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Song Parodies -> "Under My Own Steam"
Original Song Title:
"I've Been Everywhere"
Original Performer:
Johnny Cash
Parody Song Title:
"Under My Own Steam"
Parody Written by:
Giorgio Coniglio
The Lyrics
Lucky Starrted with Strine, his Brit and Kiwi versions also strode; When along dashed the Yankees, Johnny Cashed on covering Hank Snow. Stompin’ Tom spewed the Canuck spin; this take might also please. Go and scrutinize YouTube - you’ll find a slew of odysseys. I ask you why our self-esteem and our nobility Seems to be lined in every culture to our road-mobility.
I was coaxing my frame into an achy Seniors’ Clinic seat,
When along came a student who spoke up, not having to repeat,
“While you’re here in Geriatrics, Pops, with me you can spout.”
So I clambered on the couch, and then I let my story out.
He asked me if I didn’t need a scooter to get ‘round,
And I said, “On my own I’ll manage ‘til they lay me in the ground.”
I’ve gone every way, son
Made it every day, son
Deserted, seldom stayed, son
Breezed past, moved on, strayed, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
I’ve led and followed, sped wallowed, vaulted tumbled, somersaulted,
Raced chased, outpaced, failed-to-place, been defaulted,
Beat-the-pack, pavement-pounded, trailed and tracked, dogged and hounded,
Hustled bustled, rushed hurried, lagged dragged straggled, crashed rebounded,
Hiked biked, unicyked, spurted sprinted, streaked and straddled,
Sailed bailed, jibed and tacked, roved diverted, scudded paddled.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son
‘Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Whirled twisted, flailed and flitted, hauled and shlepped, toted carried,
Hurtled hovered, scurried scrammed, coasted cruised, shuttled ferried,
Galloped loped, trotted hopped, lunged leapt pounced, scampered slithered,
Skimmed and swooped, swerved swivelled, waddled trampled, charged and dithered.
Darted started, lit departed, inched flinched, punted perched,
Posted cantered, wriggled floundered, bolted sprung, skulked and lurched.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son
‘Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
I’ve swayed sashayed, ricocheted, ambled gambolled, rambled scrambled,
Trekked meandered, tramped traversed, roamed ran wandered, shuffled shambled,
Strolled patrolled, promenaded, marched and sauntered, strutted swaggered,
Vacillated, drifted wavered, faltered halted, stumbled staggered,
Lurked and skirted, sneaked and slunk, vamoosed cowered, skipped skedaddled,
Fled absconded, disappeared, undulated, tailed and shadowed.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son,
‘Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Danced pranced, waltzed and balanced, jogged advanced and ants-in-pantsed,
Reeled gyrated, posed paraded, demonstrated, held-my-stance,
Lumbered rhumba-ed, blundered scuttled, stowed squatted, plunged marauded,
Pitched yawed, soared floated, bounded teetered, padded trod,
Hastened braked, decelerated, dragged lugged, barged and dredged,
Pursued escaped, hunted shunted, zigzagged bee-lined, rounded edged.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son
'Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Crept crawled scooted, wobbled toddled, tiptoed frolicked, jived cavorted,
Pussyfooted, hopped and bounced, bellyflopped, dived escorted,
Glided slid, skidded skied, schussed toboganned, sledded slipped,
Stamped slogged, plodded dodged, limped hobbled, trudged and tripped,
Skated waded, deviated, pirouetted, navigated,
Circulated, ambulated, dawdled doddered, terminated.
I’ve gone every way, son
Made it every day, son
Deserted, seldom stayed, son
Breezed past, mosied, strayed, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Under my own steam.
When along came a student who spoke up, not having to repeat,
“While you’re here in Geriatrics, Pops, with me you can spout.”
So I clambered on the couch, and then I let my story out.
He asked me if I didn’t need a scooter to get ‘round,
And I said, “On my own I’ll manage ‘til they lay me in the ground.”
I’ve gone every way, son
Made it every day, son
Deserted, seldom stayed, son
Breezed past, moved on, strayed, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
I’ve led and followed, sped wallowed, vaulted tumbled, somersaulted,
Raced chased, outpaced, failed-to-place, been defaulted,
Beat-the-pack, pavement-pounded, trailed and tracked, dogged and hounded,
Hustled bustled, rushed hurried, lagged dragged straggled, crashed rebounded,
Hiked biked, unicyked, spurted sprinted, streaked and straddled,
Sailed bailed, jibed and tacked, roved diverted, scudded paddled.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son
‘Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Whirled twisted, flailed and flitted, hauled and shlepped, toted carried,
Hurtled hovered, scurried scrammed, coasted cruised, shuttled ferried,
Galloped loped, trotted hopped, lunged leapt pounced, scampered slithered,
Skimmed and swooped, swerved swivelled, waddled trampled, charged and dithered.
Darted started, lit departed, inched flinched, punted perched,
Posted cantered, wriggled floundered, bolted sprung, skulked and lurched.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son
‘Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
I’ve swayed sashayed, ricocheted, ambled gambolled, rambled scrambled,
Trekked meandered, tramped traversed, roamed ran wandered, shuffled shambled,
Strolled patrolled, promenaded, marched and sauntered, strutted swaggered,
Vacillated, drifted wavered, faltered halted, stumbled staggered,
Lurked and skirted, sneaked and slunk, vamoosed cowered, skipped skedaddled,
Fled absconded, disappeared, undulated, tailed and shadowed.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son,
‘Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Danced pranced, waltzed and balanced, jogged advanced and ants-in-pantsed,
Reeled gyrated, posed paraded, demonstrated, held-my-stance,
Lumbered rhumba-ed, blundered scuttled, stowed squatted, plunged marauded,
Pitched yawed, soared floated, bounded teetered, padded trod,
Hastened braked, decelerated, dragged lugged, barged and dredged,
Pursued escaped, hunted shunted, zigzagged bee-lined, rounded edged.
I’ve gone every way, son
Traveling is my play, son
Need to get around, son
'Til I’m in the ground, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Crept crawled scooted, wobbled toddled, tiptoed frolicked, jived cavorted,
Pussyfooted, hopped and bounced, bellyflopped, dived escorted,
Glided slid, skidded skied, schussed toboganned, sledded slipped,
Stamped slogged, plodded dodged, limped hobbled, trudged and tripped,
Skated waded, deviated, pirouetted, navigated,
Circulated, ambulated, dawdled doddered, terminated.
I’ve gone every way, son
Made it every day, son
Deserted, seldom stayed, son
Breezed past, mosied, strayed, son
I’ve lived out my own dream, son
Under my own steam
Under my own steam.
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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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
User Comments
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Round, round, got around, you got around. This has to be one of the hardest songs to parody I can imagine. Only a writer of great skill could tackle it. I once issued a challenge to parody the longest, most rambling song I could think of: Bob Dylan's "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts". Last November, Leo Keogh answered the call. Look it up. Brilliant! I have two more challenges for songs that have never been parodied here: the complete version of Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" and Fire Inc. "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young" from the movie "Streets of Fire". There used to be a competition on AIR to write "The Big Seven". I think I have tried two. And botched one of those. The rest I don't know, or don't really like. "Chimes" and "Tonight" are excellent songs, with complex lyrics and/or shifts of tempo. Real difficult. And maybe someday I'll try to fulfill the misplaced confidence of someone who thought I could write an "American Pie".
5's for tackling such a difficult ditty!
Bravo, signor. Great to see you setting yourself these challenges and meeting them so admirably - humbles and inspires us all.
I found this OS daunting but a lot of fun to play around with. As Patrick said, it's been liberally adapted round the world and it's difficult to come up with new takes on it. One of the funniest I've seen here appeared last Xmas, by Andy Primus:
http://www.amiright.com/parody/90s/johnnycash16.shtml
I attempted a Japanese one a while back, which got quite a good reception (for me, relatively speaking), if you're at all interested:
http://www.amiright.com/parody/60s/johnnycash168.shtml
If you'll excuse a couple of technical quibbles, I notice you didn't attempt to vary the choruses (not that anyone's saying you have to). Also, the last phrase of each verse should end with a related punchline phrase rather than another list-example. On the other hand, your bonus introductory verses are always a joy. Btw 'Strine' doesn't refer to the Australian accent per se, but to an acronym game that is played to approximate it (proper nouns permitted). E.g.
'Agave era rort Goa nova'; 'Aorta Saudi doubt.'
'I gave her a right going over'; 'They ought to sort it out'.
Finally (I do go on, don't I?), I endorse Patrick's comments on more attempts at difficult, epic songs. Apart from the 'Big Seven' and the examples he mentioned, there are at least a dozen more densely-packed, verbose early Dylan epics that are grist for the mill. I know the mercurial JAB licked 'Desolation Row' and 'Bob D's 119th dream'. There's also 'It's Alright Ma', 'Mr Tambourine Man', 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands', 'Visions of Johanna' and others. Verbosity was what the man was good at. (What else he was good at is a matter of debate).
I found this OS daunting but a lot of fun to play around with. As Patrick said, it's been liberally adapted round the world and it's difficult to come up with new takes on it. One of the funniest I've seen here appeared last Xmas, by Andy Primus:
http://www.amiright.com/parody/90s/johnnycash16.shtml
I attempted a Japanese one a while back, which got quite a good reception (for me, relatively speaking), if you're at all interested:
http://www.amiright.com/parody/60s/johnnycash168.shtml
If you'll excuse a couple of technical quibbles, I notice you didn't attempt to vary the choruses (not that anyone's saying you have to). Also, the last phrase of each verse should end with a related punchline phrase rather than another list-example. On the other hand, your bonus introductory verses are always a joy. Btw 'Strine' doesn't refer to the Australian accent per se, but to an acronym game that is played to approximate it (proper nouns permitted). E.g.
'Agave era rort Goa nova'; 'Aorta Saudi doubt.'
'I gave her a right going over'; 'They ought to sort it out'.
Finally (I do go on, don't I?), I endorse Patrick's comments on more attempts at difficult, epic songs. Apart from the 'Big Seven' and the examples he mentioned, there are at least a dozen more densely-packed, verbose early Dylan epics that are grist for the mill. I know the mercurial JAB licked 'Desolation Row' and 'Bob D's 119th dream'. There's also 'It's Alright Ma', 'Mr Tambourine Man', 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands', 'Visions of Johanna' and others. Verbosity was what the man was good at. (What else he was good at is a matter of debate).
Re my 2nd para - not 'as Patrick said', but as YOU said - sorry.
Loved it :)
..but I'd hate to try singing it.
..but I'd hate to try singing it.
My apologies again, Giorgio, I should have said you didn't vary the choruses MUCH. Again, not really a criticism, just an observation. In my comment re. Strine, read 'anagram' for acronym. That's three corrections now - your opus must've done my head in on that occasion.
Thanks Lifeliver for your several comments. Working on this patter-song also made my head gyrate, spin etc. Some variation from the OS must be the parodist's prerogative; e.g. my take , and the Kiwi version have 5 verses. My research involved reviewing most of the 28 prior AIR parody-postings of the song. I was in fact inspired by your Japanese toponymic version; of various takes extending beyond geo-place-names, I particularly enjoyed Jeffrey Moran's recent birdwatcher's sightings. Glitches always seem to occur - 'linked' should be the verb in the last line of my "bonus" introductory verse. I will check into some of those early Dylan songs as heavy-verbiage parody targets, as you and Patrick suggest.
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