By Flatfrog
"Tappity tappity, ding!" goes The Typewriter as it pounds out its whirligig of whimsy. Charming it all is, a ting-tang of flim-flam that rabbitholes us into a wonderland where we will encounter all manner of marvels and monsters.
Underground it is gently velvet at first. Hear the choir of lovers as they proclaim their everlasting certainties. “I’m Sticking With You”: naive perhaps but loop di Lou, don’t we love them so? Alternatively we could make music on our own like this happy-go-lucky band of Scandinavian chanteuses with My, I mean their, Own Tune.
But wait, what is this strange sinuous creature insinuating into view from its hole in the earth? What a fabulously Funky Worm it is, and see how it plays the guitar with no hands! Don’t leave, ululating annelid! But it’s left us dancing and on the horizon there are some Big Balls to attend. Look how they’re bouncing.
Now we dance our way into a groovy Farmyard Boogie full of friendly animals. But I’m not sure we’re in Old Macdonald’s Kansas Homestead any more. This seems to be getting a bit out of hand. I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable.
Emerging from the farm come Three Little Pigs but fairy tales aren’t as fabulous as we might like. The big city is loud and angry, the frumious Jabberwock stalks the forest and you don’t even want to know what happened when The Cat Came Back.
I think I may be losing my mind. I’ve got a Little Blue Man in my room, and no one can see him but me. Is this still whimsy? Or is it insanity? There’s nice young men in clean white coats. They’re Coming To Take Me Away. Ho ho hee hee it’s all flummery and balderdash why did I let them give me those magic Pills now I’m gliding down deeper and deeper and all I can see is a gillery gallery of glittery glubbery Fish. Fish. Fresh fish.
An astonishingly amusing and animaltastic A-list playlist:
Leroy Anderson – The Typewriter
Velvet Underground – I’m Sticking With You
Katzenjammer – My Own Tune
Ohio Players – Funky Worm
AC/DC – Big Balls
Chaos UK – Farmyard Boogie
Green Jelly – Three Little Pigs
Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup – Jabberwock
Fred Penner – The Cat Came Back
Petula Clark – Little Blue Man
Napoleon XIV – They’re Coming To Take Me Away
Leon Rosselson – Pills
Mr Scruff – Fish
Barmy and slightly bonkers B-list playlist:
They Might Be Giants – Whistling In The Dark
Alia Bhatt & Shahid Kapoor – Eena Meena Deeka
Kevin Hearn – Monsters Anonymous
Barenaked Ladies – Raisins
Rick Dees – Disco Duck
Pink Floyd – The Gnome
Slapp Happy/Henry Cow – Giants
Sheb Wooly – The Purple People Eater
Groucho Marx – Lydia the Tattooed Lady
Max Splodge – My Sock’s Gone Down Me Shoe
The Incredible String Band – Little Cloud
Lorraine Bowen – Give My Love to Hull
7 Seconds of Love – Soupy George
Guru’s Pick:
Alondra Bentley – One Friday Morning
Collaborative playlist:
Want to listen on Spotify and even add some other songs? Then feel free to do so here:
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic And now for something completely different: whimsically, strange and silly songs. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address.