Interdating. HDAS change 3 usu. pl. Esp. Black E. ...

[Laurence Horn]

On Sep 2, 2014, at 1:59 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> On December 31, 1970, a live concert by the group, Band of Gypsys, was
> recorded. Intro-ing one of the cuts, Jimi Hendrix says:
> 
> "Buddy Miles gonna do this thing he wrote called 'Dem Changes'."
> 
> Buddy Miles then proceeds to sing,
> 
> "Well, my mind is going through them changes."
> 
> No idea why Jimi says "dem," whereas the composer says "them."
> 
> In my day, "changes" in the relevant was *always* plural and *never*
> singular. By the late date of the singulars cited, I was at UC Davis and
> MIT, hence cut off from the cool world. To *cause* a person to go through
> the changes is to "put him through the changes," "shoot him through the
> changes," as well as "take...'' "Shoot him through the grease," with a
> similar meaning, probably contaminated the original to give "shoot ...
> changes."
> 
> A girlfriend who breaks your heart puts you through the changes. A strange
> girl who shines you on shoots you through the grease.
> 
> My intuition, AKA "WAG," is that this evolved from "going through the
> changes" [of key and tempo and even of instrument] involved in playing
> music.
> 
And more recently, there's the memorable verse from Linda Ronstadt's "Poor poor pitiful me" (actually written by Warren Zevon in the 1970s):

Well I met a man out in Hollywood
Now I ain't naming names
Well he really worked me over good
Just like Jesse James
Yes he really worked me over good
He was a credit to his gender
Put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender

LH

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