What Lyric Writing Sometimes Feels Like, Demonstrated by Hugh Laurie

house_hugh_laurie-711333This is Hugh Laurie of( Dr. Gregory) House M.D. fame, singing a comedic song, Mystery, during a June 2006 appearance on Inside the Actor’s Studio. The song was originally from the show A Bit of Fry and Laurie.

I’m not posting this for performance, or lyrics or musicality. Rather, I’m posting it because the way Hugh put a little acting into all the little spots in the song as if he were improvising. At various points, he pretends to struggle to come up with a rhyme, the idea for the next verse, how to manipulate a word to rhyme, making up new words, squeezing in entire phrases, etc.

What all that feels like is the struggle, and mystery, of lyric writing for songwriting. The various methods, successes and failures of “creativity” to find that elusive lyric, sometimes forced and sometimes “enlightened”, are demonstrated well, I thought. The song is simple enough you can just sit and dissect the lyrics, which are included under the video below. The tune and musical chord progressions are nice and simple, too.

Besides that, I’m not sure I can say much about the “mystery” of lyric writing. It just kind of feels this way, if you’ve never experienced it yourself.

If you have, I’d love to hear your descriptions of it. Thanks!

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Mystery
All my life has been a mystery
You and I were never ever meant to be
That’s why I call my love for you a mystery

Different country
You and I have always lived in a different country
And I know that airline tickets don’t grow on a tree
So what kept us apart is plain (plane?) for me to see
That much at least is not really a mystery

Estuary
I live in a houseboat on an estuary
Which is handy for my work with the Port Authority
But I know you would have found it insanitary
Insanitary

Hated me
I’d be foolish to ignore the possibility
That if we’d ever actually met, you might have really taken a violent dislike to me
Still, that’s not the only problem that I can see

Dead since 1993
You’ve been dead now . . . wait a minute, let me see…
Fourteen years come next Jan-uary
As a human being you are history

So why do I still long for you?
Why is my love so strong for you?
Why did I write this song for you?
Well, I guess it’s just a mystery

Just a mystery
Mystery!

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 6.9

Random Acts of Kindness Challenge: A Facebook 2.0 Picture Tagging Meme

Here’s a Facebook picture tagging meme that will allow you to make a difference in the world while having fun! It’s for the real people who live life in the real world, not Facebook addicts stuck in the virtual world.

The potential of social media like Facebook and the Web 2.0 is its ability to organize people. However, there’s a lot of doubt about it because of how people use it a lot for games like traditional themed Facebook tagging memes. Nobody gets up to do anything to make difference in the world with them, and might even annoy some people.

I had tried to evolve these Facebook picture tagging memes previously with versions like Should Try and Dare to Wear, where you have to do something to fulfill them rather than just tag someone to a picture. However, this Random Acts of Kindness challenge is even better because there is a true benefit with each action taken by someone. They are also practical, costing either just a little bit of money or time. Best of all, they’ll make you feel good about yourself, and someone else feel good about life and the world!

So are you up for the challenge to tag it on and recruit your friends to make the world a better place?

Here’s how to get this graphic for your Facebook contribution to a better world:

  • Click on the picture below to get it at full size.
  • Right click on that picture and save to your computer.
  • Upload it to your Facebook profile.
  • Tag your friends!
  • Click the Back button on your browser to return to this post.

Please click here for a complete list of over 100 Facebook picture tagging memes on this site with which you can use for fun with your friends.


You may wish to hand out or leave a card with your random act of kindness (click to enlage, save and print out), although it is not customary to do so.

  • Cover another rider’s fare. The next time you’re on the bus, find someone who doesn’t have a pass and offer to pay so they can save their ticket or change.
  • Run an errand for someone. You’ll probably need to know the person/s because there is some trust required here, but your time is more valuable than your money.
  • Leave quarters at a pay phone. You can leave it on top of the phone or tape it to a RAK card.
  • Make goodie basket for seniors home. Unless you know someone at the home, it’s probably best to just buy some things because for safety’s sake, they will be cautious to take gifts out of the blue from strangers. Such is the world in which we live.
  • Make or buy lunch for a homeless person. If you don’t want to create expectations, you might want to do this where you don’t walk frequently.
  • Plug a parking meter. If you can afford more than a few dollars, you can plug the whole block! It’s even funner if you pick a busy block and make a scene. 🙂
  • Refuse to pay for a task. We all do things that people give us money for from time to time. Refuse it the next time. Or volunteer one of your professional skills.
  • Leave an extra large tip. Remember, 15% is the standard tipping rate. Make it at least 25%, eh?
  • Show up to volunteer at a building project. This may not be easy to find, especially if you live in cold weather during winter, but often, there are a lot of simple labour jobs anyone showing up can do. Just ask and they’ll probably let you. They may keep you safe away from the action, but if it’s menial, do you think those paid to do it enjoy it any more than you would?
  • Buy someone lottery tickets. This is risky cause if they win, you could feel bad. But RAKs aren’t about that. Besides, how often do you get to look someone in the eye and say “Do you feel lucky today?”
  • Pick up litter on your block. You can do this all year round, not just when tagged on Facebook, and it has real value to everyone who goes through. Better yet, organize a small group to do this regularly.
  • Make baked goods for a shelter. Shelters don’t often get home made stuff, just things out of cans and so on. Baked goods would be a nice surprise treat for people if you deliver it directly, bringing ID if they don’t know you. I’ve heard baked goods are not liked by shelters because they don’t know their origins, freshness state and so on, and that’s true if they get it in a box. But if you come with a smile on your face, and ID if they want to check, I’m sure they’ll love you for it.

You can search “random acts of kindness” for other ideas, but what I found was that a lot of them were either impractical (visit a nursing home where they won’t likely let strangers in), may not satisfy someone (giving candies to kids whose Parents are trying to teach them discipline or prevent cavities), or are just expected out of good citizens (donate seat on bus to elderly).

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Most Likely To… The Evolution of a Facebook Tagging Meme

Note: Since this posting, I have evolved Facebook picture tagging memes on my own ideas far beyond this concept I saw. My ideas involve real world and life actions rather than just associating ideas. They are listed under the Action memes category, involving what I call Facebook 2.0 tagging memes.

The pictorial Facebook tagging memes that have been going around in many variations seems to have evolved into that common high school year book feature, the Most Likely To… page. I saw one just hours ago, but it was so poorly done (mostly due to almost unreadable small type) I went and created my own, text, picture compilation and all. Here’s how to get it:

  • Click on the picture below to get it at full size.
  • Right click on that picture and save to your computer.
  • Upload it to your Facebook profile.
  • Tag your friends or let them tag themselves.

Please click here for a complete list of over 100 Facebook picture tagging memes on this site with which you can use for fun with your friends.

In case you don’t recognize some of the people in my new version, they are as follows, left to right:

  • Top: Peyton Manning, Wangari Matthai, Osama bin Laden, Paris Hilton, Jet Li
  • Middle: Pamela Anderson, Bob Dylan, Oprah Winfrey, the current Dalai Lama, Sue Johannson
  • Bottom: Claudia Schiffer, Martha Stewart, Bill Gates, Anna Nicole Smith, Barack Obama

You can Google these people if you want to know more about who they are, and maybe guess why I’ve put labeled each as such.

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Simpsons Facebook Tagging Meme Poster

Today’s offering is The Simpsons, so Simpsons fans, let’s see how you stack up against Hello Kitty, Superheroes and Mr/Ms fans from your interest and downloads!

  • Click on the Simpsons poster below to get it at full size.
  • Right click on that picture and save to your computer.
  • Upload it to your Facebook profile.
  • Tag your friends (or let them tag themselves).
  • Click the Back button on your browser to return to this post.

Please click here for a complete list of over 100 Facebook picture tagging memes on this site with which you can use for fun with your friends.

Please click here for graphics from the poster below which you can use for your Facebook profile at full profile size (and in some other applications, too). No names appears with the profile pictures.

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