Uke-Song: "NO ELEMENTS", an elegy to incomparable satirist Tom Lehrer

PARODY-LYRICS


ORIGINAL SONG: "The Elements", Tom Lehrer, 1959.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, 2013. A decade later, it might be worthwhile to review these once more.

Please note that T.L.'s genius has provided inspiration for a handful of other parody patter-songs; these are summarized at the bottom of this post.


EXPLANATION: Lehrer had adapted the tune from "The Major General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance". There are 3 somewhat different melodies/chord-sequences used in alteration through the GandS song, and in Lehrer's derived take-off.

PARODY-LYRICS LINK: The lyrics for this song constituted one of Giorgio's earliest submissions to the online parody-lyrics website at AmIRight.com. And, should you prefer, they are also displayed without the chord-indications on our blogsite "Daily Illustrated Nonsense"; click HERE.

NO ELEMENTS

(to the tune of "The Elements")

A famous building in Rome

Most names for elements are
 neutral Latin nouns

Roman empire included England

  


      




 

Singable Introduction

The Patter-Song Lyrics:

There’s [G]pablum, perineum, paramecium, petroleum

And [D7]locum and inoculum, lyceum and linoleum

A few English words ending in -UM
 are not of Latin origin

And [G]tritium, deuterium, trapezium and trillium
My[D]celium, flagellum, endo[A7]thelium and [D]cilium.

There’s [D7]quorum and decorum, mausoleum, mora[Gm]torium

And [F7]premium, per-annum, honorarium, em[Bb]porium

And [D7]pendulum and forum, fulcrum, speculum, bac[Gm]terium

And [Eb7]cerebellum, plenum, sum, curriculum, de[D7]lirium.

Gym[G]nasium and stadium and magnum and terrarium

So[D7]larium, momentum, myocardium, aquarium

And [G]scrotum and fac[D7]totum and post[G]partum and con[D7]tinuum

And [G]duodenum, [C]referendum, [G]rectum [D7]and re[G]siduum.

Addendum #1
There's [G]stratum, alum, [D7]allium, al[G]luvium et [D7]alia,
And [G]mom's pouch called mar[C]supium, but [G]mostly [D7]in Aus[G]tralia.

Addendum #2

To [G]plural them, heads [D7]swirling them, “What [G]single rule? - please [D7]answer, Pa”.

My [G]dictum, “Don’t in[C]flict ‘em with [G]erratums [D7]or chry[G]santhema !” 

et cetera!

(My suggestion for the first 3 verses of the patter-list portion of this parody are shown here, but adapt them as you like! Incidentally, the Eb7 chord may look formidable to some - just use the barred version of D7 one fret higher, than slide back for the D7 that follows!)

You crave more patter-songs in the style of Tom Lehrer???
T.L. inspired a significant platterful of songs related to our interest in grammatically paired words, including binomials and reduplications. And, you should have your foot in the door, having mastered the complexities of singing and playing our above offering "No Elements".  So, enjoy trying these as well !!!     
1a. "Alliterative Binomials, part#1"

1b. "Alliterative Binomials, part#2"

2a. "Rhyming Binomials, part#1"

2b. "Rhyming Binomials, part#2"

3.  "A Lesson about Reduplications" (not a patter-song)

4a. "Reduplications, part#1"

4b. "Reduplications, part#2",

5.  "The Uniqueness of Nuclear", Latin adjectival listing, scheduled for April 2024.

Related Palindromes:  (Latin examples found at Auxilium: Palindroma) 

There seem to be no published examples of phrases based on the  neutral nouns !!! 

Ave, Eva.  (Hail, Eve !)

Sum summus mus. (I am the top mouse)

Et tiger non regit te.  (And the tiger doesn't rule thee).

Aures serua.  (Safeguard your ears).

Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas. (The famous  "Sator Square" - can be read either horizontally or vertically)  

Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor. (In Rome, love will go to you suddenly)

Uke-Song: Sharon, Lois and Bram sing ""ARE YOUR ETHICS LOW?"

 

SONG with UKULELE CHORDS

ORIGINAL SONG: "You can listen to the Trio's well-known  version on YouTube HERE, 
The original 

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, August 2018.  To return to the corresponding post on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" (and to see the lyrics without the chord-chart indications) click HERE. 

SONGLINKS:

ARE YOUR PRECEPTS LOW?

 (to the tune of "Do your Ears Hang Low?")

                                                                        

Are your precepts low, unlike Kamala and Joe?

The DOJ* 's got photo-pics and piles of video. 

If released, corroboration could cause MAGA** consternation -- ,

Drive poll-ratings low.

Are your standards low? Friendly pedophiles you know

Have bestowed conspiring theorists with rumors that will flow -- 

MAGA-loyalists hoped Dems would crowd Jeff's "list", and steal the show. 

Are your ethics low?   

Are your moral precepts low? Nasty pederasts you know

Seen in birthday cards and photo-files and piles of video. 

At some parties you were host; bimbos aged eighteen at most.  

Are your standards low?

Are your moral standards low? It's "fake news", we hear you crow: 

"Files concocted by James Comey, and Hillary and Joe."  

So get Congress dismissed early, and avoid the hurly-burly.

Aren't your standards low?

* Department of Justice (US)

** make America great again, slogan for the loosely defined Trump-controlled  Republican Party 

ORIGINAL SONG-LYRICS

Click directly on any slide to view the thumbnails at the bottom of the page.  You can then use them to easily go back and forth between the parody-version and the original lyrics.