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2001-12-03 | 7:43 a.m.

When I hear an old pop song for the first time in years, very often I'm struck by how sloooowww it sounds. I heard Madonna's "Borderline" the other day and she practically has time to go out for fish and chips in between the words. But then again, she's a dancer, and probably needs to build in panting room.

I can hardly bear Madonna's singing, by the way. But that's neither here nor there.

Okay, let's take "Anarchy in the U.K." by the Sex Pistols. Hard to believe they were criticized for being frantic, isn't it? The actual song is almost dirge-like in comparison to what my imagination had planned.

I was surprised, then, to hear Cher's "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves" this morning. This has become Jasper's favorite lullaby over the past couple of nights, as sung by me, and Duff downloaded it for me to reveal that elusive third verse. It's not an easy song to sing in the first place, at least for me while lying down, but Cher's version is about twice as fast as mine. It's positively jaunty.

I also need the lyrics to "House of the Rising Sun." There are so few songs I know the words to---even half the words---that I need to maximize my repertoire.

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