George Baker - I Am The Very Model! (from 'The Pirates Of Penzance') Lyrics

Lyrics I Am The Very Model! (from 'The Pirates Of Penzance') - George Baker



I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I′ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I′m teeming with a lot o' news, (bothered for a rhyme)
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
(With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse)
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
(In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
He is the very model of a modern Major-General.)
I know our mythic history, King Arthur′s and Sir Caradoc′s;
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking from The Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I′ve heard the music's din afore,
(Bothered for arhyme)
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
(And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.)
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
And tell you ev′ry detail of Caractacus's uniform
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
(In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
He is the very model of a modern Major-General.)
In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin",
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I′m more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat",
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy
(Bothered for a rhyme)
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee
(You′ll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee)
For my military knowledge, though I′m plucky and adventury,
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
(In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
He is the very model of a modern Major-General.)




George Baker - A Tribute to George Baker
Album A Tribute to George Baker
date of release
31-05-2008

1 My Name Is John Welligton Wells (From 'The Sorcerer')
2 I Am The Very Model! (from 'The Pirates Of Penzance')
3 Am I Alone, And Unobserved / If You're Anxious for to Shine (From 'Patience')
4 When I Went to the Bar / Love Unrequited Robs Me of My Rest (From 'Iolanthe')
5 I Know a Youth / My Boy, You Can Take It from Me (From 'Ruddigore')
6 I've Jibe and Joke / Oh! A Private Buffoon (From 'The Yeomen of the Guard')
7 Rising Early in the Morning (From 'The Gondoliers')
8 Ho! Jolly Jenkin (From 'Ivanhoe')
9 Myself When Young (From 'In a Persian Garden')
10 Come Away Death, Op.6 No.1 / O Mistress Mine, Op. 6 No. 2 / Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind, Op. 6 No. 3 (From 'Shakespeare Songs')
11 How Doth the Little Crocodile / Fury Said to a Mouse / 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster / They Told Me You Had Been to Her / You Are Old, Father William / Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy / Will You Walk
12 Isn't It Funny / How Sweet to Be a Cloud / It's Very Very Funny / Cottleston Pie / Lines Written by a Bear / Sing Ho! For the Life of a Bear (From 'The Hums of Pooh')
13 In the Shade of the Palm (From 'Florodora')




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