The Sound of Lyrics: EWE, YEW, YOU

Parody-Lyrics, a homophone song

Original Song: "Do-Re-Mi", Rodgers and Hammerstein 1959, performed by Julie Andrews and the cast of "The Sound of Music".

Parody Composed: Giorgio Coniglio, March 2014.

For the original song: "The lyrics teach the solfège syllables by linking them with English homophones." Wikipedia.

You can view these lyrics and commentary (without images or chords)  displayed on a parody-lyrics website at AmIRight.com Post"The Homophone Song" 

Solfège system of naming musical notes, shown here for key of C

EWE, YEW, YOU

C       

Ewe - a sheep, a female sheep

G7       

Yew - a hedge that's evergreen

C

You - a name to call yourself

F

U - a turn to leave the scene

C           C7                   F

Hugh - an entertaining guy

D7                                       G

Hew - a job that's carving wood

E7                                  Am

Hue - a tint to catch the eye

               F              G7         C  

And that brings me back to 'Ewe'.

"Doe - a deer, a female....."

F                           Dm                G7     C       
   Ewe, yew, you, U, Hugh, hew, hue, ewe

C   

Doe - a mom on whom stags dote,

G7

Ram- a husband for the ewe,

C

Meal - game-hunters eat them all,

F
Faon *(French)  - gendered male, that's true,

C           C7                        F
Sow - a female pig that's tame,

D7                                            G
Laugh  - this story's 'cock-and-bull',

E7                                        Am  
Teat - cow's udder, all the same,

                  F   G7           C
Ode - odd anagram for 'Doe'.

F                         Dm                         G7     C     C!

   Do, Ram, Meal, Faon, Sow, Laugh, Teat, Ode! 

C                                                

Dough - it's paste I knead for bread

G7

Ré - Italian word for 'king'

C
Mea culpa  - Latin guilt

F

Fa't - it's so embarrassing 

C           C7                      F

So - an adverb meaning 'much'

D7                     G

LA - Louisiana mail

E7                                   Am

Tee - a shirt for golf and such

                         F             G7          C  

Dough - there's what I'll need for bail.

F                  Dm            G7  C    C!

  Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do ! 

* le faon (pronounced with 'o' silent to rhyme with dans, banc, temps or sang) refers to the standard young deer, either male or female, but like most French animal-words is invariant for gender, a use which seems illogical to English-speakers. The related word faune (pronounced more like  cell-phone) in the male (le) form refers to a mythical fawn, and in the female (la) form is equivalent to our word fauna......... or maybe I'm confused by this.

"Route 66" Revisited .... X66X

POST #30
PARODY-LYRICS consisting of PALINDROMES

ORIGINAL SONG: "Route 66", written by Bobby Troup, 1946, performed by Nat King Cole, covered by Perry Como, Chuck Berry, Bing Crosby, Rolling Stones, The Manhattan Transfer, John Mayer etc.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, March 2014.

KEYWORDS: goldenoldy, wordplay, palindromes

You can view these lyrics and commentary displayed on a parody-lyrics website at AmIRight.com Post "X66X"

Palindromes are highlighted in green font and  italicized (Warning! Some of these contain adult material). A tip of the hat to Weird Al Yankovic who invented the concept of singable palindromes with his spoof "Bob". See also my previously posted palindrome-song "Gnats Stang; Gnus Sung" , and various other posts highlighting palindromes.  

John Mayer's rollicking version of the original song is found on YouTube here.

X66X  

(to the tune of "Route 66")

If you're the type not vexed by 'Joy of Lex'

Get your fix by fax or telex or Express.

The best letter is rated 'XX'.

It's boxed in the slot before 'Y',

Sly x-axis, it seldom rides high,

Best letter is rated 'XX'.   

Now there's, No 'x' in Nixon

No 'xx' - Exxon

No 'x' Al, knit on; toot no tin klaxon

"Laid Fixes" - sex, if dial

Max. esteem meets exam

Sex-aware era waxes

Six axons, no x-axis.

Mix a maxim. No 'x' - a Saxon.

The Bible of word-play

Just flex to the nexus of this text,

Your next exit past Texas and New Mex,

Best letter is rated 'XX'.

The best jest is  "Xerox, O Rex."

Best letter is rated 'XX'.

        

Not 'UF', not on futon!

No 'yarn' in rayon

Un nu?  No! it's a bare-era bastion

Lapse - porno on ropes, pal

Llama - nix in a mall

Puzzling palindrome, used in "Bob"

Sex at my gym taxes

Six at my gym? Taxis!

Sod-lid dildos. Sex-elf flexes.

   

Get relaxed with the moxie of this text,

More exotic than Texas or New Mex,

The letter that ends "Joy of Lex".

That letter is rated 'XX'.

The best letter is rated 'XX'.

Link between 'x' and NO

The original XX rating

Self-promoted X+ rating

Performing Notes

C9 = 0201; G6 = 0202

Intro: D7, C9, G6, D7 

If [G6] you're the type not [C9] vexed by "Joy of [G6]  Lex", [G7]

Get your [C9] fix by fax or telex or Ex[G6]press

The best [D7] letter is [C9] rated 'X[G6]X'. [G7]

It's [G6] boxed in the [C9] slot before [G6] 'Y', [G7]

Sly x-[C9]axis, it seldom rides [G6] high,
Best [D7]  letter is [C9] rated 'X[G6] X'. [D7!]   

               

Now there's, [G6!]No 'x' in Nixon

[G6!] No 'xx' - Exxon

[G6!]No 'x' Al, knit on; toot [G7] no tin klaxon

[C9]"Laid Fixes" - sex, if dial

[C6] Max. esteem meets exam

Sex-a[D7]ware era waxes
Six [C9] axons, no x-axis.
[G6] Mix a maxim. [D7] No 'x' - a Saxon.

Adage of the week:  (Egad! an adage!) 


English is simple:  flax, flex, flicks, phlox, flux.   GioLio

W-I-P points :

v2 L3; No k in Nikon??

Tribute to Ogden Nash, including MORE singable poems

POST #29
PARODY-LYRICS by Giorgio Coniglio
+ Classic POEMS SET TO MUSIC

Original poem: "Trees" Joyce Kilmer 1914, lyrics set to music by O. Rosbach 1922;  performed by Mario Lanza, Nelson Eddy, The Platters, Bob McGrath etc. 
Parody of the poem "Trees": "Song of the Open Road" Ogden Nash, etc.
Parody of the song "Trees": many examples are posted at AmIRight.com including "The Spoofs" by Giorgio Coniglio, 2013, as per the post on this blog of December 6.
Poems by Ogden Nash: excerpted from The Best of Ogden Nash, ed. Linell Nash Smith, published by Ivan R. Dee, 2007.

 HARD LINES    poetic parody, previously unpublished, by Giorgio Coniglio    

C                                         Dm                                       

   I feel unhappy when I'm near
Fm                                       C7   C9 

  A poem sappy as these here.
F                     F#dim7           C

  And yet we honor Ogden Nash, 
 C7                                                             F

 Whose spoof portrayed a billboard crash. 
      Bm7         F     C               F     C   D7          

- His verse that stood the test of time
G7                   G7s      Em G   C

  Like Kilmer's used a simple rhyme.

C                             Dm 

  No flashiness or trashiness  

Fm                                   C7 
  Rich, rare, rash ogdenashiness *

F                     F#dim7            C      

  Indeed the march of time refines

C7                                              F

  The wisdom in these classic lines

 Fm                  C        F#dim7 D7

   "The cow is of the bovine ilk

 Bb9               Dm7            G7   C
One end is moo, the other, milk"

* 2 italicized lines are modified from a farewell tribute to Nash by Morris Bishop, 1971.

THE FOSSILS   poem by Ogden Nash  

C                                     Dm    

   At midnight in museum hall
Fm                                          C7   C9 

  The fossils gathered for a ball. 

F                          F#dim7             C

  There were no drums or saxophones 
 C7                                           F

  But just the clatter of their bones

     Bm7    F   C      F      C      D7          

A rolling, rattling carefree circus
G7                    G7s            Em C

Of mammoth polkas and mazurkas.

C                                          Dm 

  Pterodactyls and brontosauruses   

Fm                                         C7 
  Sang ghostly prehistoric choruses.

F                 F#dim7        C      

  Amid the mastodonic wassail

C7                                                 F

  I caught the eye of one small fossil.

 Fm                 C          F#dim7       D7

Cheer up old man he said , and winked - 

 Bb9               Dm7   G7     C   

   It's kind of fun to be extinct.



THE PURIST   poem by Ogden Nash

C                                               Dm    

   I give you now, Professor Twist
Fm                                   C7   C9 

  A conscientious scientist.

F                     F#dim7                      C

  Trustees exclaimed, "He never bungles!"
 C7                                             F

  And sent him off to distant jungles.

         Bm7       F   C    F  C   D7          

Camped on a tropic riverside 
G7                   G7s        Em G     C

  One day he missed his loving bride.

C                                            Dm 

   Camped on a tropic riverside

Fm                                               C7 
  One day he missed his loving bride.

F                                   F#dim7        C      

  She had the guide informed him later

C7                                    F

  Been eaten by an alligator.

 Fm            C              F#dim7     D7

Professor Twist could not but smile

 Bb9                        Dm7          G7  C   

   "You mean," he said, "a crocodile."

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, and THE RHINO poems by Ogden Nash

C                                       Dm    

   Behold the hippopotamus

Fm                                                C7   C9 

  We laugh at how he looks to us.

F                     F#dim7                  C

  And yet in moments dark and grim

 C7                                          F

  I wonder how we look to him.

         Bm7       F   C    F  C   D7          

Peace, peace, thou hippopotamus ! 

G7              G7s       Em   G   C

  We really look all right to us.

C                                                    Dm 

   And you no doubt delight the eye,

Fm                              C7 

  Of other hippopotami.

F                         F#dim7 C      

  The rhino is a homely beast

C7                                             F

  For human eyes he's not a feast.

 Fm                   C            F#dim7 D7

Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros,

 Bb9                Dm7           G7          C   

   I'll stare at something less prepoceros.

Words to Music: The Singable Ogden Nash

POST #28
POEMS SET TO MUSIC

ORIGINAL POEM/SONG: "Trees" Joyce Kilmer 1914, lyrics set to music by O. Rosbach 1922;  performed by Mario Lanza, Nelson Eddy, The Platters, Bob McGrath etc. 
PARODY OF THE POEM "TREES": "Song of the Open Road" - 4 lines by Ogden Nash. There is an extensive list of other poetic parodies of "Trees"; many examples are posted at AmIRight.com including "The Spoofs" by Giorgio Coniglio, 2013, as per the post on this blog of December 6.
OTHER POEMS (not previously set to music)  by OGDEN NASH: excerpted from The Best of Ogden Nash, ed. Linell Nash Smith, published by Ivan R. Dee, 2007.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, 2014. 

KEYWORDS: classicsong, poetry

THE GIRAFFE   poem by Ogden Nash

(to the tune of "Trees")

[C]   I beg you, children, do not [Dm] laugh

[Fm]  When you survey the tall gi[C7]raffe. [C9]

[F]   It's hardly [F#dim7] sporting to at[C]tack

[C7]  A beast that cannot answer [F] back.

Now [Bm7] you and [C] I have shorter [D7] necks

[G7]  But we can [Em] chant of gin and [C] sex.

[C]  He has a trumpet for a [Dm] throat

[Fm]  And cannot blow a single [C7] note

[F]  It isn't [F#dim7] that his voice he  hoards [C]

 [C7]  He hasn't any vocal [F] cords

[Fm] I wish for [C] him, and [F#dim7] for his [D7] wife

   
 [Bb9]  A volu[Dm7]ble gir[G7] after[C] life.

THE OYSTER, and THE CENTIPEDE poems by O. Nash    
(to the tune of "Trees)

[C] The oyster's a confusing [Dm] suitor

[Fm]  It's masc., and fem., and even [C7] neuter. [C9]

[F]  But whether [F#dim7] husband, pal or [C] wife

[C7] It leads a painless sort of [F] life.

[Bm7] I'd like to [C] be an oyster, [D7] say,

 [G7] In August, [Em] June, July or [C] May.

[C]  I objurgate the centi[Dm]pede, 

[Fm] A bug we do not really [C] need.

[F]  At sleepy-[F#dim7]-time he beats a [C] path

[C7]  Straight to the bedroom or the [F] bath.

[Fm] You always [C] wallop where [F#dim7] he's [D7] not

 [Bb9]  Or if he [Dm7] is, he [G7] makes a [C] spot.

THE TERMITE, THE FLY, and THE PRAYING

MANTIS   poems by O. Nash    

(to the tune of "Trees)

[C]  Some primal termite knocked on [Dm] wood

[Fm]  And tasted it, and found it [C7] good. [C9]

[F]  And that is [F#dim7] why your Cousin [C] May . 

[C7] Fell through the parlor floor to[F]day. 

God in his [C] wisdom made the [D7] fly

 [G7] And then for[Em]got to tell us [C] why.

 [C]  From whence arrived the praying [Dm] mantis? 

Fm                                            C7 
  From outer space or lost Atlantis?

F                        F#dim7                  C      

  I glimpse the grim green metal mug

C7                                                     F

  That masks this pseudo-saintly bug,

 Fm               C                 F#dim7 D7

Orthopterous, also carnivorous
 Bb9               Dm7        G7        C  

  And faintly whisper, Lord deliver us.

Performing Notes



Lyrics and Uke Chords for "Trees", as per the Platters, 1961.

 C                                            Dm  

   I think that I shall never see

Fm                                    C7   C9 

  A poem  lovely as a tree.

F                         F#dim7                 C

   A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
 C7                                                         F

  Against the Earth's sweet flowing breast.

   Bm7         C                        D7          

A tree that looks at God all day
G7                 Em                  C

  And lifts its leafy arms to pray.

C                                                   Dm 

   A tree  that may in summer wear

Fm                                    C7 
  A nest of robins in her hair.

F                       F#dim7                 C      

  Upon whose bosom snow has lain

C7                                            F

  Who intimately lives with rain.

 Fm              C              F#dim7    G7

Poems are made by fools like me,

 Bb9            Dm7        G7         C   

   But only God can make a tree.