Re-Posted Environmental Riposte: Kilmer's "Trees" Updated

POST #93
PARODY-LYRICS

G. Coniglio surveying trees 
 N. shore of L. Erie, 2013

ORIGINAL POEM: "Trees" Joyce Kilmer 1914, set to music by O. Rosbach 1922, performed by Nelson Eddy, The Platters, Bob McGrath etc. 
The poem was the subject of a famous 4-line parody by Ogden Nash entitled "Song of the Open Road", 1932; it has been the subject of many other parodies subsequently.

PARODY LYRICS: G. Hurwitz - J Nuclear Cardiology 2000; by permission of the author, 
PARODY COMPOSED: modified lyrics posted with permission by Giorgio Coniglio at AmIRight.com, May 2013.

KEYWORDS: poetry, classicsong, environment

An iconic tree
Fabric Artwork by RCH

"TREES", Updated

(to the tune of "Trees")


1. Singable Introduction

Joyce Kilmer wrote his simple rhyme,

That seems to stand the test of time,

Perhaps assailed by Ogden Nash,

Kilmer family home, Mahwah NJ.

Who lived to see some billboards crash;

For such, trees die in droves we know

On clear-cut slopes in Borneo.

Where Kilmer’s sylvan spirits dwelled

Stretch cattle-fields with dryads felled;

On REDD* we must rely, methinks,

To save our threatened carbon-sinks.

Bless our species, prone to gawk,

While someone clubs the last Great Auk.

*Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, programs of incentives directed at underdeveloped nations under the aegis of the UN and World Bank.

2. Kilmer's Iconic Poem, Updated

I fear that I shall never view

A spoof that gobbles CO2.

Rough drafts - their scribbled nest o’erflows

Ogden Nash, poet and humorist

The Blue-Box prest against my toes.

And spoofs get hungry – ask their sire -

For watts that flow down printer wire.

Both home and office still it seems

Consume their daily MegaReams.

  

Once de-composed, spoofs’ souls will pass

Into the stock of greenhouse gas.

(The ozone loss from page and line

Intimidates the Northern Pine).

God’s Earth will fry ere Hell  may freeze,

Save forests, don’t print parodies. 



PERFORMING NOTES


F#dim7 = 2,3,2,3; G7sus=0,2,1,3
Bb9 = 1,2,1,3

                                             

[C] I fear that I shall never [Dm] view
[Fm] A spoof that gobbles CO[C7]2. [C9]

[F] Rough drafts - their [F#dim7]scribbled nest o’er[C]flows

[C7] The Blue-Box prest against my [F] toes.
[Bm7] And spoofs get [C] hungry – ask their [D7] sire -

 [G7] For watts that [G7s] flow down printer [C] wire.

[C] Both home and office still it [Dm] seems 

[Fm] Consume their daily Mega[C7]Reams.[C9]

[F] Once de-com[F#dim7]posed, spoofs’ souls will [C] pass

[C7] Into the stock of greenhouse [F] gas.

[Fm] God’s Earth will [C] fry ere Hell   [F#dim7] may [D7] freeze,

[Bb9]  Save forests, [Dm7] don’t print paro[C]dies. 

An ABBA Contrafactum (mishmash) part #2: "Those Were Our Trains"

 

Illinois Central Railroad:
 Mississippi Valley route

POST #85

PASTICHE OF 2 ORIGINAL SONGS, with interchange of lyrics and themes; the more complex term contrafactum is explained in the previous post, "Starry Notions."

ORIGINAL SONG#1-MUSIC: "Those Were The Days", by Boris Fomin. This song was first recorded with Russian lyrics in 1925; translated by Gene Raskin, it was recorded by the Limeliters. Subsequently it became a worldwide hit single as recorded by Mary Hopkin, 1968; Paul McCartney produced the session for the new Apple label.

ORIGINAL SONG#2 - LYRICS: "The City of New Orleans". Steve Goodman wrote this song after riding the iconic train in 1971, and played it for Arlo Guthrie, who recorded it on his album "Hobo's Lullaby", 1972.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, April, 2015.

KEYWORDS: goldenoldy, mishmash

An A-B B-A-CONTRAFACTUM

1)Singable Introduction 

2)"Starry Notions"

 =see the previous posting

3)"Those Were Our Trains"

(to the tune of Those Were the Days" as performed by Mary Hopkin) 

Fifty years ago a lonely whistle –

Goodman’s ode to disappearing trains.

Arlo Guthrie covered his epistle
While passengers took off for cars and planes.

Those were our trains my friend, their near demise portended -

Grid derailed while Willie topped the charts,

A spate of bankruptcies – Pullman and then Pennsy,

And Congress salvaged the remaining parts.

La la la  la la la  La la la  la la la

Amtrak can manage the remaining parts.

Riding on the City of New Orleans.

Mississippi Central morning rail (1)

Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders

Three conductors, twenty sacks of mail.

The train they call the C. of N.O.

Along the odyssey, pull out at Kankakee
And roll along past houses, farms and fields
Past towns that have no names, freight yards full of old men
And graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

La la la  la la la    La la la  la la la

The graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
The train they call The City of New Orleans -
I'll go five hundred miles ere day is done.

The towns and people seem part of a troubling dream
But the steel rails no longer have the blues
Conductor sings again, passengers please refrain -

This line makes profit hauling coal and crude.

La la la  la la la    La la la  la la la

We now make profit hauling coal and crude.

Twenty years ago, Illinois Central

Was bought out by our neighbor’s CNR (2)

Amtrak runs the intercity service

Ridership keeps creeping up so far.

Stations and riders seem like a non-profit scheme
Yet subsidies have solved Steve Goodman’s blues
Rail’s bottom-line’s now great, its locomotive’s freight

Passenger service serves as the caboose.

La la la  la la la    La la la  la la la

Passenger service serves as the caboose.

(1) The Mississippi Central, operating from Mississippi to Tennessee, was absorbed into the Illinois Central system in 1878.

(2) Canadian National Railways

Performing Notes for "Those Were Our Trains" 

Ukuleles or other stringed instruments e.g. balalaikas, play tremolo as indicated by ~~~

[Dm~~~]
[Dm!] Fifty years [Gm!] ago a lonely [Dm~] whistle –

[Dm!] Goodman’s ode to [D7!] disappearing [Gm~] trains

[Gm7!] Arlo Guthrie [Gm6!] covered his e[Dm~]pistle

While [E!] passengers took [E7!] off for cars and [A7!] planes.

[A7+] Those were [A7] our [Dm] trains my friend, their near-[Gm]-demise portended 

[Gm7] Grid de[C]railed while [C7] Willie topped the [F] charts

[F6] A spate of [Gm7] bankrupt[Gm6]cies – Pullman and [Dm] then Pennsy,

And Congress [A7] salvaged [A7+] the remaining [Dm] parts.

[Dm!] La-[A7!]la-la  [Dm] la-la-la    La-[D7]la-la  [Gm] la-la-la

Amtrak can [A7] manage [A7+] public-[A7]-service [Dm] parts.

An ABBA Contrafactum (mishmash) part#1: "Starry Notions"

The train they call
"The City of New Orleans"

POST #84

 PASTICHE OF 2 ORIGINAL SONGS, with interchange of lyrics and music; the more complex term contrafactum is explained below in the singable introduction.

ORIGINAL SONG#1 - LYRICS: "Those Were The Days", by Boris Fomin. This song was first recorded with Russian lyrics in 1925; translated by Gene Raskin, it was recorded by the Limeliters. Subsequently it became a worldwide hit single as recorded by Mary Hopkin, 1968; Paul McCartney produced the session for the new Apple label. 

ORIGINAL SONG#2 - MUSIC: "The City of New Orleans". Steve Goodman wrote this song after riding the iconic train in 1971, and played it for Arlo Guthrie, who recorded it on his album "Hobo's Lullaby", 1972.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, April, 2015.

KEYWORDS: goldenoldy, mishmash

An A-B B-A CONTRAFACTUM

1)Singable Introduction

(to the tune of "The City of New Orleans" as performed by Arlo Guthrie) 

Writing an art-form called contrafactum

Parody sub-type, web-site AmIRight

Posted there a spoof about our railroads *

A song that bids America ‘Goodnight’.

But if you can take A’s melody and substitute the theme from B

The lines have got to be the proper length;

If everybody knows the tune, it’s fun to hum, but less to croon

Changed lyrics can get you tongue-tied, but that’s its strength.

So, ‘Hello!’ new diversion we can practice-

We can also sing A’s words to tune from B,

It’s word-play I’d call an “ABBA-contrafactum”

If it gets five hundred hits, I’d be in ecstasy.  

* “Those Were Our Trains”, posted on AmIRight.com, April 6th.

2) "Starry Notions"

(to the tune of "The City of New Orleans" as performed by Arlo Guthrie ) 

verse#1:

Once upon a time there was a tavern,

Place where we used to raise a glass or two.

Remember how we laughed away the hours 

And imagined all the great things that we would do.

Chorus:

Oh yes, those were the days my friend; we thought that they would never end

We’d sing and dance for ever and a day,

Live the life that we would choose, we’d fight and we would never lose,

And as youngsters we were certain to have our way.

But later, after busy years rushed by us,

Just, “La-la-la, how are you?” ’s what we’d say,

If by happenstance I saw you in the tavern.

We gave up our starry notions along the way.

verse #2:

Tonight I stood alone before the tavern

And nothing seemed the way it used to be

In the glass I saw a strange reflection,

Was that lonely older woman really me?

Chorus

verse #3:

Through the door there came familiar laughter

I saw your face and heard you call my name.

Oh my friend we’re older but no wiser

For in our hearts the yearning's still the same.

Chorus

Performing Notes for "Starry Notions": 

The chord pattern is the same for each of the 3 verses of the new song; the chorus for this song amalgamates the 2nd and 3rd verse elements from Steve Goodman's railway-song. 

[G] Once upon a [D7] time there was a [G] tavern,

[Em] Place where we used to [C]  raise a  glass or [G] two [D7]

Re[G]member how we [D] laughed away the [Em] hours 

And i[G]magined all the [D7] great things that we would [G] do.

Oh [Em] yes, those were the days my friend; we [Bm] thought that they would never end

We’d [D] sing and dance for ever and a [A] day,

[Em] Live the life that we would choose, we’d [Bm] fight and we would never lose,

And as [D] youngsters we were [D7] certain to have our [G] way.[G7]

But [C] later, after [D7] busy years rushed [G] by us,

Just, [Em] “La-la-la, how [C] are you?” ’s what we’d [G] say,

[D] If by [G] happenstance I [D7] saw you in the [Em] tavern. [A7]

We gave [F] up our [C] starry [D7] notions along the  [G] way.

Poem "The Chaos" Revisited: "CHAOS TALK" - A Singable Version

POST #79
PASTICHE with PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL POEM:   "The Chaos" by Gerard Nolst Trenité, 1920. 
ORIGINAL SONG: "Limbo Rock", as recorded 1962 by Chubby Checker.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, June, 2015.
WORDPLAY LINK: The updated complete poem by G. Coniglio can be found on "Giorgio's Weekly Wordplay" at post #32.



KEYWORDS: language, goldenoldy, wordplay

Original version of the poem "The Chaos"

“The Chaos” is a poem written by the Dutch writer and English-teacher Gerard Nolst Trenité as a comment on the difficulty of English pronunciation. The work was published by the author in various versions (of increasing length) over the period 1920 to 1944; it has frequently appeared unattributed with some re-editing.

I have made changes quite liberally in the poem in adapting it, including 1) removing lines with dated language, 2) giving priority to American rather than British pronunciation, 3) making it singable, including a touch of  Caribbean lilt in relation to the Original Song, 4) changing the politically-incorrect context with the implied female character now serving as the language expert as well as the inspiration,  5) creating some thematic stanzas based on the subject matter of the problematic words, and 6) adding a last stanza to emphasize the learner's problem of accenting the correct syllable.

Dr. Gerard Nolst Trenité, 
1870-1946

CHAOS TALK 
(a singable revision of 'The Chaos')

(to the tune of "Limbo Rock")

Greatest creature God create -

Teacher, please enunciate.

Show how sounds should auscultate

Make my head to oscillate.

Heat up versions in your verse

Words like corpse, corps, horse, hoarse, hearse

Tear in eye, tear dress and worse

Tersely parse, or pierce your purse.

History of a billet-doux  -

....
....
....

Accent's hard to get correct

As in current or connect

Segment, portrait they portray

Moray, banquet and filet.

Insight, inquest and intent

Recent recipe, cement

Exit or exist, exude

Concert and request - conclude!

Performing Notes: 

The chord pattern is the same for all verses, and is quite easy. The trick is to clinch the Caribbean rhythm with heavy beats on 2 and 4. and the English lyrics ending just before the 4th downbeat for every line. Another nice trick is to to employ voicing versions for the C and G7 chords (5,4,3,3, and 4,5,3,2 respectively), which allow downward NewYork strumming (for percussion effect)  for the 4 and 4.5 counts in most lines (the F9 and G7 chords can also be adapted to do this for the last few line of each verse).

Fadd9 = 0010.

Paean to Courageous Parodists: Stealthy AIR-Space Man (Poules Mouillées)

POST #71
PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "Secret Agent Man" recorded by Johnny Rivers, 1966.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, January 2015.

KEYWORDS: songwriting, goldenoldy 

Explanatory notes: 

nom-de-guerre (Fr) literally war-name, is the equivalent of  pen-name or pseudonym.

plume (Fr) - it is important to note that plume can mean either pen or feather. In current English nom-de-plume is used as a sophisticated term for pen-name, (but Victorians sometimes also used the term nom-de guerre). 

poule mouillée (Fr), literally wet chicken, is the slang equivalent of wimp.

satire (Fr)– same meaning as in English, sounds almost like sad tear.

satyre (Fr) -  pronounced identically, means sex-maniac, flasher (original term is derived from the satyr, a mythical Greek half-man/half-goat).

AIR or A.I.R. - insiders' name for a web-site AmIRight.com, which publishes parody-song lyrics.

STEALTHY AIR-SPACE MAN

(to the tune of "Secret Agent man")

There’s a barnyard filled with free-range spoofsters
Some young, some dead, most old; few hens, most roosters
As critics they take aim
No guts to face the blame
So temporary chicken-names they borrow.

Stealthy AIR-space man

Stealthy AIR-space man

You’ve typed your daily nom-de-plume; you’re hidd’n by chicken-names.

Playing golf – no spoofs to slay on Sunday.

Slinging vitriolic comments Monday.

You cluck and peck and call us dopes,

While trashing creative hopes

With pseudonymic chicken-names you borrow.

Stealthy AIR-space man

Stealthy AIR-space man

You’ve typed your daily nom-de-plume; you’re hidd’n by chicken-names.

The French provoked, invoke their noms-de-guer-re

They’re fierce, so in both tongues you need bewa-re

Word-pair satire/satyre - 

Best get the meaning clear,

Or you may face épées at dawn tomorrow.

Stealthy AIR-space man

Stealthy AIR-space man

You’ve typed your daily nom-de-plume; you’re hidd’n by chicken-names.

We all feel we should honor our French cousins,

The sad events have set the planet buzzing.

Whatever else you say, can’t call them “poules mouillées” (wimps)

We hang our heads and contemplate in sorrow.

But that AIR-space man

Stealthy AIR-space man

He’s typed his daily nom-de-plume; he’s hidd’n by chicken-names.