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'