Category Archives: Nonsense Lyrics

Songs whose lyrics consist of invented words, or words that make no sense.

WS Gilbert’s Nonsense Poems

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

W.S. Gilbert never really wrote Nonsense; his Bab Ballads and other collections, while obviously influenced by Edward Lear ― especially in the strongly caricatural style of the pictures accompanying his poems in the early editions – are rather in the … Continue reading →

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Tolkien’s Nevbosh Limerick

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

From Joan Acocella’s “Slaying Monsters,” in The New Yorker for 2 June 2014, a review of the recently published translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien: Tolkien was a serious philologist from the time he was a child. He and his cousin Mary … Continue reading →

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Gustave Verbeek’s Cruel Tales and the Nonsense Tradition

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

[I wrote this short article for The Upside-Down World of Gustave Verbeek: The Complete Sunday Comics 1903-1905, edited by Peter Maresca, foreword by Martin Gardner. Palo Alto, CA: Sunday Press Books, 2009, where it appeared under the title “Verbeek’s Loony Lyrics … Continue reading →

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Thumbnail Studies in Un-natural History

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Marco Graziosi

Bob Addams, “Two Thumbnail Studies in Un-natural History.” The Metropolitan Magazine, vol. 22, no. 6, September 1905, p. 740.

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Nonsense for Chrismas 1874

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Marco Graziosi

On 16 December 1874, Judy ran a review of nursery rhyme books, which includes a reference to Edward Lear. He is mentioned as the author of… Alice in Wonderland. While I have often received e-mails asking about the famous poems … Continue reading →

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Nonsense Lyrics: Aba Daba Honeymoon

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Marco Graziosi

This week’s nonsense song has much in common with The Owl and the Pussy-cat; Aba Daba Honeymoon is another happy story of love and marriage, in this case between primates. It was written by Arthur Fields and Walter Donovan and … Continue reading →

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Nonsense Lyrics: Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba

Posted on December 9, 2005 by Marco Graziosi

Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston, authors of last week’s Mairzy Doats, later teamed up with Mack David to form a trio specializing in nonsense songs: theirs are the famours Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo from Walt Disney’s Cinderella (1950) as well as … Continue reading →

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Mairzy Doats

Posted on December 1, 2005 by Marco Graziosi

I’m also resuming the Nonsense Lyrics from the 1940s series after the hiatus due to the site hacking. This week Mairzy Doats ( words and music by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston. Miller Music Corp., NYC, 1943) in Al … Continue reading →

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Nonsense Lyrics: Slim Gaillard

Posted on November 11, 2005 by Marco Graziosi

I am starting a new podcast of songs with nonsense lyrics, to be posted on Fridays. The first is Sam Gaillard, a specialist, with Ra-da-da-da (1942).

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