One Song to the Tune of Another

"One Song to the Tune of Another" was the first game played on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and is still almost always played every other episode. It consists of panellists singing the lyrics of one song to the tune of another song, accompanied on the piano.

The four original panellists were adept at this game, and each took an individual turn. Since the death of Willie Rushton guest panellists have appeared, and the two team members occasionally sing together, presumably to compensate for the unsteadiness of a guest's voice. Guest panellists sometimes exhibit little or no musical talent - most notably the late Jeremy Hardy, whose dreadful attempts at singing were greatly anticipated by audiences - often to great comedic effect.[1]

The panellists also sometimes impersonate a singer associated with one of the songs (usually the tune). In several episodes, Graeme Garden was given a song with a tune by Bob Dylan and not only impersonated him, but broke off into a harmonica solo. Notably "How much is that Doggy in the Window", to "Blowin' in the Wind".

The game has been played in several Christmas specials (requiring "One Carol to the Tune of Something Else" — in particular, singing "Silent Night" to the tune of "Tequila"), and a variant was played in the 2007 special Humph In Wonderland, in which panellists sang a Lewis Carroll poem to the tune of a song. Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden sang "Jabberwocky" to the tune of "Jerusalem", and Andy Hamilton and Rob Brydon sang "You Are Old, Father William" to the tune of "I Know Him So Well".

Occasionally, some of the panellists imitate backing singers for the panellist actually singing when there is a suitable gap in the song, such as one of the 2009 episodes hosted by Jack Dee, where Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden backed Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Songs used

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, but unlikely combinations have sometimes worked surprisingly well. Having the same metre helps. Examples include:

• Barry Cryer singing "Love Me Tender" to the theme tune from The Archers[2]
• Richard Ormandy singing “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails to the tune of "If I only had A Brain"
• Barry Cryer singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" to the tune of "One" from A Chorus Line[3]
• Barry Cryer singing "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"[4] and "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at"[5] to the tune of "The Can-Can".
• Barry Cryer singing "My Old Man's a Dustman" to the tune of "Heartbreak Hotel"[6]
• Barry Cryer singing "Roxanne" by The Police to the tune of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".[7]
• Barry Cryer singing "Hanky Panky" by Madonna to the tune of "Good King Wenceslas".[8]
• Barry Cryer singing "I Predict a Riot" by the Kaiser Chiefs to the tune of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"[9]
• Graeme Garden singing "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"[10] and "Mr. Boombastic"[11] to the tune of "'O Sole Mio"
• Graeme Garden singing "Blame It on the Boogie" to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic[12]
• Graeme Garden singing "Kung Fu Fighting" to the tune of "Greensleeves"[13]
• Graeme Garden singing "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)" to the tune of "Jerusalem"[14]
• Graeme Garden singing "Incy Wincy Spider",[15] "Remember You're a Womble",[16] "I'm Too Sexy"[17] and "The Gummy Bear Song"[18] to the tune of the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" from Verdi's Nabucco.
• Graeme Garden singing "My Way" by Paul Anka[19] and "Thriller" by Michael Jackson[20] to the tune of "The Liberty Bell March" (also known on the show as the theme from Monty Python).
• Graeme Garden singing "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"[21] and "You'll Never Walk Alone"[22] to the tune of "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside".
• Graeme Garden singing "Evil Has No Boundaries" by Slayer to the tune of "Wonderful Copenhagen"[23]
• Graeme Garden singing "My Old Man's a Dustman" to the tune of "La vie en rose"[24]
• Graeme Garden singing "When I'm Cleaning Windows" to the tune of "Away in a Manger".[8]
• Graeme Garden singing "What Does The Fox Say?" by Ylvis to the tune of "Non, je ne regrette rien"[25]
• Graeme Garden singing "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum to the tune of "When I'm Cleaning Windows".[26]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" to the "Dance of the Hours" from La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli[27]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?" to the tune of "Tea For Two"[28]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep" to the tune of "Hernando's Hideaway"[29]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "Wannabe" to the tunes of "The Major-General's Song"[12] and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing".[8]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads to the tunes of "By the Light of the Silvery Moon"[30] and "When I Was a Lad" (otherwise known on the show as "Ruler of the Queen's Nav-ee") from HMS Pinafore[31]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "Rehab" to the tune of "When I'm Sixty-Four"[32]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega to the tune of "The Major-General's Song" (with Barry, Graeme and Victoria Wood as the chorus)[33]
• Tim Brooke-Taylor singing "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood to the tune of "Bridge Over Troubled Water".[34]
• Willie Rushton singing "Mairzy Doats"[27] and "Cocaine"[35] to the tune of "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover"
• Willie Rushton singing "My Old Man's a Dustman" to the tune of "The Girl from Ipanema"[36] (and vice versa)[37]
• Willie Rushton singing "The Laughing Policeman" to the tune of "As Time Goes By",[38] also performed by Barry Cryer.
• Jeremy Hardy singing "Teenage Kicks" to the tune of "Jerusalem".[19]
• Jeremy Hardy singing Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" to the tune of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Memory" from Cats.[39]
• Jeremy Hardy singing "Hanky Panky" by Madonna to the tune of "Onward, Christian Soldiers".[30]
• Jeremy Hardy singing "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" and "My Humps"[22] to the tune of "I Vow to Thee, My Country".
• Jeremy Hardy singing "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" to the tune of "Scarborough Fair" (in Scarborough)[40]
• Jo Brand singing "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry to the tunes of "The Toreadors' March" from Bizet's Carmen[41] and "Ol' Man River".[42]
• Rory Bremner singing "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé to the tune of "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr. Hitler?"[43]
• Rory Bremner singing "Imagine" by John Lennon to the theme from The Muppet Show.[44]
• Marcus Brigstocke singing "Common People" to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It"[24]
• Rob Brydon singing "Killing Me Softly" to the tune of "The Bare Necessities".[45]
• Rob Brydon singing "Anarchy in the UK" to the tune of "Just When I Needed You Most" by Randy VanWarmer.[46]
• Rob Brydon singing the words of "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr. Hitler?" to the tune of The Carpenters' "Yesterday Once More".[47]
• Rob Brydon singing "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot to the tune of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are".[48]
• Rob Brydon singing "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" by George Formby to the tune of Tom Jones' "Delilah" (in Blackpool)[49]
• Rob Brydon singing the theme from Spider-Man to the tune of "Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables.[50]
• Susan Calman singing "Horny" to the tune of "Leaning on a Lamppost".[25]
• Susan Calman singing "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin to the tune of "When I Was a Lad" (better known as "Ruler of the Queen's Nav-ee") from HMS Pinafore (with Tim, Richard Osman and Rob Brydon as the chorus).[50]
• Jack Dee singing "Purple Haze" to the tune of Brahms' Lullaby.[51]
• Omid Djalili singing "(Something Inside) So Strong" to the tune of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"[11]
• Pippa Evans singing "The Combine Harvester" to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".[52]
• Pippa Evans singing "I Predict a Riot" by the Kaiser Chiefs to the tune of "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables".[53]
• John Finnemore singing "I Will Survive" to the tune of "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside"[9]
• John Finnemore singing "Hanky Panky" by Madonna to the tune of "The British Grenadiers".[54]
• Stephen Fry singing "Knees Up Mother Brown" to the tune of "The Skye Boat Song"[55]
• Stephen Fry singing "Goodness Gracious Me" to the tune of "The First Noel".[8]
• Kerry Godliman singing the theme from The Muppet Show to "The Windmills of Your Mind".[26]
• Andy Hamilton singing "So Macho" to the tune of "La Marseillaise",[56] also performed by Jeremy Hardy[31]
• Andy Hamilton singing "Because I Got High" by Afroman to the tune of "Frosty the Snowman".[51]
• Andy Hamilton singing "Hurt" by Johnny Cash to the tune of "Singin' in the Rain".[42]
• Both Tony Hawks[57] and Tim Brooke-Taylor have sung "Girlfriend in a Coma" to the tune of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips"
• Tony Hawks singing the theme from The Muppet Show to the tune of "A Whiter Shade of Pale",[15] and vice versa sung by David Mitchell.[17]
• Tony Hawks singing "Uptown Top Ranking" to the tune of "Scotland the Brave"[58]
• Tony Hawks singing "The Major-General's Song" to the tune of "Mad World".[20]
• Tony Hawks singing "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood to the tune of "There's a Kind of Hush"[59]
• Tony Hawks singing "The Laughing Policeman" to the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".[60]
• Tony Hawks singing "Feelings" to the tune of the "Batman Theme"[61]
• Harry Hill singing "The Ugly Duckling" to the tune of Harry Nilsson's "Without You".[7]
• Harry Hill singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" to the tune of The Eagles' "Hotel California".
• Harry Hill singing "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé to the tune of "There'll Always Be an England".[34]
• Phill Jupitus singing "Feelings" to the tune of the Colonel Bogey March[62]
• Phill Jupitus singing "Get the Party Started" to the tune of "A Policeman's Lot is Not a Happy One" from The Pirates of Penzance[5]
• Miles Jupp singing "The Marrow Song" by The Wurzels to the tunes of "You've Got a Friend"[63] and "Holding Out for a Hero"[64]
• Miles Jupp singing "Horny" to the tune of Charles Aznavour's "She".[54]
• Miles Jupp singing "Creep" by Radiohead to the tune of "New York, New York".[34]
• Fred MacAulay singing "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" to the tune of "Scotland the Brave"[59]
• Paul Merton singing "Stand By Me" to the tune of the William Tell Overture[65]
• David Mitchell singing "Gordon is a Moron" to the tune of "The Girl from Ipanema"[66]
• Ross Noble singing "Sometimes When We Touch" to the tune of "Scotland the Brave"[67]
• Richard Osman singing "Milkshake" by Kelis to the tune of "English Country Garden"[68]
• Rachel Parris singing "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls to the tune of "I Vow to Thee, My Country".[34]
• Caroline Quentin singing "Cocaine" to the tune of "Walking in the Air"[61]
• Jan Ravens singing "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones to the tune of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" from My Fair Lady.[69]
• Linda Smith singing "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads to the tune of "Save Your Love" by Renée and Renato[70]
• Sandi Toksvig singing "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"[71]
• Sandi Toksvig singing "Feelings" to the tune of "The Can-Can".[72]
• Victoria Wood singing "Roxanne" by The Police to the tune of the theme from Neighbours[73]
• Victoria Wood singing the theme to Bob the Builder to the tune of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.[33]

A contribution to the effectiveness of the rendition is made by the pianist (usually Colin Sell) who, given the uneven rhythm of the vocalists, often has a much more difficult task than is usually required from an accompanist.

Introduction

Additional humour is derived from the manner in which the host introduces and explains the game. The concept is actually simple, and well described by the game's title, but the chairman claims it to be complex and proceeds to give a long-winded and complicated "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 from 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."[74]

In later episodes of ISIHAC, these monologues generally took the form of contorted analogies, ending with an extremely contrived and obvious joke at Colin Sell's expense. For example, from June 2006:

"A song is rather like a microscope. The vertical tube represents the tune, which carries the lenses, or words. These are assembled with precision to enable us to see the object, or hear the song. However, a song can be broken down into its component parts by separating the words from the tune, just as a microscope can have its lenses prised from the tube with pliers.

Now, I know what you're thinking, teams: wouldn't that be a case of wanton vandalism inflicted on a delicate instrument? (pause) At the piano, Colin Sell!"[74]

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.

Similar examples from elsewhere

Members of the Barmy Army, devoted fans of the English cricket team, are known to mock Australian cricketers and fans by singing the Australian national anthem to the tune of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and vice versa.

The Australian television comedy programme The Money or the Gun featured a different artist performing "Stairway to Heaven" every week. The Beatnix performed it to the tune of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Twist and Shout". The B-52s tribute band The Rock Lobsters performed Stairway to the tune of "Rock Lobster". Elvis impersonator Neil Pepper performed it to the tune of "Viva Las Vegas".

The Australian television comedy programme Spicks and Specks features a segment "Substitute", where a panelist sings a well-known tune substituting words from an unrelated text (usually a technical text like "Datsun 180B Service Manual" or "2004 Australian Government Tax Pack"), and the remaining team-mates attempt to guess the name of the song. The host, Adam Hills sang the Australian National Anthem to the tune of the rock and roll classic, "Working Class Man", in one case accompanied by the latter's singer, Jimmy Barnes. In a 2008 stand up comedy tour, Hills performed the Dutch national anthem "Het Wilhelmus" to the tune of "Bohemian Rhapsody".

The Scared Weird Little Guys, an Australian comedy duo, perform a similar vein of songs weekly on The Cage, the breakfast show on Triple M in Melbourne and Sydney. In their segment, "Stump the Scardies", listeners email in suggestions of songs to sing in another tune and the duo get about five minutes preparation time — usually just enough to find the guitar chords and lyrics online. This segment occurs weekly at 0845 AEST on Tuesdays.

In 1989 "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", the lyrics of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" (theme from The Beverly Hillbillies) to the music of the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing".

A serious example of the principle behind this game was Cliff Richard's "Millennium Prayer", in which he sang the Lord's Prayer to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" (the Clue team retaliated in the 1999 Christmas special by performing "Auld Lang Syne" to the tune of "Bachelor Boy" and vice versa). Also in recent popular culture bootlegging and bastard pop have taken this a step further, employing the practice of laying down vocals from one track over the music from another.

Both "The Star Spangled Banner" and "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" are examples of taking a song and writing new lyrics for the tune.

References

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