Friday, February 15, 2008

Mr. Mister

I want to talk about the song Kyrie Eleison by Mr. Mister. Remember it from the '80s? Here is a link to the song, so you can refresh your memory.

I must have heard that song hundreds of times over the past few decades. Today I heard it and finally decided I'd had enough of trying to figure out what they were saying. Here are the lyrics to the mystery part:

Kyrie Eleison
Down the road that I must travel
Kyrie Eleison
Through the darkness of the night.
Kyrie Eleison
Where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie Eleison
On a highway in the night.

OK, so no wonder I didn't understand it. But then I found out from that YouTube clip above that it's not a name, like I was thinking, but that kyrie eleison means "Lord have mercy." It's Greek. So it's not just a weird name, or nonsense, after all. I guess if I went to church, I'd know this?

During my search, I found that many people were equally confused. Here are some of the misheard lyrics, as found on amiright.com:

Carrying a raisin down the road that I must follow
Carrying a lesbian ...
Carrying a laser ...
Curious lesbian ...
Kill me a lizard ...
Tearing your leg off ...
Kyeweyalayal--[kyew e weyh yah lay yal]--down this road that I must travel. (this was what I thought it was, too)

and my personal favorite:
Little kitties in lace along the road that I must travel...

And here is one now:

Photobucket

((I have taken this image from a place that sells such kittens, so it's linkable to their site. I think this is the decent thing to do and hope they don't get mad. An image of kitties in lace is not easy to come by.))

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This is hilarious!

Anonymous said...

That's so funny! I was just reading my Music History text about the Middle Ages and Renaissance Periods and it said Kyrie eleison is Lord have mercy! I remembered the song too and bought it on Itunes to do my research-AND googled the lyrics! Bingo! A sudden burst of JOY!

It's great! keep on being happy!
N