J-Walk compiled a list of songs with animals in the title. That data screams for analysis, doesn’t it?
The vertebrates (phylum Chordata) kicked ass and mammals (class Mammalia) dominated. But Birds (class Aves) were no slouch either, although many of those songs only references “bird”.
The most popular species is dog (Canis lupus). Oddly missing is human (Homo sapiens). The biggest contributing song was Pigs, Sheep, and Wolves by Paul Simon. The three titles that didn’t quite make it into kingdom Anamalia were Puff the Magic Dragon, Werewolves of London, and The Unicorn Song. I let the Monkees in as primates against my better judgment.
Mammals with only one entry: skunk, weasel, walrus, raccoon, bear, llama, reindeer, beaver, muskrat, mouse, kangaroo, sloth, and mole. Smallest phyla (at one) were Porifera (sponge), Mollusca (octopus), and Cridaria (coral).
Can you think of a better use of Excel than this?
You can download AnimalSongs.zip
Apparently, Rajib Karim, a recently convicted UK terrorist, used Excel spreadsheets to send encrypted messages to his clerical mentor.
225 seems a somewhat small. How about ‘Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon’?
BTW, ‘If You Were A Bluebird’ is originally by Butch Hancock, far better than Emmylou’s version.
Werewolves is in there, but under the mythology kingdom. I agree about the size – I’d guess the real list is about 4 times that big.
Octopuses Garden and Little Red Rooster come to mind.