It's a game! First read Micawber's unique retelling, and then guess what the original song lyric is. Fun for the whole family!
Mister Micawber, for those not in the know, is a character from David Copperfield, by Dickens. He is poor, but always optimistic that something will turn up, and has a very unique speech pattern. In the movie he is portrayed by W.C. Fields, whose voice I envisioned delivering the lines below.
Mister Micawber’s Version
1. Ah the womanly woes! I sympathize, my lad. For I have, in my own time, been hounded by a multitude of predicaments, difficulties and troubles. Yet I have no advice to give: for throughout these tribulations never have I found myself on the wrong side of a woman.
2. So I sally forth! Do not fret, for though the road is to be full of trials, I will continue on. There is no alternative: this is the path I must take, the path I have been on all my days. For this, my boy, is the journey the wise call ‘eternity’ and the fools call ‘life’. Sad to say, I am but a fool.
3. Never to have one’s dreams fulfilled – the lot we most must face. Despite my best efforts contentment remains elusive.
4. Hold, and I will tell you. I knew that there was trouble afoot at an egregious hour, for my restlessness disturbed an otherwise uninterrupted and peaceful sleep with my wife. A knock on the door (two hours before the dawn!) silenced my attempts to sleep soundly and forced me to answer it’s calling, upon which I was presented with a most distressing emergency telegram.
5. It is most advisable in these situations not to panic, m’boy. I have it on good account that your mother and father are both in sound physical condition. It is only how they seem to us that is the issue. Their peculiarities are not so drastic, after such a nasty shock. You need to be strong for them. It is not fair for the young to need to do so on the behalf of the old, but I’ve never heard it said in even the most generous of pulpits that we should expect this world to be fair. You cannot lose sight of yourself during their ordeal.
6. Truly, something has turned up! Not only for the present, but as a trend of increasing good fortune. So you see, lad, truly life improves!
Answers
1. If you’ve got girl problems/ I feel bad for you, son/ I’ve got 99 problems/ but the bitch ain’t one. – Jay-Z, “99 Problems”
2. Here I go again on my own/ Going down the only road I’ve ever known. – Whitesnake, “Here I Go Again On My Own”
3. I can’t get no satisfaction/ ‘Cause I try... – The Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction”
4. Wait a minute/ Something’s going wrong/ Someone’s on the phone/ three o’clock in the morning (yeah)… – Al Green, “Love and Happiness”
5. Mommy’s alright, daddy’s alright/ They just seem a little weird/ Surrender, surrender/ just don’t give yourself away. – Cheap Trick, “Surrender”
6. I’ve got to admit it’s getting better/ It’s a little better all the time. – The Beatles, “Getting Better”
Mister Micawber, for those not in the know, is a character from David Copperfield, by Dickens. He is poor, but always optimistic that something will turn up, and has a very unique speech pattern. In the movie he is portrayed by W.C. Fields, whose voice I envisioned delivering the lines below.
Mister Micawber’s Version
1. Ah the womanly woes! I sympathize, my lad. For I have, in my own time, been hounded by a multitude of predicaments, difficulties and troubles. Yet I have no advice to give: for throughout these tribulations never have I found myself on the wrong side of a woman.
2. So I sally forth! Do not fret, for though the road is to be full of trials, I will continue on. There is no alternative: this is the path I must take, the path I have been on all my days. For this, my boy, is the journey the wise call ‘eternity’ and the fools call ‘life’. Sad to say, I am but a fool.
3. Never to have one’s dreams fulfilled – the lot we most must face. Despite my best efforts contentment remains elusive.
4. Hold, and I will tell you. I knew that there was trouble afoot at an egregious hour, for my restlessness disturbed an otherwise uninterrupted and peaceful sleep with my wife. A knock on the door (two hours before the dawn!) silenced my attempts to sleep soundly and forced me to answer it’s calling, upon which I was presented with a most distressing emergency telegram.
5. It is most advisable in these situations not to panic, m’boy. I have it on good account that your mother and father are both in sound physical condition. It is only how they seem to us that is the issue. Their peculiarities are not so drastic, after such a nasty shock. You need to be strong for them. It is not fair for the young to need to do so on the behalf of the old, but I’ve never heard it said in even the most generous of pulpits that we should expect this world to be fair. You cannot lose sight of yourself during their ordeal.
6. Truly, something has turned up! Not only for the present, but as a trend of increasing good fortune. So you see, lad, truly life improves!
Answers
1. If you’ve got girl problems/ I feel bad for you, son/ I’ve got 99 problems/ but the bitch ain’t one. – Jay-Z, “99 Problems”
2. Here I go again on my own/ Going down the only road I’ve ever known. – Whitesnake, “Here I Go Again On My Own”
3. I can’t get no satisfaction/ ‘Cause I try... – The Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction”
4. Wait a minute/ Something’s going wrong/ Someone’s on the phone/ three o’clock in the morning (yeah)… – Al Green, “Love and Happiness”
5. Mommy’s alright, daddy’s alright/ They just seem a little weird/ Surrender, surrender/ just don’t give yourself away. – Cheap Trick, “Surrender”
6. I’ve got to admit it’s getting better/ It’s a little better all the time. – The Beatles, “Getting Better”
2 comments:
I got the Jay Z and Rolling Stones...
And Mr. Micawber's most famous quote: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
The Beatles: "Money don't get everything, it's true. What it don't get, I can't use; now give me money. That's what I want...."
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