Everyone has at least one weird talent that isn't particularly helpful and isn't relevant very often. Maybe you're pretty speedy on a unicycle or you play the didgeridoo. With those, you can at least enter a talent show if you feel like it. Other skills are harder to show off unless you're really looking for a way to do it, like ear wiggling. (What I was attempting to do when I first discovered I can move my ears, I have no idea.)
An ability I seem to have naturally inherited is the rewriting of song lyrics so that they fit into specific situations. This is something my dad is excellent at. I didn't realize it was something I was capable of until I was a teenager and going to Young Women camp.
At camp, each age group would have to say something at roll call twice a day, which usually resulted in silly lyrics replacing real ones. My dad was semi-famous among the campers for his work, which included such classic hits as The Smell Of Biffies, I Ate A Rock, and Leavin' In A Minivan. When I went to camp with my stake last summer, I brought my favorite of his songs with me so that I could teach it to the girls. That song, of course, was his reimagined version of Edelweiss:
Skeeter bites, skeeter bites
Every morning you greet me
Small and red on my head
They keep coming to eat me
Can't make them go, they just itch and grow
Itch and grow forever
Skeeter bites, skeeter bites
Curse you skeeters forever!
As expected, people loved it. It's difficult to find reasons outside of camp to rewrite songs, but I do it whenever I can. Even though most of the songs I fiddle with never actually get sung, it's still a lot of fun to write them.
Earlier this year, my mom was helping to plan a Relief Society activity that was designed to help the Young Women feel more comfortable transitioning into RS as they got older. She had the idea of using a rewritten song as part of the activity. I may have gone slightly overboard and prepared five Disney songs for the occasion. Under the Sea, Mother Knows Best, Something There, Part Of Your World, and I Won't Say I'm In Love have all been Culwelled into songs about joining Relief Society.
When I find a reason to rewrite a song, I see it as a sort of puzzle. I try to choose a well known song that preferably has existing lyrics that can be salvaged, if that makes sense. I copy and paste the actual lyrics into Word and start replacing words and lines while trying to keep it rhyming like the original. I tinker with phrasing so that the syllables match and words aren't emphasized weirdly. The real song gets played several times throughout the writing process and at least a few more times once I think I'm done.
Basically, I'm a way less cool version of Weird Al. His songs (and music videos!) are legendary. Mine are simply amusing.
If you ever find yourself wanting a rewritten song for some occasion, you know who to contact! :)
Love,
Lizzie
When I find a reason to rewrite a song, I see it as a sort of puzzle. I try to choose a well known song that preferably has existing lyrics that can be salvaged, if that makes sense. I copy and paste the actual lyrics into Word and start replacing words and lines while trying to keep it rhyming like the original. I tinker with phrasing so that the syllables match and words aren't emphasized weirdly. The real song gets played several times throughout the writing process and at least a few more times once I think I'm done.
Basically, I'm a way less cool version of Weird Al. His songs (and music videos!) are legendary. Mine are simply amusing.
If you ever find yourself wanting a rewritten song for some occasion, you know who to contact! :)
Love,
Lizzie
No comments:
Post a Comment