If you haven’t noticed, I like to post fun videos on my site from time to time. Now I don’t make them and they’re usually something someone else found first. Occasionally, I’ll post a video for a song. When I do that, I like to include the lyrics because you can’t always understand the singer. LazyTown’s You are a Pirate is one such video, Unfortunately, there was a part of the song that I, nor anyone else, could figure out. So I wrote the folks over at LazyTown and asked them.
I’m not sure if you can help me but I figure this is a good place to start.
I’ve only seen a few episodes but so far I really enjoy the show and the songs. One song in particular that I enjoy is “You are a Pirate”. I’ve seen the video online and even found some sites with the lyrics which help me understand some of the faster parts of the song. But one line seems to elude me and I was hoping to get the official answer.
Towards the end of the song, there is a line that starts off;
Yarr har fiddle dee dee
Being a pirate is alright to be
Do what you want ?cause a pirate is free
You are a pirate!
Arr yarr ahoy and avastIt’s the next line that has me baffled. So far, I’ve found three interpretations which all sound plausible but none stand out as absolutely correct. I’ve seen these three lines…
1. dinky-dink-dink-a-dinkadefast!
2. dig in the dirt and you dig in it fast!
3. Dig a deep dig and you?re digging too fastCan you help?
I’m still waiting for a response. from anybody.
From the writer of the song himself “Diggity dirt and dig diggity fast” created perhaps the most mis-quoted lyric in LazyTown.”
Here’s an excerpt from a recent interview with Ken Pontac who wrote the lyrics to the song.
I sang the song to Máni and Stefan, and we all agreed we had a winner. I sang the song to Brown, and while she liked it she had one concern. “That lyric ‘Diggity dirt and dig figgity fast’ worries me. It sounds too close to ‘friggity’ and we don’t want people to think Robbie’s swearing.” I changed the line to “Diggity dirt and dig diggity fast” and created perhaps the most mis-quoted lyric in LazyTown. A few of the incorrect interpretations are:
“Dig a the dirt and dig it deep fast.”
“Dig in the dirt and you dig in it fast!”
“Dinky-dink-dink-a-dinkadefast!”
– That last person wasn’t trying very hard!
Also, there’s a line missing from the final version of the song. The lyric “Yar har wind at your back lads, wherever you go!” should actually read “Yar har, yo ho ho ho, wind at your back lads, wherever you go!” Then it would rhyme (I like my songs to rhyme). I had exited Iceland by the time the song was recorded, and was unable to make that correction. It bugs me every time!
A year or so later I checked YouTube to see if the song was on the Internets. I was amazed and delighted to find that the thing had become a huge meme, with over ten million hits on the basic version, and millions more hits on all the parodies, mash-ups, and drunken karaoke versions. I’m humbled by the response, and thankful for the opportunity to create something that has touched so many lives.
Thanks for the info John. Any chance you can cite the interview? I’d like to link to it to show that it’s a valid claim.
Sure ’nuff matey sorry it took three years for your answer but me pirate ship got caught up in some trade winds and we drank nothing but rum all these years waiting for shore. :)
http://lazytownpoint.com/PontacCom10.html
It’s a legitimate site. Been up for years the person who runs it has some good contacts with the lazytown people and gets a bunch of interviews from time to time. So legit in fact one interview he posted a while ago with Stefan Karl (Robbie Rotten) cause a riot in the lazytown fan sector. Stefan inadvertently revealed he was leaving Lazytown even the lazytown people themselves got involved and had him retract it as well as Stefan. Turns out months later it was true. For some reason they didn’t want to make it an official announcement at the time.