Saturday 26 July 2014

Johnny Cash Provides Today's Rant: Fulsome Diction Blues

POST #53
PARODY-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG: "Folsom Prison Blues" Johnny Cash 1955, covered by many other artists.
PARODYCOMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, June, 2014.

KEYWORDS: goldenoldy, language



FULSOME DICTION BLUES

(to the tune of "Folsom Prison Blues")

INTRO:    G7,  C 

I favor precise syntax, also terms that aren't obscure,
But skill in this regard don't earn no sinecure.
We're stuck with fulsome diction, careenin' round the curve.  
Objurgatin' parlous parlance takes vigor, vim and verve.

The origin of 'specious' lies deep within the soul;
You try to be ingenious, but suffice to be 'mindful'.
I classed a guy as 'restive' - what I meant was 'calmed'
Now I'll feel so meretricious until when I'm embalmed.

I presage Big Bananas in a gaudy chauffered Benz, 
They'll likely smoke Havanas with their double-malted blends;

They'll purvey inchoate music, an 'ivory-tickler' too,  And they'll launch the night's diversion without further 'adieu'. (pron. ad-yoo)

I sense those noisome symptoms, not 'symptomatology';
There is method in my madness, but not 'methodology'.
Post-cibal declamations -  they're what one calls verbose;
I'll forgo the panegyrics, when I'm more otiose. 

 I flaunt my proper diction with no expletives abstruse,
 'Though such punctilious practice serves no heuristic use; 
 To chide bombastic speaking needs vigor, vim and verve.

 A paradigm to strive for, from which one shouldn't swerve.



Performing Notes

INTRO:    G7,  C 

I [C] favor precise syntax, also terms that aren't obscure,
But skill in this regard don't earn no sine[C7]cure.
We're [F] stuck with fulsome diction, careenin' round the [C] curve.  
Objur[G7]gatin' parlous parlance takes vigor, vim and [C] verve.




Tuesday 22 July 2014

Lament Regarding Alzheimer's Disease: "WHERE HAS NEUROSYPHYLIS GONE?"

POST #52
PARODY-LYRICS
Pete Seeger, "America's tuning fork"
ORIGINAL SONG: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" Pete Seeger 1960, additional lyrics by Joe Hickerson, also recorded by Kingston Trio in 1962, and later by Peter, Paul and Mary, Marlene Dietrich, etc. Check out the YouTube videos by Seeger here, and by the Kingston Trio here.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, June, 2014, performed at the CUJ (Corktown Ukulele Jam) Theme-Night, with photo here.


WHERE HAS NEUROSYPHILIS GONE?


(to the tune of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone")

Where is early Alzheimer’s?
Home-care agencies.
Mod’rate cases, few years passed
Fill long-term nursing homes
Weren’t some medications tried?
Functions slid and patients died;
Care system’s overburdened - 
When will we ever  learn?

Where has neurosyphilis gone,
Headstones fading?
Textbooks say it filled asylums
Long time ago.
Where Trep. pallidum would lurk,
Course of Penicillin works,
One thing we clearly learned,
One thing we clearly learned.

Where is all the Wernicke’s
encephalopathy?
Confabulating, filling wards
I saw it long ago.
Malnourished boozers off the road
Saved by whopping thiamine load
Another thing we’ve learned, 
A useful thing we’ve learned.

Hypothyroid mania?
 - Hormone treatment
Tots doomed by leukodystrophy?
 - Lorenzo’s oil
Polio? Almost gone, my son
- Vaccinated everyone.
Perhaps, few things we’ve learned,
I guess few things we’ve learned.

Where’s dementia research gone?
Some fills graveyards
Prod choline receptors? – seems not
Helpful in long term. 
Inhibit amyloid?
Doesn’t fill the treatment void.
Where’s that key thing to learn? 
Where’s that key thing to learn?
  
Where've Alzheimer's patients gone ?
Home-care agencies.
Mod’rate cases, few years passed
Fill long-term nursing homes.
Weren’t “preventive measures” done?
Gone to graveyards every one;
Care-system's overburdened - 
I hope someday we’ll learn.






HOTLINKS TO OTHER MEDICAL-THEMED SONG-POSTINGS
Where Has Neurosyphylis Gone? (see below)
...AND A FEW LIMERICK-BASED SONGS
Singable Limerick-Medley #17: Nuclear Cardiology
Singable Limerick-Medley #20: Medical Imaging


UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT

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



Asus4 = 2200;  F#m7 = 2424;  Bm7 = 2222;  E6 = 4444;  E7 = 4445;  F#m = 2120;  Bb=3211;  Bbsus = 3311;  Gm7 = 0112;  Cm7 = 3333;  F6 = 5555;  F7 = 5556 
































Monday 21 July 2014

Toronto Neighbourhood Song: "TTC VOICES"

POST #51
ORIGINAL SONG (music and lyrics)
MELODY: generic railway song (chorus similar to "New River Train")
LYRICS: Giorgio Coniglio, January 2013. 





















GLOSSARY of TORONTO INTERSECTIONS:
AVenue Rd and DAVenport Rd 
CARLeton St and PARLiament St
GERrard St and SHERbourne St
YORK St and Queen's QUAY
KEELE St and STEELES Ave
UNIVERSITY Avenue and COLLEGE St.
KING St and QUEEN St, main streets that run parallel through the downtown, then intersect where they cross the Don River

TTC VOICES  

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
When I die, don't make a fuss
Waive the hearse I'll take the bus !
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #1)
Near my penthouse flat at Av and Dav
Castled hills and toney shops and trats are what you have.
To avoid those traffic fines,
I speed up Spadina Line,
 And save my dime for trips to Waikiki.

(Chorus) 
We're riding the Red Rocket  - TTC
It's the trusted transportation grid for me.
I would only jump on GO
To get west past Mimico
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #2)
Beside the hillside farm at Carl and Parl 
Where streetcars veer toward the Valley, squeal but seldom snarl
As at other petting zoos
You'll hear bleats neighs, oinks and moos
But look down and see stalled traffic from afar.

(Chorus)        
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
I would only take a cab
To get laid out on a slab
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #3)
I camp out in the park near Ger and Sher
Where what we smoke and drink and introduce ain't always pure.
I can't dance that shelter jive,
I'm just trying to survive,
Please spare me change for lunch and TTC.

(Chorus)
We poor folks, we may still need to commute,
Though paying higher mil-rates you taxpayers may not suit -
Homeless, school-kids, unemployed,
Nanny for great-uncle Floyd,
 We're all discount urban transit devotees. 

(Voice #4)
I perch above the Lake at York and Quay (kway? kwhy?) 
Where yachts are docked you see so many towers block the sky,
Angels, Orioles, Jays and owls
Watch for Sky-Dome balls hit foul,
While the Mariners, Rays and Pirates sail the seas (the harbour?)

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
I could start up my old tank,
But I'd rather walk the plank,
Or even watch old ballgames on TV.

(Voice #5)
Back home in my large garage near Keele and Steeles
Where life, as it rolls on, is sure dependent on 4 wheels;
SUVs and mowing grass,
I could use relief from gas,
Earth and I would fare much better - TTC.

(Chorus)
You too could ride Red Rocket into town.
It's the eco-friendly way to keep those greenhouse gases down.
You'll reduce your income tax,
Just submit your Metro-Pass
Labelled " new suburban subway devotee"

(Voice #6)
It's our Physics lunch at University-
College-cars accelerate, but seldom approach 'c'.
 We learn "Think, therefore I am",
Munch your sandwich on the tram,
It's where Einstein dreamed up relativity.
   
(Chorus) 
Looking down the track what can we see?
A better system for posterity.
We should work on frequent trains, 
And forget the 'gravy-stains',
Let's perfect our city's gem, the TTC.

(Voice #7)
My Queen-, your King sees how it ought to be,
It's signed and sealed and witnessethed in my last Will-and-T,
When my time is done and gone,
Strew my ashes cross the Don,
Donate my last token to the TTC.

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for you and you and me.
When we die, don't make a fuss
Waive the hearse we'll take the bus !
We're all discount-senior transit devotees.





HOTLINKS TO OTHER CANADIAN-THEMED SONG-POSTINGS
TTC Voices (see below)
..AND A FEW LIMERICK-BASED SONGS
Canada Day 2015 (singable limericks)
Limericks About Chemainus, B.C.

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





























Saturday 19 July 2014

Multilingual Version of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky - "BabelTalky"

POST #50
PASTICHE with SONG-LYRICS
ORIGINAL POEM: "Jabberwocky" was included in Lewis Carroll's  children's novel "Through the Looking Glass" in 1871, although he had published a short variation of it much earlier as "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry"
SETTING TO MUSIC: Donovan, 1971.
TRANSLATION INTO OTHER LANGUAGES: Renditions of the classic nonsense poem in various languages can be found in a collection of translations into 29 other languages on the web, although the site appears to have been inactive recently.
COLLATION: Giorgio Coniglio 2014, updated 2016.


KEYWORDS: poetry, goldenoldy, multicultural, pastiche

A major tip of the hat to Mike Simmons and John Colosetti for helping find usable ukelele chords.




BABELTALKY

 (to the the tune of "Jabberwocky" - Donovan)


(ANGLO-SAXON - Lewis Carroll, 1855)
'Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves
Did gyre and gymble in ye wabe.
All mimsy were ye borogoves,
And ye mome raths outgrabe.

(GERMAN - Robert Scott)
"Bewahre doch vor Jammerwoch!
Die Zähne knirschen, Krallen kratzen!
Bewahr' vor JubJub-Vogel, vor
Frumiösen Banderschnatchen.   

(ITALIAN - Adriana Crespi)
Afferò quello la sua vorpi da lama
A lungo il manson nemico cercò
Cosí sostò presso l'albero Touton
E riflettendo alquanto dimorò.  

(FRENCH - Frank Warrin)
Pendant qu'il pense, tout uffusé,
Le Jaseroque, Ã  l'oeil flambant,
Vient sifflant par le bois tullegeais,
Et burbule en venant.    

(JAPANESE - Tim Matheson)
Ichi, ni! Ichi, ni! mattaku kanzen ni 
Sakisakiken wa kusukusu waratta  
Shanoshi nokoshi kubi wo mochi
Ikiyouyou to koke kaetta 

(HEBREW - Ahaton Amir)
"Af ketalto, et hapiton?
Achabkecha, yaldi hatzach!
Ho yom-tzilha! Yabah! yabah!"
B'chedvato  patzach. 

(PORTUGUESE - Augusto de Campos)
Era briluz. as lesmolisas touvas
roldavam e reviam nos gramilvos:
Estavam mimsicais as pintalouvas,
E os mommiratos davam grilvos.

(RUSSIAN - E. Orlova and O. Demurova)
Varkalos'. Khivikie shor'ki
Pyryalis' po nave,
I khryukotali zelyuki
Kak myumziki v move.

(SPANISH  - E. Alvarez-Buylla)
Era el briño, y los logrosos
Giraban y mangaban en al panal:
Tan debrable los bogrosos,
Y aún los rantopos salgabran.


(ARABIC - W. Al-Mahdi)
Jarâdhilu l-wâbi dhuhâ
Tadarbahat tadarbuhâ
Mufarfirun tanahnaha
Wa tâ'iru  l-burburi fahâ.

(CLASSIC - Lewis Carroll, 1871)
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


Performing Notes 

(sung to the classic 'English' poem, per Donovan)

'Twas [Dm] bryllyg, and ye [C] slythy [Dm] toves
Did [Bb] gyre and [Dm] gymble [Gm] in ye [Dm] wabe.
All [Dm] mimsy were ye [C] boro[Dm]goves,
And ye [Bb] mome [Gm] raths out[A]grabe.
 etc.....





Wednesday 2 July 2014

A Seasonal Procession: Tiptoe Past Ripe Berries

POST #49
PARODY-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG: "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" , Burke and Dubin 1929, for early talkie-film musical The Gold Diggers of Broadway, as recorded by Nick Lucas 1929, Tiny Tim 1968, et al.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, July 2014.

KEYWORDS: showtune, classicsong


innocuous unripe berries







TIPTOE PAST RIPE BERRIES

(to the tune of "Tiptoe Through The Tulips")

             Fm6  
             Come...........
 C           C#dim      Dm7      Ebdim        C            C+         F           Fm
Tip-toe  round the messes 'neath the Johnsons' fruiting berry  tree;
Fm6    C       A7           Dm7       G7  C    Am7 Dm7 G7             
Please tiptoe past mulberries - my plea;
                   C       C#dim          Dm7  Ebdim          C         C+             F      Fm
They stain concrete, and the floor-mats, and our carpets; walk responsibly!
Fm6     C        A7           Dm7       G7  C      C7
Please tip-toe past mulberries - my plea. 

        F            Em7                   A7 
Ripe fruit hot pavement does cook;
Em7 A7                Dm7             G7            G7+
Bird-poo; Yuch! - Purple; just  look!  So slip your 
C           C#dim    Dm7    Ebdim                C           C+             F              Fm
Shoes off at the doorstep, when you're sneaking from your girlfriend's digs
Fm6    C        A7            Dm7    G7  C    
Please tiptoe past the berries - my plea, ......... and 

C           C#dim      Dm7      Ebdim        C             C+        F        Fm
Tip-toe  round the messes 'neath our neighbors' over-bearing tree;
Fm6 C            A7           Dm7  G7  C    Am7 Dm7 G7             
Our front sidewalk's a jam factory
                    C       C#dim      Dm7  Ebdim           C        C+           F      Fm
Blue-stained granite and hall tile-slate, and our carpets; walk responsibly!
Fm6     C        A7          Dm7      G7  C      C7
Please tip-toe past mulberries - my plea. 

      F       Em7                 A7 
No diff if you're slow or quick;
Em7     A7           Dm7                      G7           G7+
They'll squish; in shoe-treads they'll stick.  So slip your 
C           C#dim   Dm7    Ebdim                C           C+             F       Fm
Shoes off at the doorstep, when you're sneaking home well after two....or
Fm6 C          A7   Dm7 G7           C    
The rug-cleaning bill sticks with you.