Categories: uncategorized
Date: 11 January 2008 09:14:16
I thought Llandudno was full of arabs.
I thought it for a very, very long time and only realized that it was London not Llandudno when I saw a printed copy of the words a couple of years ago. I don't think it even occurred to me before then that I might have been mis-hearing the name. It did seem a strange place to mention, but then there's plenty else that's strange (at least to a 10 year old's ears) in that song, so why not Llandudno?
More recently I've been trying to understand why I didn't hear the word London. And I think it's at least partly because I have such a strange relationship with that place. And to some extent it's that it simply doesn't exist for me, in the same way that if you talk to someone from one particular village and ask them about their county, then they'll struggle to answer because the county is not a homogeneous or coherent entity to them - it comprises lots of different parts each with quite different characteristics.
But this morning it came to me that actually my mis-hearing Llandudno in place of London just sums me up perfectly. It's a perfect example of how I never understand anything anyone ever says to me because instead of the perfectly obvious and natural meaning that they intend, I hear some obscure variant that, with enough shoehorns, does actually fit to the words they've said. Just like the syllables of Llandudno do, if you try and make them, fit what is sung in that song. I guess it's a kind of deafness (which reminds me of another story, for another day) and similarly infuriating, probably for the speaker who I'm misinterpreting and certainly for me. It's difficult to understand where it's come from, and very difficult to see how to shake it off. Any suggestions?