JAN 20, singable satire: The Four Lads sing "THUNDER BAY" (Ontario)

  PARODY LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" a jazz-band style concoction recorded by The Four Lads in 1953. 

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr.G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, May 2023. See some additional photos and the song-lyrics alone (without chord indication) on the blog "Edifying Nonsense."

PARODY-SONGLINK: To access ukulele chord-charts to help you accompany "Thunder Bay (not Constantinople)" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

In 1930, "Istanbul" was designated as the official name of the largest city in Türkiye (Turkey), known in earlier periods as Byzantion, Byzantium, Constantinople, and primarily as Istanbul since the fall of the Byzantine empire in 1453.

In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's tenth and newest province; in 2001, the Canadian Constitution was amended to revise the province's name to "Newfoundland and Labrador" (the mainland area of Labrador included less than 5% of the province's population but the majority of its landmass). The island of Newfoundland (NEW-found-land) is known by its inhabitants as "the Rock". 

In 1953 (the 500th anniversary of the "fall of Constantinople"), the Four Lads, a Canadian singing quartet who had moved from Toronto to the United States, acquired their first gold record with the release of the jazz-band styled "Istanbul (not Constantinople)". Other hit recordings by this group include "Standing on the Corner" and "Moments to Remember". BTW, the original members of the Four Lads attended the St. Michael's Choir School in downtown Toronto, on a small street well known to the authors.  

In 1970, the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario (current population about 110,000), at the western end of Lake Superior was formed by the merger of the two smaller communities of Fort William and Port Arthur.  

THUNDER BAY (not CONSTANTINOPLE)

(Intro theme, mid-Eastern, on kazoo)

"The [Am]Lakehead" was Fort William and Port Arthur
Now it's Thunder Bay, not Willi-am and Arthur
It's a [E7]wondrous town with name that's far superior --
Like [Am]Turkish delight, [Dm]on a [E7]stormy [Am]night.

Every [Am]dame today, 'round Lakehead way,
Stays in Thunder Bay, not with William or with Arthur
You've a [E7]rainy date in Fort William or Port Arthur?
She'll be [Am]waiting in [E7]Thunder [Am]Bay.

Even [Am]old Newfoundland hooked up with Labrador.

[Bm7+5]Ask a Newfie, he might say,

"They [E7]thought, on the Rock, we'd like that more, eh?"

So, [Am]take me back: Fort William and Port Arthur
No, you can't go back in time, it's so much farther;
Been a [E7]long while past, since Willi-am and Arthur.

Why the [Am]name-change? Here's the crux:
[E7]  It's no one's business but Ca-[Am]nucks.

Thunder Bay. 

(kazoo)

Thunder Bay.