Good news! I get to decide what a word means! And it’s all because I had the lyrics to a song wrong in my head for years! Sometimes being unknowingly discombobulated about something can work in your favor.
A bit of background, so you can understand just how funny this is.
While I’m not a super religious person these days, as a kid, I watched many times and was briefly a member of a local group called “The Lord’s Puppet Patrol,” who did puppet shows for kids about bible stories and songs. Every year, their big event was a rousing Christmas-time rendition of “We Three Kings,” as sung from the perspective of the camels said kings rode.
Thus, for years my main context for that song was the phrasing “We three camels carry the kings.” The actual lyrics of the original version were not something I encountered very often.
Now, if you’re familiar with the song, you’ll know that it’s usually sung with certain syllables stretched out for effect. As sometimes happens when one does that, those words tend to blend together. Mostly this isn’t a problem with Christmas songs, because generally the audience knows what you mean and appreciates the effort in making a show of it more than the clarity of the wording (at least in my experience).
However, if you don’t actually know the lyrics, this can cause a rather funny discombobulation.
If you, like me, were unaware, the actual opening line of that song is, “We three kings of Orient are.”
The last two words tend to suffer from the “getting stretched out for effect” phenomenon described above.
As a result, for years, I’ve been wondering what in the world an “Or-yun-tar” is.
Was it the name of the kingdom the three kings ruled?
Was it some special skill or ability the kings possessed that made them so wise?
Was it an object or means by which the kings procured the gifts they brought with them?
Possibilities were endless for what the song could be referring to in this mysterious “Oryuntar.” Yet, I never wanted to ask for fear of the merciless teasing that might ensue.
The song’s opening makes sense now that I know the actual words. Amazing how that works.
Naturally, when I discovered my error, I figured the humor of the discovery was worth sharing and decided to post it on my personal Facebook. From which I received the fantastic suggestion from writer friend Janna Urschel to lay claim to “Oryuntar” in a future story. I intend to do just that.
What “Oryuntar” will end up being, I don’t yet know. But I’m pretty excited to find out, and now, I hope you are too.
Have a very Merry Christmas, if you celebrate it, and Happy Holidays to all!
