Rebirth: Year-end 2009 Same Song Titles

This article is a tweaked version "Year-end Fun-AT-tix and More Same Song Titles" that Blogger pulled in May because of some citation links that had been ok in late 2009. In reviewing my copy of my article, I could see Blogger's reasoning. I decided to improve the article by revising the citations, but also inserted YouTube hyperlinks to artists' videos.

Fun-AT-tix was my wordplay on phonetics, but I also used the base syllable "phon-" to talk about homophones. (I wrote about homophones in a previous article.). I wanted to use "fun@tix", but I have a feeling that Blogger/Blogspot might have an issue with the "@" sign in the article title.

Holiday Songs of Same Titles, Different Songs

The first part of this article is about homophones in year-end holiday songs and/or their lyrics. (Well, the words completely or closely approach homophones anyway.) I think a lot of songs are probably so popular and ingrained in many of us that we don't consider the possibilities of different spellings of words. I've listed some songs below for rumination.

Note: People who are poor spellers or ESLers might consider NOT looking to this article as a learning tool for correct spelling. :-)

• Santa Claws Is Cumin to Town (Sandy Claws has been done to death.)
• Gin Gull Bells
• Sy Lent Knight
• O Holey Knight (also spellable as O Wholly Knight)
• O Little Town of Beth La Hem
• A Way in a Manger
• Hark the Harold Angels Sing (The actual title makes me think of Shelly Fabares' Johnny Angel from 1962.)
• Rudolph the Red Knows Rain, Dear
• Angels We Have Herd on High
• Joy to the Whirled

One holiday song that has long mystified me for title strangeness has been Angels We Have Heard on High. The title appears ONCE in the entire song, yet "Gloria" is sung repeatedly, extendedly (glo, o-o-o-o-o, o-o-o-o-o, o-o-o-o-o, ree-yuh) and often. In talking about "Gloria", I'm now revisiting songs with same titles but are different songs--"Same Song Titles, Different Songs", an October 2009 article. In keeping with the holiday theme for now, the following songs fulfill both holiday and non-holiday categories:

Gloria

Gloria by Van Morrison/Them (1963) is actually titled rationally; there is no doubt who or what the main thought is—"Glo-ree-a. G-L-O-R-I-A, …" and on and on and on. Laura Brannigan's version (1982) has "Gloria" throughout the song, also leaving no doubt as to the topic name. As for Angels We Have Heard on High, "Gloria" gets a lot more air time than the actual song title's words. I say rename the song to Gloria and really confuse people!

Joy to the World

Joy to the World by Three Dog Night (1971) dominated the rock and roll airwaves and took over JTTW consciousness for awhile. In one Christmas special I saw many years ago, a group of elderly people were introduced to sing Joy to the World. Instead of the religious version, they launched into "JER-I-MY-AH WAS A BULL-FROG, WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE, …", etc. Wish I could remember what the show was or could easily find it on YouTube. Hilarious and entertaining!

Auld Lang Syne/Same Old Lang Syne

Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg (1980) is a bittersweet song that actually contains a pastiche of Auld Lang Syne as delivered by most bands on New Year's Day (popularized by Guy Lombardo).

Non-holiday Songs of Same Titles, Different Songs

Candy Man/Candyman

For people who hear the song and pay less attention to whether it is one word or two, aurally, it's three sound memes—can-dee-man. The notable versions are from Roy Orbison (1961), Sammy Davis, Jr. (1972, song used in original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), Christina Aguilera (2007), and Aqua (1997, song AKA Lollipop, not to be confused with the Chordettes' Lollipop from 1958 or Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop from 1964).

Cherish

Both the Association's version (1966) and Kool and the Gang's version (1985) are slow, with love and devotion lyrics. The Association version indicates a silent sufferer, however, contrasted to KATG's version of public pronouncements.

Sunny

Neil Sedaka (1965) and Bobby Hebb (1966) both sing of rain and pain, then of love. Two very different styles for similar themes, Neil's is very melodic and Bobby's has jazzy arrangements.

Color My World

Two songs with the same song title could hardly be more different from each other. Petula Clark's peppy, horns-laden version from 1967 contrasts with Chicago's slow, flutey version from 1970.

Fever

Peggy Lee (1958) might have the best-known version, also popularized by the McCoys (1966) and Rita Coolidge (1973). More recently, Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert separately recorded and released Lady Gaga's version.

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"Rebirth: Year-end 2009 Same Song Titles"
"Same Song Titles, Different Songs"

Soda Pop Layer Cake Followup

In mid-May, I made my first-ever soda pop layer cake, which uses only cake mix and soda pop. Most recipes I'd spotted showed cupcakes or sheet cakes as end results. My layer cake came out rich and tasty, but low height. It tended to be more crumbly than cakes that call for cakes. Nevertheless, it was yummy!

My followup soda pop layer cake is as low-height and delish as the previous one. BTW, a little goes a long way. Despite the low profile because of less cake volume, the flavor is more concentrated. A twelfth serving of the soda pop cake seems as satisfying as a tenth serving of a standard cake mix cake that calls for eggs, oil, and water.

This time around, to lessen time and effort for sifting the cake mix powder and stirring/dispensing the ingredients, I used more efficient implements.

Calories and Sodium

The ingredients are same as the previous cake. The soda pop, despite a different label, is the same.

Using soda pop (140 C) instead of box's ingredient adds of egg whites (51 C) and oil (400 C) saves loads of calories. Even more calorie savings if passing on standard recipe that calls for water, oil (533 C), and eggs (210 C). If using standard box cake recipes and frosting, the total calories bump up ~450 to 750 calories. Noteworthy: Using diet soda instead of sugar soda saves about 10 to 15 calories a slice. Rec: Indulge with the sugary stuff.

Future Followup Soda Pop Cakes?

I might pass on trying my Tupperware sifter for future cake, as the capacity is only one cup. I'd need to reload the gadget maybe up to four times. BTW, I became curious about the cake mix powder texture WRT sugar. Ingredients don't elaborate, but I suspect the sugar is a finer granularity than packaged granulated sugar.

My other consideration for followup soda pop layer cake might be trying the Betty Crocker mixer method of 30 seconds low followed by 2 minutes medium. Rather than doing a video/blog project, I'd add a dated section to this article comparing results for machine mixing vs. whisk stirring.

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Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum
Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm
Video: Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich

Soda Pop Layer Cake Followup (article, video)