Post a Comment On: Bruce Charlton's Notions

You know the problem. A lovely tune - but later somebody turned it into a song; and now, whenever you hear the tune you simply can't help but hear the words as well...And when the words are sentimental tosh - well, that makes it even worse. It's a rare and difficult feat to write a lovely melody - so having it ruined thus must be exceptionally irksome. Example one is the Londonderry Air:
Gorgeous stuff; until some chap called Frederic Weatherly gave it some maudlin lyrics - and made it a staple of intoxicated bar singers on the Celtic Fringe. (For example.)  
Or Brahm's Lullaby - really beautiful: 
But not enhanced by the fact that I always sing-along with a jingle from a TV advert with a baby doll for little girls: Tiny Tears, Tiny Tears - You're my very own baby. Mother's here, Tiny Tears, singing you a lullaby.

One the other hand - sometimes the song is So Good; that it must be forgiven. The finale from Mozart's Horn Concerto K495 is certainly a joyous piece:
But the comic song devised by Flanders and Swann is so utterly brilliant that maybe it even adds to the enjoyment: