The Songs of Michael Flanders & Donald Swann

First published in paperback form in 1977, this collection of 41 songs represents a definitive publication of the songs of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann. The lyrics are set out in full and are followed by newly notated arrangements of the songs. In a characteristic introduction Donald Swann tells of his lengthy collaboration with Michael Flanders and what led to the making of this most brilliant team of British song writers and performers.

The lyrics and songs in this book range from their early contributions to Laurier Lister's intimate revues of the late forties and early fifties (Airs on a Shoestring, Fresh Airs, etc.) containing such numbers as Design for Living, Guide to Britten, the Hippo, Madeira M'Dear, to their own performances in the unforgettable At the Drop of a Hat and At the Drop of Another Hat.

There are numerous illustrations by distinguished artists and cartoonists, including Heath-Robinson, Osbert Lancaster, Scarfe, Hewison and Lowry, to accompany some of the numbers, including a specially commissioned set of twelve by ffotles for the animal songs from Me Armadillo to the Wild Boar.

Songs in this volume are:

In the Bath
Design for Living
Misalliance
The Gas-man Cometh
A Song of the Weather
Pillar to Post
Rain on the Plage
Motor Perpetuo
Slow Train
A Transport of Delight (The Omnibus)
Last of the Line
Twenty Tons of TNT
The Reluctant Cannibal
P * B * * * * B * * D * * * * * *
Budget Song
Ballad for the Rich
All Gall
Philological Waltz (Tonga)
A Song of Patriotic Prejudice
The Lord Chamberlain's Regulations
The Album
III Wind
Guide to Britten
Song of the Reproduction
Bedstead Men
Excelsior
Vanessa
Twice Shy
Madeira, M'dear?
The Armadillo
The Hippopotamus
The Ostrich
The Elephant
The Gnu
The Rhinoceros
The Sloth
The Spider
The Wild Boar
The Whale (Mopy Dick)
The Warthog
The Womporn