September 2017 – Page 10 – Michael Seidel, writer

Today’s music comes because my wife and I mis-heard song lyrics. This is sometimes called an ononym, but is often called a mondegreen.

Jon Carroll used to write about mondegreens in his SF Chronicle column. (Maybe he still does. My subscription ended.) Along with his commentary about his cats, Archie and Bucket, I enjoyed these mondegreen columns. Although I didn’t know what a mondegreen was, I first encountered one with Jimi Hendrix. He was singing, “Excuse me, while I kiss the sky.” I heard him telling me he was going to kiss a guy. Like most mondegreens, I wasn’t alone in my mis-hearing.

That’s the same today. There’s a Calvin Harris song out called “Feels.” The song features Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, and Big Sean. It was the Katy Perry part that confused us. We were certain Katy was singing, “Don’t be afraid to catch fish.”

Being semi-rational sentient individuals, my other and I wondered, what the hell? Why is she singing about fish? Is this a reference to there being many fish in the sea? Perhaps fish was another euphemism for dating or sex.

What? Really?

Reaching home, I employed a minute to search for the truth. First, I wasn’t alone; lots of us thought Katy Perry was singing about fish. Most of us are older.

Second, Katy Perry was singing, “Don’t be afraid to catch feels.”

Well, honestly, ‘catch feels’ made little more sense than catching fish, but at least we knew the truth. Listen for yourself, then tell me that it doesn’t sound like fish.

Jimi Hendrix took me like he’d done so many others. I heard his music and thought, “Whoa. Who is that?”

Hendrix died when I was in my freshman year at high school. School had just begun a few weeks before. Attending John H. Linton Intermediate school, I was smitten with Melissa Smith. Melissa sat behind me in science. I was shy, so Melissa took it upon her to talk to me. Her opening gambit was about music. First we talked about “Tommy” and other Who songs. Then Hendrix died, so we talked about his music and death. Funny, but in my memory, Melissa was my opposite. She dressed in a preppie style, skirts, blouses and sweaters, while my attire skated along the spectrum toward unkempt hippie. My hair was a wild and curly mess while she sported something from “That Girl.” Nevertheless, we liked each other.

Years after Hendrix’s passing, I learned about his influence on the British musicians, like Clapton, Lennon, Jagger, Jones, and Townsend. Their interest and impressions of him provided me with a vicarious bond to the times. Almost fifty hears later, “Fire” energizes me in a way few other songs ever do.