Song, er, Singh of the Nitpickers

[beamjockey]

The new issue of Symmetry hit the streets. In it is Simon Singh's account of the mock feud he got into with pop singer Katie Melua.

Originally, the song went:

Comments

[anonymous]

The changes make it a worse song. It will sound clumsy, and most listeners will associate the problems with the scientific content.

[alicebentley]

I would want to hear both versions before trying to come to a conclusion like that.

[tigertoy]

I don't have any idea about the actual song, but just reading the lyrics, the original sounds sappy and empty and the update makes me laugh, so in the printed form, it's clearly better.

[beamjockey]

This affair strongly reminds me of Charles Babbage's letter to Alfred Lord Tennyson (who might not yet have been a Lord, I suppose):

Sir:

In your otherwise beautiful poem 'The Vision of Sin' there is a verse which reads -- 'Every moment dies a man, Every moment one is born.' It must be manifest that if this were true, the population of the world would be at a standstill...

I would suggest that in the next edition of your poem you have it read -- 'Every moment dies a man, Every moment one and one-sixteenth is born.'... The actual figure is so long I cannot get it onto a line, but I believe the figure one and one-sixteenth will be sufficiently accurate for poetry.

I am, Sir, yours, etc.,

Charles Babbage

In googling for this letter, I found that Singh is perfectly aware of it.

[purplecthulhu]

Knowing Singh from when he was a student, this seems like a fairly typical bit of self serving publicity, and nothing else.