Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Sound of Music

I personally didn’t watch a lot of musicals growing up, and by that I mean other than The Wizard of Oz, I didn't watch any.  But after visiting Salzburg a couple of years ago and going on the “Sound of Music” tour, I felt compelled to watch the movie, which I must say, I quite thoroughly enjoyed. The movie has a decent plot and some catchy tunes, one of the most memorable of which is when the children are learning the musical scale do-ra-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. Maria puts sentences with each word, which helps the children and the viewer learn the sequence.

Unfortunately, this requires mispronouncing the word “far” with either a British or New Englander accent, and you have to accept that there really wasn't a more imaginative line for "La" than simply "a note to follow so". Not to mention, who eats jam and bread with tea these days? Certainly no-one in this country.

So to make the song more relevant I have re-written the words with more modern American lyrics. Please review the original, below, followed by my new and improved version. If you don’t find yourself tapping your feet while singing along then something’s wrong with you.


First, the classic “Anglo-centric” song:

Doe, a deer, a female deer
Ray, a drop of golden sun

Me, a name I call myself
Far, a long, long way to run

Sew, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow Sew

Tea, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do (oh-oh-oh)

Now you can sing it with modern lyrics that I have crafted for our generation, to the same tune.  Try to invision children in a garden singing this, although in today's world they would be holding portable electronic devices as they sing:

Doh, a word, that Homer says
Ray, a blind jazz-singing dude

Mii, the avatar on my wii
Fa, with sure, means we’re agreed

So, a word that goes with what
La, the only Spanish word I know

Tee, a thing that holds a ball

That will bring us back to Doh (oh-oh-oh)


Now, isn’t that a big improvement?