Saturday, 20 May 2023

Lyrics for Singable Satire: HATS OFF to BORGE

 PARODY-LYRICS (a reprise from 2017)

ORIGINAL SONG: "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" 1908, Norworth and von Tilzer, as performed by Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, spoofed by Victor Borge.

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr.G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, September 2013. 


The second verse invokes the sort of patron with whom you sometimes have to share the cheap-seats-section of your local ballpark. This variation on the baseball-park anthem is modified by the 'traditional' earlier start of lyrics versus music (“Borge-positive version”); the less well-known opposite distortion (“Borge-negative version”) is also shown.  

SONGLINK: On our song-blog you can find the lyrics and chords for ukulele or guitar for our satire-song.  Click HERE.






TAKE OUR HATS OFF TO BORGE


(to the tune of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame")


Victor's "Clown Prince of Denmark” -
Unique musical gags;
He detached lyrics and melody - 
Spiffier spoof than an old parody.
For if you can handle the offset
The cadence will hit the mark,
Seventh In-ning home-run you’ll score
At the old ballpark.

Tickets cheap for the ballgame,
Seats right up in the clouds;
We won’t buy overpriced drinks and snacks -
Friends snuck in with a couple six-packs.
Let me hoot and jeer at the home-team;
My date’s dismayed that she came,
For it’s one, two, three beers you’re out
At the old ballgame.


(BORGE Version - Lyrics advanced):
………..   (Tickets)
Cheap for the ballgame; seats right
Up in the clouds we won’t
Buy overpriced drinks and snacks  - Friends snuck
In with a couple six-packs. Let me
Hoot and jeer at the home-team;  my date’s
Dismayed that she came, for it’s
Big crowd at Rogers Dome,
Toronto
One, two, three beers you’re out at the
Old ball-game.   xxx-xxx.

(Funky Version - Lyrics Delayed):
xxx-xxx. Tickets cheap for the
Ballgame, seats right up in
The clouds, we won’t buy drinks overpriced
And snacks - Friends snuck in with a couple
Six-packs; let me hoot and jeer at the
Home-team, my date’s dismayed that
She came, for  it’s  one, two, three beers
You’re out at the old.
……….. (ballgame).



Wednesday, 10 May 2023

Inspired by OGDEN NASH b)







 Authors' NoteThe above verse represents an anapestic rehash of the story, originally told in rhyming couplets, of Ogden Nash's well-known ten-line work "The Purist". (The anapest is the basic unit of poetic meter in which each 'foot' has the pattern da-da-DA.)    











Friday, 5 May 2023

Forward Thinkers: PINKOS




Authors' Note: As pointed out by Janet McConnaughey, an OEDILF assistant editor, the term dinner, the principal meal of the day, can be used in several connotations, including assemblies of civic groups over a periodic organizational meal.

The communitarians were philosophically oriented writers arising in Britain in the 19th century, whose utopian ideas incorporated 
socialism, collectivism, and experimentation with communal living. Whether they had organizational meetings over meals, and the specific foods served, are unrecorded details; one imagines that most such thinkers would avoid eating meat, and would likely be vegans or vegetarians.


                                                                                   #120748, approved May 2023   
Authors' Note: Liberal thinking seized Europe towards the middle of the nineteenth century. Emboldened by the partial successes of the politically-targeted Chartists, intellectuals were drawn to idealistic social movements such as communitarianism. According to Wikipedia, John Goodwyn Barmby (1820 – 1881), one of its principals, introduced the term 'communist', based on the French le communisme and founded a revue called The Communist Chronicle. Seeking a spiritual path, he later founded the Communist Church, a sect that had congregations numbering in the teens at its peak. When the church folded in 1849, Barmby became active as a Unitarian minister.

DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
To resume daily titillations on our blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2022, there are 1000 entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.)

Thursday, 20 April 2023

New Lyrics for an Old Novelty Song: THUNDER BAY (not CONSTANTINOPLE)

PARODY LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" a jazz-band style concoction recorded by The Four Lads in 1953. 

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr.G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, May 2023. 

SONGLINK: On our song-blog you can find the lyrics and chords for ukulele or guitar for our parody of the original song. Click HERE.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

In 1930, "Istanbul" was designated as the official name of the largest city in Türkiye (Turkey), known in earlier periods as Byzantium, Byzantion, Constantinople, and primarily as Istanbul since the fall of the Byzantine empire in 1453.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's tenth and newest province; in 2001, the Canadian Constitution was amended to revise the province's name to "Newfoundland and Labrador" (the mainland area of Labrador includes less than 5% of the province's population, but the majority of its landmass). The island of Newfoundland (NEW-found-land) is known by its inhabitants as "the Rock". 
In 1953 (the 500th anniversary of the "fall of Constantinople"), the Four Lads, a Canadian singing quartet who had moved from Toronto to the United States, acquired their first gold record with the release of the jazz-band styled "Istanbul (not Constantinople)". Other hits by this group include "Standing on the Corner" and "Moments to Remember". 

In 1970, the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario (current population about 110,000), at the western end of Lake Superior was formed by the merger of the two smaller communities of Fort William and Port Arthur.  

THUNDER BAY (not CONSTANTINOPLE)

(Intro: mid-Eastern theme, on kazoo)

"The Lakehead" was Fort William and Port Arthur
Now it's Thunder Bay, not Willi-am and Arthur
It's a wondrous town with name that's far superior --
Like Turkish delight, on a stormy night.

Every dame today, 'round Lakehead way,
Stays in Thunder Bay, not with William or with Arthur
You've a rainy date in Fort William or Port Arthur?
She'll be waiting in Thunder Bay.

Even old Newfoundland hooked up with Labrador.
Ask a Newfie, he might say,
"They thought, on the Rock, we'd like that more, eh?"

So, take me back: Fort William and Port Arthur
No, you can't go back in time, it's so much farther;
Been a long while past, since Willi-am and Arthur.
Why the name-change? Here's the crux:
It's no one's business but Canucks.

Thunder Bay. 

(kazoo, in Turkish-style melody)

Thunder Bay.