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Avangi Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Elipsis or poetic license?

(from a song written in 1951 - Manning & Stock)

And you and I are just like they [are]

For all we know our love is just a kiss away

Aside from the rhyming considerations,

"And you and I are just like them" sounds terrible!

Can this lyric be considered grammatical?

Thanks! - A.
  

Top answer

Hi Avangi, Naah - I think the lyrics of 'The Morning Side of the Mountain' use poetic license in abundance and "they" is there because it rhymes with away. Can this lyric be considered grammatical? - well, personally I don't think grammar should really apply to song lyrics.

— JohnParis

  • Hi Avangi, Naah - I think the lyrics of 'The Morning Side of the Mountain' use poetic license in abundance and "they" is there because it rhymes with away.
  • Can this lyric be considered grammatical?
  • - well, personally I don't think grammar should really apply to song lyrics.
  • Songwriters like Jerry Herman have been mixing and mashing grammar to the delight of audiences for nearly 60 years.
  • I couldn't expect talent like that to adapt lyrics to grammar.
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2 Answers
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Hi Avangi,

Naah - I think the lyrics of 'The Morning Side of the Mountain' use poetic license in abundance and "they" is there because it rhymes with away.

Can this lyric be considered grammatical? - well, personally I don't think grammar should really apply to song lyrics.

Songwriters like Jerry Herman have been mixing and mashing grammar to the delight of audiences fo
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Hi, John. Thanks for the reply.

In something like this, the answer is obvious:

For poor on'ry people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky

There's no possible verb to be elipsed.
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