Uke-Song: "PEN OF RABBITS", a non-hunters' martial melody

Harlech castle, Wales

PARODY-LYRICS

MUSICAL UNDERPINNINGS: "Men of Harlech", traditional Welsh hymn

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, August 2013.

PARODY-LYRICS LINK: To return to the corresponding post on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" click HERE. 
(You can also view the lyrics and commentary (without images or chords, at the  parody-lyrics site where they were originally posted online)  at AmIRight.com Post""

Charlotte Church, child diva
 sings "Men of Harlech"

PEN of RABBITS

(to the traditional tune of "Men of Harlech")

Welch rare-bit / "rabbit?"

 

Singable Introduction:

[1] Charlotte Church aged 13, recorded the traditional ‘Men of Harlech’ 1998.

[2] Ogden Nash’s 2-line poem, ‘The Rabbits’

[3] Dr R. Brasch discusses the origins of ‘Welsh rabbit’ in ‘How Did It Begin’ , MJF Books, 2006.

[4] herbivorous mammals in a zoologic order which includes rabbits and hares.

[5] Best-known spoof  - a Boy-Scout song based on the ancient British tradition of fighting naked in woad dye -  by Eton housemaster W. Hope-Jones, ‘HoJo’, published 1921.

[6] Coniglio = rabbit  (Italian) 










Performing Notes

Enjoy chord-charts and lyrics at the Corktown Ukulele Jam songbook:
Corktunes: Pen of Rabbits

PEN of RABBITS

(to the tune of "Men of Harlech")

Welsh 'rarebit';
no rabbits harmed 

Singable Introduction:
Still today caer Harlech perches,

Dominating YouTube searches - 

Startling, stirring [1], song of Church's

Steals your breath away.

Here’s a song about Welsh Rare-bit, 

Squarely dealing with the hare-bits --

Seen on fare-bills quite a fair bit,

Patrons seem perplexed.

Rabbit Welsh –- offensive nomen-

-clature used by Saxon foemen ?

“No Welsh eats, but cheese and dough, man,

‘less they poach some game.” [2]

Meat-free choice? (Just ask your hostess.)

Beer-and-cheese-melt over toast; its

Celtic fans applaud and boast, it’s

Cambria’s national dish.

Some meat-shunners might eschew it

Thinking it a hunter’s stew –- but 
It lacks lagomorphs [3], that’s true –- Bugs

Outwits Elmer Fudd!

Rare-bit search is Brasch’s [2]

Hare terse-verse is Nash’s [4]                 

‘HoJo’ wrote the spoof ‘Woad Ode’ [5]

Coniglio [6] penned some flashes.

Hail a dish that harms no hopsters;

Not how Newberg hassles lobsters,

Fwycassees can fweak out sqwabsters --

Free the Cornish hen!

Easter rabbit hunt, New Zealand

Sadly, elsewhere, butchered rabbit

Satisfies game-lovers’ habits;

Easter special –- Braised Brunch-Basket:

Bunny-love abused.

Hard life in the burrows,

Where bereavement’s thorough.

Peters sad, their mom or dad

Got skewered for lunch ‘al burro’ [7].

Hail a world that harms no hopsters,

Fricassees make quail no squabsters,

Calves should escape escalope, sirs !

Peace in field and warren !

WHAT NOW?

Choice #1: To leave a comment, click on the comment-'widget' at the bottom of this page (or, if that fails, find an alternate e-mail on "pages").

Choice #2: To find another song-parody, use the listings on the web-version by reverse date in the clickable 'Blog-Archive' at the top of the right-hand column.

Choice #3: To return to our broad-spectrum blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE.

Choice #4 (optional): If you found this stuff to be compellingly entertaining or educational, send a cheque/check. 

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page!

  

Uke-Song for Toronto Neighbourhoods: "TTC VOICES"

ORIGINAL SONG (music and lyrics)

MELODY: generic railway song (chorus similar to "New River Train")

LYRICS COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, January 2014. 

PARODY-LYRICS LINK: To return to the corresponding post on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" (and to see the lyrics without the chord-chart indications) click HERE. 

GLOSSARY of TORONTO INTERSECTIONS:
AVenue Rd and DAVenport Rd 
CARLeton St and PARLiament St
GERrard St and SHERbourne St
YORK St and Queen's QUAY
KEELE St and STEELES Ave
UNIVERSITY Avenue and COLLEGE St.
KING St and QUEEN St, main streets that run parallel through the downtown, then intersect where they cross the Don River

TTC VOICES  


.


.





,

.

 

UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT
(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
When I die, don't make a fuss
Waive the hearse I'll take the bus !
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #1)
Near my penthouse flat at Av and Dav
Castled hills and toney shops and trats are what you have.
To avoid those traffic fines,
I speed up Spadina Line,
 And save my dime for trips to Waikiki.

(Chorus) 
We're riding the Red Rocket  - TTC
It's the trusted transportation grid for me.
I would only jump on GO
To get west past Mimico
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #2)
Beside the hillside farm at Carl and Parl 
Where streetcars veer toward the Valley, squeal but seldom snarl
As at other petting zoos
You'll hear bleats neighs, oinks and moos
But look down and see stalled traffic from afar.

(Chorus)        
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
I would only take a cab
To get laid out on a slab
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #3)
I camp out in the park near Ger and Sher
Where what we smoke and drink and introduce ain't always pure.
I can't dance that shelter jive,
I'm just trying to survive,
Please spare me change for lunch and TTC.

(Chorus)
We poor folks, we may still need to commute,
Though paying higher mil-rates you taxpayers may not suit -
Homeless, school-kids, unemployed,
Nanny for great-uncle Floyd,
 We're all discount urban transit devotees. 

(Voice #4)
I perch above the Lake at York and Quay (kway? kwhy?) 
Where yachts are docked you see so many towers block the sky,
Angels, Orioles, Jays and owls
Watch for Sky-Dome balls hit foul,
While the Mariners, Rays and Pirates sail the seas (the harbour?)

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
I could start up my old tank,
But I'd rather walk the plank,
Or even watch old ballgames on TV.

(Voice #5)
Back home in my large garage near Keele and Steeles
Where life, as it rolls on, is sure dependent on 4 wheels;
SUVs and mowing grass,
I could use relief from gas,
Earth and I would fare much better - TTC.

(Chorus)
You too could ride Red Rocket into town.
It's the eco-friendly way to keep those greenhouse gases down.
You'll reduce your income tax,
Just submit your Metro-Pass
Labelled " new suburban subway devotee"

(Voice #6)
It's our Physics lunch at University--
College-cars accelerate, but seldom approach 'c'.
 We learn "Think, therefore I am",
Munch your sandwich on the tram,
It's where Einstein dreamed up relativity.
   
(Chorus) 
Looking down the track what can we see?
A better system for posterity.
We should work on frequent trains, 
And forget the 'gravy-stains',
Let's perfect our city's gem, the TTC.

(Voice #7)
My Queen-, your King sees how it ought to be,
It's signed and sealed and witnessethed in my last Will-and-T,
When my time is done and gone,
Strew my ashes cross the Don,
Donate my last token to the TTC.

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for you and you and me.
When we die, don't make a fuss
Waive the hearse; we'll take the bus !
We're all discount-senior transit devotees.

WHAT NOW?

Choice #1: To leave a comment, click on the comment-'widget' at the bottom of this page (or, if that fails, find an alternate e-mail on "pages").

Choice #2: To find another song-parody, use the listings on the web-version by reverse date in the clickable 'Blog-Archive' at the top of the right-hand column.

Choice #3: To return to our broad-spectrum blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE.

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page!

HOTLINKS TO OTHER CANADIAN-THEMED SONG-POSTINGS

An Alien Heading South

Big Rob Rehab Clinic

Canadian Reunion

Canoeing Lesson

I've Got Anagrams, Eh?

Flight of the Loonie

FOP-Shop Wine

Mergerwocky

Off-Patent Drug #19

Prattle of New Orleans

Suburbs' Guy

The Maple Leaf Ad Infinitum 

This Land Has Anagrams 

TTC Voices (see below)

Vancouver's Isle

..AND A FEW LIMERICK-BASED SONGS

Shania Twain's "Verse": An anthem for limericists

Canada Day 2015 (singable limericks)
Limericks About Chemainus, B.C.