Cleaning my house a bit, I decided to put on some music, which turned out to be Chuck Berry. During a song called “You Can’t Catch Me” I was very surprised to hear him sing “Here come old flattop, he come groovin’ up..” What?? Must consult The Orb.

Needless to say, a Google search did not disappoint. That page actually says “John famously lifted” the line (originally “he was movin’ up with me”), which of course makes me feel like I should have known. (I kind of like that use of the word “famously” which I’ve felt a bit attuned to since NPR reported, on the occassion of the death of the “Queen Mother”, that she “famously” said during WWII that she wouldn’t move to the US because “The children can’t go without me, I can’t go without the King, and he can’t go.” I like that line too…) Anyway, if it’s supposed to be known famously, then I should spread the word, right? Mostly I just thought it was remarkable that such a signature line was not even original.

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