Slammin The Doors
SLAMMIN THE DOORS
Copyright 2004. Michael LaRocca
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon now touch me baby
Can't you see that I am not afraid?
What was that promise that you made?
Why won't you tell me what she said?
What was that promise that you made?
Now I'm gonna love you 'til the heavens stop the rain
I'm gonna love you 'til the stars fall from the sky for you and I
SLAM!!
Great song, but it's time for Michael to slam The Doors. Michael,
self-appointed grammar police. Bad career choice, by the way. Ya
oughta see the questions I get in my email.
"For you and I." It's wrong. Always has been, always will be.
Even though it rhymes.
I have two ways to do this. I can turn teacher, since that's my
job from time to time. Or I can turn goofball, just because I
enjoy it so much. Let's do it both ways.
Teacher: "For" is a preposition. The nouns that follow this word
are objects of the preposition. Thus, they must be in the
objective case.
"You" is one of those easy words that is the same regardless of
case (subjective/objective) or even singular/plural. Unless
you're from Down South, in which case we say y'all, or from
Brooklyn, in which case youse will say youse, or from
Pennsylvania, in which case younse will say younse, or...
But I digress. "I" is subjective and "me" is objective. Since
these pronouns are objects of the preposition "for" they must be
objective case. Thus it should be "for you and me" and the rhyme
is shot.
WAKE UP CLASS!
Goofball: Pretend "you" isn't even there. Let's look at what
remains. "'til the stars fall from the sky for I." Wrong! You
know in your heart of hearts that this is wrong. Trust your
instincts. You really want to say "'til the stars fall from the
sky for (you and) me." So, say it!
If Jim Morrison is in fact dead, he's not rolling over in his
grave because I corrected his grammar. No doubt he knew the rule
but chose to break it. And that's fine. We can break the rules
whenever we want. We be authors. But, if we have no clear reason
for breaking the rules, or we just don't know the rules, we be
looking stupid. And that, friends and neighbors, inhibits
understanding. We never want to do that. Writing is telepathy.
From my head to your head. Let's keep the impediments to a
minimum.
About the Author
Michael LaRocca's website at http://freereads.topcities.com was
chosen by WRITER'S DIGEST as one of The 101 Best Websites For
Writers in 2001 and 2002. He published two novels in 2002 and has
two more scheduled for publication in 2004. He also works as an
editor for an e-publisher. He teaches English at a university in
Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China, and publishes the free weekly
newsletter Mad About Books.