Thursday, 19 March 2015

Dante's "Inferno", Canto#1a: DANTE'S SONG


POST #75
PARODY-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG: "Your Song", Elton John, 1970.
ORIGINAL POEM: "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri, the first of 3 books constituting "The Divine Comedy" or "La Divina Commedia".
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, April 2015.




Although Dante Alighieri wrote these poetic lines 700 years ago, they have received very little play on various parody-sites. Dante was a forerunner in his use of vernacular language (rather than Latin); based mainly on Tuscan dialect, his writings were critical in the development of modern Italian. To make the poetic lines singable, I had to take down Dante’s hallmark “terza rima” rhyming scheme (aba, bcb, cdc….), and rearrange it to a simpler aabb format. Other than this rearrangement, which leaves out some original lines, the lyrics for the beginning of the first Canto are primarily Dante’s. My English translation follows the Italian, with some adaptations for modern readers. Endless kudos are owing to the Pinsky translation, which inspired this effort.



Inferno, Canto#1a: DANTE'S SONG


(to the tune of "Your Song")


"Dark Wood"
detail of Dore engraving




Intro:
Put down words to “Commedia” sev’n centuries past,
My take on Life and after- seemed to take hold and last
Died exiled in Ravenna, but I guess I did well,
My gift is what we all think about Heav’n and Hell………

Dante:
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita,
Che la diritta via era smarrita
Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, a dir
Quanto e qual era è cosa dura.

It’s a little bit funny, but in the midst of life’s road,
I got lost on the path where I’d easily strode,
Found myself without money in a dark gloomy wood –
I’d use a GPS if only I could.

Questa selva selvaggia ed aspra e forte
Tanto è amara, che poco è piu morte –
Era tanto pien di sonno com’io v’entrai
Che la verace via abandonnai.

This unyielding woodland is wild and perverse
No place to get coffee, only death might be worse
Can’t say how I got here, seems I’ve used up my stash
That I’d thought of smoking near the jogging path.

Chorus(It.)
Ma dove terminava l’orribile valle
Vidi vestite di raggi le spalle d’un colle
La paura cheta, un poco cheta
Dopo notte di pièta
Per ogne calle mena dritto questa pianeta

Chorus(Eng.):
I spotted a billboard for a roadside motel
Where a fearsome trench ended at the foot of a hill
I’d had a bad night, my credit’s quite tight,
If I had enough cash
I’d get out of this sunlight, I need a place to crash.

E come quei che con lena affannata
Si volge all’acqua perigliosa e guata;
Uscito fuor del pelago alla riva,
       Dante nella Selva
W.Blake
Cosi l’animo mio ancor fuggiva.

Like an agent who’s landed and stripped off scuba-gear
007, no tuxedo, proceeding out of fear,
From depths to some hostile shore is what I really mean,
That’s the way that my soul appeared to be fleeing.

Si volse indietro, l’animo mio
Che ancor fuggiva,
A rimirar lo passo che non lasciò persona viva.

Fearing what to find, my passing-lane mind
Checked the rear-view mirror, then hurtled
Peering back at the passage that leaves the living world.




HOT LINKS TO THE SATIRE-SONGS IN THIS SERIES:

Canto 1A: Dante’s Song (see below)
Canto 6: Dante, Go and See (Crayfish Étouffée)


UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT:

(Click on any chord-chart slide to advance to 'presentation/singalong' mode.)



























Monday, 2 March 2015

Ochi Chornye (Brown-Eyed Girl)

POST #74
PASTICHE of 2 original songs: parodysitism?
RECIPIENT SONG (music): "Ochi Chornye (Dark Eyes)", poem in Russian by Hrebinka, 1843 set to music in 1884; recorded by Al Jolson, Django Reinhart, Louis Armstrong, Red Army Chorus, Fyodor Chaliapin, Ivan Rebroff etc.
INVADING SONG (lyrics): "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison 1967.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, February 2015.

KEYWORDS: classicsong, goldenoldy, mishmash, multiculturalism









Imagine that Ivan Rebroff sang the classic melody, using Morrison's 1967 lyrics.


OCHI CHORNYE (BROWN-EYED GIRL)

(to the tune of the Russian classic "Ochi Chornye"))

Where did we go? Down in the hollow
Days when rains came, playing a new game.
Laugh and running so, skip and jumping so.
In the morning glow, our hearts thumping so.

You, my brown-eyed girl; you, my brown-eyed girl,
I'm remembering when we used to sing,
Gde stradan'ya nyet, gde vrazhdy zapryet,
Sha la la la la, la la te da. 

What did happen to Tuesday and so slow
Down old mine with trans-istor radio?
Laughing in sunlight, while we'd slip and slide
Hid by rainbow's wall, along waterfall.

Hard to find my way, saw you yesterday,
We're both on our own; my, how you have grown!
Memories cast back to that grassy track - 
We were overcome near the stadium.

You, my brown-eyed girl; you, my brown-eyed girl,
Ochi chornye, ochi strasnye,
I'm remembering when we used to sing,
Sha la la la la, la la te da. 

Performing Notes

Alternate verses 1 - slow with plucking, 2- faster with chords

Where did [Fm] we go? Down in the [C7] hollow
[Fm] Days when [C7] rains came, playing a [Fm] new game.
Laugh and [Bbm] running so, [C7] skip and [Fm] jumping so.
In the [C7] morning glow, our hearts [Fm] thumping so.

[C7] You, my [Fm] brown-eyed girl; you, my [C7] brown-eyed girl,
I'm remembering when we [Fm] used to sing,
Gde stra[Bbm]dan'ya nyet, gde vrazh[Fm]dy zapryet,
Sha la la la [C7] la- just like [C] that, la la te [Fm] da. 


Compare with the modified lyrics by Chaliapin, which were popularized in the West.