Do you sit in meetings, scrolling through lyrics sites, counting how many words appear in Subterranean Homesick Blues?
One wonders how many of the lyrics are truthful, and how much Mering is constructing a character – there's a theme running through the songs, and it is that of someone declaring their love in a slightly terrifying way.
In "She Walks The Night," I love the lyrics, "How many times to her face did I lie and she wakes me when the sun comes out again".
It is impossible to know just how many trials have permitted rap lyrics as evidence because lyrics are often admitted and read in court without objection or questioning, so the stenographer does not take further note.
In Slipknot there were lyrics like, "How many times have you wanted to kill everything and everyone?" Songs by To My Surprise like "Blue" are a world away, with optimistic choruses like, "Blue belongs in the sky/ And not on you or I".
"How Many Drinks?" has sardonic, swaggering lyrics and a rap verse by Miguel, who veers between seducer and user.
Enta da Stage is still prominent among hip hop artists today, such as lyrics from "How Many MC's... ...... being used as a hook for Jedi Mind Trick's song "Speech Cobras".
The most political hip-hop band going generated much buzz with this debut, but how many people really listened to its lyrics about revolution, health food and sweet, respectful love?
You might still puzzle over the lyrics, no matter how many times you've sung it, and you might not know that the man responsible for the song as we know it is Robert Burns, the Scottish poet who was born on this day in 1759.
Today it's safe to say that risk paid off, but how many listeners are delving into the lyrics?
