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Something to sing about

Posted by RRC on April 18, 2008 at 21:39:

In Reply to: Something to sing about posted by Maggie on April 18, 2008 at 12:36:

: Joss Wheadon?

: I have just seen a phrase from Buffy The Vampire Slayer's musical episode show up in a song by the band Paramore and have also seen it other places. I am curious if Joss originated it or it is older than that. The phrase is "Something to sing about" like, "I need something to sing about", indicating that the singer needs something to make them feel/happy. I am almost certain it is not a Joss original, but does anyone know where it did come from?

"Something to Sing About" is the title of a 1937 film starring James Cagney - long before Joss Whedon was born in 1964. I mention that because two posts below this is "Lady Killer" which was the title a 1933 film also starring James Cagney. Interesting coincidence.

This particular kind of phrase is hard to trace as it is more of a pattern than a set phrase... we can have something to cry about, something to crow about, something to talk about, something to laugh about, ... so we wouldn't really know which came first until we'd researched every possibility.

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