Write It to the Tune of ... Poetry Contest

[AuntShecky]

Thanks for reviving a fond memory, Pen! I purely miss "Pogo," and all of us could surely use some of Walt Kelly's subtle satire these days! Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to your entry.

I finally got the speakers working on the PC ("Pong 3.0") and found several pages of YouTube links to our song. This rendition is by the Velvet Fog, but you can also find versions from many other vocalists, including Ella, the Chairman of the Board, as well as more contemporary artists.

[Melanie]

To the tune of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"...

Bedazzled, Champagned, and Becupcaked

Bejeweled again, besmiled again
A shimmering, glimmering bride again
Bedazzled, champagned, and becupcaked am I...

I could not think. Too much *clink* *clink*
He whispered, "My dear, please put down your drink"
Befuzzled, beliquored, and begiggled am I...

Tipsy here and tipsy there
Up the stairs to the balcony
Threw my bouquet in the air
And that's the last of my memory

Next thing I know, a cuppa Joe
The honeymoon, Romeo must forego
Beshowered, beflanneled, and beslippered am I.

[AuntShecky]

Way to go, Melanie! Thanks for getting the ball rollin'!

[Pendragon]

Besmirched, Belittled and Betrayed

After one scathing putdown
Anger rises in my soul
They laugh at me like a clown
The silent dragon, icy cold cold
I tried again and got rejected
Self satisfied hypocrites
One more time I’ve been ejected
Their mocking has left me in a mess

I am mad again, feeling bad again
Do they have to do all this again
Besmirched, belittled and betrayed am I
Countless wounds run deep, keep me from my sleep
They tossed me out upon a garbage heap
Besmirched, belittled and betrayed am I

Cold my heart, but what of it
No one hears my desperate plea
They all laugh but I'll have the last one,
revenge is sweet and then some
And I long for the day when my revenge is done
Besmirched, belittled and betrayed am I

They all laugh, think I don’t know it
But the fools drop clues enough
I'm in pain and I don't show it it
But concealing rage is tough
Lately the familiar sad sensation
Bitter tears run down my cheek
since these half-wit imitations
Put me in this vocal clink

I've cursed a lot, wish things were reversed a lot
But I have to bear the brunt a lot
Besmirched, belittled and betrayed am I am
I will get them in the end, let my sarcasm rip and tear again
And take my bloody revenge of them
Besmirched, belittled and betrayed am I

Pendragon © 10/20/2013

[YesNo]

Life's been good and I've done well.
I've had my pick of lusty friends,
But live-in lovers love to tell
Me where my freedom ends.

She would rearrange the place,
Clean or pitch what I hold dear,
But that giggly, bright-eyed face
Made my smile appear.

I'm lost again. I'm tossed again.
With love in control I'd be bossed again.
Light-hearted, light-headed and lonely am I.

It turned out she was not that bad,
Not the way I thought she'd be.
When she left, it made me sad
She was not with me.

I'm me again. I see again
I guess I deserve to be free again.
Light-hearted, light-headed, but lonely am I.

[AuntShecky]

Oh, boy--two more lyricists! Thanks Pen and Yes/No.

Let's see some more LitNutters give this ditty a rip. Deadline is November 1.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

After sixty years of “howdy folks”,
Fletchers corn dogs an fritters,
turkey legs and beer provokes
a bad case of the jitters.

Among the west’s greatest creation,
I began life as Santa Clause.
But Kerens Texas Christmas sensation
headed north to the State Fair’s calls.
I stood tall again, bowlegged again,
a maniacal, mechanical man again.
Beloved, but haggard an bedraggled was I

It was 2012 season on my 60th birthday.
faulty wiring developed, insulation did fray
Short circuited, sparked then scorched was I

Lost my skivvies to the flame.
My spurs no longer jingle.
Crowds mourned, such a shame,
among ashes a phoenix does mingle.

It’s 2013, throngs flock to him, each day to him.
Big Tex redux, his new duds cling to him.
Reborn, redressed, rebooted is he.

A stoic icon and he knows it.
Size seventy boots planted fast.
A sail for a shirt, Dickies jeans to fit,
over Dallas his arms are cast.

I’ve welcomed a lot, corn dogged a lot,
watched OU stomp UT a lot.
Big eared, be grinned, Big Texed am I.


Fall of Big Tex 2012



Big Tex redux 2013

[AuntShecky]

Coming down to the finish line, LitNutters, so if you're thinking of chiming in on this round, now's the time. The winner will be announced tomorrow or soon after, depending on whether this PC ( "Pong 3.0") cooperates.

[AuntShecky]

Well, it's been 24 hours since the Last Call, and since there doesn't seem to be any last-minute contestants,I guess it's okay to close up this round. Not only that, there are high wind warnings here in East Hogwash, my neck o' the woods, making me worry about losing the electricity and/or the cable, so to be safe rather than sorry, here's the result:

All four entries were top shelf. The original lyricist Lorenz "Larry" Hart had a irrepressible (though reportedly prankish) sense of humor, and I'm willing to bet he would have gotten some laughs out of these.

It's great that 3 of the 4 contestants included the "verse" or the opening part of the song, which frankly I had forgotten about, even though right before this round of the contest I saw Pal Joey on tv again and heard Rita Hayworth's rendition of the complete song. I also liked the fact that all four remembered to include internal rhymes which the original lyrics feature.

Pen -- Even though the theme of your parody is poignant, it does not lack for wit "cursed a lot/reversed a lot"--not to mention wisdom: "Concealing rage is tough." Keep up the good work!

Yes/No--The meter and rhyme in the following lines are perfect: "I'm lost again/I'm tossed again/With love in control I'd be bossed again." The irony ranks right up there with Hart's original, and also reminds me of the sarcasm in another standard of the era (by Cole Porter? )--"Everything I've Got Belongs to You."

Gilliat Gurgle--Your originality astounds me! Who would imagine having a man-made object (albeit a Texas icon) as the narrator? It's fun to imagine "Big Tex" actually warbling these lines. He must be a basso-profundo, or at least a baritone. Your lyrics are full of funny lines-- "Lost my skivvies to the flame/my spurs no longer jingle."

and finally, last but certainly not leastMelanie-- You fully captured the wit and the befuddlement, the deliciously perplexed theme of the original lyrics, but you were sure as heck "original" yourself. I was "bedazzed" if not, alas, "champagned." Let's face it, you had me at "becupcaked." This one takes the cake, and you win this round.

Meanwhile Pendragon, Yes/No, and Gilliat G. all have reason to celebrate. *Clink* *Clink* Fine work all around.

Okay, Melanie, you're up next-- Name That Tune!

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Thanks for your comments.
The return of Big Tex took the headlines for a spell around here.
btw - Big Tex took a shine to Ella's variant of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26m8h9DxeTo

Congrats Mellanie

[Melanie]

Well, I'll becupcaked! Thank you! That was fun for all of us.
You caught me by surprise so let me take a little time to find a song and I'll beback in a bejiffy. (someone stop me)

[Melanie]

Okay, next….write it to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun"
…though I'm not suggesting you write about a house of ill-repute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxYGeTV6fCw

Deadline is November 20th

[Pendragon]

Face the Rising Sun

There is a place I'd love to be
To face the rising sun
Out on the Outer Banks' lovely beach
When the day at last is done

There is a sweet serenity
Born of waves and sand
The beaches there still call to me
I gotta go there again

I fill my cocktail glass to the brim
And lie there in the sun
I take a cold refreshing swim
And then a bracing run

If you are looking for me baby
I am easy to be found
On the beach or on the ferry
So I hope you'll come on down

Ocracoke is a lovely island
Blackbeard's last retreat
But by the Hatteras lighthouse's sand
That is where we'll meet

Vacation is nearly over
There's so much to be done
At least spend one day of summer
Lying with me in the Carolina sun!

Pendagon
11/4/2011

[Melanie]

tick…tick…tick………………4 days left

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Ballad of the Fouke Monster

There is dark water in Arkansas
they call the Boggy Creek,
and it’s been the source of many hairy tales,
a Bigfoot hunters seek.

His mother was a Yeti,
that hailed from Tibet.
His father traipsed the great north woods,
no one’s caught him yet.

In Fouke all that a Bigfoot needs,
are woods and huge pedal physique.
And the only time he’s satisfied
is spook’n folks along Boggy Creek.

Now you cryptids tell your children,
protect our kinds’ mystique.
Stick to banks in the soft moonlight
down along Boggy Creek.


Inspired by a book I'm currently reading; The Beast of Boggy Creek - The true Story of the Fouke Monster
by Lyle Blackburn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9V44D9xZ70