Mondegreen is the phenomenon of mishearing lyrics or sounds. Song lyrics are the most famous example of tone deaf singers convinced they are singing the right lyrics & giving a whole new meaning with their rendition.
This post is about the visual equivalent.There must be a term for it.
Back in 1976, September, it was sunny and bright, really was, I would pass Sidcup Police Station every morning & afternoon on my way to St. Joseph's Convent on Hatherley Road. This blog has lots on the Convent!
The police station above (a more recent photo) had a poster stuck on its board alongside WANTED posters. Those posters did include armed robbery & a photofit of 'Wanted for MURDER' Reward £5000.
But the poster which grabbed my eye every day was one dominated by a human skull with the title RABIES KILLS I was having a good education & read books so aged 5 I could read this poster, except I read it as RABBIS KILL. I didn't ask my mother who was with me why this scaremongering piece of antisemitism was being promoted by the MET police.
After weeks of being perplexed & offended I did stop my mother one morning & demand answers as to why this hate filled poster was not causing public complaint. She corrected me & that it was not a Protocol of the Elders of Zion propaganda.
The police station has now reopened as bar! I like balconies in architecture so I had some affection for this building despite it's forthright facade which says "we have cells", "we are looking to bang you up."
What is missing is the
As I am fascinated by design I do like the design of these police lights based on a square tetrahedron. Ultramarine blue which turns Egyptian blue when the light is lit.
On Mondegreen's a one that every heavy metal fan of Black Sabbath gets wrong is
Sign of the Southern Cross during the Ronnie James Dio era Mob Rules 1982.
The lyric EVERYONE hears is:
"Give life to those who have died"
which conveys the optimistic idea of resurrection achieved by the spiritual practices of the living
"Give a KNIFE to those who have died."
This is an ancient practice of condemning those who had died & were considered evil or dishonourable. To stab & so kill again the abhorred dead person. It also symbolises the severing of all ties with the deceased & that the corpse will not receive funerary rites.
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