2 lyrics questions

1. So after however many years of listening passively to "La Mer," I finally decided to check the web site's lyrics page to understand better what this deep, tender, sea-invoking french love song was really about. I was not expecting vacationing tourists and elephants in small boats, but the surprise of it actually made my day. And, it led to a question: Pat mentions that the opening line ("La mer viens dedans") is a "bad french grammar joke". Could someone explain the joke to those of us who only speak pidgin french?
2. Anybody know why Mark Smith is necessarily "southern"? Is he a real person who just happens to be from the south of somewhere? Is this some sort of modern cockney rhyming slang? I was thinking about this while listening to the song with my 4-month old son this morning, and became increasingly curious. Musically, I don't think you lose anything by making him "northern" or "western." On the other hand, I can see that the long "e" in "eastern" might be jarring, and of course intermediate compass points would present nearly insurmountable lyrical challenges.

Thanks! Received on Fri, 17 Jan 2003 15:44:55 -0500