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Song Parodies -> "Anthropomorphic Death"
Original Song Title:
"Locomotive Breath"
(MP3)Original Performer:
Jethro Tull
Parody Song Title:
"Anthropomorphic Death"
Parody Written by:
Phil Alexander
The Lyrics
I know "Anthropomorphic" has one too many syllables, but if you pronounce it "Anthrop'morphic", it'll do. DEATH, in the Discworld, describes himself at one point as an "anthropopmorhic personfication".. but that would scan even worse.
In the magical Discworld
Anthropomorphic Death
The archetypal Grim Reaper
With no real need for breath
He rides a horse called Binky
He speaks IN UPPER CASE
And when sand runs out in your hourglass
You know Death is gonna be there
And he'll scythe you down
Witches, wizards can see him
As he came and went
Summoned to their bidding
In the Rite of Ashk-ente
Which is oh, so inconvenient
When there's THE DUTY to do
Checking on each hourglass
And people keep on dying
And he'll scythe 'em down
And he'll scythe 'em down
He sees souls departing
To Heaven, or to Hell
Has a liking for kittens
And a daughter? Ysabell
Now, Ysabell is sixteen
Has been for thirty years
For the Gods and Fate are watching
And the people keep on dying
And he'll scythe 'em down
And he'll scythe 'em down
And he'll scythe 'em down
Anthropomorphic Death
The archetypal Grim Reaper
With no real need for breath
He rides a horse called Binky
He speaks IN UPPER CASE
And when sand runs out in your hourglass
You know Death is gonna be there
And he'll scythe you down
Witches, wizards can see him
As he came and went
Summoned to their bidding
In the Rite of Ashk-ente
Which is oh, so inconvenient
When there's THE DUTY to do
Checking on each hourglass
And people keep on dying
And he'll scythe 'em down
And he'll scythe 'em down
He sees souls departing
To Heaven, or to Hell
Has a liking for kittens
And a daughter? Ysabell
Now, Ysabell is sixteen
Has been for thirty years
For the Gods and Fate are watching
And the people keep on dying
And he'll scythe 'em down
And he'll scythe 'em down
And he'll scythe 'em down
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Voting Results
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Voting Breakdown
The following represent how many people voted for each category.
| Pacing | How Funny | Overall Rating | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
User Comments
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Well, I chugged through this one and didn't crash at the end...Actually "Anthropomorphic Death" can be sung on that line with the music...because there is space before the next line...so the "th" part of "Death" gets drawn a little past the same part of "breath"...if you were recording you might need to practice it a couple times first, but it works...OH...5's ~ ~ ~. Say, we are starting to get the beginnings of an "Aqualung" album compiled on the site...I have been thinking of working on some of the other songs...of course, a couple (like "Wind Up") might be hard to parody...a certainly wouldn't want to make light use of that one, but for an appropriate subject...
Love the song, and the parody is right on, though I don't know Discworld. 5's
I love the OS too. Don't know Discworld either but I like this! 5s
Dee and Rick - go and find some Discworld books: you'll love 'em. If you like this parody, then I guess the ones to start with would be Mort and Reaper Man. But they're all good, and most are simply brilliant.
Paul - Wind Up is probably my favourite Tull song, lyrically speaking anyway - I've not had any great ideas for it, though. Yet. ;-)
Paul - Wind Up is probably my favourite Tull song, lyrically speaking anyway - I've not had any great ideas for it, though. Yet. ;-)
Phil, mine too...I heard that when the album came out (of course, being a huge 'Tull' fan at the time) and that song really connected with my impressions and thoughts on Organized Religion...they really do "Have the whole damn thing all wrong"...I've thought about looking at the songs on "Benefit" (an earlier Tull album) for parody songs, but I sense that even fewer, if any, folks would be acquainted with them...(except maybe "Teacher", with has been released on many Tull collection/anthology albums over the years)...But the "Aqualung" album has a lot of parody potential, I think.
Did You Know Jethro Tull Said The Word Balls In The Song?
Strangely enough, yes, I did realize that the word "balls" was in the original. This is important exactly, how?
DKTOS but do know Discworld (just to be the odd one out). Therefore I took everyone elses view on the pacing. Minor point but I thought his daughter (or grand daughter maybe) was a teacher?
Karen - that's his granddaughter, Susan - the daughter of Mort and Ysabell - she's introduced in Hogfather, IIRC.
Phil, "Balls"?? Well, I guess I should be addressing this to GBHD, but I'd rather just sit here dazed and ask you if you've ever had a stranger innocuous comment made to you here...
A few months back I came across some 20-25 JT mp3s and gave them a full listen on my way to work and home, couldn't really understand why they're a famous band but I guess that a somewhat unique sound goes a long way, or at least did back then. One song struck me as above the rest though; "Man of Principle", might be another take on the life and views of Anthropomorphic Death in that one but don't hold your breath for it, that's HIS job. ;-)
One of my favorite songs, one of my favorite books, and surely my most favorite parodist. (I'm just trying to get sensible data out of a customers f####d up database - so DEATH is just what I have in mind :-)
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