Lyr Req: 'I want ta/won't sing ' - which?

Subject: Lyr Req: 'I want ta/won't sing ' - which?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Jun 03 - 05:40 PM

To wind up the Leigh on Sea (Southend) folk festival this weekend the local film society put on "Down from the Mountain" - the concert spon-off from "Oh Brother where art thou?"

Great stuff, and I hadn't seen it before, and that was the right situation to see it.

But one thing puzzled me - a song that to my ears was quite definitely "I won't sing that rock and roll", by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings - but then at the end when the credits rolled it was "I want to sing that Rock and Roll" But it makes as much and maybe more sense the way I heard it, and when I found the lyrics on the net that still applied.

I was wondering if there was an intentional ambiguity built in to it, so you could hear it either way - which would be consistent with what Gillian Welch has to say on this site, when she talks about "the dark days when rock and roll was just killin' 'em, around 1957-58."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'I want ta/won't sing ' - which?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Jul 03 - 05:11 AM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'I want ta/won't sing ' - which?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 03 Jul 03 - 09:20 AM

Looks like nobody has posted this yet.

Lyrics copied from http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/WelchGillian/SingThatRockAndRolltab.html

I WANT TO SING THAT ROCK AND ROLL
(Gillian Welch and David Rawlings)

CHORUS: I want to sing that rock and roll.
I want to 'lectrify my soul,
'Cause everybody been makin' a shout,
So big and loud, been drownin' me out.
I want to sing that rock and roll.

I want to reach that Glory Land.
I want to shake my Savior's hand. CHORUS

I been a-traveling near and far,
But I want to lay down my old guitar. CHORUS

I been a-traveling near and far,
But I want to lay down my old guitar. CHORUS

I want to sing that rock and roll.

[As sung by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on "Down from the Mountain"; also on "Time (The Revelator)."]

McGrath: I think the individual words aren't meant to be ambiguous; that is, you weren't meant to hear "I won't sing..." However, I do think the tone of the whole song is ironic. Or maybe it's meant to represent the transient (I hope) feeling of envy that folk musicians sometimes have for rock stars. Obviously, Welch and Rawlings haven't laid down their old guitars. But I see, from a review of "Soul Journey" that they have added some electric instruments.

In my opinion, the real appeal of the song is its sound. It has a catchy tune, and then there is the beautiful blending of Welch's and Rawlings' voices--even more so on "Dear Someone."

So why is it Welch gets top billing and nearly all the credit and Rawlings is hardly mentioned? I see Rawlings is listed as producer of their records, so maybe it's his choice, but in my opinion, they should be billed as equals.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'I want ta/won't sing ' - which?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 04 Jul 03 - 06:12 AM

Still sounds to me like "I won't sing that roack and roll" and I won't lay down my old guitar".

Either way, that's what it presumably means - ironically if it's "I want to" and literally if it's "I won't". And it sounds the same either way, because of the way the spoken or sung language works

That seems to me such a neat bit of ambiguity in a song that I'd like to think it'ss intentional. I've been trying to think of other examples where this kind of thing happens in a song, but I haven't yet - intentional use of mondegreens.