Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens is best known for introspective, quirky songs beloved by band camp attendees and craft beer alcoholics alike.
He's also a stickler for proper verb use, as shown by a recent open letter he wrote to Miley Cyrus asking her--politely--to use proper verb tense in her song Get It Right.
A snippet of the letter:
Dear Miley. I can’t stop listening to #GetItRight (great song, great message, great body), but maybe you need a quick grammar lesson. One particular line causes concern: “I been laying in this bed all night long.” Miley, technically speaking, you’ve been LYING, not LAYING, an irregular verb form that should only be used when there’s an object, i.e. “I been laying my tired booty on this bed all night long.” Whatever. I’m not the best lyricist, but you know what I mean.
While a great point by Sufjan, it seems the "I been" of this cluster doesn't perturb his grammatical senses. So be it. I'll take polite songwriter-on-songwriter verb tense smackdowns when I can get them.
He also finishes up the letter with this nugget:
Miley, I love you because you’re the Queen, grammatically and anatomically speaking. And you’re the hottest cake in the pan.
I wish someone would compare me to an overcooked baked good.
Aside: Miley actually didn't write #GetItRight. Shocking, I know, that someone who sounds like a drowning gerbil taking hits off a helium tank known best for foam finger enthusiasm and a lack of playing instruments doesn't always write her own songs.
#GetItRight was written by someone named Michael Williams II, professionally known as Mike Will Made It.
Does this make Miley an undercooked cake in the pan?
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