One Song To The Tune Of Another
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One Song To The Tune Of Another is a game played on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. It consists of panellists singing the lyrics of one song to the tune of another song which is being played on a piano. It can be viewed as a variant of karaoke, but predates karaoke's rise to popularity by many years.
The panellists often sing in teams of two, presumably to compensate for the weakness of a single voice in this rather difficult task. (The panellists are comedians with no special musical skill; indeed whenever Jeremy Hardy guests, this round, or any other musical one, is played to make fun of his frankly dreadful voice.) The pianist (usually Colin Sell) will also assist by varying the timing of his playing to match the uneven tempo of the singers.
Some of the humour derives from the incongruity caused by differences between the songs involved. They may differ wildly in genre, structure, tempo, and time signature. Sometimes apparently-incompatible songs surprisingly turn out to fit well together.
Additional humour is derived from the manner in which the host, Humphrey Lyttelton, introduces and explains the game. The concept is actually simple, and well described by the game's title, but Humph claims it to be complicated and proceeds to give a long-winded and complex "simple" explanation, which differs each time the game is played. For example:
- The game works like this. The teams have in front of them the words but not the music of a song which is different to another song of which they have neither the music nor the words. The tune of this second song, which is quite unlike the first song both in words and music, will be played but without the words to which the teams will substitute the other words they have from the first song which obviously will have no tune because that's made way for the tune from the other song without its words.
- This might be hard to explain, so perhaps this alternative definition will help. Despite the title, each contestant will be allocated two songs, or words sung to music, but from one he will concentrate only on the lyrics while trying to disregard the tune, and from the other he will focus on the music while ignoring the words.
- I know what you are thinking, which one is which? Well the first, or one song, is the set of words sung to music which no longer has the tune, and the second, or another as we know it, is the tune to some words without the lyrics but retaining the music. All you have to do is put them together, in other words - literally - one song to the tune of another.
Internet-based fans have taken the silliness a step further, in true ISIHAC style, by playing the game in text-based media, such as USENET and email. Liberal use of punctuation can give readers a hint of how the metre is being applied to the lyrics.
External links
- Semi-official explanation on the ISIHAC fan site (http://www.isihac.co.uk/games/ostttoae/ostttoae-d.html)