In the song “Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head” there is the line
“And I just did me some talking to the sun”.
Is such a construction usual for English or is it, to say, a poetic deviation?
Does the presence of the word “some” look fomally correct?
It’s poetic, though my understanding is it is used occasionally (colloquially), though the use would be localised.
“I got me a good price for that old car.”
“I found me a bargain.”
Possible more formal versions of the original line would be
“So I spoke to the sun…”/
“So I had a little word with the sun” - no ‘some’
That line is followed by
“And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done
sleeping on the job”
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Does “sleeping on the job” imply that at one moment the sun “slept” and after it happened things went into the wrong way or that the sun was sleeping on the job but “things”, to say, was doing what they wanted to do? Or, in other words, does “sleeping” contain completeness?
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Should “sleeping on the job” be separated by a coma?
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Is it regarded as an absolute phrase?
Thanks.
‘Sleeping on the job’ should be separated by a comma from the line before. (You have to remember that normal grammar rules do not apply to song lyrics anyway!)
To be “Asleep/sleeping on the job” is a phrase that has an idiomatic meaning in addition to its literal meaning.
Used literally, it’s a description of a sleepy worker who nods off during a quiet moment.
As an idiom, “asleep on the job” means not doing what you should be doing; not doing a job properly. I suspect that this is the meaning that was in the mind of Hal David (the lyricist). The sun was not doing his job properly because, instead of shining it was allowing the rain to fall.
The idiomatic phrase can be used in any situation in which a person fails to carry out their responsibilities (even if they aren’t really sleeping). You could say, “The government has been asleep on the job for years.” Of course the government hasn’t been literally asleep, but they’ve neglected their responsibilities.
I think it’s used in the USA.
A song called “Thank God I’m a country boy” by John Denver goes like this:
“Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle…”
From the answers I have got the idea that “I did me some talking” implies “I did me something”, but maybe “I did me some talking” is a “continuous” analogue of “I did talk to the sun” (like “I do/did recommend you”, etc)?
As I said: