Thursday, April 17, 2008

Cleverest Song Lyrics

I Am the Walrus by the BeatlesThere are plenty of catchy tunes out there--lots of great songwriters and I'll probably tackle a list of my favorites there in the future but today I'm giving a nod to the songs whose lyrics are just too fun not to sing along with.

I've combed through my play lists for my favorites but feel free to add any of your own tongue-twisters--all I ask is that you quote them correctly. Easier said than done, right?

1. I Am the Walrus by John Lennon and Paul McCartney 1967 (d'uh). Actually it wasn't written by both Beatles, it was written by Lennon but credit was given to Paul for some reason.

Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl and you let your Knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus,
goo goo g'joob . . .

Expert texpert choking smokers,
Don't you think the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snide.
I'm crying.

Semolina Pilchard, climbing up the Eiffel Tower.
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna.
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus,
goo goo g'joob


And plenty more terrific lines. Actually, I could fill this whole list with Beatles songs--how about this beauty from Maxwell's Silver Hammer? "Joan was quizzical, studied metaphysical, science in the home . . . Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine, calls her on the phone . . ." but I had a hard time including a song where the main character goes on a killing spree with his hammer. This IS a family-friendly blog you know.

2. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by Jimmy Kennedy 1953. I like the remake that They Might Be Giants did of this tune but whoever is singing the lyrics are hypnotic:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Instanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople,
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night.


Tell me you're not singing along.

3. Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills and Nash 1982.

Got out of town on a boat goin' to Southern islands. Sailing a reach before a followin' sea.
She was makin' for the trades on the outside, and the downhill run to Papeete.
Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas. We got eighty feet of the waterline. Nicely making way. In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you.
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away


I LOVE this song. I think it's because it's about sailing and the ocean--I would have included Billy Joel's Downeaster Alexa and Sting's Why Should I Cry? in the list but this isn't a list about ocean songs now is it? Ah, someday I'm going to build a sailboat and sail around the world. Twice.

4. Rapture by Blondie 1981. I'm really including this as a tribute to Grace, my teen daughter who's recently discovered 80s classics. I had to laugh though, I caught her singing along with it:

And out comes a man from Mars
And you try to run but he's got a gun
And he shoots you dead and he eats your head
And then you're in the man from Mars
You go out at night, eatin' cars
You eat Cadillacs, Lincolns too
Mercuries and Subarus . . .


But instead of saying "Subarus" she said "Chevroloos." As in "Chevrolets" only "ChevroLOOS." After I stopped laughing I asked her what Chevroloos were and she sheepishly said she didn't know but that it somehow rhymed. Ha! I guess Chevroloo isn't any weirder than Subaru if you think about it.

5. The Codfish Ball by who-knows-who. You'll laugh at me over this but the only reason I'm including it is because it was part of a Shirley Temple movie I watched when I was young and Shirley does this cute little dance to the tune and the words are just as adorable as she is. The kind that stick with even 30 years later apparently. Hey, I'm just delivering some variety, okay?

Lobsters dancing in a row shuffle off to buffalo
Jelly fish sway to and fro at the Codfish ball
Finn-an-haddie leads the eel through an Irish reel
The Catfish is a dancing man but he can't can-can like a sardine can


6. Girlfriend in a Coma by The Smiths, 1987. The only way to balance the sugary-sweetness of Shirley is to follow it up with the eye-gouging acidity of The Smiths. It was a toss up as to which song of theirs I would include--they have so many light-hearted little ditties--There Is a Light is another of their lovely songs that I find myself singing periodically.

Girlfriend in a coma, I know I know - its serious
Girlfriend in a coma, I know I know - its really serious


OR:

And if a double-decker bus crashes into us
To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck kills the both of us
To die by your side well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine


Yes, either little tune is a beauty and better than Prozac for what ails you.

7. Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon, 1975. Or, as they joked on the Muppet Show, perhaps it is Fifty Ways to Love Your Leaver? Whichever way you sing it the words are classic, I love the unique drum beat and the catchy words:

She said it's really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued
But I'll repeat myself, at the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover

You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free


It's one of the songs Mom used to sing around the house every once in a while--she has quite a repertoire you know. Yea, we're an odd family.

8. Big Rock Candy Mountain by Harry McClintock 1928. A hobo ballad that sings of the longing for utopia as only a hobo could create it:

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
There ain't no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
I'm a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains


Because we need more songs about free-flowing alcohol, laziness and poor personal hygiene. Well, after songs about girlfriends in comas who am I to criticize?

9. Anything from The Music Man, 1962. Meredith Wilson's musical has the funniest dialog ever in a musical--and though that's not saying much it's still a crack-up. My favorite line? When Mrs. Shin is ranting about smutty literature and--speaking of Omar Khayyam says, "Omar Khy-yi-yi-yi-I am appalled!" Cracks me up every time.

Anyway, the songs have the cleverest lyrics--Rock Island, Trouble, The Sadder but Wiser Girl, Pick a Little Talk a Little, Gary, Indiana, and of course Marion the Librarian all roll like taffy on the tongue.

Gary, Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary, Indiana,
Let me say it once again.
Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana,
That's the town that "knew me when."
If you'd like to have a logical explanation
How I happened on this elegant syncopation,
I will say without a moment of hesitation
There is just one place that can light my face.
Gary, Indiana, Gary Indiana,
Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York, or Rome, but--
Gary, Indiana,Gary, Indiana, Gary Indiana, my home sweet home.


10. It's the End of the World As We Know It by R.E.M. 1987. I would quote it for you but I couldn't begin to get the words right and would just embarrass myself. If you can sing along I'd be very impressed. VERY impressed. Go ahead, I'll join in on the chorus . . .

11. Rocky Raccoon by John Lennon and Paul McCartney 1968. Written mostly by Paul and released on the White Album this is one of the funniest songs ever--we sing it around here quite a bit because it fits so well with Lillian's name:

Rocky Raccoon checked into his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
Rocky had come equipped with a gun
To shoot off the legs of his rival
His rival it seems had broken his dreams
By stealing the girl of his fancy.
Her name was Magil and she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy.


Because if you can't laugh about blood-letting love triangles and drunk doctors what can you laugh at I ask?

12. One Week by Barenaked Ladies . Yes, it's been done to death in the commercials but the lyrics are just as snappy as they come and once you've got it down those words are in the brain for-ev-er.

Chickity china the chinese chicken you have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin
Watchin x-files with no lights on, we're dans la maison I hope the smoking man's in this one
Like Harrison Ford I'm getting Frantic like Sting I'm tantric
Like Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy like Kurasawa I make mad films
Okay I dont make films but if I did they'd have a samurai
Gonna get a set of better clubs gonna find the kind with tiny nubs
Just so my irons aren't always flying off the back-swing . . .


Who says Shakespeare's cornered the market on creativity with the language? If this ain't poetry then I don't know what is. Well, maybe not quite poetry but darn fun to say.

13. We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel, 1989. Where else are you going to get a history lesson AND musical entertainment for the price of one? Wikipedia goes through each reference in the song and explains them--in case you were too young to remember that Russia was once Communist. Actually, that's funny because the other day my kids were asking what the U.S.S.R. was (I believe they were watching Rocky IV) and it took a minute to register in my brain that they didn't know about the Iron Curtain or Cold War. I had to stop and explain it all to them and I marveled in the moment while they shrugged their shoulders and went back to cheering for Rocky. My nostalgia didn't interest them apparently.

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dancron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez


Honorable mentions: Mediate by INXS and Comin' into Los Angeles by Steppenwolf. Though I tend to make sure I'm alone when I'm singing this one ("Comin' into Los Angel-eez, bringing in a couple of keys . . . don't touch my bags if you please, Mr. Customs man . . .").

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62 comments:

Zenmomma said...

You're right! There are a lot of songs in there that just HAVE to sing along with. Great list.

Robin said...

I've always loved Southern Cross, what a great song... We Didn't Start The Fire is a fun one too.

Great list Michelle.

Irishcoda said...

It always amazes me how some artists can put words together for a song (like I Am the Walrus)...thanks for such a detailed TT!

Jen at Semantically driven said...

What a great mix of songs you've got there. I love Big Rock Candy Mountain and can sing that and accompany myself with the ukulele. It's on the soundtrack for 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou' which is a fabulous film.

Hootin Anni said...

Anything having to do with music has my attention. I DO know that I'm gonna be singing #13 all day now.

My 13 movie stills is shared for T-13 this week. Come by if you can.

Caffienated Cowgirl said...

Oh, the Barenaked Ladies...they have the best lyrics!

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

I CAN actually sing along to It's The End Of The World As We Know It...

Steph

Juliana RW said...

I love Beatles also :D

Will you visit mine Thanks

Suburban Correspondent said...

You are one eclectic gal...

marcia@joyismygoal said...

.I loved this post so many memories love th BNL"S and I too know all the words to Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon I had good friends Roy and Gus at the time so we sang it to them all the time

Chrisbookarama said...

I love so many of those ones, but I Am the Walrus is just weird. Did you see Across the Universe? Loved that movie and the soundtrack.

You should hear Great Big Sea's version of End of the World- it's twice as fast.

Awesome list!

Megan Cobb said...

Whooo. Those are all great tunes! And Don Henley's American Pie, too.

Marie N. said...

I'll never forget my little brother, at the time about 8 years old, singing The Sadder But Wiser Girl For Me.

I do sing along to most on your list, and the kids love They Might be Giants's version of Istanbul.

I'm also singing along with the Oak Ridge Boys Y'all Come Back Saloon whenever I hear it (hmmm I have not heard it is a very long time, so why is it still ringing in my head?)

Tim Appleton (Applehead) said...

This post is why you're in my RSS. We start singing #10 when the kids are whining. Gary, Indiana is also stuck in my head now, thank you, Shipoopie

Unknown said...

Quite a few of my favs in your list. Great idea. Happy T13!

Darla said...

Now those are some amazing lyrics! Great songs, too. I just had The Music Man on last week while fixing breakfast, so Gary, Indiana is playing in my head now... with a very young Ron Howard singing it with a lisp. :)

I am Arizona; a person, not a place. said...

LOVE this post! Rapture by Blondie was my favorite song for such a long time. I love the lyrics. I was also a huge Morrissey and Smiths fan, so Girlfriend In A Coma was a favorite. Love BNL, too.

Edi said...

The song I was thinking of this morning with odd lyrics, before I even read your post, was "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road".

A couple of weeks ago we had supper with an "elderly" couple and they entertained us in part by playing some old RECORDS - one being "Dead Skunk"...so that is what came to my mind when I saw a dead squirrel on the side of the road during my morning jog :)

Deb said...

This is definitely an interesting list of songs. I did have to add an "amen, sister," to edi's mention of "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road." Yeah, welcome to spring in Ohio.

ames said...

I *love* this list! There are only like one or two that I don't know by heart, and now they're all stuck in my head, tyvm. Big Rock Candy Mountain is one of my favorite songs, I want to learn to play it on the guitar.

Time to go listen to some Beatles and Paul Simon...

Mayberry said...

Dating myself here ... but in college a couple of my friends spent DAYS deciphering It's the End of the World As We Know It. Consequently I really can sing along ...

Leonid Brezhnev Lenny Bruce and Lester Banks
Birthday party cheesecake jellybean BOOM!

Heather said...

That was fun reading.

Love me some Simon and Garfunkel.

The song that came to mind for me was "I just died in your arms" I've never quite gotten that song.

Scribbit said...

Okay I have to pipe in here and say really? To the Dead Skunk comments. My Dad used to sing "You gotcha dead ol' skunk in the middle of the road, you gotcha dead ol' skunk in the middle of the road. [pause] And what's he doing? Stinkin' to high heaven!"

I always thought the man was looney and/or poorly trained in putting together song lyrics. I had no idea it was a real song.

Amber M. said...

GREAT list, Michelle. I sang along...AND giggled, too.

Tarasview said...

brilliant list!

Anonymous said...

@Michelle—My mom used to sing it, too, and was adamant that it was a real song. I didn't believe her until I actually heard it on the radio. And yes, as far as I know, those ARE the words (I know that "stinkin' to high heaven" is in the song.)

But don't forget "Come Together"! I know all the lines to that song, but I will NEVER get them in order. Here come old flat top.

jolibe said...

Fantastic! These songs take me back! I LOVE Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire!". It came out when I was in high school...and I listened to it over and over again until I could write the words out in my journal. The video was cool too...back when MTV still played videos - remember?

Roses Are Red, Violets are Violet said...

I'm chuckling because, as I was reading your post, I kept coming up with songs..."Rapture!" then I'd scroll down and there it was... then I thought "We Didn't Start the Fire!" and, lo and behold, you have that one, too! I'm all out! LOL

No, I'll think of one and get back to ya!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh! I am going to have to find my Smiths CASSETTE tapes!

Roses Are Red, Violets are Violet said...

OK, I'm back already!

A Roger Miller tune I used to have on my blog:

Ya can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
Ya can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
Ya can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
But you can be happy if you've a mind to

Ya can't take a shower in a parakeet cage.... (repeated)

But you can be happy if you've a mind to

All ya gotta do is put your mind to it Knuckle down, buckle down, do it, do it, do it

zakkalife said...

Just love the song Rocky Raccoon. My father would sing this song while playing his guitar and harmonica. What fond memories. Thanks for taking me back.

jessica

Anonymous said...

I was just reading another Alaska blog which mentioned the song Southern Cross. It is about a young Kodiak family's sailing journey from Alaska to Australia (wiht a one year old onboard!). It's called SailboatPelagic on blogspot. I think I got the name correct. The blogger said he thought of that song as they got ever more South on their trip. Nancy in Palmer

An Ordinary Mom said...

They Might Be Giants, Music Man, R.E.M., "We Didn't Start the Fire" - fabulous list! I once had one of my classes research the lyrics of that Billy Joel song. It was very interesting!

Annie said...

The sad thing here is, that now they play some of those great songs in the grocery store. Then you find yourself singing (not humming) along. Your children, whose meter for coolness is completely different from yours, gasp, mumble, and attempt to leave the aisle you are in, thus avoiding any shame. Sigh. My coolness meter has hit an all time low.

Denise Patrick said...

I only know one song on your list - 50 Ways to Leave your Lover. Although, I've been to the "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (yes there is such a place - but it's not made of candy) but never heard the song.

Happy TT!

MommyTime said...

I actually had to look up the "I am the Walrus" lyrics because although I "know" this song, I thought you were joking about the actual lyrics. In my head, the words always made much more sense. Perhaps the only time in the history of song lyrics that my mistakes made MORE sense than the originals...

Lisa said...

There are songs you've mentioned that I haven't thought of in YEARS. What a great idea. (She says as Instanbul keeps repeating in her mind!)

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

What an awesome collection! The Beatles, the Smiths, love 'em all.

Karla Porter Archer said...

BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!!

Best T13 Ever!
I so loved reading all of these lyrics. (Mine was about music too)

xo ~K

Sarah Jewel said...

Don't forget about Hairdress on Fire by The Smiths!
GREAT list there, Michelle!

Heffalump said...

My Dad plays guitar and sings and the Dead Skunk in the middle of the road song was one he sang whenever we passed anything smelly when we were on a drive.
Some of my childhood favorites are Magneto and Titanium Man by Paul McCartney and the Wings (we still sing it at family gatherings sometimes) Smackwater Jack by Carole King, OblaDiOblaDa by the Beatles...
Jason Mraz is very clever with song lyrics, although some of his music is not very suitable so we pick and choose songs to download.

Gateway School and Learning Center said...

The End of the World as We Know It reminds me of walking through Madrid late at night with several fellow youth hostellers. One guy was a little inebriated and he was singing (shouting) that song into the night. I did feel like the end of the world as I knew it.

Also, John Lithgow sings The Codfish Ball on his Singin in the Bathtub CD. My kids love it.

Mrs. Gray's Class said...

I grew up on REM:

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and
snakes, an aeroplane and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn - world
serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs. Feed
it off an aux speak, grunt, no, strength, the Ladder
start to clatter with fear fight down height. Wire
in a fire, representing seven games, and a government
for hire at a combat site. Left of west and coming in
a hurry with the furys breathing down your neck. Team
by team reporters baffled, trumped, tethered cropped.
Look at that low playing. Fine, then. Uh oh,
overflow, population, common food, but it'll do to Save
yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs,
listen to your heart bleed dummy with the rapture and
the revered and the right, right. You vitriolic,
patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty
psyched.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign
towers. Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself
churn. Lock it in, uniforming, book burning, blood
letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate.
Light a candle, light a motive. Step down, step down.
Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh, this means no
fear cavalier. Renegade steer clear! A tournament,
tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions,
offer me alternatives and I decline.

The other night I dreamt of knives, continental
drift divide. Mountains sit in a line, Leonard
Bernstein. Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester
Bangs. Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You
symbiotic, patriotic, slam bug net, right? Right.

Debo said...

Great lyrics! I have the Instanbul/Constantinople stuck in my head. I always think of Wooster and Jeeves when this song pops up.

Anonymous said...

Great list!

The Smiths (and solo Morrissey) are always dependable lyricists.

"Shoplifters of the world!/Unite and take over!"

"Sheila take a/Sheila take a bow/boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear..."

"I am the son and the heir/of the shyness that is criminally vulgar/I am the son and heir of nothing in particular..."

I could go on and on. Sigh. I just wrote a comment on another blog about what a cheery teenager I was. Not.

Anonymous said...

Well, if you're going to include the Smiths then I'll have to comment!

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls' mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers!

J said...

I always kinda liked the Beatles lyric (or was it Paul?), "I had a cup of tea and a butter pie. A butter pie? The butter wouldn't melt so I put it in the pie."

:)

Also, bare naked ladies, "If I had a Million dollars" is a good one.

Anonymous said...

Very good collection, but how could you leave out Cole Porter??

Sonja said...

Dang! I take my hat off to you and your clever song lyric gathering ability. I love that you included songs of varying genre. This was a very fun list to read. :)

Have you heard Grandma's Lye Soap or I'm My Own Grandpa?

Oldies, but goodies.

Shalee said...

FYI: Billy Joel singing We Didn't Start The Fire in concert was FABULOUS! (He can usually count on his band to help out with words, but when they produced that one, his guitarist said, "Don't even look at me for the words. You're on your own."

Anonymous said...

Speaking of The Smiths, and sitting here with my hair haphazardly pinned up in a butterfly clip, my favorite lyrics are from Morrissey's "Hairdresser on Fire."

Can you squeeze me
Into an empty page of your diary
And psychologically save me
I've got faith in you
I sense the power
Within the fingers
Within an hour the power
Could totally destroy me
(Or, it could save my life)

Kayris said...

What??!! Istanbul was NOT a TMG original? Meh. Anyway, my kids both love it. TMBG rules.

And can I just say, I went staright to iTunes this morning to download We Didn't Start The Fire?

Pieces said...

Wow, great list. It must have taken forever to put together. I just love that Billy Joel song--it always gives me goose bumps.

AlaneM said...

Wow, back in time baby! Love this list - fun tunes with fun lyrics - what more could ya want?

pussreboots said...

I'm sorry I missed your post yesterday. I LOVE your song list. You've listed so many of my favorites. Happy belated TT.

Janet said...

I love the Southern Cross, and the Downeaster Alexa. I've always wanted to sail too. I've been a few times, enough to know what I'm doing. I'll let someone else build the boat though - I just want to sail it!

Theresa said...

You had me singing along with each and every tune. Nice job. PS I missed seeing you in Anchorage over the weekend. I'll e-mail some observations from the blogging panel when I get a chance. Happy Spring, which seems to finally be here.

Jordan McCollum said...

Oh, I forgot the best ones EVAR: Gilbert and Sullivan. Come on, you know you're the very model of a modern major general. And bonus points for using hypotenuse (double for making it rhyme!). This famous example is just one of dozens of great tongue twisty cleverness:

I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.

I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's;
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore,
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.

Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus' uniform:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin",
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle[*] from a javelin,
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat",
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery—
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy—
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a-gee.

For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury,
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

Anonymous said...

Confession: source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_General's_Song

Bella Modiste said...

1,8, and We didnt start the fire are great. I am the Walrus is a new favorite after just watching "Across the Universe" great movie!
cheers,
~The Bella Modiste

Anonymous said...

"Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Instanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople,
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night."

heyy, i live in istanbul :)

Anonymous said...

that is definitely what I was searching for, You have saved me alot of time