes of the Thatcher’s breed
Lie crushed beneath some eighties creed.
Well “Moaning Minnies” we may be just don’t let us explode,
You can’t make light of this load.
They say, “You can’t make light of this load.”

Seems that grumbling is a privilege, a pleasure and a pastime
For those approaching ‘middle rage.’
“The burden fits the back” they say, and I know I’ve got mine,
Thank heavens for the minimum wage!
"Things only get better, " they cried,
But over health and work and money they lied.
Well their patron saint is Meldew and complaining is the mode.
You can’t make light of this load.
They say, “You can’t make light of this load.”

“Oh, don’t the days seem lank and long
When all goes right and none goes wrong.”
So avoid the sad old so-and-so with his sorry episode,
Who can’t make light of his load, lads!
Who can’t make light of his load.

• Why the long face? (1762)
  • A long face, one drawn downward in expression of sadness or solemnity, is from 1786
  • https://www.etymonline.com/word/long#etymonline_v_12412
• answering machines (1930s)
  • Invented in 1898 but likely reached customers by late 1930s
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answering/_machine#History
• Thatcher's breed (1975) and eighties creed (1980s)
  • People who benefited off deregulation, privatisation of key national industries, a 'flexible' labour market, marginalising trade unions, and centralising power from local authorities to central government.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcherism
• Moaning Minnies (1962)
  • A high-pitch screeching type of sound a mortar makes when fired since WWI, but used in the context of a complaining person in 1962.
  • https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/248700.html
• The burden fits the back (1950)
  • Chinese source "上帝使背得起重担。" → "God fits the back for the burden."
    • https://www.youwenw.cn/quote/318041
    • Could suggest that the phrase is reasonably universal that any audience would understand its meaning
  • English source "The Lord shapes the back to bear the burden placed upon it."
    • Thomas S. Monson, religious leader, religious career started in 1950.
    • https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/182742-the-lord-shapes-the-back-to-bear-the-burden-placed
• minimum wage (1349)
  • The first law occurred in 1349, though the meaning in this line seems sarcastic so perhaps this is again a reference to Thatcher (maybe she cut benefits whilst increasing the min wage?)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum/_wage#History
• Meldew / "Mildew" (???)
  • "A type of fungus that rots structures.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildew

• "Thatchers Breed/Eighties Creed" could be easily switched into "<current tyrant's> breed/ creed".
• The "answering machines" line in the context of "you gotta watch what you say" could be switched to "spies and the thieves" and still carry the same meaning.
• "Moaning minnies" is a quote directly from Thatcher herself on the miner's strike, so this could be changed into another line referencing an uncaring tyrant and still work since it does not need to rhyme.
• "burden fits the back" I think actually makes sense by itself, and most audiences would be able to work the meaning of either people creating their own problems, or people being molded by their troubles.
• "why the long face" doesn't need to rhyme with anything, so this could be changed to "why the sorrow" and still work