JUN 30, singable satire: "UNDER MY OWN STEAM", part #2

 

PARODY-LYRICS, a reprise

ORIGINAL SONG: "I've Been Everywhere", by Lucky Starr, covered by Hank Snow, Johnny Cash et al. 

PARODY COMPOSED: see part #1 of this parody-song by Giorgio Coniglio, June 2013; it was eventually posted here on this blog in June 2022 further verses were added, to create this reprise in December 2015.
PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "UNDER MY OWN STEAM, part 2" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.


  This song is dedicated to the memory of my father. Apart from a fierce determination to retain independent mobility, he was a highly responsible family man and bore little resemblance to the footloose and perhaps rascally hero of this piece. He was however an ardent admirer of rhyming patter, and would likely have enjoyed this song.

STILL UNDER MY OWN STEAM, part #2

(to the tune of "I've Been Everywhere")

A couple o' years went by, and I landed back in town;

There'd been some friendly people working there, so I thought I'd mosey down;

I found  another nice person, the Geriatric resident.

She said, "Take your time, Pops", and so I thought that I could vent;

I told her that this time she'd need take more extensive notes

Because I'd left out a lot ot ways that I got 'round to sow my oats.

Chorus:
I’ve gone every way, Doc

Traveling is my play, Doc  

Need to get around, Doc   

‘Til I’m in the ground, Doc

I’ve lived out my own dream, Doc

Under my own steam.

   

I’ve swayed sashayed, ricocheted, ambled gambolled, rambled scrambled,
Trekked meandered, tramped traversed, roamed and wandered, shuffled shambled,

Strolled patrolled, promenaded, marched and sauntered, strutted swaggered, 

Vacillated, drifted wavered, faltered halted, stumbled staggered,   

Lurked and skirted, sneaked and slunk, vamoosed cowered, skipped skedaddled,

Fled absconded, disappeared, undulated, tailed and shadowed.

Chorus:

I've danced pranced, waltzed and balanced, jogged advanced and ants-in-pantsed,

Reeled gyrated, posed paraded, demonstrated, held-my-stance,

Lumbered rhumba-ed, blundered scuttled, stowed squatted, plunged marauded,

Pitched yawed, soared floated, bounded teetered, padded trod,

Hastened braked, decelerated, dragged lugged, barged and dredged,

Pursued escaped, hunted shunted, zigzagged bee-lined, rounded edged.

I’ve gone every way, Doc

Traveling is my play, Doc  

Need to get around, Doc   

Til I’m in the ground, Doc

I’ve lived out my own dream, Doc

Under my own steam .

Crept and scooted, wobbled toddled, tiptoed frolicked, jived cavorted,

Pussyfooted, hopped and bounced, bellyflopped, dived escorted,

Glided slid, skidded skied, schussed toboganned, sledded slipped,

Stamped slogged, plodded dodged, limped hobbled, trudged and tripped,

Skated waded, deviated, pirouetted, navigated, 

In memoriam, N.H.

Circulated, ambulated, dawdled doddered, terminated.

I’ve gone every way, Doc

Made it every day, Doc  

Deserted, seldom stayed, Doc   

Breezed past, mosied, strayed, Doc

I’ve lived out my own dream, Doc

Under my own steam.   

Under my own steam! 

JUN 29, photo-collage: murals of Chemainus, British Columbia

flying over Ladysmith, BC, 
 north of Chemainus

Lenora Mines at Mt. Sicker
Mural, Peter Bresnen
Chemainus Festival of Murals Society

Blog author inspecting the Historical Mural Series
Chemainus, B.C.

Local Resident Viewing the Mural
"Arrival of the Reindeer in Horseshoe Bay"
Chemainus, B.C.

"Second Chemainus Sawmill" muralist Bruce Rickett
Chemainus, B.C. (web-photo)

Rainbow over Ladysmith Harbour at Saltair
(village just north of Chemainus)

Ladysmith Harbour during a sunny interlude
 October, 2016

JUN 28, poems about parasites: endoparasites

 Authors' Note: The term parasite derives via Latin from an old Greek term meaning "one who dines at another's table". To clarify more fully Lyle's terse explanation in the verse, endoparasites, taking up residence inside their host, get their nutrients by passive absorption or by burrowing in the tissues of their host, which could be you! There are very few cases where they spontaneously leave to go to another restaurant. Fortunately, effective treatments have been developed for many of these types of infestation.

You can review Giorgio's other verses about parasites, both external (ecto-) and internal (endo-) on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

JUN 27, duplication: hodge-podge

Readers willing to go down an internet rabbit-hole can easily get to a collection of more than a dozen other short verses SHORT VERSES  in which we have dealt with specific reduplications. 

If interested you could also discover three fairly lengthy PATTER-SONGS about this fascinating linguistic phenomenon. These songs form an important part of our cycle of 9 songs about "Word Pairs".

JUN 26, Carolina lowcountry: birding map of Mt. Pleasant SC

Many of the illustrated verses about these birds as observed and photographed in these locales can be reviewed on our earlier posts. 

JUN 25, submitted palindromes: : RANDOM PILES 35

You have reached the "Submitted Palindromes" thread on the blog "Daily Edifying Nonsense", a light literary entity that emanates through the blogosphere daily (almost), i.e. 30 times per month.

  On the 25th of each month you will find a slide-filling group of palindromic phrases submitted to the editors by a panel of 7 palindromists. These folks have all been working on this project since January 2020. The personal profiles for each of these contributors are displayed in panels published here at the start of things, and then, we have asked them to provide (palindromically, of course) their views on one of the iconic items in the classic literature, starting with "A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama", continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in monthly random piles (a phrase that you might recognize as an anagram of the word p-a-l-i-n-d-r-o-m-e-s).

You can access this delightful entertainment right here by entering submitted palindromes in one of the two search bars at the top of this post and scrolling downwards through the wordplay posts that you will discover, OR, just follow the links indicated above. 

Devotees of palindromic wordplay can further explore limericks and other short verses about the classic palindromes (and quite a few recent concoctions) that are randomly scattered on this blog after September 2000, or collected into grouped postings on our more scholarly blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- start HERE.

JUN 24, lexicon of word pairs: reduplications M to N

For readers with a musical bent, we have a song-cycle of 9 songs displaying the spectrum of these binomial expressions. Theses posts have lyrics stuffed with word-pairs, arranged to familiar tunes. You can readily access this singable treasure trove of binomial expressions of various types by clicking on the link for the first song, "WORD PAIRS", HERE. 

You can proceed to the next blogpost in the lexicon series (reduplications O to Q) by clicking HERE.

JUN 23, national and multinational verse: Haiti

 

You can review our collection of verses about various individual nations, and about the groupings to which they belong, on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

JUN 22, lexicon of word-pairs: reduplications I to L

 

Giorgio's Lexicon of Binomials (reduplications I to L)

Quite a few reduplications (words consisting of two near-duplicated elements) have been highlighted in  short verses by the authors:  

And, for those with a musical bent, we have a song-cycle of 9 songs displaying the spectrum of these binomial expressions. They have lyrics stuffed with word-pairs, arranged to familiar tunes. You can readily access this singable treasure trove of binomial expressions of various types by clicking on the link for the first song, "WORD PAIRS", HERE. 

You can proceed to the next blogpost in the lexicon series (reduplications M-N) by clicking HERE.

JUN 21, mythed opportunities: 'Infernal' (Dante's Divine Comedy)

You can take advantage of the whole spectrum of illustrated poems dealing with 'Mythed Opportunities' that we have collected on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

JUN 20, setting words to music (Inferno, Canto 2): "BEA WANTS TO KEEP HER EYE ON YOU" sung by Dusty Springfield

 PASTICHE WITH PARODY SONG-LYRICS.

POETIC UNDERPINNINGS: "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri, the first book in the triad, "The Divine Comedy", written in the early 14th century.
MUSICAL UNDERPINNINGS: "I Only Want To Be With You", Hawker and Raymonde, as recorded by Dusty Springfield, 1964.  

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, May, 2015.
PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "Bea Wants to Keep her Eye on You" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.



 BEA WANTS TO KEEP HER EYE ON YOU

(to the tune of "I Only Want to Be with You")

Intro:
I found that lots of artists pictured Inferno,
Like William Blake, Doré and Michelangelo
Our aim is different- to show you more.
A song to chant each Canto, and there's thirty-four;
To meet this challenge well
We’ll have to sing and play like Hell. 

Dante:
Io cominciai, “Poeta che mi guidi

Primo che a l’alto passo tu mi fidi
Per che del venire m’abbandono?
Io non Enëa, Paulo non sono
Venirvi, chi’l concede?
Me degno a ciò? - nessuno’l crede."

I started in with Virgil, cause he’s our tour-guide,
“My manhood to those scary depths you plan t’ confide;
What if this adventure I now refuse? 
- Aeneas and St. Paul gave this tour bad reviews.
I’m just a wuss, you’re wiser, 
But I’m online with Trip Advisor."

Virgil:
S’i’ho bene la tua parola intesa
La tua anima è da viltade offesa 
Da questa tema che tu ti solve
Dirotti perch’io venni e di te mi dolve
Tanto mio parlar ti promette
Di tre donne benedette.

Interpreting the apprehension that you’ve shared,
Never mind those apps, I’d say you’re bloody scared
To free you from anguish that you’re wimping out
I’ll tell you why I came and what it’s all about..
Three blessed chicks on high
Sent me to be a friendly spy. 

Una bella donna mi chiamò, e m’ebbe ragionato questo
Li occhi lagrimando volse, mi fece del venir più presto.
Cominciò a dirmi…….

The cutest stopped chez moi, and conned me with this latest scoop,
Her tears said rescue him, and save him from his chicken-coop,
Here’s what she told me….…

Beatrice:
O anima cortese mantoana
Di cui la fama durerà lontana
L’amico mio e non de la ventura
È impedito nel cammin, che volt’è per paura
Forse sia già sì smarrito
Per quel ch’i’ho di lui udito.

O, author of the legend of Aeneas
My friend has got himself into a dodgy mess. 
You deserve a Pulitzer, your fame lives f’rever, 
But he’s stuck on a dead-end road, he’s not that clever;
He might be so damned lost
To rescue him’s not worth the cost. 

Temo che sia tardi al soccorso levata
Or movi al suo campare, con la parola ornata
I’son Beatrice che ti faccio andare; 
Amor mi mosse, che mi fa parlare;
Quando dinanzi al Segnor sarò
Sovente di te mi loderò.

To help him after I’ve been dawdling seems a reach,
But you might get him rescued, with your flowery speech.
It’s Beatrice who begs you get your ass in gear.
It’s only love that wants to get him out of there.
I’ll praise you to the Lord,
And hope you get a big reward.

Dirotti prontamente da che tu vuo’ saver a dentro
La vostra miseria non m’assale, non temo di venir qua entro
Fiamma non tange.

I’ll tell you right away, about the facts you’d love to learn
Your blues can’t bother me, Hell’s fire doesn’t make me burn.
I’m flame-resistant.

Donna è gentil nel ciel in seggio beato 
Questa chiese Lucia in suo dimando
“Combatte la morte, il tuo fedele,”
E venni al loco dov’i’era con Rachele;
“Non odi’l suo pianto, e
Non soccorri quel che t’amò tanto?”

Our blessed Lady up in Heaven’s Chair was seated;
She called on her friend Lucy, and she thus entreated,
“Your faithful friend Dante’s confronting death.”
So Lucy came and told me not to waste one breath.
“Help the guy who loved you so;
Don’t treat him like he’s just some schmo.” 

Al mondo non fur mai persone com’io ratte
A far lo pro e a fuggir loro danno dopo fatte
Cotai parole.

I put my make-up on, ran down here in my jogging-suit,
To beg, “Please find him in that slum, please help him find a better route
To get to Heaven.”

Virgil:
E venni a te così com’ella volse
Il cort’ andar del bel monte ti tolse
D’inanzi a quella fiera ti levai
Dunque che è? perché, perché restai 
Perché virtude stanca, 
Non sei una persona franca.

And so I beat a path up to this dingy wood,
Where any jerk can see the short way UP’s no good. 
To climb to God’s City might make more sense
But there’s a junk-yard watch-dog and a barbed-wire fence
A detour can be found – We’ll have to go the long way ’round.

Dante:
“E tanto buono ardire al cor mi corse – 
Le vere parole che ti porse
Tu hai con disiderio il cor disposto
Tu duca, tu segnore e tu maestro”
E poi che mosso fue
Un sol volere d’ambedue.

Bea’s words to you have geared me up, inflamed my heart
And now I feel I’m much more ready to depart
My leader, my teacher, yes, you’re the man!
We’re both in this together, and you’ve got the plan.
So down the path we shuffled,
And both of us felt more unruffled. 

Intrai, intrai per lo cammino, 
Lo cammino alto e silvestro. 
Intrai, intrai per lo cammino, 
Lo cammino alto e silvestro.

I’d started to enter what was hid
And soon we’d wander off the grid.
I’d started to enter what was hid

And soon we’d wander off the grid.

*  In 2011, Fiddlegirl and Tom Turtle posted on AmIRight.com, the parody-song "Circles That You Find In Hell" using the same original song; their contribution summarized the entire story of The Inferno. 

JUN 19, poetic non-sequitur: ground down (in traffic)

 

JUN 18, lexicon of word-pairs: reduplications Ho- to Hu-

 

Giorgio's Lexicon of Binomials (reduplications Ho- to Hu-)

Quite a few reduplications (words consisting of two near-duplicated elements) have been highlighted in  short verses on this blog:

These include "hoi-polloi", "holus-bolus", "hotspot" and "hubba-hubba".

You can proceed to the next blogpost in the lexicon series (reduplications I to L) by clicking HERE.

 

JUN 17, palinku (poetic novelty): meat-eating

  In this post, we continue with our novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, the "palinku" is a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its earlier English-language forerunners, this concoction does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence  (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards). 

  To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome, generally occupying one of the three lines of the poem, has been color-coded. Readers will note that we have been publishing verses of this type on the 17th of each month.

 You can view them all our verses of this type if you proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. (Or if you prefer, you can stay on this particular blogsite and look for the offerings for the 17th day of each month -- there are now more than 60 of these.)

 links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

JUN 16, culinary verse: boiled peanuts (goober peas)

 

Enjoy viewing Johnny Cash and Burl Ives singing 'Goober Peas' on YouTube by clicking HERE. 

on-line photo: a nearby establishment in the Carolina lowcountry

Find the collection of illustrated poems dealing with these issues on the post 'Culinary Verse' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

JUN 15, lexicon of word-pairs: reduplications H to Ho-

Giorgio's Lexicon of Binomials (reduplications H to Ho-)

Quite a few reduplications (words consisting of two near-duplicated elements) have been highlighted in  short verses by the authors:  

Matching the selection, these include "hanky-panky",  "harum-scarum", "heeby-jeebies", "helter-skelter", "higgledy-piggeldy", "hillbilly", "hobo", and "hocus-pocus".  

And, for those with a musical bent, we have a song-cycle of 9 songs displaying the spectrum of these binomial expressions. They have lyrics stuffed with word-pairs, arranged to familiar tunes. You can readily access this singable treasure trove of binomial expressions of various types by clicking on the link for the first song, "WORD PAIRS", HERE. 

You can proceed to the next blogpost in the lexicon series (reduplications Ho- to Hu-) by clicking HERE.