Neverending Top Ten #7.1 - Iranian Magpies

Since the World Cup finished, Sam's obsession with it has hardly diminished. Again though, it's not the actual football he's interested in (thank god!) but the countries, the flags, the competition and the stats. He has memorised the flag of ever country that took part and learned to write each one's name on his chalkboard. His tattered World Cup scorecard has become his most treasured possession. He now re-enacts games between countries with his toy cars - they're not playing football, just racing across the living room - but each car represents a country and each one has to qualify, beat its rival to get in the last 16, then race to decide the overall winner. The imagination of a 4 year-old!

The other day, he came home from nursery and started discussing the various countries again when Iran came up.

"Jameson has been on holiday to Iran," he said. (Jameson is one his nursery friends, not the editor of the Daily Bugle. In case you were wondering.)

"I don't think he has," I said. "People don't usually go on holiday to Iran."

"He has," Sam replied. "He saw a magpie there."

Pretty much conclusive proof right there, I'm sure you'd agree.

BUT THIS IS A MUSIC BLOG, ROL!

We're getting there.

"The other morning," Louise told me later, "Sam was driving me up the wall singing that bloody song about Constantinople!"

I, of course, was held fully responsible for this.

7.1 They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Originally recorded in 1953 by Canadian band The Four Lads, iffypdeia tells me that this was "written on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans". I wish I could claim such historical knowledge myself. Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930.

The They Might Be Giants version was released as the follow-up single to their sole chart hit, Birdhouse In My Soul, and was also featured on the same album, Flood... an album I remember purchasing way, way back in the dim and distant past of 1990. Great album, great hit, great follow-up single... though this one only reached #61 in the charts.

I see it as my duty as a father to make sure Sam grows up knowing songs such as this...