Such Language

It's easy to get lost in streaming video, just like the internet itself: one views an article or video, clicks on a related item, then goes to another, etc., and four hours are gone.

(Amazon image)

On Netflix I've been watching episodes of Glee, which I missed when it ran on Fox from 2009 to 2015. (Confession: I usually fast-forward through the drama about the members of a high-school glee club and go right to the song-and-dance numbers.)

Two episodes of Season 4 were devoted to Grease. Performed by the Glee cast, the tunes were catchy, and the choreography was professional quality. So I gave the 1978 film, also streaming on Netflix, another look. I enjoyed it far more than I did when it first came out. The film had non-stop kinetic energy, and leads John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John showed why they were apex entertainers in the '70's and '80's.

A new generation of YouTube reviewers has been impressed by the 42-year-old musical.

But this is not another geezer posting about the talent back in his day. This is about language--how in the 1970's movies and music could get away with words that would not get past the self-censorship of today.

Below are the lyrics from Greased Lightning, a paean to a car and the sexual hopes of teen-aged boys. By the way, Grease was and is rated PG:

(Image from Vanity Fair)

Greased Lightnin'

Why this car is automatic
It's systematic
It's hydromatic
Why it's greased lightnin'! (Grease lightnin'!)

We'll get some overhead lifters, and four-barrel quads, oh yeah
(Keep talkin', oh keep talkin')
Fuel injection cut off, and chrome plated rods, oh yeah
(I'll get the money, I'll kill to get the money)
With a four-speed on the floor, they'll be waitin' at the door
You know that ain't no shit
We'll be gettin' lots of tit in grease lightnin'

Go, grease lightnin', you're burnin' up the quarter mile
(Grease lightnin', go grease lightnin')
Go, grease lightnin', you're coastin' through the heat lap trials
(Grease lightnin', go grease lightnin')
You are supreme, the chicks'll cream for grease lightnin'

We'll get some purple French tail lights and thirty-inch fins, oh yeah
A palomino dashboard and dual muffler twins, oh yeah
With new pistons, plugs, and shocks, I can get off my rocks
You know that I ain't braggin',
She's a real pussy wagon - grease lightnin'

Go, grease lightnin', you're burnin' up the quarter mile
(Grease lightnin', go grease lightnin')
Go, grease lightnin', you're coastin' through the heat lap trials
(Grease lightnin', go grease lightnin')
You are supreme, the chicks'll cream for grease lightnin'

Go, grease lightnin', you're burnin' up the quarter mile
(Grease lightnin', go grease lightnin')
Go, grease lightnin', you're coastin' through the heat lap trials
(Grease lightnin', go grease lightnin')
You are supreme, the chicks'll cream for grease lightnin'