Comments on: Mondegreens as ads

By: smithers

smithers — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 23:28:31 +0000

by the way, why is KENTUCKY fried chicken using sweet home ALABAMA in their new commercial?

By: David

David — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 23:17:20 +0000

I have always felt that the song was about drinking. Now I have absolutly no proof of this, but hear me out:
Harry is awakened by a very late phone call one night. There is a woman (perhaps an old girlfriend) on the other end who is very sick and has been throwing up. She tells him that she went out on a date that started by drinking Pina Coladas. Later at a Mexican restaurant, she started drinking Margaritas. The combination (and amounts) have made her violently ill, and she begs him to come over. He tells her to call a doctor, and then hangs up. Not being able to go back to sleep, he writes a song.

By: walt

walt — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 22:55:49 +0000

Shawn, you could be right, and the song might be based on traditional/folk sources. Thanks for the info.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 22:08:16 +0000

Well i for one assumed there was a coca connection

When the indigenous Peruvians chew coca leaves they chew it with a little lime powder( the rock, not the fruit). They need to be mixed together so that the coca leaf chewer can absorb the mild stimulant.

Our friend’s conservative mom was travelling in Peru in the 60’s. She was having stomach pain and at one of the little markets there an herbalist sold her coca leaves to make a tea to releave her stomach pain. She found it very effective. Not knowing it was illegal, or maybe it wasn’t then, she brought back a suitcase of the stuff. Nobody at the various borders noticed anything wrong with her suitcase full of leaves. Anyway once home the leaves ended up unused in the pantry. At some point we found out what these leaves were and chewed up quite a lot of them one night - no effect at all. We had not put the lime in the coca and mixed them all together.

So of course when i heard the song that was what i thought

By: Colonel Fink

Colonel Fink — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:26:53 +0000

This song has puzzled me for years.

I’ve thought cocaine, I’ve thought abortion, but neither seem to fit exactly. Perhaps they were guide lyrics for the music which he liked and decided to keep.

In conclusion if an otter slept in a wheelbarrow would it be likely to qualify for official olympic memorabilia status?

By: Satchmo1

Satchmo1 — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 11:31:40 +0000

All this overanalyzing is driving me crazee! Harry wrote a great song and his family deserves all the money they can make from Coke or any other company that can make a Harry song work for them. There is no hidden meaning. Harry was in a class of his own and the Coconut song is only one of many that took simplicity to the highest level. Visit the Harry Nilsson web site and get with the program!

By: C

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 00:32:46 +0000

Saw this on another site, if it strikes a chord

“Put the lime in the coconut”–
(which, by the way, was Harry Nilsson’s take on goofy Caribbean songs [location/theme connexion], and folk medicine [theme of healing] by way of
John Lennon & all the drugs they were doing.

By: walt

walt — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 18:12:34 +0000

I have no knowledge of anything other than Nilsson’s song itself or of hidden meanings. And yes, I believe what the sister did and what the doctor told her to do were the same…

Nilsson’s listed as sole composer for the song, but of course if he adapted it from “folk” music, that might be the credit.

By: Fredi

Fredi — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 01:08:58 +0000

Having heard the song many times, listened to “Put the Lime in the Coconut” driving home from work tonight with my friend Beth. We were trying to figure out the difference between what the sister did with the lime and the coconut AND what the doctor told her to do. OK, aren’t they both exactly the same? I figured it was like “Take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning…What did you call me for anyway?” Was the song any kind of folk ballad before Nillson recorded it?

By: Niki

Niki — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 00:11:13 +0000

I was told that Lime and Coconut were a way they used to cover up a drug like arsenic. To poison someone - anyone got a lead on that???