A Book of Nonsense

Song Cycle by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

1. The Dwarf of Battersea 

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2. Little Spider 

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3. O Little Fly 

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4. 'It Worries Me to Know' 

It worries me to know
 . . . . . . . . . .


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5. How Fly the Birds of Heaven 

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6. Of Pygmies, Palms and Pirates  [sung text checked 1 time]

Of pygmies, palms and pirates,
Of islands and lagoons,
Of blood-bespotted frigates,
Of crags and octoroons,
Of whales and broken bottles,
Of quicksands cold and grey,
Of ullages and dottles,
I have no more to say.

Of barley, corn and furrows,
Of farms and turf that heaves
Above such ghostly burrows
As twitch on summer eves
Of fallow-land and pasture,
Of skies both pink and grey,
I made my statement last year
And have no more to say.

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7. An Old and Crumbling Parapet 

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8. It Is Most Best 

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9. O'er Seas That Have No Beaches 

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10. 'Come, Break the News to Me, Sweet Horse' 

Come, break the news to me, sweet horse
 . . . . . . . . . .


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11. An Angry Cactus Does No Good 

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12. I Cannot Give You Reasons  [sung text checked 1 time]

I cannot give the reasons,
I only sing the tunes:
the sadness of the seasons
the madness of the moons.

I cannot be didactic
or lucid, but I can
be quite obscure and practic-
ally marzipan

In gorgery and gushness
and all that's squishified.
My voice has all the lushness
of what I can't abide

And yet it has a beauty
most proud and terrible
denied to those whose duty
is to be cerebral.

Among the antlered mountains
I make my viscous way
and watch the sepia mountains
throw up their lime-green spray.

Authorship:

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13. The Trouble With Geraniums  [sung text checked 1 time]

The trouble with geraniums
is that they're much too red!
The trouble with my toast is that
it's far too full of bread.

The trouble with a diamond
is that it's much too bright.
The same applies to fish and stars
and the electric light.

The troubles with the stars I see
lies in the way they fly.
The trouble with myself is all
self-centred in the eye.

The trouble with my looking-glass
is that it shows me, me;
there's trouble in all sorts of things
where it should never be.

Authorship:

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

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14. Crocodiles  [sung text checked 1 time]

She stared at him as hard as she
Could stare, but not a single blush
Suffused his face like dawn at sea
Or roses in a bush -

For crocodiles are very slow
At taking hints because their hide's
So thick it never feels de trop,
And tender like a bride's.

Authorship:

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

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15. O Love! O Death! O Ecstasy! 

O Love! O Death! O Ecstasy!
 . . . . . . . . . .


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16. O Here It Is! And There It Is! 

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17. I Have My Price  [sung text checked 1 time]

I have my price - it's rather high
(about the level of your eye)
but if you're nice to me I'll try
to lower it for you -
To lower it!

To lower it!
Upon the rope they knit
from yellow grass in Paraguay
where knitting is taboo.

Some knit them purl, some knit them plain
some knit their brows of pearl in vain.
Some are so plain, they try again
to tease the wool of love!
O felony in Paraguay
there's not a soul in Paraguay who's worth the dreamingof.
They say,
who's worth the dreaming of.

Authorship:

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

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18. Lean Sideways on the Wind 

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19. Tintinnabulum 

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20. The Hideous Root 

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21. The Men in Bowler Hats Are Sweet 

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22. Shrink, Shrink 

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23. Aunty Jane 

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24. Aunty Grace 

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25. Uncle Wog 

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26. Aunty Flo  [sung text checked 1 time]

When Aunty Flo
Became a Crow
She had a bed put in a tree;
And there she lay
And read all day
Of ornithology.

Authorship:

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

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27. Aunty Vi 

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28. Uncle Sam 

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29. Aunty Nag 

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30. Aunty Mig 

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31. Aunty Jill 

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32. Uncle Jake 

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33. Crown Me With Hairpins 

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34. Squat Ursula 

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35. Leave the Stronger 

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36. The Thread Remains 

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37. The Adventures of Footfruit 

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Total word count: 435