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Lewis Collins' tortoise · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:30 am Post subject: Talking Turkey

I'm sure many of us, who are not originally from here have at some point come across some cultural reference to Turkey in literature/film/music/art etc...

I wonder what they are.

I remember my Grandma humming the song "Constantinople" as she cleaned the kitchenette.

"C,O,N,S,T,A,N,T,I,N,O,P,L,E Constantinople..."
For years I had no idea what she was on about...

or later in this clip of "Funny Bones"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLQxBNwbl6w

The line he uses
"Uskudar is a little town in Turkey and in the old days many women had male secretaries. Well, that's Turkey."

Anybody got any others?

vre · Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 371

dina dina dina dina dina dina dina dina BATMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I just had to.

Actually, this is a great thread. Was your grandma's song the same one as "It's Istanbul not Constantinople..."?

Lewis Collins' tortoise · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:04 am Post subject:

No it was a song by Arthur Lloyd a music hall type vaudevillian
written in 1870.

I searched in vain for the lyrics, but could only find a song reference without any words.

I guess my Grandma heard it as a child. It was apparently used in the pantomime Babes in the Wood to get children to practice spelling, as they had to spell Constantinople letter by letter.

This has always been a favourite of mine.

The Turkish Song of the Damned by The Pogues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T48Dswj7mE

Lewis Collins' tortoise · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:22 am Post subject:

aha.. found it, well a 1928 recording of it...
May well have been the song my Grandma heard when she was in her late teens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY5c203shlE

Is this early ELT audio material? Laughing