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Song Parodies -> "Arthur C Clarke's A Writer"

Original Song Title:

"We Didn't Start The Fire"

 (MP3)
Original Performer:

Billy Joel

Parody Song Title:

"Arthur C Clarke's A Writer"

Parody Written by:

Phil Alexander

The Lyrics

Ninety-nine Arthur C Clarke stories, novels and collections (plus one). And I didn't quite get half way, though I did manage to include the overwhelming majority of the ones on my bookshelf.
Loophole, I-slands in the Sky, Sands of Mars, Time's Eye
Patent Pending , Guardian Angel, Reach for Tomorrow

Rescue Party, Whacky, The Forgotten Enemy
Richter 10, Last Theorem, T-T-Time's Arrow

Hide and Seek, Passer-By, The Other Side of the Sky
Sunstorm, Firstborn, The Fountains of Paradise

Nemesis, Silence Please! and The Road To The Sea
Inheritance, Transience, A Question of Residence

Arthur C Clarke's a writer
I've had an addiction
To his science fiction
Arthur C Clarke's a writer
And if he thought it
Then I prob'ly bought it

[Two] thousand-one Space Odyssey, Od'ssey Two, Odyssey Three
Next The Final Odyssey - four books in the trilogy?

The Star, Cold War and The Lion of Comarre
Captain Wyxtpthll's Flying Saucer

Superi-ority, Sent'nel of Eternity
Tales from Planet Earth, More Than One Universe

Robin Hood, FRS - Summertime on Icarus
Trouble with Time, Arthur C Clarke's Venus Prime

Arthur C Clarke's a writer
And I'm often smitten
By the stuff he's written
Arthur C Clarke's a writer
He moved to Sri Lanka
What a sensible fellow

The Pacifist, The Starting Line, Dial "F" for Frankenstein
Of Time and Stars, The Steam-Powered Word Processor

Childhood's End, Feathered Friend, The Possessed, The Fires Within
Prelude to Space, Sunjammer, Rendezvous with Rama

Imperial Earth, Breaking Strain, Publicity Campaign
Tales of Ten Worlds - Four Great SF Novels

Let There Be Light - Interplanetary Flight
Voices from the Sky - Against the Fall of the Night

Arthur C Clarke's a writer
Though his science fiction
Is more like prediction
Arthur C Clarke's a writer
And one can't ignore it
How well he foresaw it

What Goes Up, Refugee, This Earth of Majesty
Slee-ping Beau-ty, The Ultimate Melody

A Meeting with Medusa, The Haunted Spacesuit.. uh
The Sentinel, Second Dawn, History Lesson

Big Game Hunt, Shining Ones, Hate, The Wind from the Sun
Cradle (with Gentry Lee), The Man Who Ploughed the Sea

The Reluctant Orchid, The Nine Billion Names of God
Earth Is Room Enough.. Oh, no that was Asimov

Arthur C Clarke's a writer
A man on a mission
To pass on his vision
Arthur C Clarke's a writer
He is literary gentry
From the Twentieth Century

The Secret, Dog Star, Death and the Senator
Watch This Space, Arm'ments Race, The Exploration of Space

Earthlight, Rama, Parasite, Beyond the Fall of Night
Cosmic Casanova.. phew, it's nearly over

Indian Ocean Adventure, Profiles of the Future
Across the Sea of Stars, All That Glitters, Crime on Mars

Tales from the White Hart, A Walk in the Dark
A-Z of Mysteries - All these books from Arthur C

Arthur C Clarke's a writer
And I've been highlighting
His decades of writing
Arthur C Clarke's a writer
But I'm sad to say now
He has passed away now

There are so many I have been unable to fit, but the ones I'd most like to mention are "The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch", simply for being the best title never to scan in a parody; and "A Slight Case of Sunstroke" - one of the funniest clever ideas to make it into print (I can even remember a physics exam question based on it)

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Voting Results

 
Pacing: 4.8
How Funny: 4.7
Overall Rating: 4.8

Total Votes: 12

Voting Breakdown

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User Comments

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Rex - April 01, 2008 - Report this comment
Thanks for this tribute to one of my favorite authors. Loved the Asimov reference.
Ditto Rex - April 01, 2008 - Report this comment
I enjoyed this rendezvous with rama lama ding song immensely... Great job... I echo your sentiments but thus far am not quite as steeped in Clarke's, er... 'stellar' oeuvre as I'd like to be... love having something so wonderful to look forward to... thanks for reminding me and I think I'll start with a re-read of Childhood's End
Michael Pacholek - April 01, 2008 - Report this comment
Give him the fives, HAL. (I'm sorry, Mike, I can't do that.) Yes, you can, HAL.
Agrimorfee - April 01, 2008 - Report this comment
Not a bug Sci-Fi fan, but the tribute was well done, and well-deserved...I especially enjoyed the end rhymes and internal rhymes where you could get them in, made this well-worn list song interesting.
alvin - April 01, 2008 - Report this comment
wow, ya really did your homework on this one...nice job
Phil Alexander - April 01, 2008 - Report this comment
Yes, Alvin - I think this one took longer than any other in recent history. But a man's gotta do...
Ag - unfortunately, I couldn't rhyme (or scan) Ermintrude Inch, but I think I got nearly all the ones that did rhyme
Michael - By the time I finished, my mind was going, I could feel it
Rex & Ditto - Thanks: I can remember reading his books nearly thirty years ago, and re-reading them today, so many things seem so feasable still.
Jason - May 11, 2008 - Report this comment
(SOTM) Don't know much about the namesake but was a good read.
Matthias - May 11, 2008 - Report this comment
Lost me a bit on this one Phil. Don't know anything about Arthur C Clarke I had heard of "2001 A Space Odyssey", and "Robin Hood", but that's about it. So I commed you on parodying this song, because it's a very challenging song to pull off, but you lost me here. Sorry pal.
Peter Andersson - May 25, 2008 - Report this comment
SOTM - I had a similar fan thing going from around my early teens and up, but it was for another SF writer, Robert A Heinlein, who died in the late 80s, sot it's a bit late for sparking parody fodder now, but at least that makes me understand why you put down your time and soul into this one for ACC.
Max Power - May 25, 2008 - Report this comment
Great
Agrimorfee - May 28, 2008 - Report this comment
(SOTM) Back into the portals of time, with the same reaction as above.
Kristof Robertson - May 31, 2008 - Report this comment
(SOTM) I'm with Matty on this one, Phil....for Clarke devotees only. Most of it went totally over my head, and because it's a list song, I can't really be objective about it. Still, you're obviously a big fan, and this was a labour of love, so you have my admiration.
bobpiecheese - May 31, 2008 - Report this comment
(SOTM) Arthur C Clarke...nope, don't know him. And the stressing on some of the lines was a bit clunky, but that's list parodies for you.
Guy - May 31, 2008 - Report this comment
(SOTM-Apr-08) My, my - there is a whole library of information in this parody. Expertly executed as usual there, Philbo.
Red Ant - May 31, 2008 - Report this comment
Parodies of this song always get my respect... I wish the content was something I could appreciate more. Works well as a tribute.
Below Average Dave - May 31, 2008 - Report this comment
(SOTM) Admiration that you did it yes, I've been challenge by Jack Wilson to do this song, still thinking of my idea, so listening to it will help me to figure out what I want to do with it. The pacing was hard to follow for me, and I'm not familiar with Arthur C Clarke (though now I'm curious to read some of it), and it's hard to get into a parody about a topic I'm not familiar with, good write though.
Mikey Squirrel - May 31, 2008 - Report this comment
SOTM- Sorry to say I haven't read any of these books, so I'm very unfamiliar with the subject matter. Still, I respect anyone who takes on this OS, I know hard it can be. Very well done, Phil.

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