Lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nENIu0D4mJ0

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)

  • tetris11@lemmy.mlOPMEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    This song contains references to:

    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)
    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)
    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)
    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.

    Quick Assessment

    Likely 1990s for someone to get all the references, but someone around in 1835 would understand 50% of the references.

    Modifications

    • 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.

    Verdict

    Other than the cartoonish stuff, I think this song could be modified to be understood by someone from the 1800s.