Thread: What is he actually singing? (in "California Stars" by Billy Bragg)

Originally Posted by oldboy

I'd love to feel your hand touching mine
And tell me why I must keep working on?
Yes, I'd give my life to lay my head tonight
On a bed of California stars

I might make a be mistaken, but I listen to hear something like "/brɪkɪŋaʊ/" instead of "working on".
What is he actually singing?

I listened, and you're right -- it DOES sound like /brɪkɪŋaʊ/!

But he's really saying "working on," trust me!

By the way, in regular colloquial speech, the word order here would probably be "I must keep on working" -- that is, most native speakers would understand that on really "belongs" to the verb keep ("to keep on" = "to continue").

But for the sake of meter/melody, Bragg splits the verb phrase "keep on" and sings "keep working on" -- which is completely correct, but not the most natural order in speech.

P.S. Note that the consonant w is "voiced," and that's why the "voiceless" p sounds like a b here: as though he's saying I muskee bworkin' on.