The C-A-F-F-E-E Song

Last week's "Getting Ahead" post included a song whose notes spelled out its lyrics, "Cabbage, cabbage, bagged a cabbage."

A reader pointed out another song that uses the same idea: The Russian composer Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) wrote the "Cabbage Waltz" using notes that spelled "cabbage." He also composed "A Bad Egg Polka," with "a bad egg" as part of the tune [video below].

Similarly, Carl Gottlieb Hering (1766-1853) created a children's tune known as "The Coffee Song." In it, he changed the German spelling of kaffee to match the first six notes of the tune. Here are his translated lyrics:

C-A-F-F-E-E,
Don't drink so much coffee!

Not for children is the Turkish brew,
Weaken's the nerves, it's so bad for you,

Don't get hooked on the cup —
One who can't give it up! 

It appears that composers have yet to tackle these titles: Faded Baggage, A Bee Gagged, Feed Ed Aged Beef, and ABBA Faced a Bad Decade.

["The Coffee Song" translation by Orts]