This period was also known as the Tin Pan Alley era in American Songwriting. The most popular stuttering song ever is probably K-K-K-aty, a World War One era ditty played in dance halls throughout the States and Canada at the beginning of the century. They include You Tell Her I Stutter, where a man tries to get his buddy to set him up with a girl he likes, and Oh Helen, where the singer stutters on her name and it comes out "Hel-Hel-Helen" - considered funny because the singer is cursing with the word "hell", as he does when singing the word "damsel" that comes out "dam-dam-damsel". Mostly, they depict a man who stutters out of nervousness around a woman he wants to ask on a date. But most of the songs cited are older, some going back to the 1800s. The Stuttering Homepage has a list of songs that feature stuttering, some of which are relatively recent, like the awful Stutter Rap, made popular in Britain in the 1980s and Bob Dylan's The Ugliest Girl in the World. The song is quite popular, and they even performed it during half-time at the Grey Cup last November. The video is bizarre, set in what looks like a 1940s dance hall. His stuttering surprises him, as he asks " D-D-D-D-did I stutter?" in the chorus. The Canadian band Marianas Trench's song, Stutter, seems to be about a man who stutters out of nervousness when he tries to ask a girl to dance. Does she know kids who stutter are being teased with the lyrics to her song? This involved many artists who participated in the charity cover of Cyndi Lauper's tune "True Colors", and has spoken out against bullying in interviews. Fefe Dobson herself has been involved in an anti-bullying campaign, "ArtistAgainst". For kids who stutter, a popular song mimicking stuttering can be agonizing, as it is repeated by schoolmates to torment them. It is bothersome that stuttering is once again being used to indicate dishonesty. You sound guilty, 'cause you’re stutterin’ Fefe's song, Stuttering, is about a girl trying to get the truth out of her boyfriend who is lying to her. Two examples from the past three years are Canadian recording artists Fefe Dobson and the band Marianas Trench. Sometimes musicians use it as a musical device –– the repetition of sounds in a song for effect –– and sometimes to communicate nervousness or dishonesty. Many stutterers can sing fluently, and would not sound that way. But songs that incorporate stuttering in the lyrics can often be annoying. One must admit that You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet is a great song. But the band's manager thought the stuttering version had more character, and it ended up being used for the album.
Randy performed a version of the song with stuttering in the chorus as a tribute to him, never intending it to be released. It stood out because it is about a real person: Randy Bachman's brother, Glen, who stuttered.
Two years ago, the Stuttering Foundation awarded the 1974 Bachman-Turner Overdrive tune You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet an award for being the "most unique" of all the songs that feature stuttering. Published: Saturday, 12 January 2013 23:22