Comments on: Cephalopod

Cephalopod

lothar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:14:49 -0800

How many times have you asked yourself, "Where are all the jazz tunes about squid?"

You'll no longer know diddly about things which are squidly. In fact, you'll know more than ever before though the lyrics go by quite rapidly. And for the purposes of a kids' song, cephalopods count as water bugs.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:12:23 -0800

How many times? Seventeen. I've asked myself that question seventeen times.

And it's a relief to know that I'll never have to ask it again.

This is a wonderful thing, lothar, a wonderful thing. Think you could print the lyrics in their entirety here for us?

By: lothar

lothar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:38:49 -0800

Cephalopod

Cephalopod.
Would you like to meet a cephalopod?
You know that they have larger brains than scallops, clams, or gastropods.
Primarily they are jet propelled,
Their mantle's where water's expelled.
Hemocyanin replaces hemoglobin blood.

Cephalopod.
Would you like to eat a cephalopod?
There's octopus, cuttlefish and squid's known as calamari too.
They hunt their prey, you know that makes them carnivores.
and colors change, so they're chromatophores.
Cunning predators
smarter than the average dog.

Cephalopod.
Would you like to meet my cephalopod?
There are approximately two hundred kinds of octopus alone
Nautilus shells are planispherical
so they are bilaterally symmetrical.
you know, In contrast conispheral shells are not.

Cephalopod.
Would you like to study cephalopods?
teuthology is a branch of science split from malacology
Their lack of myelin makes their nerves grow big
neurophysiologists will dance a jig.
fascinating fauna which taste good in stew.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:32:30 -0800

B'dum-dum-dum-dum, d'doo-d'dum-dum-dum... This is great.

Frankly, though, I'd rather not meet your cephalopod, if that's okay.

By: umbú

umbú — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:58:40 -0800

This kicks ass. You should play it wearing this.

This question may reveal the holes in my knowledge of jazz, but: Did you make up and play the music too, or just write the lyrics and sing over an existing recording?

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:41:58 -0800

And my wife just said: "Really? They don't have myelin? I didn't know that!"

By: lothar

lothar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:47:50 -0800

This original tune was written by someone else in my band.
As the instrumental it usually is, it has a different title.
But when humming it to myself, I kept accidentally saying "cephalopod" on the downbeat.

Here's the (nasty nasty) changes, solo away:
||: F- | C7 | Eb+ | Ab-9 | Db- | C-7 | E-11 D7b9 | Gmaj7 :||

By: lekvar

lekvar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:37:00 -0800

That was a beautiful thing. I had my hands clamped over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud while I was supposed to be working.

By: chococat

chococat — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:10:05 -0800

God, so nerdy with the fish lyrics.
Ya, I just laughed out loud and it's very late and people are sleeping.
This is so good. I really love it.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:17:04 -0800

Now that I have heard it, I realize that cephalopods are a quite natural subject for jazz, and am confused about why this subject has never been addressed by the genre before.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:38:37 -0800

Oh, it's been handled before, AZ. Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful 'Pod," Miles Davis' "Sketches of Squid," the tangentially related "Porgy and Bass."

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:25:20 -0800

And hey, let's not forget jazz standards like "Stella By Starfish", "I Can't Give You Anything But Loach" and "Body and Sole". Plus, of course, there's Bill Frisell's jazzed-up cover of the Madonna hit "Like a Sturgeon".

Oh, and "Green Dolphin Street" was always one of my fave tunes from Eric Dolphy.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:38:58 -0800

More? You bet!

* It Ain't Necessarily Sole
* The Lady is a Trout
* Night and Dace
* Gar Bless The Child
* The Night Has a Thousand Icefish
* It's Only a Paper Moonfish
* Mack the Knifefish
* My Melancholy Barbel

I know there's more...

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:51:06 -0800

Ah! Of course! There's...

* Softly, As In a Morning Sunfish
* Someday My Piranha Will Come
* You Make Me Eel So Young
* Come Rain or Come Shark
* How Long Has This Been Golden Trout

Then, the blues... you've got BB King's classic...

*The Krill Is Gone

By: AppleSeed

AppleSeed — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:53:02 -0800

This swings. Tail.

By: umbú

umbú — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:57:35 -0800

Aiiighh. It hurts, flapjax.

By: cephalopodcast

cephalopodcast — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:35:46 -0800

Adding this to the Tune of Fish sidebar of my site. Thanks!

Other great cephalopod crooners include: Carne Cruda, Jonathan Coulton and Kevin Zenio. Also, if anyone can play the penny whistle, here's a diddy about Amphioxus.

By: eurasian

eurasian — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:28:08 -0800

Awesome, awesome song. I love how ballsy you are to try and sing 'cephalopod' more than once.. Fantastic.

By: Kimothy

Kimothy — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:45:38 -0800

I'd just like to let you know - this song, for whatever reason, has been stuck in my head for three days now. I just can't shake it. Good thing I like it so much. (I just wish my co-workers would stop staring at me while I'm mumbling "cephalopod" over and over.)