The Polyjuice Potion Song and other songs
written by Timothy Walsh
Some of these songs are Potter related and some were submitted to one of the two Disney Lit Weeks. They all have either original music or original words or both. Links are included to mp3 files of these songs being sung by humans but most of them are accompanied by synthetic instruments.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
3
Reads
826
Other songs
Chapter 3
1. The Missing Note
This song quotes songs that starts on each of the notes of the scale except one: the fourth note, for which I couldn't think of a song. After writing this song, I remembered that Phil Ochs' song "Changes" starts on the fourth note of the scale, but I wasn't about to let the facts get in the way of the song. It was arranged for bass voice (I hit a low C in this song) and piano and played on a real piano (I fluffed a note near the end of the song). Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Missing_Note.mp3
2. The Hen and the Oriole
The words were written by Don Marquis as part of his book of poems called "Archy and Mehitabel". The narrator is Archy, a cockroach who calls Don Marquis "boss". He laments that he, like a hen, elicits no public sympathy because they are not beautiful, whereas a butterfly, like an oriole, does elicit sympathy because they are beautiful. It was arranged for bass voice and piano. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Hen_and_Oriole.mp3
3. Bubbles
The words were written by Lynn Hutchinson, who was eleven years old at the time. She is charmed by the beauty of the bubbles she sees in a stream and at first wants to take them home with her, but then changes her mind when she sees them reflecting moonlight. It was arranged for mezzo soprano voice and piano and sung by Patricia Abbott, a professional singer and choir master, who was in her fifties at the time and sang it like an operatic aria. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Bubbles.mp3
4. Introduction to Induction
The words were written by my wife Victoria Zinde-Walsh with a little editing on my part. It begins by recounting an anecdote about a mathematical problem solved by the famous mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss at the tender age of ten years old and then goes on to explain mathematical induction and give as an example a formula for counting the number of stones in an Egyptian pyramid as a function of the number of layers. It was arranged for bass voice, xylophone, piano and various percussion instruments. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Induction.mp3
5. A Million Ways to Love, a Final Reason to Live
The words were written by Samantha Woods Snape, who asked me to set it to music. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Million Ways.mp3
6. Friendly Advice
This is a funny song about COVID-19 to contrast with all the serious ones on the internet. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Friendly Advice.mp3
This song quotes songs that starts on each of the notes of the scale except one: the fourth note, for which I couldn't think of a song. After writing this song, I remembered that Phil Ochs' song "Changes" starts on the fourth note of the scale, but I wasn't about to let the facts get in the way of the song. It was arranged for bass voice (I hit a low C in this song) and piano and played on a real piano (I fluffed a note near the end of the song). Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Missing_Note.mp3
2. The Hen and the Oriole
The words were written by Don Marquis as part of his book of poems called "Archy and Mehitabel". The narrator is Archy, a cockroach who calls Don Marquis "boss". He laments that he, like a hen, elicits no public sympathy because they are not beautiful, whereas a butterfly, like an oriole, does elicit sympathy because they are beautiful. It was arranged for bass voice and piano. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Hen_and_Oriole.mp3
3. Bubbles
The words were written by Lynn Hutchinson, who was eleven years old at the time. She is charmed by the beauty of the bubbles she sees in a stream and at first wants to take them home with her, but then changes her mind when she sees them reflecting moonlight. It was arranged for mezzo soprano voice and piano and sung by Patricia Abbott, a professional singer and choir master, who was in her fifties at the time and sang it like an operatic aria. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Bubbles.mp3
4. Introduction to Induction
The words were written by my wife Victoria Zinde-Walsh with a little editing on my part. It begins by recounting an anecdote about a mathematical problem solved by the famous mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss at the tender age of ten years old and then goes on to explain mathematical induction and give as an example a formula for counting the number of stones in an Egyptian pyramid as a function of the number of layers. It was arranged for bass voice, xylophone, piano and various percussion instruments. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Induction.mp3
5. A Million Ways to Love, a Final Reason to Live
The words were written by Samantha Woods Snape, who asked me to set it to music. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Million Ways.mp3
6. Friendly Advice
This is a funny song about COVID-19 to contrast with all the serious ones on the internet. Here is the link:
http://www.info2.uqam.ca/~walsh_t/music/Friendly Advice.mp3
