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{ Speech therapist }
When you lisp it sounds bizarre
Sibilants* in “star” turn “th’tar”!
‘Cause your tongue slips out too far
Against your teeth

{Gene Simmons }
When I li’thpth, it th’pawnthz a “th’tar” (When I lisp it spawns a star)
Th’ibilanth get th’o bi’thare! (Sibilants get so bizarre!)
‘Cauth my tongue’thz out WAY too far (‘Cause my tongue’s out WAY too far)
Again’th’t th’oth’z teeth (Against those teeth)

{ Speech therapist }
Speech is stressed—
{Gene Simmons }
Ling-o-la-bi-al’thz methed! (Ling-o-labial’s messed)
{ Speech therapist }
No fricative** finesse—
{Gene Simmons }
I’m fric’in th’pa’th-tic! (I’m frickin’ spas-tic!)

{Gene Simmons }
Th’illy th’ibilanty tun’thz (Silly sibilant-y tunes)
Aren’t e’th’ee for me to croon (Aren’t easy for me to croon)
Th’ince I formed that “Ki’th” rock band (Since I formed that “Kiss” rock band)
With tho’thz three goon’thz (With those three goons)

{ Th’ort mu’thical intermi’thion }

{Gene Simmons }
Fren-um’thz gone (Fre-num’s*** gone)
A th’imple th’urgeon’thz th’nip! (A simple surgeon’s ‘snip’!)
Tongue th’tick’th out *quite* a bit (Tongue sticks out *quite* a bit)
Down to my th’cro-tum! (got that one?)

{ Speech therapist }
When you’re “Kiss’s” lisping star
{Gene Simmons }
You can th’trum your bay’th guitar
{ Speech therapist }
When you lisp upon a schwa****
{Gene Simmons }
Your th’pu-tum th’pew’thz!

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*sibilant—a type of fricative made by directing a jet of air through a narrow channel in the vocal tract; the’ sss’ in ‘hiss’ is one type of sibilant.

**fricative—a consonant such as s (or f) in English, produced by the forcing of breath through a constricted passage. Also called ‘spirant’.

***frenum—the fleshy band under the tongue that restricts its extension

****schwa—a phonetics term for the vowel sound in unaccented syllables in words of more than one syllable, symbolized by an upside-down( rotated) ‘e’ (Ә).

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