Nature Done Wright

Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs

January 14, 2025

Now for Something Completely Different

Michael Lechicky of Clifton writes:

I thought you might enjoy this song I recently recorded about redpolls. It's a parody of Frank Sinatra's "Luck Be a Lady," and is about a luckless birder whose deepest desire is to see a Common Redpoll.

Note, I wrote the lyrics before the AOS lumped all the redpolls last fall, doing away with the "Common" in Redpoll. Some of the humor relies on the old name, but I think it still holds up.

On YouTube, he notes:

The Redpoll is an arctic songbird that lives in Canada and, in winter, the most northern reaches of the United States. For three years, I had the privilege of living in the northern Adirondacks of New York, the very southern extent of the redpoll’s range. Many birders travel to the Adirondacks to see special “boreal” birds, including the redpoll.

And like most birds with “common” in its name (or at least until the AOS lumped all the redpolls last September, doing away with the "common"), the redpoll is not in fact so common. This song is sung from the perspective of a birder whose deepest desire is to see a Redpoll. It is a parody of “Luck Be a Lady” as sung by Frank Sinatra in the musical “Guys and Dolls.” Vocals by me. Backing track by BellySings Karaoke.

Thanks, Michael!