LIST SONGS

Great list of list/catalog poems, about which more soon. Meanwhile, thinking about lists in songs, here are lyrics to two catalog/list songs off the top of my head. First, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things":

My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into Springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into Springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Here's Coltrane's take on "My Favorite Things":



And here are the lyrics for "Soldier's Things," by Tom Waits:

Davenports and kettle drums
And swallow tail coats
Table cloths and patent leather shoes
Bathing suits and bowling balls
And clarinets and rings
And all this radio really needs is a fuse

A tinker, a tailor a soldier's things
His rifle, his boots full of rocks
And this one is for bravery
And this one is for me
and everything's a dollar in this box

Cuff links and hub caps
Trophies and paperbacks
It's good transportation
But the brakes aren't so hot

Neck tie and boxing gloves
This jackknife is rusted
You can pound that dent out on the hood

A tinker, a tailor a soldier's things
His rifle, his boots full of rocks
Oh and this one is for bravery
And this one is for me
And everything's a dollar in this box



Note how both lyrics are grounded in specific, concrete images. Also note the soldier's things are mostly confined to what seems to be a yard sale (?): a box of things, a used car ("You can pound that dent out on the hood," and so on). "A tinker, a tailor" adds a wistful tone based on the nursery rhyme lyric. Lists can be found anywhere and everywhere. "Things found in a pocket," "Things in a box," "Things overheard on the subway." And from the lists you submitted in class:
soft things; things that give courage; things that draw joyful tears; things that taste good; things native to New Jersey; things I left in Cuba; things that give me pleasure.
Here's Cole Porter's "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love," another example of a list lyric:

Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

In Spain the best upper sets do it
Lithuanians and Letts do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

The Dutch in old Amsterdam do it
Not to mention the Finns
Folks in Siam do it
Think of Siamese twins
Some Argentines, without means do it
People say in Boston even beans do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Romantic sponges they say do it
Oysters down in Oyster Bay do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even lazy jellyfish do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Electric eels, I might add, do it
Though it shocks 'em I know
Why ask if shad do it
Waiter, bring me shad roe
In shallow shoals, English soles do it
Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Here's Billie Holiday's interpretation:



Here's a list of list songs.
The key question about these lists is what makes them successful? What turns a mere list into a "list poem"? With Porter's lyrics, part of the answer has to do with the playful puns, the animal-based imagery, the social/political commentary, and the complex, internal rhymes.