song challenge: finish Bernadette parody

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Dec 19 - 12:14 PM

Here's what already exists,
in a source which dates back to 1982.



We're off to see the Virgin,
The wonderful Virgin of Lourdes.
************
**********
************
*************
We'll join the hordes
And hordes and hordes
And hoooooordes ...
To see the miraculous Virgin of Lourdes.
[instrumental break]
We're off to see the Virgin,
The wonderful Virgin of Loooooooourdes ... !


And thereby hangs a tale --
for a future post.

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Dec 19 - 12:25 PM

The comedy writer who improvised the above fragment,
and left it incomplete,
was the father of Jean Houston.
"Jack Houston" is how his daughter identifies him,
I have failed in my attempts
to find out his formal name.

The unfinished parody is often quoted when
Jean Houston reminisces about her upbringing,
as she was a child when her father came up with the parody.

The earliest source I could find for the parody
is Jean Houston's book, The Possible Human, on page 185,
1982, publisher J. P. Tarcher.

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 15 Dec 19 - 01:47 PM

Not sure I've got the scansion (presumably Wizard of Oz):

We're off to see the Virgin,
The wonderful Virgin of Lourdes.
They say Bernadette didn’t want to get wet
While crossing some shallow fords.
So stooping to take off some of her clothes
She heard a wild wind, and saw a white rose
A dazzling light, and a figure in white.
We'll join the hordes
And hordes and hordes
And hoooooordes ...
To see the miraculous Virgin of Lourdes.

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 15 Dec 19 - 04:14 PM

to my ears,
there is one extraneous line of verse in there,
but, better too much than too little.

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 15 Dec 19 - 04:18 PM

Okay, here goes, not very innovative or witty but it fits.

….
We hear she's a toast of ghost
If ever a ghost there was,
The Virgin of Lourdes is one because,
Because etc...
Because of miraculous things she does.


I had other ideas but I don't want to annoy any believers in the supernatural.

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 17 Dec 19 - 12:18 PM

We're off to see the Virgin,
The wonderful Virgin of Lourdes.
We'll drink to her health
And we'll drink to her wealth
From some South American gourds.
We'll join the hordes
And hordes and hordes
And hoooooordes ...
To see the miraculous Virgin of Lourdes.
[instrumental break]
We're off to see the Virgin,
The wonderful Virgin of Loooooooourdes ... !

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Dec 19 - 02:11 PM

Here's another angle:
instead of the apparitions and the sainthood,

the present-day shrine is still
confirming miracles of healing.

Subject: RE: song challenge: finish Bernadette parody
From: John C. Bunnell
Date: 20 Dec 19 - 10:45 AM

Three observations while I think about this:

First, the key rhyme in the fragment is actually problematic, because "Lourdes" is properly pronounced with more of an "oo" (or "ou"; the source I checked cited the "ou" in "tour" as comparable). For purposes of the rhyme, it would be more accurate to refer to "herds" than to "hordes"...but that has an effect on the connotation that I don't know that I like.

Second -- and perhaps one of the reasons the fragment has remained a fragment for so long -- there's a significant tonal issue here. The source tune (and yes, it's clearly "We're Off to See the Wizard") is sprightly and brisk and cheerful...but the stories about Lourdes are deeply rooted in Catholic faith, and the two contrasting elements are difficult to reconcile in a way that avoids sounding disrespectful to the latter. [It might be noted, too, that the "Virgin of Lourdes" is arguably Mary herself, rather than St. Bernadette.]

Third -- if I end up with a complete lyric at the end of this (and I don't know that I will, but this sort of challenge is one I can rarely resist), I will almost certainly make one other specific change to the Houston fragment: "wonderful" will become "virtuous", which seems to me a far better word choice both for tonal purposes and to preserve the alliteration present in the source lyric. I commend that thought to anyone else inclined to take on the project.