A person has been identified who has never heard the lyrics to a song correctly in their entire lifetime, scientists have discovered.
Luca Mignon, 40, is like many other autistic adults in that they have reportedly spent at least two thirds of their life in a state of cringing embarrassment. In Mignon’s case, this is often caused by the recollection of the time they took to the dancefloor at their friend’s wedding as Kool & the Gang came on, singing: “CELEBRATION TIME, COME ON!”
The same evening, they were heard singing along to The King of Rock n’ Roll by 1980s popsters Prefab Sprout: “Hot dog, jumping frog, Albert the turkey.” When corrected, they Googled the lyrics and discovered, to their shame, that Albuquerque is a city in New Mexico and Queen Victoria’s husband was not, in fact, a turkey.
Musicologist Professor Xavier García said, “We decided to play Luca a series of popular songs and ask them to repeat the lyrics back to us. The first one was Timber by Pitbull. They started, “It’s goin’ down, I’m gathering timber…” at which point we had to abandon the experiment because it was just too uncomfortable to listen to.”
“Come to think of it,” mused Mignon, “it is odd that most popular music these days is about being a lumberjack.”
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