Biography:
The British duo, properly known as Michael Flanders & Donald Swann, was composed of the actor and singer Michael Flanders and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald Swann, who collaborated in writing and performing comic songs.
Flanders and Swann's songs are characterised by wit, gentle satire, complex rhyming schemes, and memorable choruses. They wrote over eighty comic songs together.
Between 1956 and 1967 they performed some of their songs in their long-running two-man revues At the Drop of a Hat and At the Drop of Another Hat.
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THE GNU SONG
(Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, 1956)
The original, being a piano song, was in Eb. This is for guitar (Ultimate Guitar, don't you know).
If you want to play in the original key, stick a capo on fret three (or wherever else tickles your fancy).
[verse 1]
C G
A year ago last Thursday, I was strolling in the zoo,
Dm C
When I met a man who thought he knew the lot.
E Am
He was laying down the law about the habits of baboons
D G
And the number of quills a porcupine has got.
C7 C7/Bb
So I asked him: "What's that creature there?" He answered, "Oh, it's a helk."
F C Dm
I might have gone on thinking that was true,
Dm/F Am E7 Am
If the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame,
Dm6 E
And remarked, "I hain't a helk. I'm a g-nu.
[Chorus]
A
"I'm a g-nu. I'm a g-nu,
Bm F#7 Bm
The g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo.
I'm a g-nu. How do you do?
E A
You really ought to k-now w-ho's w-ho.
I'm a g-nu, spelt G-N-U.
A7 D7
I'm g-not a camel or a kangaroo.
Bm Cdim7 A F#7
So let me introduce: I'm g-neither man nor moose.
B7 E7 A
Oh g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu."
[Verse 2]
C G
I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustingham-on-Sea,
Dm C
Whence I travelled on to Ashton under Lyne,
E Am
And the second night I stayed there, I was wakened from a dream,
D G
Which i'll tell you all about some other time.
C7 C7/Bb
Among the hunting trophies on the wall above my bed,
F C Dm
Stuffed and mounted was a face I thought I knew.
Dm/F Am E7 Am
A bison? Nay. An okapi? Hmm. Could it be a hartebeest?
Dm6 E
Then I seemed to hear a voice: "I'm a g-nu.
[Chorus 2]
A
"I'm a g-nu, a g-nother g-nu.
Bm F#7 Bm
I wish I could g-nash my teeth at you.
I'm a g-nu. How do you do?
E A
You really ought to k-now w-ho's w-ho.
I'm a g-nu, spelt G-N-U.
A7 D
Call me 'bison' or 'okapi' and I'll sue.
Bm Cdim7 A F#7
G-nor am I in the least like that dreadful hartebeest.
B7 E7 A F#7
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu.
B7 E7 A F#7
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu
B7 E7 A E7 A
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu.
(Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, 1956)
The original, being a piano song, was in Eb. This is for guitar (Ultimate Guitar, don't you know).
If you want to play in the original key, stick a capo on fret three (or wherever else tickles your fancy).
[verse 1]
C G
A year ago last Thursday, I was strolling in the zoo,
Dm C
When I met a man who thought he knew the lot.
E Am
He was laying down the law about the habits of baboons
D G
And the number of quills a porcupine has got.
C7 C7/Bb
So I asked him: "What's that creature there?" He answered, "Oh, it's a helk."
F C Dm
I might have gone on thinking that was true,
Dm/F Am E7 Am
If the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame,
Dm6 E
And remarked, "I hain't a helk. I'm a g-nu.
[Chorus]
A
"I'm a g-nu. I'm a g-nu,
Bm F#7 Bm
The g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo.
I'm a g-nu. How do you do?
E A
You really ought to k-now w-ho's w-ho.
I'm a g-nu, spelt G-N-U.
A7 D7
I'm g-not a camel or a kangaroo.
Bm Cdim7 A F#7
So let me introduce: I'm g-neither man nor moose.
B7 E7 A
Oh g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu."
[Verse 2]
C G
I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustingham-on-Sea,
Dm C
Whence I travelled on to Ashton under Lyne,
E Am
And the second night I stayed there, I was wakened from a dream,
D G
Which i'll tell you all about some other time.
C7 C7/Bb
Among the hunting trophies on the wall above my bed,
F C Dm
Stuffed and mounted was a face I thought I knew.
Dm/F Am E7 Am
A bison? Nay. An okapi? Hmm. Could it be a hartebeest?
Dm6 E
Then I seemed to hear a voice: "I'm a g-nu.
[Chorus 2]
A
"I'm a g-nu, a g-nother g-nu.
Bm F#7 Bm
I wish I could g-nash my teeth at you.
I'm a g-nu. How do you do?
E A
You really ought to k-now w-ho's w-ho.
I'm a g-nu, spelt G-N-U.
A7 D
Call me 'bison' or 'okapi' and I'll sue.
Bm Cdim7 A F#7
G-nor am I in the least like that dreadful hartebeest.
B7 E7 A F#7
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu.
B7 E7 A F#7
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu
B7 E7 A E7 A
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a g-nu.
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