Another gentle graze through the wonderful world of songs about goats. Although GOAT has also become an acronym for the phrase ‘Greatest Of All Time”. “Paddy McGinty’s Goat” is a comic song written in 1917 by English songwriters Bert Lee and R.P. Weston in collaboration with the American performing duo The Two Bobs (Bob Alden […]
Animal Songs – Goats 1
As you might expect the only way to follow a series of posts about sheep is with something featuring goats. “The Lonely Goatherd” is a popular show tune from the 1959 Rodger and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. This song tells the whimsical story of a goatherd whose yodelling is heard from far off […]
Animal Songs – Lions 1
“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” is a famous line spoken by Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow, in the film The Wizard of Oz. While walking through the dark forest, they get scared when they start hearing noises coming from the foliage around them. The Scarecrow wonders if there are any animals out […]
Animal Songs – Sheep 3
For our final selection of music that references ‘Sheep’ it is time to listen to some classical offerings. “Sheep May Safely Graze” is a common name for Cantata 208 by Johann Sebastian Bach composed in 1713 as a secular choral work. Although best known for ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’, this particular work is described as […]
Animal Songs – Sheep 2
Today we focus on that rarest of sheep – the so called ‘black’ one. Black sheep is an English idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The negative overtones of the use of the term ‘black’ in this context […]
Jeff Beck
I am suspending the Animal Songs series for the day to mark the passing of one the great guitar players of modern rock music. Beck helped to provide the soundtrack of my early musical life and so I wanted to feature some of his music on the blog this morning. As a teenager Beck learned […]
Animal Songs – Sheep 1
Today we begin thinking about ‘Sheep. This will no doubt take several posts to complete as there are many examples from classical, popular and modern music. “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” is a popular song written by Irving Berlin and used in the 1954 film White Christmas. It is commonly performed as a Christmas […]
Animal Songs – Crocodile
It seemed to be a no brainer to follow a post about Alligators with one about Crocodiles. After all as the song goes: ‘See you later Alligator. In a while Crocodile’. “Crocodile” is a song written the famous songwriting partnership of Leiber and Stoller. It was recorded by the Coasters in 1958 and released as […]
Animal Songs – Alligator
Today, we begin a new series featuring songs about our friends in the animal kingdom. Animals feature in a myriad of songs and seem to be the constant theme of the lyricist. We begin with some ‘Alligator’ songs. The word “alligator” may have a double meaning. In addition to the obvious, animal interpretation, “alligator” is […]
January Songs
Today we are celebrating the month of January with a selection of songs that have been written in reference to the month. “January” is a song recorded by Scottish rock band Pilot. Written by David Paton and produced by Alan Parsons, “January” was the sole number-one single in the UK for Pilot, coincidentally going to […]