-- "R" sounding like "L" (and do you say "purse" or "pocketbook"?)

Well, I'm still glued to blip.fm. And here's something I noticed when listening to "Ringa Ringa Ringa" from the Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack:

When I first heard this, I thought they were saying "Rlinga Rlinga Rlinga" -- it wasn't until I glanced at the name on the CD that I realized otherwise.

Listen to the audio clip and let me know what you think. It does sound like "rlinga rlinga rlinga" does it not?

Then I wondered, could this be evidence of the R in an intermediary state as it moves from Europe towards Asia, where R's often sound like L's?
Language is fascinating to me. I took a linguistics class once and the professor said you could tell where someone was from in the U.S. based on what words they used, like (among others):

• purse vs. pocketbook
• sub vs. hoagie
• water ice vs. slurpee
• bucket vs. pail
• soda vs. pop

Which do you prefer? Next post I'll try to list what this says about where you're from.