I was in the locker room at the pool today, about to go swimming, and next to me was a guy who had just finished changing back into his street clothes. I took note of him because he was singing to himself. He was singing Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." It was kinda nice listening to him, but when he got to the chorus, here's how he sang it:
"So goodbye Yellow Brick Road/Where the da da da da da da da. Ya can't bah bah da da da house/ I'm da da da da da."
It made complete sense to me that this man didn't know all the lyrics. I mean, have you ever heard "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"? The chorus is super hard to make out. However, because I really like the song, I know the text by heart.
Anyway, after I heard how this guy sang the chorus, I kept going back and forth with myself: "Should I tell him the lyrics? Should I just keep my mouth shut?"
By now, he was looking at his phone, so I thought maybe the moment had passed. But then for some reason, I thought, "Nah, fuck it," so I turned to him and said, "Do you know what the lyrics actually are?" He looked up at me and smiled, and before I let him say anything else, I said, "So goodbye Yellow Brick Road/Where the dogs of society howl."
He kinda of stopped me there and said, "What exactly is it? 'Growl'"? I shook my head and said: "Where the dogs of society howl." I then continued: "You can't plant me in your penthouse/I'm going back to my plough."
"My what?" he said. "I didn't get that."
"My plough, like a farmer."
He caught on immediately, "Ah, my plough...like going back to the roots."
"Exactly," I said.
In the end, I was glad I said something.
