Nonsense song from CapriUni

Subject: Man in the Moon song by CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 05:28 PM

Inspired (mainly) by two Mother Goose rhymes:

The Man in the Moon
Came down from the moon
And asked the way to Norwich.
He went by the south
And burned his mouth
Eating cold plum porridge.

And

Oh, Man in the Moon drinks claret.
But he is a dull Jack-a-Dandy!
If he knew a sheep's head from a carrot,
He would learn to drink cider and brandy!

---

THE MAN IN THE MOON WENT WALKING
(and lost his punctuation)

Oh, the Man in the Moon,
he went into a swoon,
for his cellar was empty of claret.
'Til he looked to the Earth,
And saw wonder and mirth
And he thought to himself: "Why not try it?"

So he then did descend
down the stairs of the wind
And both hither and yon he did saunter.
And it opened his eyes,
for he sure was surprised,
by the strange and fantastical wonders.

Chorus:
Oh, a traveling lad
he will never be sad.
So the Man in the Moon, he went walking.
And the stories he told
of the things to behold,
Well, the Loonies back home are still talking!

Oh, he met with a cat
in a fine derby hat
oh, there stood a man made of wrought iron
there a gate blocked his path
with a deep belly laugh
then the engineer stoked up the fire!

And he saw butterflies
with the tiniest eyes
there were needles all made of fine velvet
there a curtain hung down
over all of the town
there the glistening snow made a carpet.

(Chorus)

Then he saw a fine house
in the jaws of a mouse
just a crumb of cheese dancing the samba
there a woman the size
of a fine grain of rice
still that nugget of gold saved the gambler.

And then down by the shore
He went walking some more
and he saw a ship covered in feathers
there a bird flew away
with the talk of the day
then the jester confounded his betters.

(Chorus)

Then he saw a sheep's head
such a bright orange-red
there a carrot as tall as the steeple
there an oak tree so grand
walking up on his hands
oh the acrobat pleased all the people

Then he took his repose
there beneath a long nose
'twas a smile as wide as the valley
oh, a bridge there was built
between wishes and guilt
then the love affair ended so sadly

(Chorus)

By the river he spied
a stone mill in full stride
there a gentleman came up beside him
oh he saw a fish caught
by a net deep in thought
then he longed for the home left behind him

So he climbed, once again,
up the stairs of the wind
and although his vacation was dandy
after all that he saw
it seemed better by far
that from now on he'd drink only brandy!

(Chorus)


To hear the tune copy the bolded text below, and paste it into the text window at ABC Convert-A-Matic. Then, click the [submit] button. This will bring up a new webpage; click [MIDI music file].

X:1
T:The Man in the Moon Went Walking (and Lost His Punctuation)
C: Ann Magill
Q:1/4=120
M:4/4
K:F
||:CC F2 FF E2|EE D2 DD C2|CC B,2 B,B, C2|
CC D2 C3 z|DD F2 FF E2|EE G2 GG F2|
FF E2 DC D2|EF G2 F4:||z4 DD G2|
GG A2 AA G2|FG F2 FF E2|DC D2 DE D2|
C3 z CC F2|FF G2 GG A2|BA G2 GF E2|
DC D2 EF G2|F4 z4|]

---

And, just for fun, here's what he saw with the lost punctuation put in its proper place:

1. Oh, he met with a cat.


2. In a fine derby hat, there stood a man.


3. Made of wrought iron, there a gate blocked his path.


4. With a deep belly laugh, then, the engineer stoked up the fire.


5. And he saw butterflies.


6. With the tiniest eyes, there were needles.


7. All made of fine velvet, there, a curtain hung down.


8. Over all of the town, there, the glistening snow made a carpet.



9. And he saw: a fine house; in the jaws of a mouse, just a crumb of cheese; dancing the samba, there-- a woman.


10. The size of a fine grain of rice, still, that nugget of gold saved the gambler.



11. Then, down by the shore, he went walking some more and saw a ship.


12. Covered in feathers, there, a bird flew away.


13. With the talk of the day, then, the jester confounded his betters.



14. Then he saw a sheep's head.


15. Such a bright orange-red, 'twas a carrot.


16. As tall as the steeple, there, an oak tree so grand.
    
17. Oh, walking up on his hands, the acrobat pleased all the people.
    
    
18. Then he took his repose.


19. There, beneath a long nose, 'twas a smile.


20. As wide as the valley, a bridge, there, was built.


21. Between wishes and guilt, then, the love affair ended so sadly.



22. By the river he spied a stone mill.
    
23. In full stride, there, a gentleman came up beside him.
    
24. And he saw a fish caught in a net.


25. Deep in thought, then, he longed for the home left behind him.

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: maeve
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 05:53 PM

Oh what fun! This is a delightful song, CapriUni!

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:34 PM

Brill and so MUCH fun!! Once again, CU! Excellent and thanks!!

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 11:17 PM

Thanks, Maeve and Kat!

Actually, there were two other inspirations for this, another rhyme from Mother Goose:

(the poem I was talking about yesterday)

MISSING COMMAS

I saw a peacock with a fiery tail
I saw a blazing comet drop down hail
I saw a cloud with ivy curled around
I saw a sturdy oak creep on the ground
I saw an ant swallow up a whale
I saw a raging sea brim full of ale
I saw a Venice glass sixteen feet deep
I saw a well full of men's tears that weep
I saw their eyes all in a flame of fire
I saw a house as high as the moon and higher
I saw the sun at twelve o'clock at night
I saw a man who saw this wondrous sight.

(Which, as a high school English teacher friend of mine pointed out, is still grammatically incorrect even after the commas are put back)

And this song, posted by MMario a good while back: Ha' We to the Other World.

The first presented me with the challenge of writing grammatically correct nonsense, and the second gave me the idea of a whole world presided over by the Man in the Moon (this also gave me a way to make the nonsense list into a narrative).

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: open mike
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 12:20 AM

great to hear from you again C.U.!!
or I might say great to C.U. again!

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 03:07 PM

Thanks, Open Mike! It's good to be back. And it's good to B.C.N. ;-)

---

As I was winding down to sleep, I was thinking about how I might illustrate the nonsense in a children's book. And "butterflies with the tiniest eyes" is not incongruous enough to be humorous.

So I came up with this, instead:

And he saw humpback whales
swim with hammers and nails
there were chisels all made of velvet

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 07:14 PM

Love it, love it, love it! My copy editor cap has been blown off!**bg**

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 08:17 PM

Thanks, Kat (Gee, I hope you saw where that cap landed -- that's one thing you don't want to lose)!


(And that should be "fine velvet," of course.

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: Tig
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 06:16 PM

Great, fun song Capri - though I might just try it as a 'recititation':-).

You've got a slightly different version of The man in the Moon to me. I always though he came tumbling down to ask his way to Norwich.

Hugs
Tig

Subject: RE: Nonsense song from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 06:31 PM

Thanks, Tig.

The Man in the Moon difference may just be a result of my shifting memory...

er... I mean "the Folk Process." ;-)