# Emily Dickinson/Yellow Rose of Texas/Somebody slap me, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622 "2007-04-11T11:01:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/21 "2007-04-12T21:06:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] As I read Tennyson’s [_Locksley Hall_](http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/tenny02.html) for a college class, I realized it could be sung to the tune of [this favorite.](http://www.greatdreams.com/clem.htm) [/QUOTE] You’ve no idea how much I appreciate that tidbit. I’ve tried to memorize that poem (the house/farm I grew up on was called _Locksley Hall_) and this helps TREMENDOUSLY! I owe you a drink. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/22 "2007-04-12T21:31:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] As I read Tennyson’s [_Locksley Hall_](http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/tenny02.html) for a college class, I realized it could be sung to the tune of [this favorite.](http://www.greatdreams.com/clem.htm) [/QUOTE] That also works with the Marine Song (“From the halls of Montezuma”) and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. We’ve had several threads on interchangeable lyrics and music, but I can’t find any of them now. Here are other tunes for Dickinson’s poems: O Little Town of Bethlehem God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen Australian National Anthem (Advance, Australia Fair) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/23 "2007-04-12T23:01:40Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] By gum, that’s it all right: I recognize it now that you’ve given it to me. If it’s not an imposition, can you tell me, in which of Asimov’s books did I read the story? I thought it was _Fact and Fancy_, but apparently not, and I don’t think it’s in his joke book (forgot the title, lost it long ago) either, and I’m not finding it in his _Intelligent Man’s Guide to…_ books. [/QUOTE] According to this post, it’s in “Adding a Dimension”: [http://groups.google.com/group/sci.chem/msg/7f444c7511cb4df6](http://groups.google.com/group/sci.chem/msg/7f444c7511cb4df6) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/24 "2007-04-13T00:48:14Z")
[QUOTE=Marlitharn] Have any other poets been so inextricably linked with cheesy songs? [/QUOTE] What do you mean by “cheesy” songs? ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/25 "2007-04-13T11:07:56Z")
“Danny Boy” can be sung to the tune of “O Holy Night”. “Casey at the Bat” – \> “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”. “Green Eggs and Ham” – \> “99 Luftballons”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/26 "2007-04-13T18:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] My fave in this category is singing Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” to the tune of “Hernando’s Hideaway.” (The Doxology can also be sung to this tune.) [/QUOTE] It can also be sung to the tune of “O Tannenbaum” (aka O Christmas Tree). Go ahead, try it. 😃 Not exactly a poem, but the Christmas hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” can also be sung to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun” (courtesy of Bob Rivers). ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/27 "2007-04-13T21:18:53Z")
If you can sing it to the theme song from Gilligan’s Isle, you can sing it to “House of the Rising Sun”. ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/28 "2007-04-13T21:27:45Z")
Thanks, Neidhart. As a 2-time mom & G-mom, I can rebuke Sam-I-Am (Green Eggs & Ham in my sleep. Now I can sing it to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/29 "2007-04-16T08:40:40Z")
Heh. I can ruin “The Council Of Elrond” to the tune of “Yellow Rose Of Texas”: Seek for the sword that’s broken: In Imladris it dwells; There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be shown a token That Doom is near at hand, Isildur’s bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand. Try getting _that_ out of your head next time you read **LotR** … ---
**Author:** ![lovelybean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@lovelybean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelybean)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/30 "2007-04-19T18:39:17Z")
This is a bit of a stretch for the conversation, but I don’t know that T.S. Elliot would’ve wanted his “Love Song” to sound anything like “Memory” ---
**Author:** ![mikeshea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@mikeshea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikeshea)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/31 "2016-10-30T16:22:20Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > We’ve all heard that almost all of Dickinson’s poems can be sung to the tune of “Yellow Rose of Texas.” > > It’s almost 6 in the morning and it’s been a loooooong night with nothing going on so I wander over to [www.online-literature.com](http://www.online-literature.com) to while away these last couple of hours of my shift but whenever I try to read one of La Emily’s poems my brain insists on _singing_ it to me. To the tune of “Yellow Rose of Texas”. > > It’s disconcerting. > > Have any other poets been so inextricably linked with cheesy songs? Almost all of her poems also work with the Giligan’s Island theme as well. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/32 "2016-10-30T18:06:09Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > My fave in this category is singing Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” to the tune of “Hernando’s Hideaway.” My chorus actually performed it this way, complete with a couple (one in drag) dancing the tango. The audience loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/33 "2016-10-30T19:49:58Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > What a few friends and I did back in school was sing the names of organic compound to “The Irish Washerwoman.” It works very well. Oh, great. Now I’ve got the “[Farnesol](http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Farnesol.htm)” song (to the tune of “Jingle Bells”) stuck in my head. I also memorized the periodic table–well, not the table itself, but the elements in order–by singing it to the tune of “English Country Garden.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/34 "2016-10-31T06:05:20Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I also memorized the periodic table–well, not the table itself, but the elements in order–by singing it to the tune of “English Country Garden.” And of course there’s [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM-wSKFBpo). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/35 "2016-10-31T14:36:00Z")
Just a week ago, a friend mentioned that, in her church that Sunday, they were going to sing Amazing Grace, not only to its own tune, but also to The House of the Rising Sun, AND Gilligan’s Island. My wife couldn’t imagine, so, with hardly a shift in mental gears, started singing Amazing Grace to Gilligan’ Island. It flows very well. My wife screamed and made me stop. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/36 "2016-10-31T15:05:07Z")
The Gilligan’s Island/Amazing Grace/Emily Dickenson/House of the Rising Sun etc. pattern is actually a remarkably common one. For a while now, I’ve been contemplating a website where you could select any of the lyrics from one long list, and any of the tunes from another long list, and hear a synthesized/autotuned rendition of the former to the tune of the latter. The particular pairing that I had stuck in my head for an annoyingly long time was “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” to the tune of “Stairway to Heaven”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/37 "2016-10-31T15:15:18Z")
> [@mikeshea](#): > > Almost all of her poems also work with the Giligan’s Island theme as well. As well as: Amazing Grace Yankee Doodle Auld Lang Syne O Susanna I’ve Been Working on the Railroad America the Beautiful House of the Rising Sun (as mentioned before) etc. etc. etc. There’s a reason it’s called “common meter.” 🙂 ETA: I see **Chronos** covered this as I was typing. Just google “songs in common meter” or “8686 hymns” if you’re a church going type and you’ll find plenty of songs that work together. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/38 "2016-10-31T16:26:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The particular pairing that I had stuck in my head for an annoyingly long time was “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” to the tune of “Stairway to Heaven”. Wow, it does fit! I guess Zeppelin really did steal other people’s songs! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/39 "2016-10-31T19:38:51Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > Heh. I can ruin “The Council Of Elrond” to the tune of “Yellow Rose Of Texas”: > > Seek for the sword that’s broken: > In Imladris it dwells; > There shall be counsels taken > Stronger than Morgul-spells. > There shall be shown a token > That Doom is near at hand, > Isildur’s bane shall waken, > And the Halfling forth shall stand. > > Try getting _that_ out of your head next time you read **LotR** … Now I’m picturing the elves dressed up like cowboys. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622/40 "2016-11-01T11:21:29Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > My fave in this category is singing Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” to the tune of “Hernando’s Hideaway.” (The Doxology can also be sung to this tune.) Outstanding. Got to do that for the grandkids [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emily-dickinson-yellow-rose-of-texas-somebody-slap-me-please/399622.md?page=1)