This is a song based on the sentence 'Colorless green ideas sleep furiously', which was coined by the linguist Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book, "Syntactic Structures", to demonstrate that a sentence can be grammatically correct, but semantically nonsensical. I started writing it in May 2023, then forgot about. I came back to it in January 2024, and finished writing and recording it in February 2024.

Colourless green ideas 
sleep furiously
Down in the valley 
of the magic money tree

Odourless fragrant fancies 
stand horizontally
High on the hill
of the humble bumblebee

Clamorous quiet concepts 
shout silently
And swim through the sky
in an outburst of glee

Friendly fiendish flavours 
flounce furtively
And fly upside down
through the deep blue sea

The Secret Herring

Colourless green ideas

Colourless Green Ideas

This is a silly little ditty I came up with in March 2024 while noodling around with the word noodle.

I'm just noodling away quite happily
and nothing can get in my way
I could noodle all day down by the bay
and noodle all through the night

Will you noodle with me down by the sea?
Will you noodle along the shore?
Will you noodle and moodle and all that caboodle?
We'll have a lot of fun you'll see

We can noodle and doodle and eat some strudel 
with oodles of custard and cream
And then noodle some more it won't be a bore
Just noodling down on the shore

Just noodling down on the shore
Just noodling down on the shore
Just noodling down on the shore
Just noodling down on the shore

to noodle = To engage in frivolous behaviour; to fool around or waste time; To hum or sing (a tune) at a low pitch or volume; To play a musical instrument or to sing in an improvisatory or lighthearted manner (other meanings are available)

to moodle = To dawdle aimlessly, to idle time away. 

oodles = an unspecified large amount, number, or quantity; lots, tons.

cabdoodle = any large collection of things or people.

Noodling

This is a song in the style of a sea shanty that I came up with in May 2024 for no particularly reason. 

Here are the words:

On a wet and windy day in the month of May
We set sail across the bay
In fine sailing ship called the Bonnie Bonnie Bee
Filled with cake and rum and cats and tea

Chorus
Horo we're off to sea
To see what we can see and be
Horo we're sailing free
in the Bonnie Bonnie Bee

We sailed across the seven seas
and ate lots and lots of cheese
We sailed on rivers and on lakes
and ate lots and lots of cakes

We moored in bays and coves and ports
and met folks of many sorts
We found things to marvel at
and bought many many hats

We sailed through many a fierce storm
and sought places nice and warm
We found a few and stayed a while
which really made our captain smile

One day soon we'll cease to roam
and return to our distant home
but until that day we'll sail along
and try to stay strong

Off To Sea

I wrote this song in August and September 2024 inspired by some rather heavy rain that we enjoyed during that time.
 
Here are the words:

When cats and dogs fall from the sky
And you don't know the reason why
Don't you worry, don't you cry
It won't last forever, and that's no lie

Chorus
It's just a bit of precipitation
and not a cause for consternation
It might be a reason for celebration
And that's no exaggeration

When the heavens open and the rain pours down
Don't you fret, don't you frown
Just seek some shelter and wait awhile 
And before you know it the sun will smile

When it's raining ropes or frogs or fish
And things aren't going as you'd wish
There's no need to sob and no need to sigh
Just wait it out somewhere dry

When it's pelting, tipping or bucketing down
and you feel like you're going to drown
An umbella can help to keep you dry
Unless it's windy then you might fly

See idioms for heavy rain in many languages: https://www.omniglot.com/language/idioms/rain.php

The Hedgehog Understands

Cats & Dogs

Cats and Dogs

This is a song I wrote in October 2024 about all the pesky terms &  conditions that few of us ever read, and even fewer understand.

Here are the words. The chords are Dm, A and Gm.

Terms & conditions apply,
and with them you must comply.
You've ticked the box, 
you've signed your name,
you've read them all, or so you claim,
but we all know that's a lie,
and terms & conditions apply.

If the things that we supply,
harm you or make you cry.
You could complain, 
but it's such a pain,
and would be in vain, and drive you insane.
So why go to the trouble and try,
as terms & conditions apply.

If it's bad or falls apart,
or won't even start.
It's not our fault,
so don't blame us,
as to make a fuss would be superfluous,
as terms & conditions apply,
and with them you must comply.

Terms & conditions apply,
and should you fail to comply,
we can take car,
we can take your house,
we can take your kids and pets and spouse,
we can take your hopes,
we can take your dreams
we can take your plots, your plans and schemes,
we can take your ambitions,
we can take your goals,
and we can even take your very soul,
as terms & conditions apply,
and with them you must comply.

We hope you have nice day,
and everything goes your way,
but if nothing works,
and it drives you beserk,
there's nothing we can do, other than smirk,
as terms & conditions apply,
and with them you must comply.

Terms & Conditions

This is a song I started working on in November 2024 and finished in March 2025. It was inpsired by hearing a friend talking about llamas and pyjamas, as you do. In the recording, I accompany myself on the baritone ukulele using the chords A, D and E.

There are llamas in pyjamas
on a beach in the Bahamas
eating blue bananas
and sitting in the sun 

There are alpacas with maracas 
down in old Caracas
eating cream crackers
and having lots of fun

There are crocs in frocks
Sitting on the rocks
knitting lots of socks
and eating all the buns

There are gators in craters
who will see you later
waltzing with waiters
and drinking all the rum

There are turtles in tutus
chugging round in choo-choos
and eating fried fufus
until the day is done

Llamas In Pyjamas

This is a little song I started writing in November 2024, and finished and recorded in March 2025.

Here are the words:

Chorus
What are you waiting for?
Oh What are you waiting for?
Just walk through the door
and go and explore.
Oh, what are you waiting for?

If you're waiting for the right time 
If you're waiting for the right rhyme,
you'll be waiting a while
and it could be a trial
so why not go for it?

If you're waiting 'til you're ready
and everything's good and steady
you may never start
to do what's in your heart
but that would not be smart

Maybe you will fail
or maybe you will fly
but you'll never know
unless you go with the flow
and put on the very best show

What Are You Waiting For?

This is a song I wrote and recorded in June 2025 based on the phrase 'pie in the sky', which refers to something unobtainable, and comes from a 1911 song by the American labour leader Joe Hill (1879–1915), which includes the line: ‘Work and pray, live on hay, You'll get pie in the sky when you die’. https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pie+in+the+sky

Here are the words:

If you fly up high
and open your eyes
you might just spy
some pie in the sky

At the end of the rainbow
you might just find
a pretty pot of gold
or so I've been told

If you search here and there
and everywhere
you might just snare
a castle in the air

Whatever you seek
Wherever you peek
You might just see
something unique

So open your eyes
and your ears and your mind
cause you never know
what you might find
cause you never know
what you might find

Played on the baritone ukulele, high and low whistles and the bodhrán. All parts sung / played by me. The chords are C, F and G

Pie In The Sky

This song is about minding gaps that I wrote in May 2025. You can hear announcements advising you to 'mind the gap' on trains and stations in the UK, especially on the London Underground.

Here are the words: 

Mind the gap
between the train and the platform
Mind the gap
between the plane and the ground
Mind the gap
between the boat and the dock
Mind the gap
between the cart and the horse

Chorus
Mind the gap, oh mind the gap
oh mind the gap, oh mind the gap
Mind the gap, oh mind the gap
Oh please do mind the gap

Mind the gap
between here and there
Mind the gap
between this and that
Mind the gap
between day and night
Mind the gap
between now and then

Mind the gap
between dreams and reality
Mind the gap
between needs and wants
Mind the gap
between fact and fiction
Mind the gap
between truth and lies

Mind The Gap

This is a song I wrote in June/July 2025 for no particular reason. It plays with the word discombobulation, which means an embarrassing feeling that leaves a person confused, or a confused or disorderly state, and was coined in the USA some time in the early 19th century.

This recording features me on vocals, guitar, cavaquinho, descant recorder, tenor recorder and (GarageBand) drums. Here are the words:

Discombobulation
is causing consternation
and fueling frustration
among the population

Much misinformation
and devious deception
creeps like a conflagration
across the whole nation

There's a lot of lamentation
and not much motivation,
and a deep disinclination
to solve the situation

Cool cooperation
and calm communication
and deft determination
can cause combobulation

By the way, combobulation means the opposite of discombobulation; i.e. means an orderly, composed, organized state.

See also: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/discombobulate#English
https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=4024

Discombobulation

I write songs and tunes, play a few instruments, and like singing. To earn a living I run a website about languages and alphabets (Omniglot). I also make a podcasts about words and language on Radio Omniglot.

New tracks tagged #Whimsiful