Gimme What?

I was driving home from work one night listening to an overly played song by rapper Mims called "Like This", and a part of the song goes "gimme, gimme,/ gimme, gimme, gimme,/ (say what),/ gimme that all of that break it down/ girl shake it up now drop it to the ground/ girl you're way too hot/ go a little lower/ now baby beat it up like Rocky Balboa". And as I pondered what the "gimmes" were for I changed the station and irony of all irony, Britney Spears' new song, "Gimme More" was playing. That's when I decided I needed to further explore the use of the "gimme" in a blog entry.

Meriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines gimme as "1. a short putt in golf conceded to an opponent in casual or match play. 2. something easily achieved or won especially in a contest.

By reading those definitions I didn't think that they applied to the songs that I had been hearing on the radio or songs that I had heard growing up. I then proceeded to Dictionary.com where there were quite a few definitions for gimme.

First let's think about Britney's use of gimme in her new song: "Cameras are flashing while we're dirty dancing/ They keep watchin' (They keep watchin')/ Keep watchin/ Feels like the crowd is saying/ Gimme gimme more/ Gimme more/ Gimme gimme more/ Gimme gimme more" and the "gimmes" keep repeating for a while, if you've heard the song you know what I'm talking about.

Dictionary.com has two results, the first defines gimme as: "1. give me. –noun Slang.
2. Golf. a final short putt that a player is not required to take in informal play. 3.the gimmes,
a. reliance on or a demand for the generosity of others, esp. as one's due: grown children with the gimmes who still expect money from their parents. b. greediness."

The second result from the website which comes from the American Heritage Dictionary reads: "Informal Contraction of give me., adj. Slang Demanding material things or especially money; acquisitive: today's gimme society; tired of gimme letters., n. Sports A putt that is granted to a fellow player as successfully made either before it is attempted or after it is missed in an informal game of golf."

Most obviously I determined that these artists are using the word gimme which is slang for give me. There are a few reasons for this; it sounds better to sing gimme than give me. I also think that through the usage of the word gimme, a subliminal message is being sent to listeners. I think in a way they are trying to get listeners to want to listen to their songs more. The artists, writers, producers, etc. are thinking we want listeners to think....... "Gimme more of that song" or "I wanna hear it again". In a lot of ways, using gimme in a song sells the song. Britney Spears' song "Gimme More" is already number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

So below is a sample compilation CD that I would put together of songs that contain the word gimme; there are also some honorable mentions that did not quite make the cut. Listen to the songs once and see if you would not want to listen to them again (I dare you!).

1. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! by Abba
2. Like This (gimme gimme) by Mims
3. Gimme Back My Bullets by Lynyrd Skynyrd
4. Gimme That by Chris Brown
5. Don't Gimme No Lip by Pearl Jam
6. Gimme Gimme Gimme by A Perfect Circle
7. Gimme da Light by Sean Paul
8. Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
9. Gimme More by Britney Spears

Honorable mentions: Gimme Some Money by Spinal Tap, Gimme Some Lovin by the Blues Brothers, and Gimme Some Water by Eddie Money