December 27_KV
A Comic song is simply a humorous song. They were especially popular in the British music halls of the 19th and 20th century. Comedians specializing in musical satire and directing their wit at the new music.
This is how a book that introduced me to this genre of music described it:
"You don’t look for much of a voice in a comic song. You don’t expect correct phrasing or vocalization. You don’t mind if a man does find out, when in the middle of a note, that he is too high, and comes down with a jerk. You don’t bother about time. You don’t mind a man being two bars in front of the accompaniment, and easing up in the middle of a line to argue it out with the pianist, and then starting the verse afresh. You do expect the words."
So, the tune is peppy and the lyric is hilarious. The story behind is biting satire; about a crisis, a failure or the general absurdities of life. Most musicals fall under this category.
The Laughing Policeman
http://youtu.be/hI1nPd7hezM
About a crazy old local policeman. Simply a laughing riot!!
"Mister, Here's Your Mule"
http://youtu.be/1y5CS4Mo0Eg
The most popular & probably the oldest known comic song; is said to have originated at a soldiers' camp in the Civil War days. At a time when the armies and farmers experienced a growing shortage of horses and mules, which hurt the economy and the war effort.
The story (one of the many versions) goes thus:
The soldiers in a camp take a farmer's unattended mule and hide it. On knowing the mule is missing, he goes around the camp inquiring about it. A soldier would holler "Mister, here's your mule." When the farmer went towards the call, a soldier in another part of the camp would yell the same. This continued, taking the farmer all over the camp.
The joke spread from camp to camp, and before long the sight of anyone on riding a mule or a horse would cause someone to mutter this punchline and provoke widespread hilarity.
Elephant Elephant
http://youtu.be/o7vZqpsJQo0
This is also a children's story book. The song, extremely funny at the outset, is pretty sad once you know the story.
The girls Eva and Lyn, are a pair of conjoined twins attached at one side, and also orphans. They work for a circus with a pair of conjoined elephants (two heads, one body), whom they've affectionately nicknamed Elephant Elephant. These animals are the girls' only friends in the world.
Unfortunately, Elephant Elephant succumb to an illness, their condition worsening over the next several weeks. The bit at the end where they both whisper, "Good night, Elephant" is them saying goodbye as the animals die.
A Comic song is simply a humorous song. They were especially popular in the British music halls of the 19th and 20th century. Comedians specializing in musical satire and directing their wit at the new music.
This is how a book that introduced me to this genre of music described it:
"You don’t look for much of a voice in a comic song. You don’t expect correct phrasing or vocalization. You don’t mind if a man does find out, when in the middle of a note, that he is too high, and comes down with a jerk. You don’t bother about time. You don’t mind a man being two bars in front of the accompaniment, and easing up in the middle of a line to argue it out with the pianist, and then starting the verse afresh. You do expect the words."
So, the tune is peppy and the lyric is hilarious. The story behind is biting satire; about a crisis, a failure or the general absurdities of life. Most musicals fall under this category.
The Laughing Policeman
http://youtu.be/hI1nPd7hezM
About a crazy old local policeman. Simply a laughing riot!!
"Mister, Here's Your Mule"
http://youtu.be/1y5CS4Mo0Eg
The most popular & probably the oldest known comic song; is said to have originated at a soldiers' camp in the Civil War days. At a time when the armies and farmers experienced a growing shortage of horses and mules, which hurt the economy and the war effort.
The story (one of the many versions) goes thus:
The soldiers in a camp take a farmer's unattended mule and hide it. On knowing the mule is missing, he goes around the camp inquiring about it. A soldier would holler "Mister, here's your mule." When the farmer went towards the call, a soldier in another part of the camp would yell the same. This continued, taking the farmer all over the camp.
The joke spread from camp to camp, and before long the sight of anyone on riding a mule or a horse would cause someone to mutter this punchline and provoke widespread hilarity.
Elephant Elephant
http://youtu.be/o7vZqpsJQo0
This is also a children's story book. The song, extremely funny at the outset, is pretty sad once you know the story.
The girls Eva and Lyn, are a pair of conjoined twins attached at one side, and also orphans. They work for a circus with a pair of conjoined elephants (two heads, one body), whom they've affectionately nicknamed Elephant Elephant. These animals are the girls' only friends in the world.
Unfortunately, Elephant Elephant succumb to an illness, their condition worsening over the next several weeks. The bit at the end where they both whisper, "Good night, Elephant" is them saying goodbye as the animals die.
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