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 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. 

Anagram-Lyrics for the FOURTH of JULY, "YOU CLAIM IT'S YOUR LAND"

Disputatious anagrams

POST #182
PARODY LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie, originally written in 1940 as a protest song. Its bitter message expounded in the last few verses, reflecting the hardships of the Great Depression, have often been deleted, leaving it as a national song of praise (as in the Pete Seeger version). You can listen to the earlier version by Woody himself on Youtube here.
PARODY COMPOSED: Many of the anagrams used here were developed for a parody-lyrics blogpost related to the 2016 election, entitled "Election-Race Anagrams".
The current adaptation of the Guthrie song was created by Giorgio Coniglio, July 2018. 

SONGLINK: A Canadian version of "This Land Is Your Land" was popularized by the Canadian group The Travellers in 1956. A parody of that version was presented on this blogsite for Canada Day 2017. Check out "This Land Has Anagrams".  


WORDPLAY LINK: For more palindromes, anagrams, verse, and Scrambletown maps, see our wordplay blog, Edifying Nonsense here.

YOU CLAIM IT'S YOUR LAND

(to the tune of "This Land Is Your Land")


This land is my land, you claim it's your land,
Two different viewpoints - adore/abhor land,
A former wise land, now a polarized land,
Home of such animosity.

A SNIPER-CLUB o' anagrams -- stirred up REPUBLICANS,
From the West Coast's BLIP NURSE (CA)  to CLEAN PUBS (RI) Rhode Island,
From Nebraska's SCRUBPAIL (NE) to Southeast's PUNBAILER (SC),
Wordplay from sea to shining sea.

Some folks wear Scramble-hats -- MAD SECTOR of DEMOCRATS,
From Montana's SEACORD (MT) back to COASTER (MD) Maryland,
From Dakota's CATMORE (SD) to Carolina's MEAT ROD (SC),
Wordplay on land and sea-to-sea.

I took Rex walking, with my aim CURB SPANIEL,
And avoided stepping on any BARN SPICULE.
I'm no longer paying that PANIC'S RUBLE.
Anagrams define the GOP.

As Rex was walking (he's a sad RED MASCOT),
He took the trail of that pail of CREAM DOTS,
At the border, sleeping, kids not on MADRE COTS,
Angry words hide a travesty.

This land is our land, you claim it's your land,
Two battling versions - adore/abhor land,
A former wise land, now a polarized land,
Let's heal the animosity.

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, including the original Guthrie version.)

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. 

Original Song Lyrics