Talk:Major-General's Song

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The following comments were left by the quality and importance raters: (edit)

The section "other information" suggests the lyrics were changed following the Franco-Prussian War. Since the song was not written until long after said conflict, this seems impossible. Any alternative explanations for the name change?

Contents

[edit] Gilda Radner on Muppet Show Dubious

Why is the reference to Gilda Radner on the Muppet Show dubious? It was in season 3 episode 61 "tv.com link". I remember she was misheard and got the six-foot talking carrot, but I don't recall exactly what she had requested (parrot or something else).

[edit] Easter eggs

Whoever wikified the song lyrics is brilliant. Fishal 13:46, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Yes, this is a fantastic article! We should list it under Category schemes. ^_^ -- Toby Bartels 17:19, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Piped link for the advice on easter egg links. This article makes a marvelous exception to it. JRM 23:04, 2005 Apr 7 (UTC)

I could hardly disagree more with the top statement. It's great that the entire lyrics to this song are provided. But they would look a million times better without the idiotic links to every WIkipedia entry that happens to occur in the song. Sometimes the "rules" are inappropriate, and never more than here. A far better idea would be to *first* display the full lyrics in a normal typeface with uniform color -- and *following*, list such links as deemed annotative. (The links to vegetable, animal, mineral, whistle, tactics, century, airs, equation and the like can be safely omitted.)71.224.204.167 09:02, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
I have to say that I agree with you... it is slightly irritating. I also have to comment that the song is not what you would find in the original Libretto... The line originally was written "I am the very pattern of a modern major gineral" Eat that bitch!!!
The final version of the song — what Gilbert & Sullivan finally settled on — is, "I am the very model of a Modern Major-General." This is the appropriate version to display in the article. Marc Shepherd 20:39, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
Wow, someone needs to grow a sense of humour  :( The links -- admittedly some of them more than others -- really enhance this article. 91.107.189.190 (talk) 02:33, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Irrelevant external link

I've tried, but I cannot figure out what relevance the Reboot link has- the end lyrics don't strike me as a parody of the song at all. --maru (talk) contribs 00:00, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The tune is the same, the lyrics don't try to match at all though. --Falcorian | Talk 00:19, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Garnet Wolseley?

Wasn't the song supposed to be about Garnet Wolseley? m.e. 10:45, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes, he is often thought to be the "model" for the Major-General, although other figures have been suggested. Marc Shepherd 11:11, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] moving

Please read Help:Moving a page on how to move pages properly. Tim! 21:20, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Repetition

There is some repetition between the References section and the "External links" section. What's the WP: policy on how to correct this? --Ssilvers 01:33, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I've resolved it by renaming a heading. Marc Shepherd 01:46, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lyrics of parodies

I don't think this is the correct article to place the entire lyrics of Parodies. If we did so, it would become far too clutered. Any opinions? --Falcorian (talk) 01:28, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree heartily. We can't add in all the lyrics to all these parodies. Parodies that are online can be linked. Otherwise, it is enough, I think to say what the topic of the parody is (if the title doesn't say it all). I already removed the parody lyrics once, and the editor replaced them. I request that they be removed. -- Ssilvers 01:41, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
Not only that, but most parodies are probably in copyright. Adam Cuerden talk 12:18, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
A good point, I'll remove them... Unless they already have been. ;-) Missed it on my watch list. --Falcorian (talk) 20:19, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
I agree with the copyright observation. However, 'becoming too cluttered' is no better a rationale that having 'too much information'- surely Wikipedia's mandate. We should act as architects of information, not slash-and-burn datacops. --216.239.122.102 (talk) 11:31, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps, but I'd prefer linking to parodies (as they're only slightly-relevant) or putting them on Wikisource if they're out of copyright to putting them in the article themself. Clutter may not be a valid criterion, but focus is. Adam Cuerden talk 17:20, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Parodies shouldn't be the focus of this article anyway. If anything, the parodies have taken over the article and the less notable ones could be weeded out. -- Ssilvers 16:28, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proliferation of links; most removed

Wikipedia isn't a compendium of links to every page/satire out there. I find many of the links irrelevant. As per WP:NOT#REPOSITORY and WP:NOT#DIR, I have removed the following from the article. I urge anyone hoping to add links to the section to discuss it first if the targets are similar. In particular, I think ReBoot was already discussed in the article and any links can be inserted there, if at all.

I think some people will be very unhappy about my keeping the Animaniacs link, which I think is notable, or the amiright.com link, which I consider a better fansite exception than of the links I've removed. Xiner 16:11, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for trimming this list!! I agree that the Anamanicas example is notable, and that your choices for what to keep were the best. I have, however, resored one notable example, the widely copied and destributed Usenet parody. Best regards, -- Ssilvers 16:25, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
I again rm this link, "I am the very model of a modern libertarian" as it promotes one author and one political POV. Appears to have been replaced after the removal listed above. (Attention, admins?) I agree with keeping the link to the Amiright gallery, as it contains scores (no pun intended) of parodies by many different authors with many different topics and POV. Incidentally, isn't it self-defeating to rm a link, then copy here on the talk page exactly the link that was removed? Authors who are trying to promote their own work are still achieving this, if only on the talk page. Hence, I cited the name of the parody removed, but not the whole link. Perhaps the above list of links removed should be edited thusly? Just a thought... Unimaginative Username 20:04, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree with removing the link, but it doesn't hurt to have the list of removed links above, as it shows which of the darn things have already been removed before. I don't think that listing them on the talk page gives them any significant promotion. The biggest problem is simply the constant accumulation of links. See WP:LINKFARM. But, every few months, I just go through and clean it up if it hasn't already been done. Best regards, -- Ssilvers 23:47, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Television references

The same applies here as to the parodies. There is absolutely no reason to have a list of every single appearance anyone can think of. For example: "In season 2 of Slings & Arrows, Richard Smith-Jones uses the song to audition for the festival's musical." So what? 86.143.52.18 13:56, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

I have made an effort to consolidate the references and to give the section a semblance of narrative thrust. -- Ssilvers 23:49, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Stailish vales"

It's not clear what "the contemporary stailish vales …" refers to here. Was there a book with this title? Is this a quote from the opera? Unfortunately the only Google hits for this phrase are from this article and its mirrors. --Cam (talk) 01:56, 16 May 2008 (UTC)