Toby Keith: I Wanna Talk About Me

Vocabulary:

boss
jerk
church
troubles
crazy
ex-lover
skin
dimples
chin
polish
toes
run (UK: ladder)
hose (= pantyhose)
And God knows
every once in a while
wanna (= want to; use only in informal speech or very informal writing)
"Number One" (= me, myself)
oh my me my

occasionally
schemes (= plans)
high school team
moisturizer cream
nana or nanna (= grandma)
Muncie, Indiana
grandma
Alabama
guys (= men)
every shape and size
to despise
to idolize
heart
brain
smarts (= intelligence)
medical charts
when you "start"
grin

Assignment:
A. First, listen to the song and, with the help of the vocabulary above, transcribe the lyrics to this song. When you have done your best, find the lyrics on the Internet and check your work, circling in red all the words you got wrong and correcting them. Count the number of errors and write it at the top of your paper.

B. Answer the questions below.

1. What does this song say about typical interests of men and women, and how men and women interact with each other?
2. Asking to "talk about me" sounds rather selfish, probably in any culture. Explain why it is allowable, and even very successful and appropriate, in this song.
3. What's the meaning or purpose of the first words in the song: "Yeah, Yeah." and "That's right."
4. One line in the chorus says, "I wanna talk about 'I'". How do you explain the use of this ungrammatical form?
5. What does Keith mean by "when you start"?
6. Does "grin" rhyme with "then"? Why do you think this rhyme is allowed in this song by this singer? (It has something to do with the dialect of American English Keith speaks. Where did he grow up? See Sociolinguist William Labov's map of the pin/pen merger.)
7. List all the examples of rhyme (including internal rhyme and near-rhyme) and plays on words you can find in the song.
8. Is there anything in the lyrics you can identify with, either as a male or female? Or are the situations described in the lyrics too different from your own experience to resonate with you?