I had to share this YouTube vid with you, but with a warning that the content is irreverent and may be offensive to some. A post in a listserv I monitor alerted me to this clip from the BBC program "Songs of Praise" which features church music from around the UK. This choir sings the hymn "Westminster Abbey" to the actual words below, but the enunciation is, er, not the most precise. As such, some wag has created subtitles based on how the choir and congregation actually sound...rather risqué (though nonsensical) subtitles at that! Let this vid be a lesson to lazy choristers everywhere: Enunciate poorly and you will be misunderstood!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ZnPE3G_YY
And here are the actual words being sung...contrast and compare, please:
Blessed city, heavenly Salem,
vision dear of peace and love,
who of living stones art builded
in the height of heaven above,
and, with angel hosts encircled,
as a bride dost earthward move;
from celestial realms descending,
bridal glory round thee shed,
meet for him whose love espoused thee,
to thy Lord shalt thou be led;
all thy streets and all thy bulwarks
of pure gold are fashioned.
