The early bird gets the worm.Ornithological husbandry advice? Nay, methinks a metaphor is implied. Now, come up with your own.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Question the, what, seventh?
Identify a piece of proverbial wisdom: what does it mean, and how do you avail yourself of it? Here's an example:
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Glooby glooby dweeby, plooby ploopy plee-twee, blah blah blah blow blow: song song song si-ing, sing sing sing song
This one was either poorly phrased as a question (quite possible) or inspring (*ahem* equally possible), because it made so many of you go forth into the world - or at least the internet - and do, heaven forfend! shudder at the thought of it! research. But most of you drew similar conclusions, that you did indeed have songs that somehow became part of your repertoires that, at one point in time, were composed by a particualr person. Vindicated!
A song that I know that I am actually surprised that has been written by someone is ' Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer". I've never thought about who was the origional writer of this song. It was just one that I have learned and have never forgotten how it goes. I looked it up and the song was origionally written by Johnny Marks.
There are alot of songs out there that I dont even know who wrote them!
A song I sing all the time is "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." I am not sure who wrote it but it must have been composed by someone. The same goes for "We Are An Island", Cape Breton's "Theme" song. It is a song that I have been exposed to since birth but never really thought of it as being written by someone....it was just there. I did manage to find one web site which made a guess at who the possible writer was for "We Are An Island". Kenzie MacNeil. I am not sure how he came up with that name but it's as good a guess as any.
As you mentioned, Happy Birthday is the type of song. When I had a birthday party with my roommates and a bunch of friends, all we knew the song and sang together. In Japan, we use the lyrics as same as English version, but the pronunciation is a little different from original one. On the other hand, my Chinese roommate sang the song and the lyrics were totally different, I mean Chinese lyrics. But the song is the same. It was interesting to me.The other song that I think of is Christmas song, such as We wish a merry Christmas, Silent Night, and so on. I guess it is also common around the world. I think it comes from foreign countries, I mean from the Japanese point of view. People taught me these Christmas songs, such as kindergarten or from my parents. I don’t know who the writers of these songs are, but to sing Christmas song becomes natural for us.
When I went to my friend’s house two weeks ago, we did a board game together. In that game, I have to humming a song, Puff the Magic Dragon. I knew this song, so I hummed. My friends were kind of surprised because I knew the western song. In Japan, we often sing a song from foreign countries. In the music textbook, there are many foreign songs.
Music is amazing. Music can connect people in all over the world.
When I was little my sister and cousin taught me this song called “Found a Peanut”. They learned the song through some camps that they went to. I knew the song for years and the only place I ever heard it being sung was at different camps. For this question I decided to look it up and see if it was actually written by someone. Though there are many different versions of this little song, it turns out it was in fact written by Stewart Lee and Richard Herring.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is one of the world's best-known and most-loved poems. Millions of English-speaking people can recite the first verse from childhood memory, but few know who wrote it. The charming nursery rhyme, often wrongly thought to be a folk story, was composed almost 200 years ago by London-born sisters Jane and Ann Taylor, and was first published in 1806 as "The Star." Perhaps the neglected authors will receive long-overdue credit in 2006.” I didn’t know who actually came up with this song. It is basically known world wide. I was also surprised to find that it was written almost 200 years ago. That’s a long time for such a well-known nursery rhyme.
There are a number of songs from childhood, either nursery rhymes or campfire songs that we never really thought about someone having written. I did a search on a number of them that I could remember and the results were varied.My favorite example is a folk poem, sung though, and I cannot find the original author.
It is: There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.Some other examples of songs I couldn't find the original author to are:
Roll Over (There were 10 in the Bed)
The Old Grey Mare She Ain't What She Used to Be
The Mockingbird Song (Poppa's gonna buy you a diamond ring)But I did finally find one where the author was identified:
From Wikipedia
Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is a nursery rhyme, and a popular children's song/proverb, often sung as a round.
The tune is credited to Eliphalet Oram Lyte in the publication The Franklin Square Song Collection (1881, New York), which also indicates that he adapted the lyric:
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.There are a number of alternate verses listed but I don't remember singing those. I think we made ours up except I do remember singing the following verse listed:
Row, row, row the boat
Gently down the stream
Throw your teachers overboard
And listen to them scream!
When I was younger I always used to hum the Mexican Hat dance song, I only found out a few years ago that it was an popular song, quite famous in Mexico of all places. I must have heard it from bugs bunny or something, but had no idea it was a real song.
The song I have chose for this topic is the ever so popular children’s song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” This song I have heard over and over while I was in pre-school and my early elementary days. Its one of the most well known songs for everyone around the world because everyone can say that they heard it at least once when they were a child. Some of the lyrics of the song are as stated:
“If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you're happy and you know it,
And you really want to show it,
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.”As the song states when it says, “clap your hands,” we are suppose to as the song says, clap our hands. The next verse usually includes, “stomp your feet” and the next verse will be something else. You can even be creative and think of your own things if you really wanted.
What I did not know about this song was that an actual songwriter hadwritten this. I thought for sure that some kid or something a long time agoand it was passed on made it up. But the real inventor of this song wasAlfred B. Smith, who was born in 1916. He died in 2001.
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/who_killed_cock_robin.htm
http://www.wtsmith.com/songs/capitalship.html
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/n013.htmlThese links show the words to some of my favourite songs my grandmother sang to me. The songs were “Who Killed Cock Robin”, “Capital Ship” and “One Wide River” which I always called “Noah Built Himself and Ark.” They are all fun songs for kids, “One Wide River” especially is easily adapted to your own words. I learned a verse, “The camel he ate a cinnamon bun, there’s one more river to cross”, which is not included in the versions I found on the internet. I think my version is a little better.
“Capital Ship” does have an author, but I think if you asked people, most people would not know who he is. (Charles Edward Carryl). This one is my favourite, and I still remember some of the words to it, I started singing it to my nephew, mostly because he and the dog are the only ones who tolerate my singing.
I had to ask my grandmother to help me remember the rest of the words, she is able to remember them way better than I can, but we both had to Google the entire songs. She told me she learned them from her father who came from England, she said it was his way to keep the five kids quiet in the car by teaching them to sing these songs.
I have always known "Ring Around the Rosie" which could be considered a song since I was a child. It never occured to me to think of who wrote it or orginally sang it. However, Im sure everyone probably knows some version of it because I have heard several different versions of it myself.
One song that I definitely remember hearing a lot of growing up has to be London bridges. It goes, “London bridges falling down, falling down, falling down. London bridges falling down, my fair lady” This also happens to be a song that I have heard so often throughout my 22 year life that I have never once stopped to think that someone had actually written it, except for now of course. I guess the reason I have never really thought about it is because I honestly heard the song on a regular basis for years as a kid. Even now it is pretty crazy to think that someone out there actually sat down and wrote the lyrics to such a song, although of course it makes perfect sense that it’s a written song. For me I guess it’s just been one of those taken for granted type songs where I haven’t thought once about the song really, until now of course!
The song that I used to sing and listened to for a very long time since I was a child, was "You are my sunshine". When I was a child, I never realized or asked who actually wrote the song? Was it a girl or was it a guy? I had no clue. I thought maybe it would have been just a mother singing to her child one day possibly rocking her baby to sleep or something. When I found out it was a man by the name Jimmie Davis in 1940, I was really surprised. The first time he played it, it became an instant hint. Now it is a very popular song used by all kinds of parents all across the world. It can help children sleep better or just to play and watch a baby smile.
In my memory there is a song. This is a nursery rhyme. When I was a little boy my parents taught me how to sing this song. In kindergarten my teacher taught too. All children was singing and playing in the playground. In china we named this song “two tiger”. The lyric is that: “two tiger, two tiger, running fast, one is not have eye, the other one is not have tail, so queer, so queer.” This song was so popular in china 10 years ago. Every child knew it and singed it. But before 2 years I knew this song came form French. I am so surprise. Little does one think I have been singing a French song for 10 years? It is interesting.
I song I used to sing when I was younger at least was "there was an old ladywho swallowed a fly" and I never really realized that it must have beenwritten by someone (or even thought about it). To me it was just some funnysong to sing when there was nothing to do.
By now we all know that Children’s folklore has a variety of different ways to be looked at. Please let me explain into greater detail. Beginning with children’s song and story. A children’s story such as Robert Munches’ “I love you forever” or Mortimer has certainly been passed down from many years ago or further more a song such as “Skip Skip Skip to my Lou” or “Somewhere over the rainbow” ties in well with both song and repetition.The song that was very popular for me was “Ms. Mary had a steamboat”. Which goes like this:
Ms. Mary had a steamboat the steamboat had a bell,
Ms. Mary went to heaven, the steamboat went to
“H-E-L-L-O operator, please give me number 9 or I will kick you in
behind the yellow curtain there was a piece of glass
for when Mary sat upon it she hurt her little
ask me no more questions, please tell me no more lies.
The boys are in the bathroom beating up their
flies are in the city the bees are in the park.
Ms. Mary and her boyfriend are kissing in the
D-A-R-K D-A-R-K D-A-R-K dark; the dark is like a movie, the movies like a show.
For this is Ms. Mary and her boyfriend and this is all I know.
I know I know my ma’ I know I know my pa’
I know I know my sister with the 80 meter bra.
I know I know my dog, I know I know my cat,
I know I know my brother who is 60 meters fat.Just reading the words black and white on a piece of paper you realize that it wasn’t the greatest song that I learned but it’s certainly funny in the long run. In terms of the meaning to the lyrics I believe that it basically had a meaning of a boyfriend and girlfriend breaking up after a fight and making fun of the physical features of the brother and sister.You don’t hear a whole lot of this song being told by to many people now of days but I can remember it unfortunately word for word and asking my friends they can remember just the same!!
As I sit in the Halifax Int’l Airport patiently awaiting my flight home from an amazing reading week one song really jumps at me. That song is Don’t Worry Be Happy. I actually thought it was just written for that annoying Bill Bass toy that was manufactured a few years ago. My grandfather got one for x-mas and I could have killed it. But to my surprise I once went to download it and I found out it was actually composed and sung by the great and legendary Bob Marley.
The first song that came to mind when I thought about this question is the well known traditional song accompanied with a dance called the “Hokey Pokey”. For example:
“You put your left hand in, You put your left hand out,
You put your left hand in and you shake it all about...
You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around,
and thats what its all about!”.As you would sing the song you would follow the actions of course and it was a great old time back then. As a child it was a very popular song to be played at birthday parties and even weddings and everyone had their own way of singing it. The song has been played and sung all over the world. In some places the words are slightly changed but it still has the same beat and sound to it. It may have come across as a silly kids song but it has been copyrighted several times in the United States for reasons that I would never had known as a kid or even until I researched it today. A little interesting fact: “In the United States it costs $32 000 for an ad campaign (television and radio for 3 months) to use the "Hokey Pokey". In the United Kingdom the "Hokey Cokey" (although not necessarily the U.S. Hokey Pokey) is regarded as a traditional song and is therefore free of copyright restrictions.”
Speaking of being drunk and singing, I think (although cannot actually guarantee it) that I was singing "The Song That Never Ends" on Saturday night. Wait - I can assure you that I was singing it because I ended up in a heated argument with a friend over the lyrics. She thought it was the song that DOESN'T end. Honestly, who does not know the words to that song. Anyway, I don't know who sings/wrote it, although I do remember that it was on that show with the puppets - Lamb Chops? I just looked it up and it was Lamb Chop's Play along. I also looked up who wrote it and it was a guy called Norman Martin - whoever the hell he is.
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