If you've been blessed to be in a parish which uses the
Gather Comprehensive Hymnal, and even more blessed to hear the so-called
'Servant Song' ("be fair and just, be merciful and true, these are the things I am asking of you!"), you may have noticed that it bears an odd similarity to the 'Oompa Loompa' song from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory ("Ooompa Loompa Doompadee Doo, I've got a perfect puzzle for you!"). Seriously, the meter and rhythm are identical; I think it must have been inspired by it.
What's even eerier is if you look down to find out who the composer is. It's jointly composed, by two songwriters by the names of 'Ziggy Stardust' and 'Bobby Fisher' (you can find the song and last names of the composers somewhere near the middle of
this list, if you don't believe me). 'Ziggy Stardust,' of course, for anyone who wasn't alive during the '70s, was the rock alter ego of the legendary frontman
David Bowie. (Fisher I initially misidentified with
Bobby Fischer, the equally eccentric world chess champion who disappeared from the world scene some time ago under mysterious circumstances, which weirded me out even more.) I have searched in vain to establish some connection between David Bowie and the Gather Hymnal's 'Servant Song,' but my efforts to make sense of the link have been fruitless. Either Bowie actually wrote this song (not entirely out of the question), or someone who writes for Gather took this as his songwriting pseudonym (not out of the question at all, given the cultural demographic of Gather's composers). Why do I bring this up now, after years of musings on my part? Because I just noticed a recent visitor to my blog from
another blog maintained by two Spanish-speakers, by the names of 'Ziggy Stardust' and 'Fishman.' Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.
