Old LA
In his customary overly-critical analysis of pop music lyrics, Todd in the Shadows comments on a line in 1974's Beach Baby, written by John (Carter) and Gillian Shakespeare, and performed by The First Class. This example of British bubblegum pop whimsy opens with this truly excruciating rhyming couplet:
Do you remember back in old LA? When everybody drove a Chevrolet?
Just drink that in for a moment. Un-freakin'-believable, no?
I love it when Brits talk about America. No Americans have ever said the words old LA.
Todd in the Shadows, ONE HIT WONDERLAND: "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes" by Edison Lighthouse
Neither, to my knowledge, have any Brits, Todd. Unless they were writing the lyrics for a throwaway bubblegum pop song, and wanted the lines to scan. (pipe)
I'm not attempting to defend Beach Baby. It's trite, but not unpleasant—aside from the toe-curling opening, that is. But how many pop songs, including classics, don't have at least some WTF moments in the lyrics? Especially when they're included in the cause of rhyme or rhythm.