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Song Parodies -> "The Genome Song"

Original Song Title:

"The Galaxy Song"

Original Performer:

Monty Python (The Meaning of Life)

Parody Song Title:

"The Genome Song"

Parody Written by:

Phil Alexander

The Lyrics

Not exactly the song I was expecting it to turn into, but all the details are accurate...
Whenever school gets you down, Master Brown
And science seems hard, or tough
Biology's difficult, obtuse or daft
And you feel that you've had quite enough...

Just remember that you're living in a body that's inspiring
And respiring with ten million million cells
Each one is point-oh-five millimetres side to side
And full of lots of types and kinds of organelles
The nucleus is small - 100 nanometres tall
We make millions of new ones every day
And our chromosomes, it seems, contain 100,000 genes
In a double-stranded helix DNA

Our genome itself contains three billion base pairs
Each one GC or AT side by side
But just one-sixty millions, of those 3.2 billions
Are actually encoding nucleotides
To make one whole protein, it takes but a single gene
Say, fifteen hundred nucleotide pairs
And the whole genetic sequence has millions of billions
Of permutations for our varied life on earth

Our cells and DNA keep on dividing and dividing
Mitosis makes a carbon-copy cell
But so we can reproduce, some cells they will produce
Meiotic'ly a haploid one as well
Two haploids can combine, say, one of yours and one of mine
To create uniquely sequenced DNA
And with this replication comes occasional mutation, so
Evolution comes about this way
Incidentally, the GC/AT pairs as mentioned in the second verse are Guanine-Cytosine/Adenine-Thymine nucleotide pairs, one of each pair on each of the DNA strands in the double helix. I came across loads of really interesting stuff while researching this one, for example the DNA actually used in active genes contains approximately 30MB of information.

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Matches Pace of
Original Song: 
How Funny: 
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Voting Results

 
Pacing: 4.6
How Funny: 4.4
Overall Rating: 4.6

Total Votes: 27

Voting Breakdown

The following represent how many people voted for each category.

    Pacing How Funny Overall Rating
 1   0
 0
 0
 
 2   1
 2
 1
 
 3   1
 3
 1
 
 4   7
 4
 5
 
 5   18
 18
 20
 

User Comments

Comments are subject to review, and can be removed by the administration of the site at any time and for any reason.

Rock Princess - June 10, 2003 - Report this comment
Phill, that was great!!! :-)
Sweet Indigo - June 10, 2003 - Report this comment
I'm so jealous! Why didn't I write this? Grr! Great job!!! :D
Jeff Reuben - June 10, 2003 - Report this comment
Very good, and very accurate!
Phil Alexander - June 11, 2003 - Report this comment
Thank you for the kind words... Jeff, it should be: I spent a couple of hours researching this (and finished up with enough details for another song...not sure what that'll end up being, exactly)
Jeff Reuben - June 11, 2003 - Report this comment
I forwarded it to a few of the scientists I work with who would get something out of it (and maybe you'll get an extra couple votes or comments)
Claude Prez - June 12, 2003 - Report this comment
Great job plus extra credit for reminding me of another great Python tune I'd forgotten. Very well done.
NealNeal - June 15, 2003 - Report this comment
Does this win the award for 'parody with the most tecnical/scientific' words'? Notwithstanding Tom Lehrer's Elements Song of course
Birgitta - February 13, 2004 - Report this comment
(In reply to:) -"And our chromosomes, it seems, contain 100,000 genes In a double-stranded helix DNA"-BRILLIANT. If only I'd had you for a teacher,& not a plaid obsessed drunk..lol Although I DKTOS,this is wonderful to read-I'm guessing you're a mad scientist..which would explain your lyrical genius. = )
Birg - February 17, 2004 - Report this comment
Phil,I tell ya.I think I could be going batty.This is like the fifth song I've voted on,that I thought I already had! Now,to be sure,I just voted again,& it took it. Yikes.Maybe I need more sleep! Anyway,I woulda given you a 10 on this one if I could have. Phenominal. I must say-"Venereal Crabsody" is my favorite ever. I can't read that,without tears flyin' off my face! lol
Ingeborg S. Nordén - October 06, 2004 - Report this comment
This is the kind of stuff I wish my biology teacher had used in college: 5's all round, great imitation of the original pacing and style. Sorry to cast the vote that turned over the counter though!
Adagio - June 02, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC05) 5's
Red Ant - June 07, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC-G-05) Ack ! Need to rent this movie tomorrow for a buck to rate this, as I have no idea on the pacing. Pretty funny though. I'll get back to it.
Phil Alexander - June 07, 2005 - Report this comment
For those who DKTOS, I've recorded this one - it's at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/9/philalexander_music.htm
Agrimorfee - June 07, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC05) Brownie points for the research. This will be in my Top 5.
Johnny D - June 09, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC) "SCIENCE !!"
Charlie Decker - June 10, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC) Ah, you and your Python parodies (I still remember 'Always Lick on the White Side of the Stamp"). Very good.
Red Ant - June 12, 2005 - Report this comment
Can't access the MP3s at Soundclick right now. Trust ya on the pacing. 5s. This has been checked out for a while at the movie store now, so I still haven't seen it ( lately ).
Melhi - June 13, 2005 - Report this comment
(G) I'm giving you fives in exchange for a promise not to tell Bill Gates that the DNA in an active human gene can hold 30 Meg. ;) (Nice work, btw.)
Dee Range - June 14, 2005 - Report this comment
(G) From a former Chemistry major, well done. 5's
Rick C - June 15, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC05) Wow! Excellent, Phil!!! 555
Stuart McArthur - June 15, 2005 - Report this comment
(G) putting it against a Monty Python backdrop made this educational experience funny, Phil, and kudos for getting "double-stranded helix DNA" to pace!
Kristof Robertson - June 17, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC) Professor Phil strikes again! 555
Ethan Mawyer - June 18, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC)If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a brilliant science teacher. But the first half is true... too bad I DRTOS - i saw the movie a long time ago so I don't remember all the songs. All I actually remember is parts of "every sperm is sacred"
MysteryGoat - June 18, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC) DKTOS. Ah crap, I learned something!
Arwen - June 19, 2005 - Report this comment
ABC--I sort of felt like crying at how stupid this made me feel...; ) EXCELLENT job, Phil...
Scathe - June 19, 2005 - Report this comment
(ABC-G) The two main sciences I've been exposed to are physics and biology. I don't mind physics, but I hate biology. Regardless, this is good work.
Jeff Reuben - June 20, 2005 - Report this comment
ABC: Story of my life! No...really... very good job!
Phil Alexander - June 21, 2005 - Report this comment
Thanks for the comments & votes...
Arwen - it shouldn't make you feel stupid, at least not unless you don't understand any of it. And please don't say that you don't understand, I *know* you're smarter than that.
MG - But isn't learning a good thing?
Ethan - My grandfather was a brilliant physics teacher; my father a not-so-brilliant chemistry teacher (turned technical author), and like him I'm sure I'd be great at teaching enthusiastic pupils who really wanted to learn.
Judith - Goa, India - May 11, 2006 - Report this comment
Just Excellent, You deserve a PhD in Biology!!!!
Phil Alexander - May 11, 2006 - Report this comment
Thank you, Judith - incidentally, there's a recording of this one here: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=126459 - I performed it at an open mike evening on Saturday, and it went down fairly well :-)

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