@@Averagequinoafan Well, when it comes to minerals, There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium, And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium, And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium, And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium (Yes, i just recited that from memory)
The fact that he keeps pausing to think of a rhyming phrase implies that in the canon of the musical he just showed up and started rapping and I think that’s wonderful
@@DerEchteBold He pauses because he cant make the rythm a and that's the joke. the show was written to allow each version to make the most modern jokes to fit the show. Like Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxym it's meant to evolve with time and current jokes.
No, he knows the lyrics by heart, it's all part of the show and comedy, as you can see they show the Captain as funny and caricaturesque, he's depicting his several qualities singing a hundred words per minute yet he needs to be helped with the rhymes from time to time.
"My time, my skills that have gotten me to this interview stage in the first place, and my ability to keep my mouth shut after I leave to work somewhere else." Was that less than 5 minutes?
The "secret" of singing "Modern Major General" is not trying to speak fast but to speak steadily. Removing the short pauses between sentences and within sentences (effectively removing all periods, commas, and other punctuations) and also not giving extra emphasis to words gives the illusion of speaking more quickly than in actuality. These pauses and emphasis may be only milliseconds in length but are still detectable by listeners.
Spot-on. I slowed it down to half-speed to keep up with him during the mythic history verse and it was suddenly very noticeable that his voice was actually rather flat (lacking emphasis).
Everybody going on about Hamilton and Eninem, and here I am having memories of this song being sung to me by an asparagus as a child. Albeit a bit slower. And with a lot more books.
Absolutely incredible performance, but it cuts out the ending line - "Well, now that I've introduced myself, I'd like to know what's going on!". Implies that he does this every time he meets new people even when he has no need to. Iconic
Yup, the whole point is to show that a "modern Major General" of the era was so out of touch with what was actually important to modern militaries of the time. He's spending all this time bragging about everything he knows but little to none of it is actually important.
@@bobross547 To be fair, while the British Army was fooling around with incompetent leadership, the Royal Navy was the greatest navy the Earth had ever seen.
@@attalan8732 Wasnt the British Army one of the best european armies leading up to the first world war? Iirc they had one of the only armies where a majority where professional/regular soldiers instead of conscripts filling in their mandatory 1 year of service
@Bigg GIB'S fun house Im not arguing that Prussia was one of the best miltiary forces on the lead up or even start of WW1. But I never said that Britain was number 1. Just they had one of the best armies. As for Germany in WW2. I would put them Top 3 on the early war in general. But as the war goes on their weaknesses and failings start to catch up to them and it very much hindered their effectiveness. But when it comes to their ability to adapt they still are one of the best armies in that regard. Being able to switch from a keep moving, never stop offensive war to a hold every last piece of dift defensive mindset and do it effectively is difficult
I am impressed not only with this man's ability to memorize what must be the most complicated song in existence, but with whoever wrote it. It's brilliant!
Sir William Schwenk Gilbert. Sullivan wrote the music. And all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas had them. Their comic operas were the forerunners of British radio and TV comedy in the line of The Goon Shows, the Frost Report and Monty Python.
Take it from someone who used to sing 25-30 songs per show in bars for years, having that many words come off the tongue that smoothly is a serious feat! Amazing!
What a treat to see this nearly 40 years later. We had a ball putting this show together and playing it 8 times a week that summer. Dougie Chamberlain, who played Major General Stanley rarely, if ever, forgot his lyrics and he is one of the kindest, funniest and most generous actors you'd ever have the pleasure of working with. The same is true of the late Brent Carver, who played The Pirate King. The staging is by the late Brian Macdonald, whose Gilbert & Sullivan productions in the early 1980s were beautifully realized productions from the creative standpoint. I was proud to be in Pirates and a remount of The Mikado.
Stratford was wonderful in those days. Thanks for your great work. Possibly around that time I saw a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream with a marvelous female actor playing Puck. Forget her name but she was wonderful.
@jazz feline no I am saying he provoked the mob then fled leaving the mess to security. He also refused a fight with a ref vs one icp. I forget who... it is rap and a while ago. M&M just likes to start shit and cry behind other people who clean up his mess. ICP isn't the only act he acted the wannabe punk to.
@@vagabondwastrel2361 you realize celebrities have insurance companies and producers that prevent them from doing certain things, yes? They don't even make sense much of the time. For example; Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, wanted to have a charity fight with Vin Diesel but Steve's producers wouldn't allow it. Even though he plays with lethal animals on a daily basis, wrestles 2,000 pound crocodiles, and is a well trained MMA fighter, they felt it was an unnecessary risk cuz reasons???
I was just doing the research on him and I can concur. The Toronto Public Library and IMDB does not have an expiration date for him, so I would say he is still alive and kicking.
My highschool physics teacher is an performer in a local theatre, and one year this was her role. It's been years, and as far as i know, she still sings this song for her class as a treat at the end of the year. She absolutely kills it every time
When my mother saw the Pirates of Penzance in 1989, when she was 12, the man who was playing Major General Stanley, had a HEART ATTACK and DIED while singing this song (He didn't die on stage, but he died in the hospital)
If you knew who it is supposed to be a caricature of you wouldn’t be so impressed. Read a little about Garnet Joseph Wolseley, and you’ll see that the only accurate thing about this portrayal is how knowledgeable he was, and even that falls considerably short of the man’s many talents.
I think he’s honestly just having so much fun and is so pleased with his own performance that he’s being overtly excited for the audience while still showing how much fun he’s having.
The fact that his voice seems a bit more giddy when he refers to himself as “The Very Model of a Modern Major General” really shows how proud he is of his rank
Garnet Joseph Wolseley, ‘the model of a modern major-general’, was one of Britain’s most important soldiers. He won no distinction as a commander in a great war, but his record in the so called “little-wars” is probably unique in the history of arms. An Anglo-Irishman, he followed his own maxim that if a young officer wants to do well he should try to get himself killed; Wolseley tried really hard, first in the Burma War, when he was badly wounded leading the attack on an enemy stockade; in the Crimea, where he was twice wounded, losing an eye; in the Indian Mutiny, where he served in the relief and siege of Lucknow, being five times mentioned in Despatches; in the China War of 1860; In Canada, where in his first independent command he put down the Red River Rebellion without a casualty; in Africa, where he won a lightning campaign against King Koffee of Ashanti, and captured Cetewayo, the Zulu leader; in Egypt, where he beat Arabi Pasha at Tel-el-Kevin and took Cairo; in the Sudan, where he reached Khartoum just too late to rescue Gordon, his old friend of the Crimea and China. He was made a viscount and later field marshal. But Wolseley’s real importance was as a military reformer and creator of the modern British Army; having seen and suffered under the traditional regime which, while largely successful, had hardly changed in centuries, and being a confirmed champion of the private soldier, he foresaw the need for change in a rapidly changing military world. His reforms and reorganisations, bitterly opposed at the time, prepared the British Army for a new era of warfare; his influence largely forgotten, is on the Army still. He was (as Gilbert and Grossmith recognised when they caricatured him in The Pirates of Penzance) a man of many talents; a trained draughtsman and surveyor, he sketched and painted well, and wrote several books.
Not just that, but Garnet took this parody of himself in good humour, and even learned the song so he could sing it to his friends and family at private events.
@@peripheraldevotee94 the truly intelligent find humour in that sort of treatment and delight in it because they know it will only help more people learn eventually
Im sure you’ve read Farwell’s ‘Queen Victoria’s Little Wars’ as well, he’s a really fascinating guy and the book is a great insight into the military-method of that time. Consisting far too often of Victorian generals who flounder the most powerful armies by sheer ineptitude . Honestly though this song reminded me a lot of the The Charge of The Light Brigade movie too and how it caricatured Victorian generals. Just hilarious though when you know that real life generals were literally just as pompous
The internet is a strange place... 99% of youtube suggestions are a waste of time... but every once in a while a real gem shows up... Like gold mining, but easier on the back...
Next character I make on D&D will have all his points on intelligence and will be roleplayed as an arrogant genius whose ego always ends up backstabbing him.
@@mister_dadstersays_hi7372 Ooh! Make him a fightey knight type with a scholar background who's never seen a battlefield. It might not be a well-balanced character, but it'd be hella fun to roleplay. Wouldn't be too bad if you choose the Fighter and choose the Eldrich Knight option at level 3.
A splendid performance! It is vital to the entire performance that the Major General's song be done flawlessly -- the audience knows it and is waiting for it. The articulation and comic timing must be perfect. Anyone who has spent even a few years on stage appreciates how difficult this is to do well.
you don't have to be within a hundred miles of a stage to see how difficult it is... i still can't tell the difference between a Mauser rifle and a javelin!
Are the times he stops and repeats a line or tries to find a rhyme the times that he forgot the line? Because someone always runs over to him. The trivial persuit one looks like standard acting and fits in quite well but on the others he runs off to get a line.
@@bedstuyrover a mauser rifle is a bolt action rifle in a certain manufacturing company in germany sometime near WW2 A javelin is just a spear designed primarily for throwing. Its a pretty clear difference if you have a vague idea what they are
Me: I’d like to play a bard with the soldier background and proficiency with nature, history and performance. DM: That sounds like a very specific build. Me:
@@zzodysseuszz "smooth-brained" is wrong, "oblivious to the most basic concepts of combat" is more accurate. The joke is that he's a pogue, not that he's stupid.
I like his "well" at the end... the hand, face gestures, his posture, his walk, the slide ... I mean I know every one is impressed by the singing but to do all those other things on point is just incredible
The Major General being satirized by G&S is the future Field Marshall Garnet Worseley. He modernized the British Army into a professional army, instituting many needed reforms, often against formidable opposition from the government, at the turn of the century. When he retired he wrote in his autobiography that "if Armageddon is to be fought it will be between China and the United States". (1903)
Funny because in 1903, the United States was the nicest of the Western Powers to China. The US was the only one that proposed the growth and modernization of China and aided them, rather than intentionally keeping them weak like the rest of the West, even if the US was part of the Eight Nation Alliance. Ironic how that's coming around now.
I talked out the lines to my calc 3 teacher a few years back, they had no idea what I was referencing... How did they even get their job? Maybe they got it from the monarch of the sea's boss?
"I am the very model of a Scientist Salarian, I've studied species: Turian, Asari, and Batarian; I'm quite good at genetics (as a subset of biology, of which I am an expert and I know is a tautology). My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of a Scientist Salarian!" -Prof. Mordin Solus
Having watched a number of very talented performers take on the challenge of this song, I have to say his performance is head and shoulders above them all - simply amazing!
@@explosionsandstuff7787 the reason why I disagree with that is because your favorite did it too fast. It was difficult to understand what he was saying. As an audience member, I can understand this character is the right speed is what I’m saying.
The line about “that infernal nonsense, Pinafore” becomes much funnier when you realize that it’s a play that was created by the same people who made this one. It’s a self-burn.
@@N_Garamond No there's a character in HMS Pinafore based on a real naval officer that I think Gilbert was related too. Father in law I thinks. And HE called the play "infernal nonsense."
My theatre teacher used this clip to help our class practice diction, giving a few volunteers the chance to try and keep up with it... the sheer amount of flubs we made, and the literal pools of drool left on the stage afterward, show just how much practice this kind of performance had to take. Whew.
To only imagine HOW LONG and how many hours he had to put in practicing this piece. To not only remember all these words, but to proficiently sing and give a master performance as well!
As someone who is currently learning this song I can tell you that I've been practicing for a good month now and I can still only sing the 1st and the 3rd parts spotlessly. The 2nd is just so incredibly difficult and the 4th part (only sung in this version) is hard because there are no lyrics for it anywhere. It might also be good to know I am Dutch so sometimes it feels like it would come more naturally to a native English speaker.
@@Andy2kk I did! I can sing it flawlessly exept for 1 line for about 3 weeks now. The line I get stuck on is "I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus" for some reason elegiacs throws me off
Despite his seeming lack of any relevant combat skills, I find that his large library of knowledge skills and trained skills would make him useful if I were to go on a wacky G&S adventure, so I would probably take him along as a party member.
@@aputridpileofb-movies6542 the problem is that he doesn’t **actually** know anything. The joke is that he talks fancy. Which why he says things like noticing the difference between a Mauser rifle and a javeline…………which are obviously noticeable differences anyone can deduce.
@@zzodysseuszz I mean, listen to the lyrics and read the intentions of the play and you'll realise that actually he IS a very intelligent man - everything he says is true, he does know that stuff. Its just none of it is even remotely useful to combat. In fact, if you pay attention, you'll notice he says "When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin" i.e he currently can't. He isn't saying he can - most of the things in that part is him saying the things he can't do. In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "Ravelin" When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more Wary at And when I know precisely what is meant by "Commissariat" When I have learnt what progress has been made in Modern gunnery When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy You'll say a better Major-General had never sat a gee The entire thing was meant to make fun of the military of the time that G&S wrote this. That many in command of the British military were certainly well educated men, but none of it actually was useful in combat.
I am the very model of a modern Major-General, I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral, I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical; I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical, I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical, About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news, Hmmm... lot o' news, lot o'news... Aha! With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse. I'm very good at integral and differential calculus; I know the scientific names of beings animalculous: In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General. I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's; I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox, I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus, In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous; I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies, I know the croaking from The Frogs of Aristophanes! Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore, Hmmm... din afore, din afore... Aha! And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore. Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform, And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform: In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General. In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin", When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin, When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at, And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat", When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery, When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy Hmmm... strategy... strategy, lategy, bategy... Aha! I have it! You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee. For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury, Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century; But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General
You don't need to put quotes around the names Mamelon and Ravelin. They were names and terms in relation to 19th century fortifications, and topical to events within political memory of the original production.
@@nerdytom6881 the timeframes in which things are forgotten are legitimately crazy to me. 1870, sounds so long ago. Lee Enfield's direct ancestor, Lee Metford, was designed and made in 1879! 1879-1990 in use. Crazy. Do another just over hundred year trick and the US isn't a thing yet
What I learned from school: Basic math, a little bio and physics, and a sprinkle of US history. What I learned from publications, books and observations:.
I've watched every version of this song I could find online and I've decided that THIS one is THE best. There's just something so wonderful about this man's performance.
I am the very model of a scientist Salarian I've studies species turian, asari, and batarian I'm quite good at genetics as a subset of biology Because I am an expert which I know is a tautology.
To be able to keep pace in character like that & accurately & perfectly sing that fully in character on stage like that is quite impressive. You rarely see true talent like that anymore. Stage actors in my opinion are thousands of leagues above the skills of any movie actor. Voice actors come second.
There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium... Helped me through high school chemistry. (Saw PoP at the Stratford Festival around this time and it was fantastic!)
"I can fire at a target and hit it at least half the time" "or graph out an electron path while using only numbers prime" "I calculate the fall rate of a bullet shot a thousand yards" "I perforate the thick heads of a hundred military guards." "I can make a simulation of an atom bomb and build one too" "Or flank a dozen men and ambush ten of them right out of the blue" "From SMGs to RPGs, I carry quite an arsenal" "And skip around a war zone like a sub-atomic particle." "Every soldier out here wants to kill me for my curiosity" "I wage war on the whole damn world because of my tenacity" "In matters combat tactical and physics theoretical" "I am the very model of a modern Major-General." *"STILL NO CHORUS!!"*
I spent many hours on the night shift alone. I once spent several weeks practicing this song. I can still sing it quite well, though not as well from memory as this king.
I have had the beginning of this stuck in my head for over two decades. From time to time I would find myself singing it to myself while doing something. Like cooking for example, much to the annoyance of my little sister. And never in all that time did I ever have a clue where it came from or how I knew it. Having now watched this I'm left to ponder that question even more.
Wouldn't it be awesome if military generals always sang their resume whenever they introduced themselves? I could totally picture George Patton or Douglass Haig giving a lavish musical number when they enter a room.
The animaniacs did a version of this and it's been among my favorite things since I was little. The writers were geniuses of that show and to empact a 10 year old in the 90's till now is crazy and now I finally see this I never knew it existed and instantly went back. ❣️❣️❣️ I love this
I’m surprised you didn’t know this was what Mordin got his diddy after all this time. Though to be to you, I went out of my way to find this back in the day
Since no one seems to want to post the lyrics... EDIT: These replies have gotten out of hand XD I am the very model of a modern Major-General I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical; I'm very well acquainted too with matters mathematical I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news--- With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypote-pote-nuse I'm very good at integral and differential calculus I know the scientific names of beings animalculous; In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral I am the very model of a modern Major-General In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral He is the very model of a modern Major-General! I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus In conics I can floor peculiarities parablous I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies I know the croaking chorus from the Frogs of Aristophanes Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore! Then I can write a washing bill in Balylonic cuneiform And tell you every detail of Caractacus's uniform; In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral I am the very model of a modern Major-General In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral He is the very model of a modern Major-General! In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin" When I can tell at sight a mauser rifle from a javelin When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat" When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery: In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee You'll say a better Major-General has never sat-a-sat-a-gee For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century; But still in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral I am the very model of a modern Major-General But still in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral He is the very model of a modern Major-General!
Major General Stanley: I am the very model of a modern Major-General. I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral. I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical. From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical Employee: ...sir, this is a Wendy's- Major General Stanley: *DID I STUTTER?* Not enough credit is given to the ensemble. Not only did they have to take part in the fast lines in this clusterfuck of a song, but they also had to do it in perfect unison
I am the very model of a scientist Salarian I've studies species turian, asari, and batarian I'm quite good at genetics as a subset of biology Because I am an expert which I know is a tautology. In four directions cardinal I know the blot routine-ry I problem-solve with tools and guns and even farm machinery. I'll sing your genome base to base, the T the A the C and G I'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-y Chorus: He'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-y! He'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-y! He'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-seizure-y! My knowledge is prodigious though I'm stuffy and professor-y I'm fluent in the vorcha tongue and hanar luminescer-y My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian I am the very model of a scientist Salarian! Chorus: His xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian He is the very model of a scientist salarian! While you're still eating breakfast I am studying catalysis My ideal date would finish with statistical analysis I've mastered optic instruments, reflective and refractory I don't begrudge the quarians their hypochondriact-ery I've memorized - eidetic - all my patients' anamnesises. I've written papers, scores and scores, and that's not counting thesises! I'll toxify my enemies with nary an apology Then spend my weekends brushing up on elcor enzymology! Chorus: He spends his weekends brushing up on elcor enzymology! He spends his weekends brushing up on elcor enzymology! He spends his weekends brushing up on elcor enzymolomology! When I complete a surgery I sign my name in suturing I've cut up more batarians than Torfan's famous butchering! If knowledge is a library than I'm its king librarian I am the very model of a scientist salarian! Chorus: If knowledge is a library than he's its king librarian He is the very model of a scientist salarian! When I know all the acids be they levo, dextro rotamers, When I tell your asari child her genes are only sortof yours. When I read all the theories that my colleagues find heretical When I know all the finer points of therapies genetical When I could still cure cancer with my brain just halfway functioning. When I can fix mutating cells, the point, the nondisjunctioning! In short, when I've a smattering of transgenetic strategy You'll say another scientist has never yet been half of me! Chorus: You'll say another scientist has never yet been half of him! You'll say another scientist has never yet been half of him! You'll say another scientist has never yet been half been half of him! Though my skeptics call me mad and though they always try to censure me And even though I'm lucky if I live just half a century Even on my offdays I'd outdo the best Noverian I am the very model of a scientist salarian! Chorus: Even on his offdays he'd outdo the best Noverian He is the very model of a scientist salarian! Dr. Mordin Solus, drops mic...
I am the very model of a cartoon individual My animation's comical, unusual, and whimsical I'm quite adept at funny gags, comedic theory I have read From wicked puns and stupid jokes to anvils that drop on your head
I'm very good at fancy dances, I can even pirouette Then smack the villain with a fish; I know my cartoon etiquette I can make my face all mean and really give you quite a fright Then make up with flowers made of real exploding dynamite
one of my local theaters is putting this play on at the end April. I know nothing about this play other than this song, and you can bet I'm going to see it solely to see this live
The fact that he can:
1, sing it that fast
2, remember every word
3, make it understandable and sound less like gibberish
Dude's a fucking champion
He is the very model of a modern major general
Indeed! A true vocalist !
He can also recite information vegetable animal and mineral
The worst part about this? I just realized where i recognize that melody from. The Elements by Tom Lehrer.
@@Averagequinoafan Well, when it comes to minerals,
There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium,
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium,
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium
(Yes, i just recited that from memory)
The fact that he keeps pausing to think of a rhyming phrase implies that in the canon of the musical he just showed up and started rapping and I think that’s wonderful
He's not rapping, he's singing. That's how white people roll.
@@StMansur
What do you mean?
I don't quite see why that notion would be wrong.
@@DerEchteBold He pauses because he cant make the rythm a and that's the joke. the show was written to allow each version to make the most modern jokes to fit the show. Like Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxym it's meant to evolve with time and current jokes.
@@StMansur
What? That... doesn't sound right.
No, he knows the lyrics by heart, it's all part of the show and comedy, as you can see they show the Captain as funny and caricaturesque, he's depicting his several qualities singing a hundred words per minute yet he needs to be helped with the rhymes from time to time.
Imagine going to a job interview, where the interviewer says: "In less than five minutes, tell me what you can provide to the company."
God I would just implode from anxiety if someone asked me that
If the interviewer didn't at least crack a smile (or at least look impressed), it'd be safe to say, you're too qualified for the position 😉
I'd definitely start singing this song.
*slams four hares and a pheasant on the desk
"EAT UP EVERYONE"
"My time, my skills that have gotten me to this interview stage in the first place, and my ability to keep my mouth shut after I leave to work somewhere else." Was that less than 5 minutes?
> "I am the very model of a modern major general"
> Elaborates profusely
> Leaves
Accurate
Yeah.
Reddit gold.
>comes back
>elaborates more
@@Waffles935Then leaves again.
I’m loving this random recommendation, he never stutters.
But he does Patter
Perhaps one of the more bizarre recommendations youtube has given me yet. Not complaining, but I have no clue how or why it gave this to me.
@@manleyvideos probably my fault. I love G&S, and if you overlap any of my my other interests... Bob's your uncle!
Why did this get recommended to me? So, confused but also so intrigued.
Why did this get recommended to me
edit: oh, that guy just said that
The "secret" of singing "Modern Major General" is not trying to speak fast but to speak steadily. Removing the short pauses between sentences and within sentences (effectively removing all periods, commas, and other punctuations) and also not giving extra emphasis to words gives the illusion of speaking more quickly than in actuality. These pauses and emphasis may be only milliseconds in length but are still detectable by listeners.
Surprisingly similar to a brass instrument.
I sang in the chorus for this in high point North Carolina. We just simply repeat what he says and it made it so much easier to know the song😊
oh maybe this is why I'm told I speak very fast
Spot-on. I slowed it down to half-speed to keep up with him during the mythic history verse and it was suddenly very noticeable that his voice was actually rather flat (lacking emphasis).
I mean you're right but its unfortunate that you cant sing that as another verse...
Everybody going on about Hamilton and Eninem, and here I am having memories of this song being sung to me by an asparagus as a child. Albeit a bit slower. And with a lot more books.
Ah veggie tales
I instantly thought about a certain Salarian scientist...
And I’m just thinking about a 90s cg show about a computer
@@isisnoreija aw mordin, just finished the genophage mission yesterday
All I remember about that song was getting stuck in a fence-... was that even part of the song..?
Absolutely incredible performance, but it cuts out the ending line - "Well, now that I've introduced myself, I'd like to know what's going on!". Implies that he does this every time he meets new people even when he has no need to. Iconic
Wouldn't you?
none of his lyrics have anything to do with combat, which is more historically accurate than expected
Yup, the whole point is to show that a "modern Major General" of the era was so out of touch with what was actually important to modern militaries of the time. He's spending all this time bragging about everything he knows but little to none of it is actually important.
Woah Woah Woah slow down are you telling me important people don't know what they are doing ???
@@bobross547 To be fair, while the British Army was fooling around with incompetent leadership, the Royal Navy was the greatest navy the Earth had ever seen.
@@attalan8732 Wasnt the British Army one of the best european armies leading up to the first world war? Iirc they had one of the only armies where a majority where professional/regular soldiers instead of conscripts filling in their mandatory 1 year of service
@Bigg GIB'S fun house Im not arguing that Prussia was one of the best miltiary forces on the lead up or even start of WW1.
But I never said that Britain was number 1. Just they had one of the best armies.
As for Germany in WW2. I would put them Top 3 on the early war in general. But as the war goes on their weaknesses and failings start to catch up to them and it very much hindered their effectiveness.
But when it comes to their ability to adapt they still are one of the best armies in that regard. Being able to switch from a keep moving, never stop offensive war to a hold every last piece of dift defensive mindset and do it effectively is difficult
I am impressed not only with this man's ability to memorize what must be the most complicated song in existence, but with whoever wrote it. It's brilliant!
Written originally by Gilbert & Sulllivan. From what I can gather it was their intention that it would evolve with the times.
Whoever wrote it? Gilbert and Sullivan wrote it! That's who wrote it mate!
@@masonbell8840 A bit like "The List" in the Mikado? Every version contains different things that are relevant to the times.
Sir William Schwenk Gilbert. Sullivan wrote the music. And all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas had them. Their comic operas were the forerunners of British radio and TV comedy in the line of The Goon Shows, the Frost Report and Monty Python.
It seems that people used to have higher standards and work ethic.
Take it from someone who used to sing 25-30 songs per show in bars for years, having that many words come off the tongue that smoothly is a serious feat! Amazing!
Take it from a guy who watches a RUclips video about a modern major general; he knows the square of the hypotenuse
@@StephenMckeighen square ON the hypotenuse
plus all the other stuff going on, acting pauses etc
I had to memorize this song in high school. It took me a month and I could barely spit it out at half the tempo this guy does. .
2:54 You can even hear have a lil proud chuckle to himself when he realizes he's reaching the end of the song
What a treat to see this nearly 40 years later. We had a ball putting this show together and playing it 8 times a week that summer. Dougie Chamberlain, who played Major General Stanley rarely, if ever, forgot his lyrics and he is one of the kindest, funniest and most generous actors you'd ever have the pleasure of working with. The same is true of the late Brent Carver, who played The Pirate King. The staging is by the late Brian Macdonald, whose Gilbert & Sullivan productions in the early 1980s were beautifully realized productions from the creative standpoint. I was proud to be in Pirates and a remount of The Mikado.
Stratford was wonderful in those days. Thanks for your great work. Possibly around that time I saw a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream with a marvelous female actor playing Puck. Forget her name but she was wonderful.
Bravo! What a treat to see old works find life on You Tube, here. Saw some older shows a while back as well.
Great work, man, glad to see you here.
As a theater nerd, I have to ask: What roles did you have in the two productions? I envy anyone who's had a chance to be in these!
wow, it was really almost 40 years ago that john turner was prime minister
I thought it was Erik Donkin who played those comic baritone parts.
TLDR: I know a lot about everything except how to fight a battle.
And Shakespeare
Accurate description of most pre-world war II generals
You're the first person I've seen to actually get the joke.
@@joshuafischer684 ... or the first person who "didnt get it that everyone else knew already", i.e. there has to be one
*_Captain Obvious_* ...
Kick your arse at a rap battle, but.
The only rapper Eminem was too afraid to diss
Most of the rappers are cream puffs who simply pretend to be tough. Eminem ran for his life when confronted by icp fans.
@@vagabondwastrel2361 to be fair, I think most people would.
@@vagabondwastrel2361 huge difference between being a coward and avoiding a fight you can't win. Fuck eminem, just challenging your point.
@jazz feline no I am saying he provoked the mob then fled leaving the mess to security. He also refused a fight with a ref vs one icp. I forget who... it is rap and a while ago. M&M just likes to start shit and cry behind other people who clean up his mess. ICP isn't the only act he acted the wannabe punk to.
@@vagabondwastrel2361 you realize celebrities have insurance companies and producers that prevent them from doing certain things, yes? They don't even make sense much of the time. For example; Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, wanted to have a charity fight with Vin Diesel but Steve's producers wouldn't allow it. Even though he plays with lethal animals on a daily basis, wrestles 2,000 pound crocodiles, and is a well trained MMA fighter, they felt it was an unnecessary risk cuz reasons???
The actor is Douglas Chamberlain. He would have been about 52 when this was filmed. He's still alive, as far as I know, but has retired from acting.
Douglas Chamberlain was very active at Stratford for many years and made noteworthy appearances in many of the G&S productions there
Good to know he’s still alive!
I wonder if he could still sing this without stumbling
I was just doing the research on him and I can concur. The Toronto Public Library and IMDB does not have an expiration date for him, so I would say he is still alive and kicking.
reusablecorpse the real question now is whether or not he can still do this without stumbling
*Shows Up*
*Raps to his daughters and a bunch of pirates about just, a list of things he knows?*
*Refuses to elaborate?!*
*Leaves???*
A true Chad.
As any modern Major General should!
what do you mean, refuses to elaborate? This entire thing is just him elaborating
@@8-bitsarda747 He didn't just elaborate, he can quote the fights historical from Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical
@@σεα-ψ9εHe is very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical and understands equations both the simple and quadratical.
@@σεα-ψ9ε And he is very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I like how with every time he says "I am the very model of a modern major general!" he seems to get increasingly proud of himself
It is definitely something to be proud of.
its like thats the point...
@@TerryFGM It's almost like you're not smart for pointing that out.
My highschool physics teacher is an performer in a local theatre, and one year this was her role. It's been years, and as far as i know, she still sings this song for her class as a treat at the end of the year. She absolutely kills it every time
Lmao
Her?
@@californiaslastgasp6847 it's an all women theatre
@@californiaslastgasp6847yeah! a lot of times in theater anyone plays the role of any character no matter the character’s gender.
my highschool physics teacher became mayor then got fired for harassments...
I don't know about you, but I think he's the very model of a modern Major-General.
I dunno man, you sure?
It’s debatable
I mean, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, he surely is
He doesn’t seem to understand anything Shakespearean, though.
You know what man, I have a feeling you could be onto something here...
When my mother saw the Pirates of Penzance in 1989, when she was 12, the man who was playing Major General Stanley, had a HEART ATTACK and DIED while singing this song (He didn't die on stage, but he died in the hospital)
Damn...
Yum
He kept singing all the way to the hospital? That's commitment!
a life-changing performance
oh fuck
Can we please note the diction of the chorus?
-They're incredibly articulate and clear!
That's what talent plus 20 years or so of dedicated practice produces .... talented audio engineers who don't screw it also help.
God Bless Them All- if England is ever forced to create a GoFundMe campaign, I want to be the first contributor.
They are?
This immediately stood out to me, cast of 20 people sounding crisp and beautiful to listen to!
I feel like this just stuck in the consciousness of everyone at birth, because I know this but I don't ever remember seeing/listening to it.
Holy shit same
Maybe tom leher's elements of the periodic table song? It was played in school science sometimes.
I saw it on Arthur
@@robos3809 That's definitely it then, I watched a lot of Arthur as a kid.
I heard pieces of it in the Muppet Show with Gilda Radner
The actor is so good at captoring how this guy is so pleased that he knows all of this.
If you knew who it is supposed to be a caricature of you wouldn’t be so impressed. Read a little about Garnet Joseph Wolseley, and you’ll see that the only accurate thing about this portrayal is how knowledgeable he was, and even that falls considerably short of the man’s many talents.
@@InceyWincey What has historical accuracy have to do with this guy's performance?
@@fellinuxvi3541 nothing, but it has everything to do with our friend Jacob here’s amusement.
@@InceyWincey not really, he's praising the subtlety of the performance, that can be appreciated regardless of the figure behind the character
I think he’s honestly just having so much fun and is so pleased with his own performance that he’s being overtly excited for the audience while still showing how much fun he’s having.
The fact that his voice seems a bit more giddy when he refers to himself as “The Very Model of a Modern Major General” really shows how proud he is of his rank
He must've gotten Straight A's in English.
Wow, Abe Lincoln. But I thought you got shot
Uhhh, noo...actually he got "...starightasastraightcanbeandnowitallcomesaboutyouseethatImostdefinitelydeservedtherulingofan'A'don'tyousee?" Get it?
Nah, he had people whisper the answer 3 times.
Like Einstein he was criticized for slowness. His classmates all reckoned he was too self effacing and lacking in self confidence.
And everything else.
He may not have been the fastest out there, buy you could tell he was having ball with it.
And hes got that ass too 2:41
@@followingtheroe1952 dat ass on daddy general
He actually is the fastest I've heard
I tried watching a different performance on youtube after watching this and I got to say, this version is probably the best.
Faster ≠ better
This is what its like when I forget to take my ADHD meds and such I find myself watching this amazing video
Garnet Joseph Wolseley, ‘the model of a modern major-general’, was one of Britain’s most important soldiers. He won no distinction as a commander in a great war, but his record in the so called “little-wars” is probably unique in the history of arms. An Anglo-Irishman, he followed his own maxim that if a young officer wants to do well he should try to get himself killed; Wolseley tried really hard, first in the Burma War, when he was badly wounded leading the attack on an enemy stockade; in the Crimea, where he was twice wounded, losing an eye; in the Indian Mutiny, where he served in the relief and siege of Lucknow, being five times mentioned in Despatches; in the China War of 1860; In Canada, where in his first independent command he put down the Red River Rebellion without a casualty; in Africa, where he won a lightning campaign against King Koffee of Ashanti, and captured Cetewayo, the Zulu leader; in Egypt, where he beat Arabi Pasha at Tel-el-Kevin and took Cairo; in the Sudan, where he reached Khartoum just too late to rescue Gordon, his old friend of the Crimea and China. He was made a viscount and later field marshal.
But Wolseley’s real importance was as a military reformer and creator of the modern British Army; having seen and suffered under the traditional regime which, while largely successful, had hardly changed in centuries, and being a confirmed champion of the private soldier, he foresaw the need for change in a rapidly changing military world. His reforms and reorganisations, bitterly opposed at the time, prepared the British Army for a new era of warfare; his influence largely forgotten, is on the Army still. He was (as Gilbert and Grossmith recognised when they caricatured him in The Pirates of Penzance) a man of many talents; a trained draughtsman and surveyor, he sketched and painted well, and wrote several books.
This is very interesting, thank you.
Not just that, but Garnet took this parody of himself in good humour, and even learned the song so he could sing it to his friends and family at private events.
@@peripheraldevotee94 the truly intelligent find humour in that sort of treatment and delight in it because they know it will only help more people learn eventually
Everything is going all sir garnet!
Im sure you’ve read Farwell’s ‘Queen Victoria’s Little Wars’ as well, he’s a really fascinating guy and the book is a great insight into the military-method of that time. Consisting far too often of Victorian generals who flounder the most powerful armies by sheer ineptitude . Honestly though this song reminded me a lot of the The Charge of The Light Brigade movie too and how it caricatured Victorian generals. Just hilarious though when you know that real life generals were literally just as pompous
The internet is a strange place... 99% of youtube suggestions are a waste of time...
but every once in a while a real gem shows up...
Like gold mining, but easier on the back...
and harder on the fingers I imagine
This comment is great
Easy on the back, not so much on the neck
With all this slouching, no way.
I just wish the recommendations made sense more often. Lol
When you put all of your points in intelligence
I agree
Next character I make on D&D will have all his points on intelligence and will be roleplayed as an arrogant genius whose ego always ends up backstabbing him.
@@mister_dadstersays_hi7372 Ooh! Make him a fightey knight type with a scholar background who's never seen a battlefield. It might not be a well-balanced character, but it'd be hella fun to roleplay. Wouldn't be too bad if you choose the Fighter and choose the Eldrich Knight option at level 3.
@@ichigoeater WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN
Not all of them, ya need come charisma to sing like that
The fact that this is all done live is legendary. Everything about this performance is pin point perfect. The speed and enunciation blows my mind.
He's the best at this song. I've watched several versions on youtube and this is the best.
Fun Fact: The Major general is still alive to this day and he's over 90 years old
Do you know him?
@@JJStockman personally knowing them doesn’t really matter these days when Google just there.
@@drewrice5475 do you know his name?
@@JJStockman Douglas Chamberlain
@@drewrice5475 thank you very much
A splendid performance! It is vital to the entire performance that the Major General's song be done flawlessly -- the audience knows it and is waiting for it. The articulation and comic timing must be perfect. Anyone who has spent even a few years on stage appreciates how difficult this is to do well.
you don't have to be within a hundred miles of a stage to see how difficult it is... i still can't tell the difference between a Mauser rifle and a javelin!
Are the times he stops and repeats a line or tries to find a rhyme the times that he forgot the line? Because someone always runs over to him. The trivial persuit one looks like standard acting and fits in quite well but on the others he runs off to get a line.
@@robertkidd2449 All those parts are planned in the song.
@@robertkidd2449 these parts are for the comical aspect of the song
@@bedstuyrover a mauser rifle is a bolt action rifle in a certain manufacturing company in germany sometime near WW2
A javelin is just a spear designed primarily for throwing. Its a pretty clear difference if you have a vague idea what they are
Me: I’d like to play a bard with the soldier background and proficiency with nature, history and performance.
DM: That sounds like a very specific build.
Me:
The problem is that the joke for the character is that he just talks fancy. He doesn’t actually know anything
@@zzodysseuszz yeah but you might as well not make it just a smooth brained fast talker
@@itlivesinthewalls68430 the joke is that he’s literally a smooth brained fast talker
@@zzodysseuszz But you don't have to stop at the joke. You can make the joke and then move on and do other things.
@@zzodysseuszz "smooth-brained" is wrong, "oblivious to the most basic concepts of combat" is more accurate. The joke is that he's a pogue, not that he's stupid.
I like his "well" at the end... the hand, face gestures, his posture, his walk, the slide ... I mean I know every one is impressed by the singing but to do all those other things on point is just incredible
For those that don't know, John Turner was the Prime Minister of Canada for 3 months in 1984.
@Sir Alexander XVIII of Carpathia 3:42 in the video.
@cristopher wong yes we do
@cristopher wong Of a sort, yes. ;)
@Ellisar Atranimus He's also the one who self-quarantined for Covid-19 (while somebody else dismissed it as a "hoax!"
@cristopher wong Duh
At this point of existence I stopped asking "Why, RUclips algorithms?! Why?" I've learned how to enjoye theese litle acts of the universe randomness.
I was watching Among Us videos...
I came from a timthetatman video lol
I came from a Bad Batch trailer reaction
I got her after listening to Portal 2's Cara Mia Addio.
Did you watch Family Guy at any point?
The Major General being satirized by G&S is the future Field Marshall Garnet Worseley. He modernized the British Army into a professional army, instituting many needed reforms, often against formidable opposition from the government, at the turn of the century. When he retired he wrote in his autobiography that "if Armageddon is to be fought it will be between China and the United States". (1903)
That’s some foresight
The amount of truth in that statement hurts like a bitch.
Funny because in 1903, the United States was the nicest of the Western Powers to China. The US was the only one that proposed the growth and modernization of China and aided them, rather than intentionally keeping them weak like the rest of the West, even if the US was part of the Eight Nation Alliance.
Ironic how that's coming around now.
What a guy
@@jamesgardner439
Not really, it's in the Bible.
I am gonna sing this while reading ingredients off a soap bottle
Ima do this as yakko warner on a pirate ship
Nice tadc reference
Sounds delicious!
@@TAlbPSS i will while listing all of my patients diseases
Same honestly
Why did youtube recommend me Dr Eggman rapping?
Guille 51 same
Guille 51 Dr Robotnik actually
@@Bobdixon_Moonvarga_Dancer_III Dr Kintobor actually.
Ozgar Thunderhammer never saw the movie if that’s where thats from.
@@Bobdixon_Moonvarga_Dancer_III no. Before Dr Robotnik was evil he was Dr Kintobor (in the comics).
Stupid and cliche, but that's why I love Sonic.
Teacher: this will all be on the test, so take notes
Also teacher:
korosensei helping his students revise:
I talked out the lines to my calc 3 teacher a few years back, they had no idea what I was referencing... How did they even get their job? Maybe they got it from the monarch of the sea's boss?
"I am the very model of a Scientist Salarian, I've studied species: Turian, Asari, and Batarian; I'm quite good at genetics (as a subset of biology, of which I am an expert and I know is a tautology). My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of a Scientist Salarian!"
-Prof. Mordin Solus
I was searching for exactly this!
"Had to be me, someone else might've gotten it wrong."
@@ha4e52 I assume he’s talking about how he played the Major-General in the first all Salarian production of Pirates of the Penzance?
Glad to see they based it off something
I like how you think
Having watched a number of very talented performers take on the challenge of this song, I have to say his performance is head and shoulders above them all - simply amazing!
Literally the best version ever. He played him soooo well
I'd say he's a close second. George Rose set the bar for playing Major General Stanley.
George rose is defenetely even faster which if you dont know the lyrics makes it difficult to hear, but this man's mannerisms are defenetely better
@@explosionsandstuff7787 the reason why I disagree with that is because your favorite did it too fast. It was difficult to understand what he was saying. As an audience member, I can understand this character is the right speed is what I’m saying.
Nowadays they’d get Jim Carrey to play that role again
You didn't see the first performance on New Year's Eve in 1879 in New York City at the Fifth Avenue Theatre. George Grossmith was superb.
He seems so friendly and jolly. Truly the very model of a modern major general.
Unless he pushes you into battle as nicely dressed cannon fodder... :(
@@Schattengewaechs99 Snowflake
@@Schattengewaechs99 Stiff upper lip, men. You only die once!
The line about “that infernal nonsense, Pinafore” becomes much funnier when you realize that it’s a play that was created by the same people who made this one. It’s a self-burn.
omg I know. I am like...are they making fun of themselves?? lol
@@N_Garamond No there's a character in HMS Pinafore based on a real naval officer that I think Gilbert was related too. Father in law I thinks. And HE called the play "infernal nonsense."
My theatre teacher used this clip to help our class practice diction, giving a few volunteers the chance to try and keep up with it... the sheer amount of flubs we made, and the literal pools of drool left on the stage afterward, show just how much practice this kind of performance had to take. Whew.
Me when my dna test comes out as 1% British
LOL 1% but 100% British humour.
I have pushed your likes from 999 to 1k, I am the chosen one
When you find that nether of your parents or ancestors came from Britain.
@@lexerwilliams8880 Tis true good Sir, it is what makes us so awesome.😉
pfp checks out 😂😂
*When you wanna blast Eminem out of the water whilst colonizing the world*
Yes
"*tops tiphat*"
He might rather sit at home, reading the classics... But I'm sure having a few natives shot every once in a while gives his life some more variety.
@Goat Man tips tricorne
Glorious.
I don’t remember this part in Hamilton
I think this is from the hamilton mixtape 👌
Funny, it's actually from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance
@@leighcain7258 yes, It says that in the description 😂
This was filmed in Stratford. Hamilton is to the East, closer to Toronto.
@@congrilla- damn the only way that comment could be more southern Ontarian is if it were playing euchre
Whether it be The Amazing Digital Circus, Animaniacs, Despicable Me 3, or whatever, I hope more people discover this master-class of wordplay!
Let’s not forget Mass Effect, and Cyanide and Happiness 😁
Veggietales
Real (here through TMNT)
I think Freeman's Mind is where I first heard it, or at least where it most stuck with me
And Tom Lehrer
To only imagine HOW LONG and how many hours he had to put in practicing this piece. To not only remember all these words, but to proficiently sing and give a master performance as well!
As someone who is currently learning this song I can tell you that I've been practicing for a good month now and I can still only sing the 1st and the 3rd parts spotlessly. The 2nd is just so incredibly difficult and the 4th part (only sung in this version) is hard because there are no lyrics for it anywhere. It might also be good to know I am Dutch so sometimes it feels like it would come more naturally to a native English speaker.
@@jellebaas6475 did you make any more progress?
@@Andy2kk I did! I can sing it flawlessly exept for 1 line for about 3 weeks now. The line I get stuck on is "I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus" for some reason elegiacs throws me off
A lot. But that why it is loved. The hard work that well be know forever.
@@jellebaas6475 just say it how he sounds it and forget the word itself. Focusing on the word will confuse you
As soon as I heard the embellished lines about John Turner and Trivial Pursuit I knew this was made in Canada in the 80s.
Would love to know exactly when?
1985. It’s in the description.
The song was made in the 80's, correct. Of the 19th century. The alternate lyrics (about John Turner and Trivial Pursuit) came later.
Despite his seeming lack of any relevant combat skills, I find that his large library of knowledge skills and trained skills would make him useful if I were to go on a wacky G&S adventure, so I would probably take him along as a party member.
G&S?
@@pedropradacarciofi2517 Gilbert and Sullivan. The creators of the play the song is from.
@@aputridpileofb-movies6542 the problem is that he doesn’t **actually** know anything. The joke is that he talks fancy. Which why he says things like noticing the difference between a Mauser rifle and a javeline…………which are obviously noticeable differences anyone can deduce.
@@zzodysseuszz I mean, listen to the lyrics and read the intentions of the play and you'll realise that actually he IS a very intelligent man - everything he says is true, he does know that stuff. Its just none of it is even remotely useful to combat.
In fact, if you pay attention, you'll notice he says "When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin" i.e he currently can't. He isn't saying he can - most of the things in that part is him saying the things he can't do.
In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and
"Ravelin"
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more
Wary at
And when I know precisely what is meant by
"Commissariat"
When I have learnt what progress has been made in
Modern gunnery
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy
You'll say a better Major-General had never sat a gee
The entire thing was meant to make fun of the military of the time that G&S wrote this. That many in command of the British military were certainly well educated men, but none of it actually was useful in combat.
@@TheMrAndyn0v2 You might even say, the very model of a (then) modern Major General.
When you win a game of “insert any strategy game”:
HOI4
CK2
real life warcrimes
*Total War - Napoleon* it is for me. Men with moustaches and shakos in suicidal line formations.
CIV6?
Edit: "I even know how short a time Liz Truss served as Prime Minister"
Brilliant
"The World Economic Forum's favourite banks screwed her something sinister!"
She was perfectly capable of screwing herself.
All hail the record-breaker!
I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
Hmmm... lot o' news, lot o'news... Aha!
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's;
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking from The Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore,
Hmmm... din afore, din afore... Aha!
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin",
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat",
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy
Hmmm... strategy... strategy, lategy, bategy... Aha! I have it!
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury,
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General
Thank you!
Thanks my guy
The croaking chorus...?
You don't need to put quotes around the names Mamelon and Ravelin. They were names and terms in relation to 19th century fortifications, and topical to events within political memory of the original production.
@@nerdytom6881 the timeframes in which things are forgotten are legitimately crazy to me.
1870, sounds so long ago. Lee Enfield's direct ancestor, Lee Metford, was designed and made in 1879! 1879-1990 in use. Crazy.
Do another just over hundred year trick and the US isn't a thing yet
What I learned from school: Basic math, a little bio and physics, and a sprinkle of US history.
What I learned from publications, books and observations:.
Also from the Indian dudes and Edutainment channels in RUclips:
@@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347 True. Gotta give credit.
@@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347 indian? You mean native?
@@antiracistbaby1085 indian, from the country, India.
@@antiracistbaby1085 no, indian channels. Because they do a lot of tech, science, and math videos
"When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery," my favourite line, but all of this is gold. Well sung, sir.
I've watched every version of this song I could find online and I've decided that THIS one is THE best. There's just something so wonderful about this man's performance.
Ahh, so that’s where the Animaniacs parody song “Cartoon Individual” originates from!
I was just wondering why it sounded so familiar! Thanks lol
And the Elements song (Tom Lehrer). The original music, I believe, is Sir Arthur Sullivan.
And the recap episode of Reboot.
Am i the only Rise of the tmnt fan?p here?
And that one song Mordin sings in mass effect
He was referring to John Turner Prime Minister of Canada in 1984 from June to September for anyone wondering.
thx
@@medicmain6615 He died a few months ago from Corona. The information is for people who don't get the joke Imao ur welcome.
Yeah, thx
This is that recent?
@@RinJackson a year after he was Prime Minister. So about 36 years ago.
I sure didn’t look this up
Me too, but still, I am pleased at RUclips's recommendation.
Hanky Jack I did, had a Penzance craving
Neither did I, but I'm glad I'm here.
Hanky Jack looooool same
I can tell you I don’t know how the algorithm got me here
That chorus staying in time with each other and the music is massively impressive
I am the very model of a scientist Salarian
I've studies species turian, asari, and batarian
I'm quite good at genetics as a subset of biology
Because I am an expert which I know is a tautology.
Haseo Reviews it took me too long to find a reference to Mordin 😂
MORDIN!!!!!! *breaks down crying*
Had to scroll down too much to find this...
My mAN
I love how every version of this song I've found have a Mordin reference!
I've been cast to play the major general in a couple of weeks. This guy was my inspiration to try out for the role. :)
Congrats on getting cast!
How did it go?
Yeah how’d it go
9 months waiting for how it went
How did it go?
Fun fact: when I was in this show at my theatre, I played the guy who whispered in his ear “sat a gee”
Cooool😜👍 #winning
Whats a sat a gee
@@theroadtocosplayandcomicco5840
Has sat (on) a horse.
"Gee" is short for gee-gee, which for some infernal reason is a slang term for a horse.
Whispering rhymes in the MG'sear is not done everywhere.
Did you actually whisper sat a gee?
To be able to keep pace in character like that & accurately & perfectly sing that fully in character on stage like that is quite impressive. You rarely see true talent like that anymore. Stage actors in my opinion are thousands of leagues above the skills of any movie actor. Voice actors come second.
the fact a man memorized this line, and didnt stutter it at all... in such speed makes my head hurt, but at the same time impresses me to no end
I didn't know Robotnik sang
Omg lol!
Long John Baldry, the voice of Robotnik from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, had a long and accomplished career as a blues singer.
Oh you mean that from Sonic. In my language robotník means worker on building site.
I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING!
@@jozopako Are you telling me Bob the Builder is named Robotník Bob in your language? Please say it's so.
There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium...
Helped me through high school chemistry.
(Saw PoP at the Stratford Festival around this time and it was fantastic!)
You can thank Tom Leher for that version...
THANK YOU
Very subtle
@@BadWebDiver Wasn’t this from “The Big Bang Theory”?
@@aycc-nbh7289 Tom Leher predates The Big Bang Theory.
I still can't believe how great he is in this role. A big round of applause for the best actor/singer in history: Mordin Solus.
Had to be him. Someone else might not have gotten it right.
I wouldn’t have ever seen this if it wasn't for Freeman's Mind.
Yes. Just yes
same bro
Which episode?
45
insaneweasel1 I believe Episode 45?
"I can fire at a target and hit it at least half the time"
"or graph out an electron path while using only numbers prime"
"I calculate the fall rate of a bullet shot a thousand yards"
"I perforate the thick heads of a hundred military guards."
"I can make a simulation of an atom bomb and build one too"
"Or flank a dozen men and ambush ten of them right out of the blue"
"From SMGs to RPGs, I carry quite an arsenal"
"And skip around a war zone like a sub-atomic particle."
"Every soldier out here wants to kill me for my curiosity"
"I wage war on the whole damn world because of my tenacity"
"In matters combat tactical and physics theoretical"
"I am the very model of a modern Major-General."
*"STILL NO CHORUS!!"*
I'd watch the hell outta that.
@@HumbleMemeFarmer You can! Go to Accursed Farms and watch Freemans Mind. This paragraph was actually sung in the Machinima!
Finally a freeman's mind reference. I thought there more of these here.
@@HumbleMemeFarmer ruclips.net/video/OVn4U_R7hBc/видео.html
I love it!
The added line about John Turner was timely for the time and all around very cleverly handled.
I spent many hours on the night shift alone. I once spent several weeks practicing this song. I can still sing it quite well, though not as well from memory as this king.
Of all the versions of this song that exist, this man nailed it more than anyone else. Amazing!
*ahem* Mordin Solus
I'm assuming you've never heard Stewie's or Side Show Bob's versions.
I have had the beginning of this stuck in my head for over two decades. From time to time I would find myself singing it to myself while doing something. Like cooking for example, much to the annoyance of my little sister. And never in all that time did I ever have a clue where it came from or how I knew it. Having now watched this I'm left to ponder that question even more.
The first 2 lines are sung by geordie la forge in the star trek tng episode "disaster". That's where I knew it from.
You might know it from veggie tales tbh
@@hchappy125 hahaha, no. A little to old for that one.
@@budsbunny8038 this might be it. I used to watch that with my mother when I was a little tyke.
I have to commend him on how he’s able to sing so fast, but his words still come out so clear! On top of that he’s acting too!!! Great work!
I've watched this way too many times over the last 3 days. I don't regret any time spent
Wouldn't it be awesome if military generals always sang their resume whenever they introduced themselves? I could totally picture George Patton or Douglass Haig giving a lavish musical number when they enter a room.
Unfortunately, everytime Patton or MacArthur tries to do their musical, the TV censors have to work overtime.
@@retardcorpsman All the more reason I'd love to hear them.
Jesus, imagine Zhukov
@@dragoncatsage3049 half the words would be blyat.
@retardcorpsman it would be one long bleep
I like to imagine a baby Eminem watching from the audience and thinking, “dam, I gotta learn how to do that.”
Whoever wrote that extra unexpected verse did a pretty good job.
I'm not 100% certain any more but I know that composer/lyricist Jim Betts provided many of the G&S rewrites throughout the season, as did John Banks.
In fact, I only know about John Turner because of this vid. And well, Liz Truss happened.
The animaniacs did a version of this and it's been among my favorite things since I was little. The writers were geniuses of that show and to empact a 10 year old in the 90's till now is crazy and now I finally see this I never knew it existed and instantly went back. ❣️❣️❣️ I love this
Yeah it’s in the the early first season! The one with the short redhead pirate, “I am the very model of a cartoon individual”
@@PikaChu-fr4fq I use that as an example to why gear 5 Luffy is NOT toon force. He doesn't check any of this criteria.
@@PikaChu-fr4fq HMS Yakko, third episode of the first season.
This man's walk sends me to tears
19th century busta rhymes
Tru dat. Whenever I have rehearsed this in front of my friends, they ask if I'm rapping (Many of them like to freestyle, lol).
This is one of the best renditions of this song I've ever heard. He is flawless!
This is fantastic, and the whole production is a musical masterpiece . . . but I can't help but think of eggman when I watch/listen to this song.
Hahahaha 😭
0:08 I frickin' love that part. And the trumpet accompanying it. Hah!
Wait that is where mass effect Mordin's song comes from?
Yes
Had to be me. Someone else might've gotten it wrong.
@@Mazurecki56 I'm not crying, you're crying!
I’m surprised you didn’t know this was what Mordin got his diddy after all this time. Though to be to you, I went out of my way to find this back in the day
Frequently parodied.
Since no one seems to want to post the lyrics...
EDIT: These replies have gotten out of hand XD
I am the very model of a modern Major-General
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted too with matters mathematical
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news---
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypote-pote-nuse
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous;
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral
I am the very model of a modern Major-General
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral
He is the very model of a modern Major-General!
I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus
In conics I can floor peculiarities parablous
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies
I know the croaking chorus from the Frogs of Aristophanes
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore!
Then I can write a washing bill in Balylonic cuneiform
And tell you every detail of Caractacus's uniform;
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral
I am the very model of a modern Major-General
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral
He is the very model of a modern Major-General!
In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin"
When I can tell at sight a mauser rifle from a javelin
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat"
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery:
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat-a-sat-a-gee
For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral
I am the very model of a modern Major-General
But still in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral
He is the very model of a modern Major-General!
Thank you so much
Not all heroes wear capes
Aw! Thanks. ^_^
Thank you friend, this is very very helpful
The sandwich you deserve more recognition
you missed the john turner prime minister part
Major General Stanley: I am the very model of a modern Major-General. I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral. I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical. From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical
Employee: ...sir, this is a Wendy's-
Major General Stanley: *DID I STUTTER?*
Not enough credit is given to the ensemble. Not only did they have to take part in the fast lines in this clusterfuck of a song, but they also had to do it in perfect unison
Its you again. I remember seeing you for the first time at the oversimplified Rasputin dances to Rasputin.
proceeds to explain very complex mathematical theorems
They should, in fact, be responding in harmony although, I agree, it does sound like unison.
Normies: Rule Britannia
Men of culture:
Oh hello there
underrated
Why not both?
That John Turner diss was unexpected and iconic
Nobody gonna talk about the slide at the beginning???
Ok. Cool.
No - the slide was part of the encore, not at the beginning.
This man knocked it out of the park. Amazing job
I am the very model of a scientist Salarian
I've studies species turian, asari, and batarian
I'm quite good at genetics as a subset of biology
Because I am an expert which I know is a tautology.
In four directions cardinal I know the blot routine-ry
I problem-solve with tools and guns and even farm machinery.
I'll sing your genome base to base, the T the A the C and G
I'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-y
Chorus:
He'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-y!
He'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-y!
He'll solve your ailments be you sick or stroking out or seizure-seizure-y!
My knowledge is prodigious though I'm stuffy and professor-y
I'm fluent in the vorcha tongue and hanar luminescer-y
My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian
I am the very model of a scientist Salarian!
Chorus:
His xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian
He is the very model of a scientist salarian!
While you're still eating breakfast I am studying catalysis
My ideal date would finish with statistical analysis
I've mastered optic instruments, reflective and refractory
I don't begrudge the quarians their hypochondriact-ery
I've memorized - eidetic - all my patients' anamnesises.
I've written papers, scores and scores, and that's not counting thesises!
I'll toxify my enemies with nary an apology
Then spend my weekends brushing up on elcor enzymology!
Chorus:
He spends his weekends brushing up on elcor enzymology!
He spends his weekends brushing up on elcor enzymology!
He spends his weekends brushing up on elcor enzymolomology!
When I complete a surgery I sign my name in suturing
I've cut up more batarians than Torfan's famous butchering!
If knowledge is a library than I'm its king librarian
I am the very model of a scientist salarian!
Chorus:
If knowledge is a library than he's its king librarian
He is the very model of a scientist salarian!
When I know all the acids be they levo, dextro rotamers,
When I tell your asari child her genes are only sortof yours.
When I read all the theories that my colleagues find heretical
When I know all the finer points of therapies genetical
When I could still cure cancer with my brain just halfway functioning.
When I can fix mutating cells, the point, the nondisjunctioning!
In short, when I've a smattering of transgenetic strategy
You'll say another scientist has never yet been half of me!
Chorus:
You'll say another scientist has never yet been half of him!
You'll say another scientist has never yet been half of him!
You'll say another scientist has never yet been half been half of him!
Though my skeptics call me mad and though they always try to censure me
And even though I'm lucky if I live just half a century
Even on my offdays I'd outdo the best Noverian
I am the very model of a scientist salarian!
Chorus:
Even on his offdays he'd outdo the best Noverian
He is the very model of a scientist salarian!
Dr. Mordin Solus, drops mic...
Good god I read this in tune! Hats off to the one who could come up with this. Amazing!
I'm surprised this was this low.
Only 33 likes and one of them is mine! Meanwhile a cat falls of a chair and the internet slows down.
You have have created art of the highest order, my friend! XD
My fave doctor
0:24 the only rapper Eminem won’t dis
I am the very model of a cartoon individual
My animation's comical, unusual, and whimsical
I'm quite adept at funny gags, comedic theory I have read
From wicked puns and stupid jokes to anvils that drop on your head
I'm very good at fancy dances, I can even pirouette
Then smack the villain with a fish; I know my cartoon etiquette
I can make my face all mean and really give you quite a fright
Then make up with flowers made of real exploding dynamite
Another Animaniacs fan, I see.😁😏
Wow that was actually good
Drake be like
@@dangroves5960 I'm honestly surprised to find this bloody meme in this comment section. well done.
one of my local theaters is putting this play on at the end April. I know nothing about this play other than this song, and you can bet I'm going to see it solely to see this live