Sunday 13 December 2015

A Geriatric Odyssey: (Still) UNDER MY OWN STEAM, part #2

POST #112
PARODY-LYRICS, a reprise - see post #35
ORIGINAL SONG: "I've Been Everywhere", by Lucky Starr, covered by Hank Snow, Johnny Cash et al. 
PARODY COMPOSED: see part #1 of this parody-song by Giorgio Coniglio, June 2013; further verses were added, to create this reprise in  December 2015.

KEYWORDS: goldenoldy, medical  

  This song is dedicated to the memory of my father. Apart from a fierce determination to retain independent mobility, he was a highly responsible family man and bore little resemblance to the footloose and perhaps rascally hero of this piece. He was however an ardent admirer of rhyming patter, and would likely have enjoyed this song.

  You can view the lyrics and commentary (without images or chords) displayed on a parody-lyrics website at AmIRight.com Post "Under My Own Steam"


STILL UNDER MY OWN STEAM, part #2

(to the tune of "I've Been Everywhere")


A couple o' years went by, and I landed back in town;
There'd been some friendly people working there, so I thought I'd mosey down;
I found  another nice person, the Geriatric resident.
She said, "Take your time, Pops", and so I thought that I could vent;
I told her that this time she'd need take more extensive notes
Because I'd left out a lot ot ways that I got 'round to sow my oats.

Chorus:
 I’ve gone every way, Doc
Traveling is my play, Doc  
Need to get around, Doc   
‘Til I’m in the ground, Doc
I’ve lived out my own dream, Doc
Under my own steam.
   
I’ve swayed sashayed, ricocheted, ambled gambolled, rambled scrambled,
Trekked meandered, tramped traversed, roamed and wandered, shuffled shambled,
Strolled patrolled, promenaded, marched and sauntered, strutted swaggered, 
Vacillated, drifted wavered, faltered halted, stumbled staggered,   
Lurked and skirted, sneaked and slunk, vamoosed cowered, skipped skedaddled,
Fled absconded, disappeared, undulated, tailed and shadowed.

Chorus:

I've danced pranced, waltzed and balanced, jogged advanced and ants-in-pantsed,
Reeled gyrated, posed paraded, demonstrated, held-my-stance,
Lumbered rhumba-ed, blundered scuttled, stowed squatted, plunged marauded,
Pitched yawed, soared floated, bounded teetered, padded trod,
Hastened braked, decelerated, dragged lugged, barged and dredged,
Pursued escaped, hunted shunted, zigzagged bee-lined, rounded edged.

I’ve gone every way, Doc
Traveling is my play, Doc  
Need to get around, Doc   
Til I’m in the ground, Doc
I’ve lived out my own dream, Doc
Under my own steam .

Crept and scooted, wobbled toddled, tiptoed frolicked, jived cavorted,
Pussyfooted, hopped and bounced, bellyflopped, dived escorted,
Glided slid, skidded skied, schussed toboganned, sledded slipped,
Stamped slogged, plodded dodged, limped hobbled, trudged and tripped,
Skated waded, deviated, pirouetted, navigated, 
In memoriam, N.H.
Circulated, ambulated, dawdled doddered, terminated.

I’ve gone every way, Doc
Made it every day, Doc  
Deserted, seldom stayed, Doc   
Breezed past, mosied, strayed, Doc
I’ve lived out my own dream, Doc
Under my own steam.   

Under my own steam! 









HOTLINKS TO OTHER MEDICAL-THEMED SONG-POSTINGS
Under My Own Steam part#2 (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.)

I like doing this song with progressive key changes, as in the Lucky Starr versions of the song; or if you like you can keep it simple like Johnny Cash did, and leave it all in the key of C.


































Sunday 6 December 2015

Nordic Diary: ÍSLAND (ICELAND) IN THE SUN

POST #111
PARODY-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG "Island In the Sun", Harry Belafonte 1957. The original song has been covered in versions in German and Swedish, but not as far as I can tell in Icelandic. 
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December 2015.


This song resulted from a family trip to Iceland in June 2015. Our few days there were packed with wonderful sightseeing excursions. The weather was as good as it gets in Iceland (only minimal rain, not interfering with our travels). The highlight of the trip was the recently opened IceCave excursion; after a palpitating ride by giant truck over a huge ice-field, we walked into a system of tunnels in the glacier itself, led by an excellent informative guide.
The Icelandic language, a venerable tongue which has apparently changed little since the first settlers came to the island in the 9th century, seems challenging to learn. Fortunately for us, the friendly locals we encountered, at least in Reykjavik, all spoke English quite well.

Ísland = Iceland , pronounced eess-lant
ðan daginn = good morning, hello, pronounced goh-than die-in.
Eyjafjallajökull (j's pronounced as y)  = Island-Mountain-icecap, the subglacial volcano whose brief eruption caused the Icelandic ash problem in 2010; the volcano has now been considered dormant for 5 years.
    

KEYWORDS: multicultural, goldenoldy 






ÍSLAND (Iceland) IN THE SUN

(to the tune of Belafonte's "Island in The Sun")

This year we flew with Icelandair
Europe-bound and stopped halfway there.
We left TO, our kids from DC,
A meet-up trip for our family. 

Oh, Ísland, land of sun
Nights stay bright for the month of June;
Four full days, awesome sights to praise
Geysers, glaciers, volcanoes
IceCave, Langjökull
And Blue Lagoon.

A neat idea, break our trip
Meet at hotel-suite in Reykjavik.
Restos coped with vegg-necessity
And one kid GF lactose-free.

Didn’t know, but they’re eco-smart
Geo-thermal at system’s heart
Hot water piped everywhere you see
Heat all home and greenhouse for free.

Oh, Ísland, northern light
Eyjafjallajökull
eruption March 2010
Four full days touring awesome sights
Hotel choose, or your sleep you’ll lose
Weekends downtown bars
Never close at night.

Recent attraction, not to skip
Monster truck, glacier Ice-Cave trip
Bundle up, walk though colored ice
View crevasse, bottom-up is nice. 

Oh, Ísland, isle of fun
Nights stay bright for the month of June
Four full days, awesome sights to praise
Glacier overlying
 dormant volcano, 2013
Close with steamy bathing
At Blue Lagoon.

I'll greet old friends - ðan daginn”, soon
When we go back some year in June
Next time stay longer, get my fill - 
Climb, and say, “Eyjafjallajökull”.

Oh, Ísland, isle of sun
Nights stay bright for the month of June;
More full days, awesome sights to praise
Geysers, glaciers, volcanoes
And Blue Lagoon.


tourist-party atop the glacier
 'night'-time hike down volcano
 to a steamy bathing spot








Performing Notes

[D] This year we flew with Ice[G]landAir
[A7] Europe-bound and stopped [D] halfway there.
[Bm] We left TO, our [Em] kids from DC,
[D] Meet-up trip for our [A7] fami[D]ly. 

[D] Oh, Ísland *, isle of sun
[A7] Nights stay bright for the [D] month of June;
[Bm] Four full days, awesome [G] sights to praise
Geysers, [A7] glaciers, volcanoes
And [D] Blue Lagoon.

* pronounce as  'eess-lant'


Sunday 29 November 2015

Enhanced Nutrition by Guest-Parodist Al Silver: "WHOLE FOODS"

POST #110
PARODY-LYRICS: GUEST-ARTIST
ORIGINAL SONG"Blue Moon1934,  Rodgers and Hart, covered by Billy Eckstine, Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, The Marcels etc.
PARODY-LYRICS COMPOSED: Al Silver, January 2013, copied here with permission. Al has been a frequent contributor to the AmIRight song-parody website.
You can view Al's delightful lyrics along with some commentary (without images or chords)  displayed on that website at AmIRight.com Post "Whole Foods"
Check out post #25 Feb 2014, post #100 Oct 2015, and post #104 Oct 2015, for other great parody-lyrics by Al Silver.
KEYWORDS:  guestartist, diet-and-health 



WHOLE FOODS

(to the tune of "Blue Moon")

Whole Foods
You saw me sickly and thin
Without a blush on my cheek
Without a glow to my skin.



Whole Foods
You knew you just had to heed me
You saw the way you should lead me
And had the health food to feed me.

And then I saw there was a cornucopia
Of all the nuts and grains I could consume
(I know I have to use the rhyme “Utopia”)
And when I ate, my cheek began to bloom.

Whole Foods
Now I’m not sickly and thin
Without a blush on my cheek
Without a glow to my skin.

I ate organic goat cheese and quinoa
Wheatberry, kale, seaweed and tofu, too
Some dingleberries shipped fresh from Samoa
And pomegranates flown in from Peru.

Whole Foods
My LDL is now 5
Systolic down to 16
I think I’m barely alive.

Whole Foods

My LDL is now 5
I have a blush on my cheek
But I am barely alive.

A cornucopia


Performing Notes

C6 = 0000; Dm7 = 2213; Ab = 5343; Bb7 = 1211; Eb = 0331
        
Whole [C6] Foods [Am] [F]
You saw me [G7] sickly and [C6] thin [Am] [F] 
Without a [G7] blush on my [C6] cheek [Am] [F]
Without a 
[G7] glow to my [C6] skin [Am] [F] [G7].

...


And then I [Dm7] saw there was a [G7] cornu[C6]copia [Am]
Of all the 
[Dm7] nuts and grains I [G7] could con[C6]sume
(I know I [Ab] have to use the [Bb7] rhyme “U[Eb]topia”)
And when I [G7] ate, my cheek  be
[Dm7]gan to [G7] bloom. [G7+5]



















Thursday 26 November 2015

A Reggae Tune: F.O.P - SHOP WINE

POST #109
PARODY-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG "Red Red Wine",  Neil Diamond 1968, covered by the reggae band UB40, 1983, with addition of a "toasted" rap section.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, November 2015.

KEYWORDS: goldenoldy, Canadian  



 In my province of Ontario and a few other Canadian provinces, licences are granted to shops which allow customers to make their own beer or wine "for personal consumption". These stores are generally referred to by the public as "wineries" or "wineshops", but the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario who regulates these outlets, refers to the stores as UVin or UVin/UBrew, and to the process as FOP (ferment on premises). Some customers who have appropriate space and ambient conditions in their basements prefer to buy equipment and kits for FAH (ferment at home). I personally have been an enthusiastic user of FOP for 15 years, (although I must admit that I have seldom referred to it by this term). 



FOP-SHOP WINE

(to the tune of "Red Red Wine" - reggae version by UB40)

FOP-store wine 
wine kits for sale
in an Ontario store
My kind of sh-o-o-op 
They take my credit card 
Do all the wo-o-ork.

FOP-shop wine 
Add yeast to mu-u-ust 
Then when my batch is done
Remember to sho-o-ow
Must schedule to show.

I’ll get called - 
Bottling time
Box up thirty that you’ve cleaned
Labels choose
Shrink-wrap tops
After using cork-machine.
The FOP process

FOP-shop wine 
Save half the co-o-ost
Take up no basement  space
Yet fill home wine-racks
Pay no high tax.

(the "toasted" rap section as per UB40 version) 

 FOP-shop wine, you help reduce the cost
Keep me from feeling me money is lost
FOP-shop wine, you make me feel so grand
We host lots of parties 'cause I’ve always wine on hand
FOP-shop wine, when you’re gone you make me think
Empties need washing in the basement laundry sink. 
FOP-shop wine, I can get to where you are
Boxes in a taxi, when I’ve broken-down old car.

FOP-shop stores, Canucks call them UVin
Personal consumption is seen as no sin. 
Some province license UVin and UBrew
(Brew-shops in the USA who'll do your wine are few.)
FOP-shop wine, might be in your neighbourhood
Quality can vary, but most kits are quite good.
 Twenty years - a few bad bottles, five or six
Never short of holiday or birthday gifts.

  F-O-P means "ferment on premises"
Lots of varieties to please your picky missus
FOP-shop kits always come from foreign lands
Must be some reason local growers not at hand 
FOP-shop kits which we'll really like I know
Aussie shiraz, French or Chilean merlot
Need no special gear, technique's not too hard
Fermentation start by stirring with your credit card.

Reprise: final verse
(FOP.......tax)
staff workspace
in a UVin/UBrew shop

Fade


















HOTLINKS TO OTHER CANADIAN-THEMED SONG-POSTINGS
FOP-Shop Wine (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.)

This is a great place to practise the reggae technique of banging the ukulele (with your thumb) on the on-beats, and strumming (backwards direction) on the important off-beats.