Nonsense Verse and Song Parodies
Kelly was an accomplished poet, and frequently added pages of original comic verse to his Pogo reprint books, complete with charming cartoon illustrations. The odd song parody or nonsense poem also occasionally appeared in the newspaper strip. In 1956, Kelly published Songs of the Pogo, an illustrated collection of his original songs, with lyrics by Kelly and music by Kelly and Norman Monath. The tunes were also issued on a vinyl LP, with Kelly himself contributing to the vocals (see below, Pogo in other media).
Traditional Christmas carols were a regular feature of Kelly's holiday strips as well—particularly Deck the Halls. They are enthusiastically performed by the swamp's rotating "Okefenokee Glee and Perloo Union" Choir (perloo is a pilaf-based Cajun stew, similar to jambalaya), although in their childish innocence the chorus typically mangles the lyrics. (Churchy once sang a version of Good King Wenceslas that went: "Good King Sauerkraut look out / On his feets uneven / Beware the snoo lay 'round about / All kerchoo achievin'...")
Below are all seven (and a half) known variants of Kelly's best-known fractured yuletide carol, "Deck Us All with Boston Charlie":
- Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
- Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!
- Nora's freezin' on the trolley,
- Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!
- Don't we know archaic barrel
- Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou?
- Trolley Molly don't love Harold,
- Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!
- Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
- Polly wolly cracker 'n' too-da-loo!
- Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
- Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you!
- Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon,
- Willy, folly go through!
- Chollie's collie barks at Barrow,
- Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo!
- Dunk us all in bowls of barley,
- Hinky dinky dink an' polly voo!
- Chilly Filly's name is Chollie,
- Chollie Filly's jolly chilly view halloo!
- Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
- Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof!
- Tizzy seas on melon collie!
- Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof!
- Tickle salty boss anchovie,
- Wash a wash a wall Anna Kangaroo!
- Ducky allus bows to Polly,
- Prolly Wally would but har'ly do!
- Dock us all a bowsprit, Solly,
- Golly, Solly's cold and so's ol' Lou!
Read more about this topic: Pogo (comic strip)
Famous quotes containing the words nonsense, verse, song and/or parodies:
“Life’s nonsense pierces us with strange relation.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Verse calls them forth; ‘tis verse that gives
Immortal youth to mortal maids.”
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864)
“thinking of
leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT
while she whispered a song along the keyboard
to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing”
—Frank O’Hara (1926–1966)
“The parody is the last refuge of the frustrated writer. Parodies are what you write when you are associate editor of the Harvard Lampoon. The greater the work of literature, the easier the parody. The step up from writing parodies is writing on the wall above the urinal.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)