The secret of a good comedy song is that it has to be a good song, period. The Divine Comedy’s ‘Trafalgar’ was released in 2006 as a parody of Eurovision’s formative years, complete with numerous key changes and, to quote its author, ‘nonsense lyrics’.
As you might expect, this is altogether more of a hoot than the Bee Gee’s ‘Trafalgar’ (written about here). Neil Hannon’s lyrics contain my new favourite simile:
‘I’m not someone you forget – I’m just like riding a bike’
I’ve been singing the song for the last fortnight, even whistling it on midnight jaunts to the loo. The chorus is so toe-tappy:
‘Oh-woah-woah, Trafalgar – I’m looking through the wrong eye, at yer’
Legend has it that Nelson looked through his ‘wrong’ eye at the Battle of Copenhagen, not Trafalgar. But I am going to assume Hannon either knew that or didn’t care. (Both perfectly acceptable standpoints.)
As with most Divine Comedy songs, you wonder why ‘Trafalgar’ isn’t better known. I’m not sure how it escaped me for so long. Anyway. Now you know it, too.
Following this account has its perks.
Nelson The Sailor 