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Subject: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Phil Cooper Date: 23 Feb 10 - 04:12 PM Hi, A couple years ago at folk alliance I heard someone sing a song to the tune of Rolling Down to Old Maui. It was called When I Get my Ph.D. Does anyone know it? I look in the digital tradition site, above and got no hits. Thanks. --Phil |
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Subject: ADD Getting Out With a PhD (Ted Hodapp) From: YorkshireYankee Date: 24 Feb 10 - 02:01 AM Hi Phil, I strongly suspect the parody you're thinking of is "Getting Out With a Ph.D.", written by Ted Hodapp, parodist and Morris & Rapper dancer par excellence -- shortly before receiving his own (from the University of Minnesota, I think, but I could very well be misremembering that bit). I had the pleasure of hearing him sing it at the Midwest Morris Ale ~15-20 years ago & begged him for the words so I could add it to my own repertoire, & he kindly obliged: ^^ GETTING OUT WITH A PHD (Ted Hodapp) It's a damn tough life, full of toil and strife, we graduate students have And we don't give a damn, when our thesis is done, how hard the profs did rave 'Cause we're employment bound from this ivy ground, where the benefits they are free And nobody cares, we were just splitting hairs; getting out with a Ph.D. Chorus: Getting out with a Ph.D., me boys, getting out with a Ph.D. We're employment bound from this ivy ground, getting out with a Ph.D. We had to try to prove how and why and almost went insane Them sleep-filled nights, them earthly delights, we soon shall see again Six hellish years we passed away in a cold laboratory But now we're bound from this ivy ground, getting out with a Ph.D. Chorus Once more I fail to read my mail as I type appendix A The tenth draft's done; now comes the fun -- my advisor gets his way Just try a few more things, he says; it'll make your thesis sound And make my life a living hell -- thank God I'm outward bound! Chorus I've been on my knees to get my degrees; now commencement's just ahead I played the game though I thought inane all the bullshit I'd been fed And I would have finished this last verse, but I've got no time, you see I've got to write both day and night to get out with my Ph.D. Chorus Enjoy! P.S. Tell Margaret & Joanne I said "hello!"; I don't get to Folk Alliance (or you guys' concerts) these days 'cos I live in Sheffield now... Vikki Appleton Fielden |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Phil Cooper Date: 24 Feb 10 - 03:43 PM Vicki! Long time no see. That's the song, and you're the one I heard sing it way back. Another friend of Susan and mine is working on a PHd and I thought I would try and find these words to send along. Thanks, so much. Send me a pm for some of those pesky weblink things. --Phil |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: YorkshireYankee Date: 24 Feb 10 - 05:18 PM I was wondering if it could possibly have been me you'd heard singing it... (but since your post said "A couple years ago at folk alliance", I figgered it was too recent to have been me!) Very pleased to have been able to help -- will indeed PM you. Cheers, YY |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Genie Date: 24 Feb 10 - 06:09 PM Great song, Vicki! Brings back many (too many?) memories. But in today's market, I think maybe the chorus line should be changed to: "Getting out with a Ph.D., me boys, getting out with a Ph.D. Unemployment bound from this ivy ground, getting out with a Ph.D." or "Getting out with a Ph.D., me boys, getting out with a Ph.D. Underemployment bound from this ivy ground, getting out with a Ph.D." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: YorkshireYankee Date: 24 Feb 10 - 06:57 PM Point (sadly) taken, Genie. I vote for "Unemployment bound," as it definitely scans better than "UNderemployment bound" ... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Jim Dixon Date: 25 Feb 10 - 10:47 PM I happen to be acquainted with Ted Hodapp. He definitely has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota (1988). He is on the faculty of Hamline University in St. Paul, but currently on leave and working at the American Physical Society in College Park, Maryland. Here's his home page. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Genie Date: 26 Feb 10 - 12:41 AM The mudcat software gremlins are at it again (still?). I posted a reply to YY yesterday but it's not here now. Yankee, if you sing the "Underem" as a triplet using the same beats as the word "under," it scans as well. It's all in the phrasing. Thing is, there are lots of us PhDs not actually unemployed but still having to find work outside our field of expertise/training and at much lower pay - e.g., "selling" (ha!) real estate, driving cabs, flipping burgers, busking, etc. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: YorkshireYankee Date: 26 Feb 10 - 11:02 AM Jim, brilliant! Many thanks for the info -- and the link. Genie, you're right about the triplet... although my personal preference would still be to go with the (2-syllable) option that rolls off the tongue that little bit more easily, even if it is perhaps not quite as... apt/accurate as the 3-syllable option. And... sorry to hear you speak from such unpleasant personal experience. You are (again, sadly) far from being the only person I know of who has worked extremely hard to achieve a high level of competence, only to find that potential employers feel they "can't afford" to offer full-time work/benefits to such highly-skilled (not to mention conscientious) professionals. Every time I go back to the US for a visit (I've lived in England 11+ years now), more of my friends are struggling to find work that will allow them to make ends meet. Even well before the big crunch, I noticed the trend to hire people to work part-time (sometimes just an hour or two less than whatever is officially considered full-time), in order to avoid having to provide benefits (another reason I hope Obama's health care reform can somehow make it through the gauntlet), and it doesn't look like that is likely to change any time soon -- more's the pity... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Genie Date: 26 Feb 10 - 09:26 PM Actually, Yankee, "Unemployed" is not only easier to sing but it's funnier too -- if you're into "gallows humor." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: katlaughing Date: 26 Feb 10 - 11:11 PM I was looking on youtube for a video of this song and found a blues song about the same subject. Well done and fun HERE. Thanks for posting the lyrics to the song. My niece is going to love it. I remember her talking about the number of rewrites, her advisor, etc. Hers is in micro-biology. I tried to read the first page of her thesis and got lost. Spaw says all he gets for his PhD is a higher priced cup of coffee at McDonalds! kat |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: GUEST,Ted Hodapp Date: 27 Feb 10 - 12:09 PM Well this is a trip down memory lane (perhaps it should be memory lame, but I digress). Glad others are enjoying the song! The crowning achievement after my PhD was a dramatic re-enactment of the thesis, with my friend Shannon Russell playing the part of the "Barium Madam" whilst being bombarded by "photons" (I think Steve Parker was one of them) (I studied single atom properties of barium). Hope you enjoy the song! ted |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: YorkshireYankee Date: 27 Feb 10 - 12:55 PM "Unemployed" is not only easier to sing but it's funnier too -- Agreed, Genie. Kat, glad (you &) your niece will enjoy the song. Followed your link, & checked out a few of the other PhD songs on the YouTube site while I was there. They were fun, but I have to say I think Ted's song is the wittiest by far (of those I saw, at any rate), so well done to him. As fer pore Spaw, mebbe he better stop tellin that there MickyD's crew he gots a PhD... sounds like they might be tired o' hearin bout it! [grin] |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: YorkshireYankee Date: 27 Feb 10 - 01:00 PM Just spotted Ted's post (after hitting submit on the one above). Delighted to hear from the author himself! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Charley Noble Date: 11 Aug 12 - 11:33 AM refresh for all those graduate students still struggling to nail a PhD. Cheerily, Dr. Charley Noble, still adrift in and about Chicago |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Gibb Sahib Date: 11 Aug 12 - 01:41 PM "Employment bound"? Must have been written at least before the mid-80s, huh? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: YorkshireYankee Date: 11 Aug 12 - 10:01 PM Well, apparently Ted got his PhD in 1988, so I guess not. But I suspect that lack of employment opportunities was prolly less of a problem for Physics PhDs -- even during the economic downturn of the mid-80s -- than for PhDs in other fields. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When I Get My Ph.D/parody From: Susan of DT Date: 12 Aug 12 - 06:18 PM See also: I Did It Their Way |
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