The discussion over in the What’s in a name thread put me in mind of a number of funny names for trad tunes that we came up with over at The Session. The http://www.thesession.org is a great place inhabited by a set of wonderful session fans, some of whom are also present here at C&F, like jomac and thygress. They have a nice collection of tunes, well over 500 by now, including some great ones written by members and given names from the list below. (The original thread at the session is here.
No more Gan Ainms!
… I have decided to take up a suggestion that was made a couple of times in the Learning Styles thread and compile all the
wonderful and quirky tune names that were suggested in that thread. Since this is all trad and public domain, I will not attribute the tune names to their creators. If you mind (that is, you want credit), or you
don’t want people to use your tune names for new compositions or gan aimns, post in this thread and claim ownership. Better yet, come up with some more great names to inspire those bold enough to put
fiddle to chin, fipple to mouth, or pen to paper to compose a new tune.
I’ve marked the names that already have tunes with asterisks. Links to the tunes section would be cool, but I don’t know how to do that.
The Drab Plateau*
The Dreary Plains of Toil*
The Low Hills of Mediocrity
Farewell to Your Dreams
The Inferior Rake
The Banks of Despair
The Unfortunate Hack
The Humours of Failure*
The Road to Frustration*
The Jolly Amateur
Tearing Out of Paddy’s Hair
Toss the Fiddle/Toss the Fiddles
Ennui Before Breakfast
Betty Crocker’s Fancy Scotch Measure
Duncan Hine’s Strathspey
Lord Entamenn’s
Pilsbury’s
Nobody’s Favorite
Haste to the Exit
Prozac in the Morning
Merrily Smoked the Crack Pipe
The Impossible Wall
Leave the Back Door Open
Use the Mute
Scale Practice
Last Minute Practice Of The Hard Parts
Misery Loves Accompaniment
Smash the Whistles
I Buried My Pipes and Danced on Their Grave
Pull the Knife Out of the Bodhran and Stick it Again
Planxty Maugham
Boil the Bagpipes Early
The Grizzly in the Dumpster
The Scraggy Hills of Brown
The Odour of Spring
Shovel the Walk*
The Burning Hills of Gold
The Odor of Smoke
Wet Down the Roof
Rotate the Tires
Cold Pizza for Breakfast
O’Carolan’s ATM PIN Number
Ignorance is Bliss
The Scotch Tape (Strathspey)
The Hag at the Firm
The Cash Jig
Aphids in the Smog
The Humours of Rush Hour
The Hostility Reel
The Odours of Kensington Market
Molloy’s Mistake
Last Night’s Disaster
The Galway Bumbler
Reading The Session At Work
The Sorting of the Mail
The Handsome Courier
The Mysterious Stain
The Small Talk Polka
The Purolator Jig
Give me a Coffee Dammit or I’ll Scream
Why are You Bitching at Me? It’s not My Problem
The Typist’s Despair
The Humours of Inbox
Merrily Chat the Secretaries
Si Beags For More
Hurt the Old People
Smother the Piper
Spiders in the House
The Rakes of Loncleerin
The First Frost Polka
What’s that Smell in the Freight Elevator?
Lenore’s Coffee Break
The Gorgeous Man on the Tram
The Corrupted Files
The Humors of Microsoft
Bill Gates’s Favorite
Merrily Click the Mouse
Control-Alt-Delete
Hewlett Packard’s Favorite
The Jug of Coffee
Boil The Coffee Early*
has a collection of aptly named original tunes in ABC and mandolin tablature
he also has a collection of 100 tunes yet to be written:
The Missal The Rosary Beads The Heart of Hearts The Prime Minister
The Back Terrace All The Big Fellow The Notion of Superiority The Glorious Day
The Return To The Town The Fully-Fledged Clergyman The Bannered Streets The Open-Topped Bus
The Knitting Machine The Little Wave The Front Pew The Monsignor
The Seven Long Years The Gable End The Gravelled Circle Far East
The Bond Of Affection The Familiar Sight How’s Tricks? The Fierce Attack
The Sizzling Plate The Grey Balaclava The Buckrake The Conjecture
The Sense of Purpose The Supple Leather Holy Orders The Early Stage
The Queer Look The Surfeit Of Pride The Discarded Haybag The Binding Of Gold
The Rattling Pearls The Clouds Of Powder The Knitted Scarf The Different Turn
The Retreat The Goodness and Beauty The Unblemished Visage The Wild-Haired Creature
The Very Selfsame The Egregious World The Myriad Depravities The Hideous Figure
The Splayed Legs The Informed Conscience The Immense Relief The Unfailing Conviction
The Place Of Residence Far Beyond Doubt The Fateful Day The Unsettling Incident
Under Cover Of Darkness The Little Treat The Hiding Place Behind A Wall
The Good Humour The Bonhomie The Tassel The Man Possessed
The Great Distress The Shriek Of Horror The Glowering Adversary The Predatory Companions
The Bewildered Shaking Of Heads The Raucous Laughter The Eager Minions The Railway Gates
The Sense Of Comfort Journey’s End The Time Of Trial The Sound Of Angels
The Thought Of Revenge Like The Clappers The Bladderesque Monstrosity The Expression Of Peace
The Last Moment The Wide-Eyed Look The Renewed Vigour The Malevolent Gaze
The Inner Strength The Enduring Legacy The Fierce Grip The Wanton Destruction
The Cruel Joke The Lifelong Friend The Cold Casket The Chimera
The Private Crisis The Wisps Of Cloud The Balloon Of Hope My Seventieth Year
The Unforgettable The Moth To The Flame The Maelstrom Of Possibility The Obsessive Fury
I wrote a tune with the name, ‘The Freudian Slip Jig’ in December 2000. I had never heard the name before, though I doubt that I was the first to come up with that name.
You can hear a MIDI verson and get sheet music for my tune at:
Willie Clancy played a reel he called The Jolly Banger
Breandan Breathnach wrote a light and entertaining article : The nomenclature of Irish music’ which touches on a good few types of titles, it’s in ‘BB The man and his Music’
I played a bit of An Phis Fliuch recently for one of my piping students,to demonstrate a particular cran. She’s a lovely 13 old girl and she goes to an Irish speaking school so I was a bit stuck for an answer when she asked the name of the tune. The Virgin Mary and O Farrell’s Welcome to Limerick are subtle ways around it, we often take the middle ground calling it ‘The Wet Fish( pronounced the same as Phis)’
[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2001-12-11 11:53 ]
How bout compiling these thunes into books with such titles as…
Mindnumbing Session of Tedium
O’Neills Tunes No One Can Dance To
C# Tunes for the D Whistle
O’Carolan’s Obviously Unpublished Tunes
Alistair Crowley’s Reels
Tunes Banished to the Recorder
Walton’s Big Book of Copyright Infringements
Continous Strings of Unrelated Notes
Christmas Aires for Bodhran
Blow These out Your Whistle
Rowsome’s Piping Tunes for the Deaf
Irish Songs for the Drunk and Unruly
Sh’ Bheg Fer No Mor, Irish Love Tunes
I believe some of these tunes were written by the little-known deaf Irish harper, Furlough O’Caroling. Some music historians believe he was related to P.D.Q. Bach.
Okay,
when I read this thread earlier,
being in my normal spirits,
for this time of year,
full of Holiday Ho-Ho’s…
I was struck by a fine irish title,
that needed a tune,
and of course a number of alias names.
So let’s hear the tune,
for the incident that followed,
Santa’s landing atop,
a particular rooftop …
The title . . . er, the Titles…
Stuck in a flu
AKA Santa’s Lament
AKA Claus’s Pause
AKA Father Christmas a Diet Must.
AKA By Chimney Chambered
AKA Nick’s Warm Feet or Put the Fire Out
AKA Smoke get in their eyes
AKA The Great Xmas Exhale
AKA Aft Many a Cookie Left for Him
AKA Awaitin’ Dasher and Vixen to Pull’im up.
And finally my favorite… Needin’ a Winch.
Alas, an alias list
less listened for lack of
a tune.
Give us your tune,
for all else is set,
and all will …
Enjoy Your Music,
Lee Marsh
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2001-12-11 15:41 ]
On 2001-12-11 10:44, Peter Laban wrote:
I played a bit of An Phis Fliuch recently for one of my piping students,to demonstrate a particular cran. She’s a lovely 13 old girl and she goes to an Irish speaking school so I was a bit stuck for an answer when she asked the name of the tune. The Virgin Mary and O Farrell’s Welcome to Limerick are subtle ways around it, we often take the middle ground calling it ‘The Wet Fish( pronounced the same as Phis)’
You mean you didn’t want to tell her it was called “The Wet Pussy?”
