"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a swing-style song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. The tune is reminiscent of "Puttin' on the Ritz," written by Irving Berlin in 1929,[1] but the song is said to be a response to "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E," recorded in 1928 by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.[2]
The lyrics refer to the change of the name of the city of Constantinople to the Turkish name Istanbul (officially adopted in 1930). It also mentions the fact that New York City was originally named New Amsterdam, and that the change to New York was kept because "people just liked it better that way". In addition, the lyrics opine that the name change from Constantinople to Istanbul is "nobody's business but the Turks'."
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"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" was originally recorded by the Canadian group The Four Lads on August 12, 1953. This recording was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 40082. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on October 24, 1953, and it peaked at #10. It was the group's first gold record.[3][4]
The Duke's Men of Yale, an all-male a cappella group at Yale University, perform the song at the end of most of their concerts. The song has been in the repertoire of the Duke's Men since 1953.
During the 2000s, the song was performed live by Australian Klezmer/Gypsy Jazz band Monsieur Camembert.
Recording artists and groups known to have covered this song include:
| "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by They Might Be Giants | ||||
| from the album Flood | ||||
| B-side | "James K. Polk" | |||
| Released | May 14, 1990 | |||
| Format | CD single, 7", 12" | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 2:34 | |||
| Label | Elektra (US) Elektra / WEA (EU) |
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| Producer | Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley | |||
| They Might Be Giants singles chronology | ||||
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One of the better-known versions of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is the cover by the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, who released it on their album Flood in 1990. It was released as the second single from that album in the same year. TMBG's version is at a faster tempo than the original and contains a distinct klezmer influence, including a violin introduction and some accordion and electric guitar parts not present in the original version.
The lyrics were used in the March 21, 1954 episode of The Jack Benny Program during a sketch about a man trying to buy a train ticket to Constantinople. Jack Benny and Frank Nelson proceed to use the lyrics to dispute where the man can go.
The They Might Be Giants Version is used in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Tiny Toons Music Television" and The Simpsons episode "Mobile Homer".
A few lines of the song were sung by some Muppet rats at the beginning of the first season episode of Muppets Tonight guest-starring Pierce Brosnan. When host Clifford tells the audience that the show can be seen everywhere from Istanbul to Constantinople, Rizzo the rat corrects him that Istanbul is Constantinople.
In Civilization III, when a player runs out of city names in the official list, the city name list restarts with "New" prefixed to the original name (e.g. "New London" for the English). However, when the Ottomans build the first city after exhausting the original list, the city is named "Not Constantinople" as opposed to the expected "New Istanbul."
On NBC's America's Got Talent on Tuesday, August 16, 2011, the act Those Funny Little People performed a routine to the They Might Be Giants version of this song.[7]
In the Popular TV Series Raising Hope, Maw Maw is a pro at Jenga while listening to the song.
In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring The Castle of Fu-Manchu, Tom Servo recites a few lines after Joel says "Oh, sure just barge into Istanbul... hey, at least it's not Constantinople."
On the June 3, 2009 episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Craig and many dancers dressed up in "Turkish" garb performed a humorous cover of the They Might Be Giants version.[8]
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