07 December 2010

Song of the day: "It's De-lovely" by Cole Porter

I always feel like belting out this song in a hallway.
I feel the sudden urge to sing
The kind of ditty that invokes the spring
So, control your desire to curse
While I crucify the verse
This verse you've started seems to me
The "Tin Pan-tithesis" of melody
So to spare you all the pain
I'll skip the darn thing and sing the refrain

Mi-mi-mi-mi, re-re-re-re, do-so-mi-do-la-si

The night is young, the skies are clear
So if you wanna go walkin', dear
It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely

I understand the reason why
You're sentimental, 'cause so am I
It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely

You can tell at a glance what a swell night this is for romance
You can hear, dear Mother Nature murmuring low, "Let yourself go"

So please be sweet, my chickadee
And when I kiss ya, just say to me
"It's delightful, it's delicious, it's delectable, it's delirious,
It's dilemma, it's de-limit, it's deluxe, it's de-lovely"

Time marches on and soon it´s plain
You´ve won my heart and I lost my brain
It´s delightful, it´s delicious, it´s de-lovely

Life seems so sweet that we decide
It´s in the bag to get unified
It´s delightful, it´s delicious, it´s de-lovely

See the crowd in that church
See the proud parson plopped on his perch
Get the sweet beat of that organ sealing our doom
Here goes the groom – boom!

How they cheer and how they smile
As we go galloping down the aisle
It´s divine, dear, it´s de-vene, dear, it´s de-wunderbar, it´s de-victory
It´s de-velop, it´s de-vinner, it´s de-voix, it´s de-lovely

The night is tired and so we take
The few hours off to eat wedding cake
It´s delightful, it´s delicious, it´s de-lovely

It feels so fine to be a bride
And how´s the groom while he´s slightly fried
It´s divineful, it´s delicious, it´s de-lovely

To the pop of champagne, off we hop in our plush little plane
´Til a bright light through the darkness cosily calls, "Niagara Falls"

Well, my love, our day´s complete
What a beautiful bridal suite
It´s de-reamy, it´s de-rousy, it´s de-reverie, it´s de-rhapsodie
It´s de-regal, it´s de-royal, it´s de-ritz, it´s de-lovely

We settle down as man and wife
To solve the riddle called married life
It´s delightful, it´s delicious, it´s de-lovely

06 December 2010

Song of the day: "Experiment" by Cole Porter

Finally, a song loosely about science written by a real songwriter, and not just any songwriter... one of the greatest American songwriters in history, Cole Porter! (If you watch the movie "It's Delovely," you might guess what the characters think the song is about.) My PhD advisor really likes this song.
Before you leave these portals,
to meet less fortunate mortals,
there's just one final message I would give to you.

You all have learned reliance,
on the sacred teachings of science.
So I hope through life you never will decline,
in spite of Philistine defiance.
Do what all good scientists do.

Experiment.
Make it your motto day and night.

Experiment.
And it will lead you to the light.

The apple on the top of the tree
is never too high to achieve.
So take an example from Eve,
experiment.

Be curious,
though interfering friends may frown.

Get furious,
at each attempt to hold you down.

If this advice you always employ,
the future can offer you infinite joy
and merriment.

Experiment,
and you'll see.