It's a bit of an odd figure of speech, yes? Heard it anew the other day when Ella Fitzgerald's "Let's Do It" was playing on the overhead. To fall into love. As in 'off a great height' or 'into a puddle.' Funny how it gets twisted, turned, and abused all over. I mean think about Ella's take on it:
Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it.....
Romantic sponges, they say, do it
Oysters down in oyster bay do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even lazy jellyfish, do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Electric eels I might add do it
Though it shocks em I know
Why ask if shad do it - Waiter bring me
"shad roe"
In shallow shoals English soles do it
Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
And so what you might ask? Obviously, she's talking about sex, not so much the love part of things. (Shad roe = fish eggs.) You can chalk this up to a more straitlaced time when such things had to be a little more camouflaged or, heaven forbid, done with more taste. However, might not this go back further? Ever hear of The Fall, as in 'of Man from the Garden?' Ostensibly, Adam and Eve were kicked out for learning the knowledge of Good and Evil. This included a keen awareness of being nekkid. For me, an armchair unbeliever, this is all about the sex, forget the Good & Evil bit. Sooo, The Fall = being caught while sexin', which has been closely associated with metaphysical love, so we add the addendum of = being in love. So I'm thinking 'to fall in love' is a linguistic harkening back to the Biblical narrative of Man gettin' tossed out of Eden for making the beast with two backs.
