Seasonal Reprise: "JANUARY is for SCOTS", a tribute to Robert Burns

Robert Burns 

PARODY-LYRICS for an original song, with connections to Robert Burns

PARODY-SONG: "Dean Martin Sings Robbie Burns Day" 2024, a parody pastiche with lyrics by Giorgio Coniglio, substituted to "That's Amore", the Dean Martin 1953 classic.

THIS MEDLEY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December, 2018, updated from earlier blogposts, and with improved verse-charts 


Explanatory Notes: Robert Burns, born 1759, became Scotland’s ‘national poet’, and a cultural icon at home and among Scottish diaspora around the world. In his short life - he died at age 37 -  he wrote hundreds of well-loved poems and songs; the most famous is Auld Lang Syne, traditionally sung on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve). Robbie Burns Day is celebrated on his birthday, January 25, often with a Burns Night supper. 

Burns' best-loved poems include "To a Mouse", "To a Louse", "Tam o' Shanter", "Parcel o' Rogues", and "Address to a Haggis".

WORDPLAY LINK: A somewhat different version on the Simon Lang story, with a more modern take, has been twisted into limerick verse, and can be seen HERE, on our sister-blog "Edifying Nonsense". 

AULD LANG’S SINE       

(to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne")

C-tuned ukulele specifics:
Bdim7 =  1212.  

ROBBIE BURNS DAY

(to the tune of "That's Amore")

C-tuned ukulele specifics:
Fm = 1013;  Bbm = 3111;  Bbm7 = 1111;  Bdim7 = 1212;  A7 = 0100  

ORIGINAL SONGS
(click on any slide to enlarge and arrive in thumbnail mode for singalongs on your computer or phone!)  

REPEAT VERSES 1 and 2

An Apocryphal Tale of Dance and Romance: THE FUNNIVERSARY SONG

Post #187

SINGABLE LIMERICK-LIKE LYRICS 

ORIGINAL SONG: Any old limerick verses can be sung to "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here. However we have undertaken the onerous task  of bringing you other melodies for singing limericks, as per the post "Novel Melodies for Singing Limericks". 

So, for this baby, we will exploit the melody of the verses for "The Anniversary Song". Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin originally had adapted the music (the score had been published in the U.S. in 1896) and wrote lyrics in 1946 to the 1880 composition "Waves of the Danube" by prolific Romanian composer Ion Ivanovici; his music had won a prize at the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris. The Jolson adaptation has been recorded by Dina Shore, Rosemary Clooney, Guy Lombardo, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Franks Sinatra, Pat Boone, Bing Crosby etc. 

LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio, 2017-2018. Two of the verses have been published at the OEDILF website (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form); the entry number for the OEDILF version is noted at the bottom of the chord-chart slides.
Readers should note that (i) each verse of the original song can accpomodate two limerick verses, (ii) the bridge has been adapted from the original Ivanovici-Jolson tune, and is NOT a limerick.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, August 2018. 

THE FUNNIVERSARY SONG 

(to a tune inspired by the verses of of Al Jolson's "The Anniversary Song", a.k.a. "Waves of the Danube")

In that room, bride and groom entered marriage
(Forty guests, kith and kin, came 'by carriage');
Formal garb and corsage
Adorned former garage.
It's our 'ballroom' (some Brits call it 'garage' GA-ridj).

We embarked on our marital dance
With a June honeymoon there in France
Later, raising our kids
Put romance on the skids,
Now they're grown, on their own: second chance.

Just a mile from home #1, with the 'ballroom',
Snowbirds nest in their lounge-lunch-and-loll room.
This garage: not enclosed,
But well low-sun exposed —
Our 'solarium' winter-and-fall room. 

Winter's mild, so you don't need to huddle
(Every once-in-a-while we still cuddle).
Life's rewards we now glean -- 
The retirement scene:
Wonder what's it all mean? That's a muddle.

BRIDGE: I'll sit in my rocker, and you'll sit in yours.
(Your reading's disturbed by my rather loud snores).
Then, while dinner's heating, our glass of merlot;
I'll web-surf and you will sew.

Repeat verse 4.


NOTES:
North American: guh-RAWZH
British: GA-ridj

Well over three decades ago, the author was married in an at-home ceremony. A two-car attached garage in his bride's home, which had been enclosed by the previous owner served as the basis of the ballroom/garage gag and as a credible chapel/party-room. As it happened, all the guests used the first indicated (a la française) pronunciation. On our return to the same sun-belt neighbourhood three decades later, we found a home with a different type of garage upgrade. 

UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT (and guitar, too!)

(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at the bottom of the page.)

C-tuned ukulele specifics:
Cm = 0333;  Fm = 1013;  Bb9 = 1213;  Eb = 0331;  Bb7 = 1211  

Garage converted to Solarium, Mt Pleasant, S.C.

WORDPLAY LINK: 

For wordplay (palindromes, anagrams, eggcorns, creative cartography, etc.) and silly poetry (polished limericks), see our sister blog "EDIFYING NONSENSE" here. 

ORIGINAL Song-Lyrics
(click on any chord chart to enlarge and enter thumbnail mode) 

An Apocryphal Ballad: LEIGH MERCER'S PALINDROME WORKSHOP

POST #185
SINGABLE LIMERICKS 

ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung to  "The Limerick Song", as in "The Flea and the Fly". See sactoGranny's recording on YouTube here.
LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verse composed by Giorgio Coniglio, November 2016, modified from the version accepted for publication by OEDILF.com, the online limerick dictionary.

BACKGROUND:

Leigh Mercer (1893-1977) was credited with the iconic palindrome, "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama." Mercer, an isolated British eccentric, worked during his lifetime at a variety of low-level jobs, and occasionally communicated with journals and contest organizers about wordplay and mathematical puzzles. After his death, notebooks filled with inventive palindromes were discovered, as described here. 

The lyrics describe an apocryphal workshop conducted by Mercer, during which the iconic canal palindrome is almost invented.

LEIGH'S PALINDROME WORKSHOP

(to the tune of "The Limerick Song")

Note: All italicized phrases except the first are legitimate palindromes.

Several of these have been reported for the first time by the author.

"A man + a plan, a canal —
Panacea: A palindrome, pal?"
My friend Leigh seemed contrite —
"No! The ending's not right.
Zeus sees Suez — that seems less lame, Mal."

"A man, a plan, IF final, Pan-
ama works, (like Name male pipe, lame man!)"
My friend Leigh looked uptight,
"No! It lacks enough bite.
It's ambiv'lent, like Nab, rob or ban."

"Amen + a pit, Ipanema"
(Voiced in Portuguese, with no disclaimer).
Leigh: "No! Tip-top pot pit
Is a much better fit,
But Amen! Icy cinema's lamer."

"A mar on a pan — a panorama:
Has poor scansion, but not such bad grammar".
Leigh groaned, "Dammit, I'm mad;
Stuff those phrases so bad;
No sir, prison — that warrants the slammer."

UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT (and guitar, too!)

(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)

WORDPLAY LINK: 

For wordplay (palindromes, anagrams, binomials, creative cartography, etc.) and silly poetry (polished limericks), see our sister blog "EDIFYING NONSENSE" here.

WORDPLAY LINK: 

For wordplay (palindromes, anagrams, eggcorns, creative cartography, etc.) and silly poetry (polished limericks), see our sister blog "EDIFYING NONSENSE" here. 

An Apocryphal Ballad: The BIPOLAR ILLNESS of GUN-TOTING PHYLLIS

POST #184
SINGABLE LIMERICKS   

ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung 
to "The Limerick Song", as in "The Flea and the Fly". See sactoGranny's recording on YouTube here.
LIMERICK VERSE: The lyrics for the corresponding poem by Giorgio Coniglio were originally web-published  at the OEDILF website (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form).
SONGLINK: To sing more lyrics about gun control, go to this earlier blogpost, "More Limericks of Gun-Control". 

PHYLLIS'S BIPOLAR ILLNESS

(to the tune of 'The Limerick Song')

Serena, next-door:
With our Glock-toting neighbor named Phyllis,
Her depression abating won't thrill us:
She's grown floridly manic;
Still our block need not panic
— While her safety-lock's on she won't kill us.

Phyllis:
Two years back, when I registered 'Glock',
I took lithium pills by the clock.
Now, as you can deduce
We prefer to hang loose
And do nighttime patrols of the block.

Take my meds? Simple logic advises;
Now my nights are chock-filled with surprises.
Should those aliens rude
Pry or stalk or intrude,
With my Glock I'll just shoot for their eyeses.

Serena:
Americans doubly are blessed:
For each issue, both poles are expressed;
That's a great guarantee
In this land of the free,
With your right to bear arms unrepressed.

Author's Note from OEDILF: The two phases of bipolar illness or manic-depressive disease are manifested in unpredictable time sequence, with considerable disruption to patients, families, and even the surrounding community. Medications, including longterm lithium salts, are often helpful in maintaining equilibrium; however, prescribed drugs may be discontinued by patients who enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and creativity that accompany the hypomanic phase.

UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT (and guitar, too!)

(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)

WORDPLAY LINK: 

For wordplay (palindromes, anagrams, eggcorns, creative cartography, etc.) and silly poetry (polished limericks), see our sister blog "EDIFYING NONSENSE" here.